tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51201991304625215982024-03-13T02:48:02.805+01:00µ² Photographyphotography ■ fine art ■ tutorials
µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-13093540208654398062015-06-11T15:36:00.001+02:002015-06-11T15:36:12.756+02:00Switched!Dear ladies and gentlemen, after much thinking I am now switching over to wordpress for my blog.<br /><br />Blogger sounded great but it lacks a few really important features that wordpress has.<br />
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I tried to ignore that for the longest time but slowly it really ate away on my blogging motivation and here we are with me almost never posting anything any more.<br />
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So if you are a loyal blog reader (yes, I am talking to you, mom) then please find more of my stuff here: <a href="https://mtothepoweroftwo.wordpress.com/">https://mtothepoweroftwo.wordpress.com</a><br />
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I will give you the (empty/overly optimistic) promise that I will post more often than before.<br />
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Take care, stay awesome<br />
Markusµ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-8426957107632679082015-05-06T12:13:00.001+02:002015-05-06T12:13:52.611+02:00Japan galleryAs I mentioned I was on a trip to Japan recently and here are some impressions from this wonderful vacation. Me and my girlfriend went to Tokyo for 6 days and then Osaka for another 7 days (with a day trip to Kyoto). Here is a map:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="300" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m14!1m12!1m3!1d1664308.1774185128!2d137.91858594295942!3d35.43989030691318!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!5e0!3m2!1sde!2sat!4v1430904229231" style="border: 0;" width="400"></iframe>
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The flight was quite long so you get through a lot of blockbuster movies and have plenty of opportunity to listen to music or audiobooks. I actually tried to catch up on the game of thrones audiobooks.. those give you plenty of hours to work through.<br />
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Tokyo, much to my surprise, is quite similar to a western country in some parts. You wouldn't even know you traveled halfway around the world if it were not for the japanese characters on the billboards and signs - well, in the city center at least. It's very easy to nativigate since about everything you need as a foreign traveller is very well organized. Most signs are in english as well as japanese, korean and chinese.<br />
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Different than most western cities though, shopping districts are quite strictly separated. There is a district for electronics, one for fashion etc. and it's fairly hard to find, for example, an electronics shop elsewhere than in it's designated district.<br />
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It definitely pays out to prepare a bit in advance what you want to see because the possibilities are endless and Tokyo (and Osaka) are both really big cities with lots of things to see.<br />
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We were right there around cherry blossom season (which is a quite nice plus I have to say.. the trees looked beautiful in contrast to the old architecture).<br />
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Here are some impressions.<br />
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<br />µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-49917815972384293972015-03-31T17:17:00.000+02:002015-03-31T17:17:04.708+02:00Off to japanI am packing for a trip to japan.. Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto and I think today is the first day I seriously consider looking into mirrorless cameras.<br />
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Even though I packed very light for my trip I can already see how taking all of my photography gear out every day will cost me some effort.<br />
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I took my Nikon D610 and 50mm f1.8 lens, an 85mm f1.8 and a 24mm f2.8. That plus a super-light tripod. I considered taking a flash with me as well but then I decided otherwise.<br />
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If I should go strobist over there I would want at least two flashes and the trigger gear and carrying that weight around all day and still enjoying the trip is probably not going to happen.<br />
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I recently had a fairly large corporate shoot where I moved all my equipment, lighting gear, camera, laptop etc. to shoot on location and, I have to say, lugging around all this stuff made me wish I had an assistant - or a pack mule. Although the pack mule, arguably, would not be allowed to enter the building.. plus it would be useless during the shoot. No mule then.<br />
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In order to prepare for my japan trip I took some steps to brush up my (almost non-existant) japanese. I am sure you know it already but if you don't check out Rosetta Stone (the software).. it's awesome! I am not somebody who can learn a language like a complicated boardgame with all the rules up front and Rosetta Stone is perfect for that. You basically learn like children learn their native language.. with images and by comparing things. But I digress.<br />
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I will post some nice japan-images here as soon as I am done dealing with the 18-hour travel jetlag :)<br />
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Take care!µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-42227464548069258352015-03-10T00:55:00.002+01:002015-03-10T00:55:07.067+01:00Fun with layer masks (video)Here is a little behind the scences video showing a layer mask trick that was used in the making of this image:<br />
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It's all very simple and, if you understand my austrian accent which seems much stronger than usual in this video, you'll grasp the concept very quickly.<br />
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Here is the video:<br />
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Have a great week!µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-81445192318530645392015-02-20T23:57:00.001+01:002015-02-23T22:12:44.180+01:00Working with models (without having to spend money)I have been working with models I contacted online for about 1.5 years now.<br />
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Working with a model can be fun - it's a collaboration between you and someone else and, akin to a jam session in music, you can get very interesting results by having someone else's input.<br />
As in music however, there will be great players and there will be ones that are just starting out. Talented ones and ones and less gifted ones. Ones that have high-tech guitars and amplifiers and ones that just have a 5$ beat up guitar and a loaned vintage amp. Ones that like jimmi hendrix and ones that love coldplay.. Ones that.. OK kidding - I think you got the drift :)<br />
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Since my memories of the first few times I had a collaboration like this are still rather fresh in my mind I'd like to share what I have learned so far with you.<br />
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<b>Preparations on how to get a model to work with you for free</b><br />
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Having this kind of deal is usually called "TFP" in the photography world. TFP stands for "Time for Pictures". Basically the model lends her time to the photographer and gets images of what was shot in return.<br />
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In order to get a model to agree to shoot TFP with you, you already usually need to have images to show what you can do or what kind of photographs you produce.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZniA1HcriIw/VOe9-mr-uQI/AAAAAAAAB5I/5jK8k1HaRGs/s1600/street-portrait-of-a-beautiful-young-woman-2-1422327-m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZniA1HcriIw/VOe9-mr-uQI/AAAAAAAAB5I/5jK8k1HaRGs/s1600/street-portrait-of-a-beautiful-young-woman-2-1422327-m.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">source: <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: tahoma, arial, hevetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">Belovodchenko Anton</span></td></tr>
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Now you see the catch 22 there right? But there is a solution. Ask friends, family or colleagues to model for you! I know.. sounds scary at first.. but you might find a way in to make it work. I should say, if you are not the very social type, taking pictures with people you don't know <b>is</b> kind of scary. But on the other hand - if you don't expose yourself to new challenges, you don't grow as a person (or photographer)! People photography can be very rewarding and it's worth the try, trust me.<br />
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Ok, so first step: get images of people to use in your first portfolio. If you are really good at being sneaky you can take images of random people on the street.. but this is both more difficult (as you have little control over the lighting and posing situation) and you will still have to do the challenge of taking images of someone you don't know at some point. My recommendation therefore: <i>ask people you already know to model for you</i>.<br />
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Now before you call that person at work who needs an updated facebook profile picture or your sister who needs an image for tinder: make sure you have some basics of portrait photography down! Otherwise you waste time and opportunity.<br />
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Here are three videos to get you started. Click on each of these videos and ideally make some notes for yourself on what you'd like to remember.<br />
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All these videos are geared towards using natural light first. That's just easier for you, easier for an amateur model (no weird flashes) and not bound to a lot of equipment. People do amazing things without flash. Check for instance <a href="http://brookeshaden.com/gallery/">Brooke Shaden's gallery</a>..almost all of it is shot in natural light!<br />
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<b><i>Sunset/rise portrait outdoors</i></b></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/pjEjCC-6aTQ/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pjEjCC-6aTQ?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Notes to this video: at the beginning, using a 50mm 1.8 is a great start. This is a very cheap lens on almost all systems and allows you to take images at a small aperture which separates the subject (focused on) much better from the background. If you want to improve, get an 85mm 1.8 (as recommended in the video) or, if you have a lot of bucks to spend, a 70-200 2.8. However: be sure to remember that the lens has actually very little influence on the overall impression that the image will make to someone who wants to judge your work.<br />
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<b><i>windowlight portrait indoors</i></b></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/XSkAOXW3rGo/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XSkAOXW3rGo?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Notes to this video: Scott Kelby has a lot of great videos - this is one of them. The diffuser can be completely replaced (without any noticeable difference) with an ordinary white shower curtain. Seriously - shower curtains are great diffusers! Also: if there is an overcast day outside you don't need any diffusers. Clouds cast very diffused light.<br />
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<i><b>retouching your portrait in photoshop</b></i></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/fHVUrs8ssLc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fHVUrs8ssLc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Notes to this video: This is a basic retouch from beginning to end on such a natural light portrait. Very in-depth, very sophisticated. Sometimes you don't need to do any of this, but if you want to get the most out of your images you can give this a shot.<br />
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Here I might also add that I have a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCdmNCKv4oSnmawDziYSdtw">youtube channel</a> particularly geared towards retouching tutorials. You can check it out <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCdmNCKv4oSnmawDziYSdtw">here</a>.<br />
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Ok, so now you should have all you need to take nice portraits of your friends or colleagues, retouch them and build a small portfolio. For starters you don't need more than 3 or 4 images.<br />
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<b>Making an online profile with a model community platform</b><br />
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Now that you have a basic portfolio you can get in touch with other people to model for you.<br />
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I recommend doing this by joining a website. Depending on the country that you are in you might have several options available to you. In most countries ModelMayhem is an option (<a href="http://www.modelmayhem.com/">http://www.modelmayhem.com</a>. free, no limitations except for a maximum of 15 portfolio images).<br />
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In german speaking countries: <a href="http://www.model-kartei.de/">www.model-kartei.de</a> (free, no limitations I know of)<br />
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There are several others - try searching google for "modeling community" in your local language and you should find something viable.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1qcd_hPuaP4/VOe9j1UpJCI/AAAAAAAAB5A/oziPKAA2yEk/s1600/hand-over-keyboard-1377963-m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1qcd_hPuaP4/VOe9j1UpJCI/AAAAAAAAB5A/oziPKAA2yEk/s1600/hand-over-keyboard-1377963-m.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">source: <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: tahoma, arial, hevetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">Mikhail Popov</span></td></tr>
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I recommend having a look through other photographer's and several model profiles before you make your own. It helps to know what kind of people are registered to the platform and how you can stand out or separate yourself from some of them.<br />
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A common problem on such platforms is the "creepy photographer guy" who wants to shoot naked people. There usually is a whole industry built around that archetype. Be aware that some models will immediately put you in that category unless proven otherwise.<br />
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It is therefore good to point out a few things on your profile if you start out:<br />
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<i>* You shoot outdoor ortraits</i><br />
If you have a studio, no problem - but usually people are more willing to meet you in public than to meet you at home or in the studio... and they are perfectly right in doing so.<br />
Most (especially female) models are constantly pestered by creepy photographer guys to allow them to shoot nudes. If you want to start out, please avoid being put into that category by excluding nudes on your profile. There is nothing wrong with shooting them, but it's not a great way to start out working with models in my opinion.<br />
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<i>* You are OK with models bringing somebody along for the shoot</i><br />
Remember: this is not online dating! Make sure to keep it professional and keep the model comfortable! The condition here is that the person does not interfere in the shoot.<br />
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<i>* You inform the model about what will be shot and what your plans are</i><br />
Do not change plans mid-shoot. It does not look professional if you do so and it can creep somebody out if you suddenly decide that this portrait would look much better with the shirt off if that was not agreed beforehand.<br />
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<i>* You deliver your images after the shoot quickly</i><br />
Nobody likes to wait for weeks to see the result of a collaboration project. Models are as excited as you are to see the outcome of the shoot - don't ignore that.<br />
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<i>* Make a friendly, sociable and positive impression</i><br />
Nobody likes to work with an unpleasant person. If you can, never say anything negative on a profile - even if you feel you want to. (Example: don't write "I hate it when people come late! I don't like blondes!")<br />
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<b>Messaging a model</b><br />
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The next step is to browse through the list of available models and start contacting them for a shoot. Make sure you have a very clear idea of what kind of photos you would like to take.<br />
Collect some links of photos that look like what you want to do and attach them to the message. The clearer you make it, the more likely people will agree to shoot with you.<br />
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Make messages personal. No blanket default messages. The recipients are people like you and you should treat them as individuals, not as a resource to be tapped into.<br />
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<i>Example message:</i><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Dear <u><i>(model's name)</i></u>, I just found your profile by chance and I really like your images, particularly the one with <u><i>(point out one image in the portfolio you like most)</i></u>.<br />I am currently starting out in portrait photography and would like to take a couple of images like this <u><i>(link given to a photo you like - not necessarily one of yours)</i></u>. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Would you be interested in collaborating with me on a time for pictures (TFP) basis?<br />I would like to shoot outdoors at <i><u>(location given.. preferably a public location and not too remote)</u></i>, the shoot would take about 1-2 hours. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #444444;">You are welcome to bring someone along with you on the shoot too if you would like to. Looking forward to hearing from you, have a great day,</span> </blockquote>
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<u><i><span style="color: #444444;">(your Name)</span></i></u></blockquote>
Send a couple of these messages to models you would like to work with and wait for an answer.<br />
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Sometimes you get no answer, sometimes you get a <i>no</i>. Sometimes you get insults (people have bad days..). All of these you ignore and don't send another message.<br />
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Sometimes you get a <i>yes</i> or a <i>maybe</i>.<br />
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If a <i>yes</i>: arrange a time to meet up for half an hour to talk about the shoot over coffee. No camera. This is to get an idea if the model is on time, reliable, you agree on what to shoot, he/she has additional ideas or other ideas etc. Meet up, chat, be friendly and then decide if you want to shoot or not and when.<br />
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If a <i>maybe</i>: clear up remaining questions or reservations and then proceed with <i>yes</i> or <i>no</i> (above).<br />
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<a href="http://photosecrets.com/how-to-work-with-models">Here</a> are a few more tips on communicating with models.<br />
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<b>The meeting</b><br />
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So why meet up and not shoot right away?<br />
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<i>First: </i>it allows you both to get a bit more comfortable before you have to shoot. Portraits are about expression and if you don't feel comfortable because you have never met the person on the other side of the camera this shows in the images.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-caly40ZohBY/VOuXt28pf8I/AAAAAAAAB_Q/nJvYvx7k6w8/s1600/starbucks-cup-mood-bokeh-hd-wallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-caly40ZohBY/VOuXt28pf8I/AAAAAAAAB_Q/nJvYvx7k6w8/s1600/starbucks-cup-mood-bokeh-hd-wallpaper.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">source: http://zoomwalls.com</td></tr>
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<i>Second:</i> it gives you the opportunity to see if the model takes this arrangement seriously. A lot of models just don't turn up to shoots or come very late. If they can't make the coffee meeting in time you saved yourself a lot of time (and maybe money later on if you rely on make-up artists, transportation and rent equipment for a shoot). </div>
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<i>Third:</i> it allows you to very clearly communicate what you want to get out of this and if the model is happy with that or not. If you want to do a shoot with, say, flour all over his/her face the model should agree first.</div>
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Make sure to be on time at the pre-arranged location. I recommend a local coffee-house, starbucks or something along these lines. Make it business-y.</div>
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Be friendly and positive but stay out of the flirt zone (just in case your usual mode to communicate with the other sex - or the one you are attracted to - is a bit flirtatious). If you have a significant other, you can casually mention that too, to make it clear that this is about photography and nothing else. Believe me, I have heard a lot of strange stories from models on photographers mistaking TFP shooting for online dating.<br />
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Ask the model what she ideally would like to get out of the session with you and see if you can make that work. Think of it like this: the model is something of a client (that does not pay you in money). If your client is happy she might want to work with you again or might recommend you to someone else.<br />
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It's also a good idea to try to find out which images of the model are his or her favourites. Let the model show you her/his favourite shot of all times. This way you can find out what features somebody likes or dislikes on his/her face or body or what to go for to make the model happy.<br />
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You should also bring up the topic of a model release form. This is a contract between you and the model that documents your agreement (the model gets images for his/her time etc.). This is also to ensure that the model was happy with how the shoot went. You basically want to avoid that, in hindsight, someone decides to say they actually never wanted to shoot this or that or were forced to do this or that (not likely in a portrait shoot but you never know).<br />
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<a href="http://dpanswers.com/forms/contract_tfp.html">Here</a> is a resource where you can download an example model release form. Adapt it to your needs as you see fit.<br />
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<b>The shoot</b><br />
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The most important rule: <i>Don't be afraid to fail</i>!<br />
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Don't panic if something does not work right away. Keep calm, stay in the zone.<br />
Make it your priority to create a nice, pleasant, polite atmosphere between you and the model while keeping in mind what you want to achieve in terms of images.<br />
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You have taken pictures before, this is no different. If people stare at you two while taking pictures in a park (unlikely) just ignore it, relax and shoot.<br />
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Check on your camera display every now and then.. make sure your images are what you want them to be while shooting. You can always take another shot.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-itxDz2sDE_8/VOe9G5anyRI/AAAAAAAAB44/rRrzdUfq-QA/s1600/budding-photographer-1093412-m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-itxDz2sDE_8/VOe9G5anyRI/AAAAAAAAB44/rRrzdUfq-QA/s1600/budding-photographer-1093412-m.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">source: <a href="http://www.garyslens.ca/" rel="external" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #989286; font-family: tahoma, arial, hevetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" target="_blank">www.garyslens.ca</a></td></tr>
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Make sure the model knows what you want to do, take charge of the shoot and direct the model (in a friendly way) if required. "Could you now turn this way please?", "This looks nice, now let's try something like this.".<br />
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Many TFP models are new to this and you need to know what you want them to do. Do not expect the model to do the best posing for you at this point.<br />
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If you are finished, let the model know until when he/she can approximately expect the images and that you enjoyed the session.<br />
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Finally, now is a good time to ask the model to sign the model release contract. It may seem like a bit of a downer after a day of shooting but it can help keep things professional and in order.<br />
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<b>Post processing and wrap up</b><br />
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Now that you have all the images on your computer you can have a look and see how you did.<br />
This is a learning opportunity for you. If some images are too dark or too bright - make a note on that to remember next time to check exposure settings more often. (get familiar with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80zd9Xol3SQ">exposure compensation</a>)<br />
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If images are too shaky make sure to check you have a faster shutter speed as you take images. You might also consider to set the ISO to <i>Auto</i> instead of forgetting about it (yes, you don't get coolness points for that, but it might save a picture for you!).<br />
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Your ultimate training goal should be to be able to take images that need no corrections and that could be used as is (in theory).<br />
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If you post-process images of a TFP model - make sure the result still looks like her or him. Retouching can enhance a photo - but it can also insult or hurt someone if you make them look something they are not (removing defining facial features like moles or excessive body "corrections" using the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsERz-mCtiU">liquify tool in photoshop</a> comes to mind).<br />
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It's important to send images in a timely fashion. Usually JPEGs, 1000 pixels on the longest edge is an appropriate resolution to send to a model.<br />
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<b>Addendum: Notes from the battlefield</b><br />
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Sometimes models try to screw you over. Not often but it happens. Look out for these things:<br />
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<i>Do not agree to transfer copyright to the model.</i><br />
Copyright is yours if you took the image. If the model insists, don't agree to work together.<br />
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<i>Do not send out RAW/max resolution files.</i><br />
Requesting this is unusual and basically hints towards something fishy (somebody trying to steal your images or trying to make money off of them without your knowlege).<br />
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<i>Do not agree for other people to retouch your photos after you took them.</i><br />
This would bite you in the rearside later.. Imagine somebody does a horrible job re-retouching your image and then it has your watermark on it. Everybody will think you did it.<br />
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<i>Do not give in to drama, strange demands or obnoxious behaviour.</i><br />
Some few models are used to get whatever they want just because they are attractive people. They might make unreasonable demands of you or treat you disrespectful. In such cases I would weight if the shoot is worth it.<br />
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OK I hope this helps you get started in model photography! If you have any further questions or comments don't hesitate to let me know.<br />
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Take care and good light!<br />
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µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-39841704230118111812015-02-18T21:30:00.002+01:002015-02-18T21:30:39.906+01:00Recent Photoshoot: AnneA couple of days ago I had a photoshoot with Anne (we did a Time For Pictures collaboration) and I really liked how the images turned out. This time most of the shoot was natural light. I just used a simple <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D6NWN6M/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00D6NWN6M&linkCode=as2&tag=muphotography-20&linkId=O5SSVF7JCWQXBHZ5">reflector</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=muphotography-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00D6NWN6M" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and window light on an overcast day.<br />
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On some images I had to correct a bit more than I am used to to get good fill light (the reflector was sometimes not enough to brighten up the side of the face opposite the lightsource) but in the end it worked out nicely.<br />
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Here are the images:<br />
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This is a regular windowlight shot with a reflector on the opposing side of her face. The reflector was mounted on a lightstand (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003I6ENXS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003I6ENXS&linkCode=as2&tag=muphotography-20&linkId=HBJPLGDN5EXCBHQQ">something like this one</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=muphotography-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B003I6ENXS" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />).<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4aEXxep21Ro/VOT0A7XJ2KI/AAAAAAAAB20/SKUHWtPb5X8/s1600/AA9_8512_DxO-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4aEXxep21Ro/VOT0A7XJ2KI/AAAAAAAAB20/SKUHWtPb5X8/s1600/AA9_8512_DxO-Edit.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here Anne actually had the idea to draw the heart and then we shot through one half of an opened window that I had sprayed with some water. I liked how her expression makes you wonder what the story is that's going on here.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RXtMi5iGVzQ/VOT0AwC0syI/AAAAAAAAB2c/kenSTb2baPY/s1600/AA9_8573-Edit-Edit-Edit-Edit-Edit-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RXtMi5iGVzQ/VOT0AwC0syI/AAAAAAAAB2c/kenSTb2baPY/s1600/AA9_8573-Edit-Edit-Edit-Edit-Edit-2.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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In this case the window was straight behind Anne and I had her looking straight at the reflector.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JAZY5Zbg88A/VOT0AuaAXCI/AAAAAAAAB2Y/Y5fDavvudXQ/s1600/AA9_8668-Edit-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JAZY5Zbg88A/VOT0AuaAXCI/AAAAAAAAB2Y/Y5fDavvudXQ/s1600/AA9_8668-Edit-Edit.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Shot on black fabric (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C6N6AC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001C6N6AC&linkCode=as2&tag=muphotography-20&linkId=2F7GSVKLC7HLWKUB">black cotton backdrop</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=muphotography-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001C6N6AC" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />) and this time I used a smoke machine to generate some atmospherics. The deal with these smoke generators is that you can use them indoors (unlike smoke bombs) but you have to cool the smoke down to make it stick to the floor more. Otherwise it will just rise and make your room foggy. I DIYed a styrofoam box with two holes, one to feed the smoke into and one to use as an outlet. I then added some crumpled cardboard into the box so the smoke could not just pass straight through the box and then added some ice to that. Closed the box and everything was ready to rock. Worked quite well.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--BbCIQlCEJA/VOT0BTTug2I/AAAAAAAAB2k/WbGrhvWpyZo/s1600/AA9_8731-Edit_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--BbCIQlCEJA/VOT0BTTug2I/AAAAAAAAB2k/WbGrhvWpyZo/s1600/AA9_8731-Edit_1.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is a shot we took out of the studio on a walk close to the river. Also natural light but late in the day, meaning I had to up the ISO quite dramatically to freeze the hair motion.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SdyHBA5jwqU/VOT0Bhz6JvI/AAAAAAAAB2s/oUdPJABd8EQ/s1600/AA9_8814_DxO-Edit-Edit-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SdyHBA5jwqU/VOT0Bhz6JvI/AAAAAAAAB2s/oUdPJABd8EQ/s1600/AA9_8814_DxO-Edit-Edit-Edit.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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Have a great week and happy shooting!</div>
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<br />µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-71827977984024593292015-02-05T15:35:00.000+01:002015-02-05T15:46:02.038+01:00Is a 50mm a portrait lens?As you might know, camera sensors come in different sizes and, unfortunately, the larger they get, the more expensive they usually are.<br />
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Larger Sensors have some advantages over smaller ones, especially performance at higher ISO numbers (less noise) and the ability to pack more pixels into the same area without loosing too much performance.<br />
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In the DSLR range, you are usually confronted with either an APS-C sensor (also called "crop sensor") or a Full Frame sensor (it's called Full Frame because it is of the same size as 35mm film was in the early days).<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m1UosKIOCng/VNN1_NSEEjI/AAAAAAAABrQ/O1zZH7iXc64/s1600/apsc-full-frame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m1UosKIOCng/VNN1_NSEEjI/AAAAAAAABrQ/O1zZH7iXc64/s1600/apsc-full-frame.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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And here is where things become confusing. Traditionally, focal lengths are given for the good old 35mm (film camera) format. Meaning that they are given as "35mm equivalent" values.<br />
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If you put a 50mm lens on a APS-C camera and then, the same lens, on a Full Frame camera however, you get a very different result. This is because the sensor size is much smaller and therefore it acts as if you just cut out part of the image.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZCHa7moNZc/VNN1_k6oFwI/AAAAAAAABrg/PA8aPQhrEa8/s1600/apsc-full-frame2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZCHa7moNZc/VNN1_k6oFwI/AAAAAAAABrg/PA8aPQhrEa8/s1600/apsc-full-frame2.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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So the problem here is, whenever you hear people tell you "<i>a 50 is a must have</i>" or "<i>you should use a 50mm lens for this or that</i>" what they mean is: a 50mm on a <b>full frame</b> camera!</div>
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Now this is something that I found incredibly confusing and somewhat annoying at the beginning.. why doesn't anybody tell you the frame of reference if it's so important?</div>
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The reason people liked 50mm lenses from the early days of film on, is that this lens gives you an approximate view that is close to what your eye sees. That's why some people also refer to it as a "<i>normal</i>" lens. To be exact, <i>normal lens</i> is a bit of a range and roughly covers everything from 35mm to about 50mm.</div>
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Ok, so now that we've got this confusing bit out of the way let's talk about "focal length eqivalent".</div>
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As you can see from the image above, the APS-C photo looks as if we zoomed in with the camera (even though we did not, it's just a smaller sensor that only records part of the image). Given that Full Frame is what everything is related to, we can give a focal length that would <i>look the same</i> as the APS-C image if taken on a full frame camera. In other words, if I wanted to take the same image (50mm APS-C) with the full frame camera, what would I need to zoom in to.</div>
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The anwer is: if you use an <i>85mm lens</i> on a full frame camera, you get about the image you get with a 50mm on an APS-C (meaning: a close up).</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R7-4jeE3m6o/VNN6eDlbUrI/AAAAAAAABr0/WPaUCfL9TEo/s1600/apsc-full-frame3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R7-4jeE3m6o/VNN6eDlbUrI/AAAAAAAABr0/WPaUCfL9TEo/s1600/apsc-full-frame3.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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Still with me here? I know this is a bit confusing if you never heard of the whole issue.</div>
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Now here's the thing. People use <i>85mm</i> (on full frame, remember) lenses preferably for shooting portraits. That's why many also call them "<i>portrait lenses</i>". And if I say portrait here, I mean something close to a headshot (the head is the main feature in the frame).</div>
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Now a <i>50mm</i> on APS-C gives you the equivalent of a <i>85mm </i>so you might be tempted to use it for shooting portraits. HOWEVER, a <i>50mm</i> lens is <b>not the same as an 85mm lens on full frame</b>, it only gives you the same zoom, not the same look! In the image above with the wine bottle i tried to tweak the aperture setting of the camera to make it look close to the 50mm. In reality they have different bokeh and the 50mm has more barrel distortion (which, by the way, you can not completely correct for in post-processing - even though this is a feature of lens correction modules of, say, lightroom).</div>
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This is one of the reasons why using a 50mm is not so great for portraits, it bloats the faces due to that barrel distortion the lens inherently has (due to the focal length). The shorter you go with the focal length, the more this becomes apparent until you arrive at the noticeable <i>fisheye</i> effect at very short focal lengths.</div>
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Here is a demonstration. I took 3 images of Mr. Foamhead here using the same settings. Once with a 50mm lens on APS-C, once with an 85mm lens on Full Frame and once with a 50mm on Full Frame. I changed the distance of Mr. Foamhead to the camera by moving the camera closer or further away to get the same framing. Can you tell which one is which one?</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y99KmH0HUow/VNN1_KNMpcI/AAAAAAAABrk/J0s-lVKYY3Q/s1600/50-for-portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y99KmH0HUow/VNN1_KNMpcI/AAAAAAAABrk/J0s-lVKYY3Q/s1600/50-for-portrait.jpg" /></a></div>
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Now at first you might think there is no difference here. But look closely at the distance between nose and cheekbones, the roundness of the face, the contours and also the out of focus look of the lightstand with the flash on it behind the head.</div>
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All were shot at an aperture of 1.8 and I tried to match the lighting as close as I could. Doing this with a model, which I initially wanted to do by the way, is almost impossible. Minute movements of the head, a slight tilt of the jaw and you already have a hard time interpreting the differences between the images. In this case the head did not move an inch and angles are exactly the same (well, as close as possible).</div>
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OK, if you're done guessing: here is the solution.</div>
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#1 50mm on Full Frame camera. #2 50mm on APS-C camera, #3 85mm on Full Frame camera.</div>
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The 50mm on Full Frame really distorts the face and makes it look very rounded (in human terms the person would look heavier than he/she really is). The 50mm on APS-C looks close but you can still see that the face is much more round pretty clearly. Lastly the 85mm gives a rendition that looks much closer to what the head looks like in real life. You can also see that a <i>85mm 1.8</i> on full frame has more bokeh as the <i>50mm 1.8</i> on APS-C (look at the lightstand with the flash).</div>
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Here are some measurements if you are into data:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vkl70cSRhVk/VNN1_K2rs0I/AAAAAAAABrc/rDRSBYmMIxY/s1600/50-for-portrait_measure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vkl70cSRhVk/VNN1_K2rs0I/AAAAAAAABrc/rDRSBYmMIxY/s1600/50-for-portrait_measure.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here I measured the distance from the middle of the face to the cheekbone and the tip of the nose to the top of the head to judge roundedness of the face. From the ratios you can also see that the face is less rounded and therefore less distorted than with the <i>50mm</i> lenses.</div>
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Does this make <i>50mm</i> unuseable for portraits? No.. I would definitely not use them on a full frame sensor, it gets better on an APS-C camera but my recommendation is definitely getting a longer focal length for portraits, also on APS-C.</div>
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<br />µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-91245484516399739982015-02-02T17:28:00.004+01:002015-02-02T17:40:28.383+01:00Post-Processing Look 002: Green and red colorcastHere we go again, a new week has started and here is a new post procesing look for you to try out. I will keep these coming once a week with other posts sprinkled in between as they happen.<br />
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This time I am trying to get close to the desaturated/green colorcast that seems to be very popular these days. The photo was lighted with two lights, one directed towards the camera to create a lensflace and one umbrella above the model to create the keylight.<br />
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I used a custom painted green background. You can make your own - just buy some <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GO5F8DY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00GO5F8DY&linkCode=as2&tag=muphotography-20&linkId=UAZT7YTSWA4KJSY2">canvas</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=muphotography-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00GO5F8DY" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> some <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004P1IEIU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004P1IEIU&linkCode=as2&tag=muphotography-20&linkId=BNQDLRA7VFMN5NGH">black acrylic paint</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=muphotography-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B004P1IEIU" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, some <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004P1IEFI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004P1IEFI&linkCode=as2&tag=muphotography-20&linkId=YJXEONNOCAVCAT6D">green acrylic paint</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=muphotography-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B004P1IEFI" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
and some <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003T0TD4M/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003T0TD4M&linkCode=as2&tag=muphotography-20&linkId=L6W3YAGJACWUFJKW">Modelling Paste</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=muphotography-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B003T0TD4M" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, mix a lot of black with some green (you want the green to be very dark for flash photography), add the modeling paste for structure and paint your canvas. No need to spend a lot of bucks on a special background there.<br />
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Here is the video explaining the post-processing:<br />
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<a href="http://youtu.be/nfeImvCOYyU"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p9BLzhd8RKY/VM-hsCZSCvI/AAAAAAAABq8/OnYIQydKlPM/s1600/look-2.jpg" height="281" width="400" /></a></div>
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Hope you had a good start into the week!<br />
Take care, see you next timeµ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-64779720740119013802015-01-29T11:12:00.003+01:002015-01-29T11:12:47.194+01:00Outdoor portrait shootYesterday we went for an outdoor portrait shoot in prater, a huge park in the heart of vienna. We went out at about 15:30 which was already pretty close to golden hour since the days are still pretty short here in vienna.
Here are a couple of favourites from that shoot - just felt like sharing these with you.<br />
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Take care!<br />
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I will still do traditional blogposts but I find that explaining some things in a software as complex as photoshop is much easier in video than in text. So here we go, let's get better in post-processing photos together! I post as I learn and I'm happy for your input.<br />
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The first look we are going to tackle is a red and blue color cast - here is the video tutorial (click to open the video in youtube):<br />
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<a href="http://youtu.be/2_bBHmML8i4" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MMyfvAqenH0/VMer28DgGPI/AAAAAAAABpk/lJKPDS5u7Ac/s1600/look-1.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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This portrait was lit using the rather simple and cheap lighting setup I have explained in a <a href="http://mtothepoweroftwo.blogspot.co.at/2015/01/portrait-lighting-setup.html">previous blog post</a>.<br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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</div>µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-8103384093814698212015-01-15T01:19:00.001+01:002015-01-16T13:56:32.407+01:00Hannibal Cover Copy<br />
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You may or may not be familiar with the original Hannibal Lecter Saga (the movies <i>Silence of the Lambs</i>, <i>Hannibal</i> and <i>Red Dragon</i>). In 2013 a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_(TV_series)" target="_blank">series</a> inspired by these movies started and is now in it's third season set in the time before "Silence of the Lambs" and starring danish actor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mads_Mikkelsen" target="_blank">Mads Mikkelsen</a> as Hannibal.<br />
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The photo below is the cover of the current issue of the Red Bulletin (Red Bull's Magazine) and shows a portrait of Mikkelsen taken by the amazing danish photographer <a href="http://kennethwillardt.com/" target="_blank">Kenneth Willard</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcvWMcG54rU/VLbnRht22_I/AAAAAAAABl0/2b4H7ftv5Kc/s1600/out46459474-work_xt_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcvWMcG54rU/VLbnRht22_I/AAAAAAAABl0/2b4H7ftv5Kc/s1600/out46459474-work_xt_cover.jpg" height="372" width="400" /></a></div>
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We thought it would be fun to try to replicate this image style, so in the next couple of lines I will describe how I went about trying to do that and in the end you'll see if we got any close.<br />
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<b>Shooting</b><br />
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First I tried to figure out possible camera settings that were used here. There is not too much depth of field going on and the image shows no distortion that would be caused by a wider angle lens. I assumed that an 85mm lens (on a full frame camera) should be fairly close to what was used here. Depth of field for that lens was likely to be around f4.0 or so, given that the hand and eyes were in focus but the brick wall in the back was already soft and slightly out of focus. f1.8 would have the tip of the nose (and the hand) already out of focus, f8 would also render the wall sharp.<br />
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Second: lighting. In the image above I noticed that overall, the lighting was rather harsh, high contrast but there were no overly blown highlights.<br />
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One possibility would be sunlight, I was pretty sure that this was not shot outdoors since the shadows fell at an angle that was rather low - almost parallel to the wall. Also the color of the shadows was rather black and colorless.. not slightly blue as you might expect from skylight being bounced around.<br />
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So the remaining option was a rather small lightsource above the subject - almost centered based on the shadows under the nose.<br />
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I chose a speedlight (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0079M711S/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0079M711S&linkCode=as2&tag=muphotography-20&linkId=YXGLLFMSGL72VOFE">Yongnuo YN-560 II Speedlight Flash</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=muphotography-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0079M711S" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
) and arranged it centered and above the model using a lightstand with a weighted arm. I decided on using a beauty-dish for a first try.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q0tGi7KkJ5Y/VLbv4CYZmxI/AAAAAAAABmE/P2ejkWcq3NY/s1600/red%2Bbull%2Bsessions-003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q0tGi7KkJ5Y/VLbv4CYZmxI/AAAAAAAABmE/P2ejkWcq3NY/s1600/red%2Bbull%2Bsessions-003.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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As you can see the shadow under the nose is way too long. I repositioned the dish much lower - almost in front of her. It also seemed that the light was not hard enough at the top of the head so I positioned the dish closer to her head.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aS2C4E6NfjA/VLbw8_gyBrI/AAAAAAAABmQ/W99jc5WF9sU/s1600/red%2Bbull%2Bsessions-014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aS2C4E6NfjA/VLbw8_gyBrI/AAAAAAAABmQ/W99jc5WF9sU/s1600/red%2Bbull%2Bsessions-014.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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I felt the shadow below the nose is pretty close to the original so I kept the setup of the beauty dish in this position.<br />
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Next to this main light light in the original photo there is also a strong rimlight on one side of Mikkelsen face (the white light outlining the cheek where the blood is smeared). Usually such a rimlight is achieved by positioning a light or a reflector behind the model on one side to prevent lighting it up too much. Given that he was standing directly against a wall however, this seemed odd.<br />
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I tried to achieve the effect with a reflector but it was not possible to get an angle where I could get a strong rimlight on the cheek. So I figured I would try to make the lighting work with the rimlight by positioning the model further from the wall and using a flash with a scrim - this way the shadow would not look the same as in the original but I can fix that in post if need be.<br />
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This is the shot we went with:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EnyE5HcK6kI/VLbyVwOEC1I/AAAAAAAABmg/F2gzpe-Q-rU/s1600/red%2Bbull%2Bsessions-027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EnyE5HcK6kI/VLbyVwOEC1I/AAAAAAAABmg/F2gzpe-Q-rU/s1600/red%2Bbull%2Bsessions-027.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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You will notice that in the original photo the colors are quite desaturated and there is a lot of contrast going on. So I went on to edit the photo in photoshop.<br />
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Before we go into editing: here is the complete light setup we used:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m9MmE7y6zWs/VLcD_XLfbJI/AAAAAAAABok/uGWajNmO1sI/s1600/setup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m9MmE7y6zWs/VLcD_XLfbJI/AAAAAAAABok/uGWajNmO1sI/s1600/setup.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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The beauty dish is from roundflash - fairly cheap and foldable (available <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OSKRHT0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00OSKRHT0&linkCode=as2&tag=muphotography-20&linkId=5CVWYJXCU2LWEL6A">here</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=muphotography-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00OSKRHT0" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
). One <i>reflector 1</i> is a DIY reflector, <i>reflector2</i> a 5 in one reflector - also foldable (available <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Y2KC7W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003Y2KC7W&linkCode=as2&tag=muphotography-20&linkId=TYZXUQ74VLMZWB5J">here</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=muphotography-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B003Y2KC7W" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
). There are two Yognuo 560 II flashes in the scene, both are triggered by the flash of the camera (Nikon D610) which I set to lowest power. For the rim ligfht flash I added a little scrim to prevent light hitting the white background (just taped onto the flash - McGuyver style). The lightstand for the main flash is from Dynasun and The rimlight flash is actually held by a refurbished microphone stand.<br />
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Would I do the setup again then I would probably position the dish even lower and almost directly in front of the model. But it worked decently as it was I think.<br />
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<b>Post processing</b><br />
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Here is the starting image:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KCuz97Za9dk/VLbxrTBv5YI/AAAAAAAABmY/IKi_ZdKANWA/s1600/red%2Bbull%2Bsessions-027-Edit-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KCuz97Za9dk/VLbxrTBv5YI/AAAAAAAABmY/IKi_ZdKANWA/s1600/red%2Bbull%2Bsessions-027-Edit-2.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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While still in Lightroom I pushed the whites up a bit (+33), darkened the shadows (-5) and increased overall exposure slightly (+0.70). I then exported to photoshop.<br />
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First I shortened the shadow behind her by making a copy of the image on a new layer, shifting it to the side and creating a layer mask to paint the rest of the background in.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qWvbt1Hmkl8/VLb0xYFvldI/AAAAAAAABm4/vBes46FIitY/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qWvbt1Hmkl8/VLb0xYFvldI/AAAAAAAABm4/vBes46FIitY/s1600/1.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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Next I wanted to increase the highlights a bit (a process usually called "dodging"). One way to do this is to create a copy of the background layer, run <i>Filter>High Pass</i> (I used 114.8 pixels for my 24MP image) and set it to o<i>verlay </i>mode. I reduced the <i>opacity</i> of this layer to 20% (otherwise the effect would be too strong).<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xs1CnHjFMA4/VLb22VzfcTI/AAAAAAAABnI/ahK0YQVKHUI/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xs1CnHjFMA4/VLb22VzfcTI/AAAAAAAABnI/ahK0YQVKHUI/s1600/2.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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I deasturated the image slightly (Hue/Saturation Layer with <i>saturation</i> set to -15) and added a background image (a brick wall) which I blurred slightly using <i>Filter>Gaussian blur</i>.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IqEb8qmeARE/VLb4GiTSzaI/AAAAAAAABnU/jErSl-R1L50/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IqEb8qmeARE/VLb4GiTSzaI/AAAAAAAABnU/jErSl-R1L50/s1600/3.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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Compared to the original there was a slight shadow under the hand which I painted in. I also brightened the bow of the nose slightly and finally toned down the forehead a bit using a new layer set to blending mode "<i>color</i>" on which I painted some skin color with the paintbrush tool over the forehead area. I also slightly painted over some areas on the face and hair to lighten the nose and her brow slightly. Here is the final image:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e71HzmfKtwE/VLcB3APMX6I/AAAAAAAABoY/aQqgPOvma7k/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e71HzmfKtwE/VLcB3APMX6I/AAAAAAAABoY/aQqgPOvma7k/s1600/5.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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So there you go. Next time you want to look like a serial killer, maybe try this setup ;)<br />
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Take care,<br />
Markus<br />
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<br />µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-752190781470094662015-01-08T12:44:00.001+01:002015-01-11T17:54:17.033+01:00Portrait lighting setup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
One of my great heroes of portrait lighting (and photography) is <a href="http://peterhurley.com/" target="_blank">Peter Hurley</a>. He has a very distinctive lighting style by using <a href="http://www.kinoflo.com/" target="_blank">kinoflo</a> constant light sources which are usually used for movie lighting.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-40EwCh2eazw/VK5s3z0df7I/AAAAAAAABko/gDgzGFP3qWw/s1600/hurley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-40EwCh2eazw/VK5s3z0df7I/AAAAAAAABko/gDgzGFP3qWw/s1600/hurley.jpg" height="326" width="400" /></a></div>
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Peter prefers constant light over flash in taking headshot portraits because he feels that triggering a flash somehow gets people distracted every time and they become too aware of the fact that they are being photographed.. leading to strange facial movements and your client basically not looking as relaxed and natural as they could look. This is of course especially true for clients that are not professional models and used to working with flash like in corporate portraits, senior portraits etc.</div>
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Here is a great video by Peter describing his basic process. You also get to see a little glimpse of what his studio looks like.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/TpKsuP0NlzI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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So I set out to see if I could replicate this lighting style on a budget with items available at a department store. Judging from Peter Hurley's videos on youtube and from what the highlights in the eyes of his portraits look like I assumed he had a lamp to the left an right of his subject and possible one above. I assumed that he might have a reflector below the subject as well but I could not see one.</div>
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Therefore I set out to buy two long neon lamps left and right of the head and one smaller lamp for the top. This is what I bought:</div>
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<b>2 x neon lamps 30W, length 120cm</b></div>
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<b>1 x neon lamps 18W, length 60cm</b></div>
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I made sure all neon tubes were of the same type on order to avoid the white-balance being too far off natural light so I tried to get lamps that had a light temperature close to 5500Kelvin (in my case 5000K).</div>
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Mounting the lamps provided a bit of a challenge. In the end I constructed a makeshift frame to attach them to with wire and held them up with two lightstands. Ideally I would probably build a more permanent and stable solution by getting a couple of more supplies from the department store. Here is what it looks like:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Un7YCRNq4Yw/VKnW8nYj30I/AAAAAAAABfs/vyo_RdjDrMY/s1600/lighting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Un7YCRNq4Yw/VKnW8nYj30I/AAAAAAAABfs/vyo_RdjDrMY/s1600/lighting.jpg" height="320" width="246" /></a></div>
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After some testing I did however run into one particular problem: the neon tubes I was using had a flicker to them that became apparent at certain shutter speed and led to green banding across the images on some instances.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7nZO-Sd9eNU/VKnW8Xfi5_I/AAAAAAAABfo/MZJMrmV7TxU/s1600/AA9_6020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7nZO-Sd9eNU/VKnW8Xfi5_I/AAAAAAAABfo/MZJMrmV7TxU/s1600/AA9_6020.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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shutter speed 1/1250<br />
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I figured out the solution to this issue was to use a shutterspeed of slower than 1/150. It's not a perfect solution since this is of course somewhat limiting especially when using longer lenses where faster speeds would be of benefit. Also, every now and then, there is still a slight but noticeable color cast over the whole image which can, however, be corrected easily by adjusting white balance.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UeENhRqMs50/VKnW8YTTSuI/AAAAAAAABfw/bDrcBObPtaQ/s1600/AA9_6026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UeENhRqMs50/VKnW8YTTSuI/AAAAAAAABfw/bDrcBObPtaQ/s1600/AA9_6026.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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shutter speed 1/125<br />
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So, finally I tried the lamps out under a couple of real-life portrait conditions. It seems to work quite well actually. If I would change one thing it would be to use more powerful lights and maybe try a couple of different tubes to see if the green cast issue can be totally resolved.<br />
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Here are some portraits taken with this setup:<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3NrULn16PoI/VKiLuPct5kI/AAAAAAAABfM/wspO8gc3YHQ/s1600/AA9_5632_DxO-Edit-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3NrULn16PoI/VKiLuPct5kI/AAAAAAAABfM/wspO8gc3YHQ/s1600/AA9_5632_DxO-Edit-Edit.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E25ImwQnkfc/VLKqTqybuSI/AAAAAAAABlQ/0SagoiMYobI/s1600/AA9_7206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E25ImwQnkfc/VLKqTqybuSI/AAAAAAAABlQ/0SagoiMYobI/s1600/AA9_7206.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KkfqUd9bCqI/VLKqpENIJjI/AAAAAAAABlY/G9mn37A4rzY/s1600/AA9_5494_DxO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KkfqUd9bCqI/VLKqpENIJjI/AAAAAAAABlY/G9mn37A4rzY/s1600/AA9_5494_DxO.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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Have fun in case you decide to build one as well and let me know how it worked out for you.<br />
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Take care and happy home-depot shopping!<br />
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µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-1074110375992624662015-01-06T23:36:00.003+01:002015-01-07T00:51:05.718+01:00Bokeh - Battle of the 50's (Bonus)<div style="text-align: center;">
After posting about <a href="http://mtothepoweroftwo.blogspot.co.at/2015/01/vintage-versus-modern-battle-of-50s.html" target="_blank">my last blog</a> on <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/50401162@N08/" target="_blank">my flickr</a> stream, (inspired by Wolfgang Schmitt aka "Spiegelwelten" - check out his amazing images <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/spiegelwelten/" target="_blank">here</a>) I also set out to compare the bokeh of these lenses. Given that this might be a good argument to use a less sharp vintage lens instead of a more modern one, I thought it was a great idea and therefore, to complement my last post, here is a comparison to how the reviewed 50mm lenses render bokeh (the light balls you are used to see in unsharp parts of an image, especially highlights).</div>
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So let's jump right into it, shall we? I found an alternate use for some christmas lights to serve as bokeh-generators. In all cases I tried to keep the distance to the subject approximately the same and the focus about off by the same amount (close focus). This is especially important for the volna 9 which is a macro lens and therefore can focus much closer than all the other contestants (which would result in huge out of focus balls).</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O-qLG9lKlxA/VKnlRyYmesI/AAAAAAAABgU/GkwU9rOBG4k/s1600/Nikkor50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O-qLG9lKlxA/VKnlRyYmesI/AAAAAAAABgU/GkwU9rOBG4k/s1600/Nikkor50.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QK9CuUhPgeY/VKnlS_8G_BI/AAAAAAAABgM/g9HrL8gQZNc/s1600/fujinon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QK9CuUhPgeY/VKnlS_8G_BI/AAAAAAAABgM/g9HrL8gQZNc/s1600/fujinon.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-abjJ5xSQV5o/VKnlR5ELflI/AAAAAAAABgA/lYPuEgLBAY4/s1600/Helios44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-abjJ5xSQV5o/VKnlR5ELflI/AAAAAAAABgA/lYPuEgLBAY4/s1600/Helios44.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dVI2IlSFPsE/VKnlR2vNonI/AAAAAAAABgE/8YjBFE7zOyk/s1600/Volna9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dVI2IlSFPsE/VKnlR2vNonI/AAAAAAAABgE/8YjBFE7zOyk/s1600/Volna9.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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As you can see the Volna 9 and the Helios both have very interesting bokeh. The volna delivers buttery smooth bokeh at f 2.8 and very jagged hexagonal bokeh at f4.0. The Helios, next to the Fujinon lens have the hardest edged bokeh wide open. The Fujinon lens becomes almost geometrically hexagonal at f4.0 while the Helios, on the other side or the extremes, has incredibly smooth and round bokeh even at f4.0.</div>
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Here are some more realistic examples of all three lenses in action. (Nikon D610 with M42 adapter)<br />
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<b>Nikkor 50 1.8G @ f1.8</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KC0p1U4oiZU/VKxDMtgPFMI/AAAAAAAABg0/lJ8dirM4LdE/s1600/scene_nikkor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KC0p1U4oiZU/VKxDMtgPFMI/AAAAAAAABg0/lJ8dirM4LdE/s1600/scene_nikkor.jpg" /></a></div>
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full size crop<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Eh9IRs7ylfQ/VKxDMhQXhuI/AAAAAAAABg8/evpBEFpiyxk/s1600/scene_nikkor_full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Eh9IRs7ylfQ/VKxDMhQXhuI/AAAAAAAABg8/evpBEFpiyxk/s1600/scene_nikkor_full.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>Fujinon 55 1.8 @ 1.8</b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6coZlTMWMrA/VKxDLrGbJcI/AAAAAAAABgw/rSAy0OLWaFw/s1600/scene_Funijon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6coZlTMWMrA/VKxDLrGbJcI/AAAAAAAABgw/rSAy0OLWaFw/s1600/scene_Funijon.jpg" /></a></div>
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full size crop<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FJtYH_Gm24g/VKxDLvWtKXI/AAAAAAAABgo/-vTVFzann-4/s1600/scene_Funijon_full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FJtYH_Gm24g/VKxDLvWtKXI/AAAAAAAABgo/-vTVFzann-4/s1600/scene_Funijon_full.jpg" /></a></div>
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(NOTE: this photo is actually focused correctly but the white light reflected from the snow causes this lightwrap-effect blurring the edges of the head/cap)</div>
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<b>Helios 44-2 @ f2.0</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pu05U7wFk6Y/VKxDLtnYKVI/AAAAAAAABgs/0cosx5k2lCI/s1600/scene_helios.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pu05U7wFk6Y/VKxDLtnYKVI/AAAAAAAABgs/0cosx5k2lCI/s1600/scene_helios.jpg" /></a></div>
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full size crop<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bh7ZbDhyfDg/VKxDMZpeLXI/AAAAAAAABhc/jhmsGCZyFu0/s1600/scene_helios_full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bh7ZbDhyfDg/VKxDMZpeLXI/AAAAAAAABhc/jhmsGCZyFu0/s1600/scene_helios_full.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>Volna 9 @ f2.8</b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zG5mMnCMaas/VKxDMyAAZmI/AAAAAAAABhA/j9K0fV8uDJM/s1600/scene_volna9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zG5mMnCMaas/VKxDMyAAZmI/AAAAAAAABhA/j9K0fV8uDJM/s1600/scene_volna9.jpg" /></a></div>
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full size crop<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I9EdypUbC9I/VKxDNXykApI/AAAAAAAABhE/nPIzAbHfbj0/s1600/scene_volna9_full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I9EdypUbC9I/VKxDNXykApI/AAAAAAAABhE/nPIzAbHfbj0/s1600/scene_volna9_full.jpg" /></a></div>
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And finally, here are a couple of fully edited shots taken on a sunny winter day with each of these lenses. Kind of the real-world test if you will. Surprisingly, some of the lenses that you would probably dismiss based on purely technical performance (in terms of sharpness) yielded very interesting images with a lot of character.<br />
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<b>Nikkor @ f1.8</b><br />
(click to enlarge)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1ykQUnrpkvs/VKxhu8vY_fI/AAAAAAAABhw/NdhlbSu2k1s/s1600/AA9_6080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1ykQUnrpkvs/VKxhu8vY_fI/AAAAAAAABhw/NdhlbSu2k1s/s1600/AA9_6080.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3gjyLE_VKYY/VKxhuwqNGVI/AAAAAAAABh0/KJUlKvefah0/s1600/AA9_6102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3gjyLE_VKYY/VKxhuwqNGVI/AAAAAAAABh0/KJUlKvefah0/s1600/AA9_6102.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X1Q9yT3ypWE/VKxhuzI3eiI/AAAAAAAABh4/IwFfWOF-WxU/s1600/AA9_6145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X1Q9yT3ypWE/VKxhuzI3eiI/AAAAAAAABh4/IwFfWOF-WxU/s1600/AA9_6145.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Fujinon @ f1.8</b><br />
(click to enlarge)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I6934wPiI8Q/VKxh_Pa7x8I/AAAAAAAABiU/_CoTGre-pbI/s1600/AA9_6177.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I6934wPiI8Q/VKxh_Pa7x8I/AAAAAAAABiU/_CoTGre-pbI/s1600/AA9_6177.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VGwsTrVN2LU/VKxh_CLNBYI/AAAAAAAABiI/B94l_UGSP54/s1600/AA9_6182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VGwsTrVN2LU/VKxh_CLNBYI/AAAAAAAABiI/B94l_UGSP54/s1600/AA9_6182.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n147X7IkRNg/VKx0x-FeZAI/AAAAAAAABjg/DTlqA-8p3xw/s1600/F_3%2B(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n147X7IkRNg/VKx0x-FeZAI/AAAAAAAABjg/DTlqA-8p3xw/s1600/F_3%2B(2).jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Helios @ f2.0</b></div>
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(click to enlarge)</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sj9yt8fACs0/VKxiTDszT1I/AAAAAAAABig/7SNsWv-D_AE/s1600/AA9_6280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sj9yt8fACs0/VKxiTDszT1I/AAAAAAAABig/7SNsWv-D_AE/s1600/AA9_6280.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MgLcYR9JpmU/VKxiTNPgobI/AAAAAAAABio/jjsz5GXPdjI/s1600/AA9_6284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MgLcYR9JpmU/VKxiTNPgobI/AAAAAAAABio/jjsz5GXPdjI/s1600/AA9_6284.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BG7dhUpr7wE/VKxiTAy-Q5I/AAAAAAAABik/hXfD4LDjQFw/s1600/AA9_6293.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BG7dhUpr7wE/VKxiTAy-Q5I/AAAAAAAABik/hXfD4LDjQFw/s1600/AA9_6293.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Volna 9 @ f2.8</b></div>
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(click to enlarge)</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UYpUYMBbQDw/VKxih4sKXyI/AAAAAAAABi4/1qYJT74wpWo/s1600/AA9_6239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UYpUYMBbQDw/VKxih4sKXyI/AAAAAAAABi4/1qYJT74wpWo/s1600/AA9_6239.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7eLkQpvgZrw/VKxih6WOzHI/AAAAAAAABjE/p99FUxizS9w/s1600/AA9_6253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7eLkQpvgZrw/VKxih6WOzHI/AAAAAAAABjE/p99FUxizS9w/s1600/AA9_6253.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2FZxkF9Bes4/VKxihy4-poI/AAAAAAAABi8/VnUBJUj7YWs/s1600/AA9_6263.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2FZxkF9Bes4/VKxihy4-poI/AAAAAAAABi8/VnUBJUj7YWs/s1600/AA9_6263.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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.. and given that the volna9 is actually a macro:</div>
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(click to enlarge)</div>
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Well I hope you enjoyed this little journey back in time to the world of M42 50mm lenses and if you are out on the market to get one of these, I hope this helped you in your decision making.</div>
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Enjoy the winter days! Good light and good luck!</div>
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µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-50595007063482044572015-01-03T23:32:00.000+01:002015-01-04T00:56:18.992+01:00Vintage versus Modern: Battle of the 50's<div style="text-align: center;">
Since my <a href="http://mtothepoweroftwo.blogspot.co.at/2015/01/vintage-versus-modern-85mm-lenses.html" target="_blank">last post</a> was about comparing two 85mm lenses I think it's only fair to go on to compare a couple of 50mm (ish) lenses as well.</div>
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The contestants are:</div>
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the fairly new <b>Nikkor AF-S 50mm 1.8G</b></div>
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and a couple of seasoned veterans:<br />
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<b><span style="text-align: left;">M42 Fujinon 55 mm</span><br /><span style="text-align: left;">M42 Volna 9 58mm</span><br /><span style="text-align: left;">M42 Helios44-2</span></b></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4mOLdT3v8EQ/VKbWbONfatI/AAAAAAAABd8/efqQKy-6gNg/s1600/IMGP1320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4mOLdT3v8EQ/VKbWbONfatI/AAAAAAAABd8/efqQKy-6gNg/s1600/IMGP1320.jpg" height="111" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from left to right: Nikkor 1.8G, Fujinon 1.8, Helios 44-2 and Volna 9</td></tr>
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The M42 lenses were used with a M42 to Nikon adapter with an infinity correction lens. I will make a separate post comparing lenses with and without this adapter to pentax and nikon bodies to see how much influence the lens has. My gut feeling, having seen those lenses on the pentax system which does not require a correction lens, is that it actually does not have much of an impact on image quality. But we will see that in a more controlled experiment soon.</div>
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So here we go, the shots of the test scene. All were shot with flash and a Nikon D610 on a tripod at 1/160 and ISO100.</div>
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Performance when shot wide open (scaled down to 25% of the original size):</div>
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(click to enlarge)</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2AxwWLYKTAQ/VKhgNdtiyCI/AAAAAAAABe8/r9_T_FMrMZI/s1600/50mm-shootout_wideopen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2AxwWLYKTAQ/VKhgNdtiyCI/AAAAAAAABe8/r9_T_FMrMZI/s1600/50mm-shootout_wideopen.jpg" height="640" width="265" /></a></div>
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Here clearly the Nikkor lens has the lead in terms of sharpness. Helios and Volna don't offer f1.8 and therefore are shown at their respective widest aperture.</div>
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performance at 2.8 (widest common denominator)</div>
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(click to enlarge)</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UYIzud5F0YI/VKfsXdj7PbI/AAAAAAAABeg/I6qMI-uhims/s1600/50s%2Bat%2Btwoeight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UYIzud5F0YI/VKfsXdj7PbI/AAAAAAAABeg/I6qMI-uhims/s1600/50s%2Bat%2Btwoeight.jpg" height="640" title="all lenses at 2.8" width="265" /></a></div>
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Here Nikkor and Fujunon lenses show pretty good performance (Nikkor still in the lead in my eye) while Volna and Helios do not come close in sharpness.</div>
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performance at 8.0</div>
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(click to enlarge)</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JyKHDYa3Kdc/VKfvL32DuqI/AAAAAAAABes/7GT8LdbPwmo/s1600/50s%2Bat%2Beight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JyKHDYa3Kdc/VKfvL32DuqI/AAAAAAAABes/7GT8LdbPwmo/s1600/50s%2Bat%2Beight.jpg" height="640" width="267" /></a></div>
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Here now the Volna shows why it's called a macro lens. The performance at f8 is very good and close to the Nikkor lens. The Fujinon gets a close third place while the Helios still has a rather soft rendition of the scene. For better comparison see the 100% crops below at 1.8, 2.0, 2.8, 4.0 and 8.0.</div>
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100% crops close up</div>
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(click for full size)</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2heNglxZE7M/VKbWg45czII/AAAAAAAABeE/DSBPQComjq8/s1600/50mm-shootout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2heNglxZE7M/VKbWg45czII/AAAAAAAABeE/DSBPQComjq8/s1600/50mm-shootout.jpg" height="640" width="479" /></a></div>
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My overall impression is that at f8.0 the nikkor lens and the volna 9 are very similar in sharpness, meaning they are both very sharp and show excellent detail. The nikkor is more contrasty than the volna 9 while the volna, since it's a macro lens, has a very short minimal focusing distance allowing you to get very close to your subject. All in all the Nikkor beats the other lenses pretty good unless you are in for some vintage soft focus effect which is very extreme with the helios 44-2, and present on the Volna and Fujinon lens on wider apertures. The Fujinon overall is a pretty good lens not far behind the Nikkor at apertures above f2.8.</div>
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µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-31406000044650720472015-01-02T13:49:00.003+01:002015-01-07T01:06:23.252+01:00Vintage versus modern: 85mm lenses<div style="text-align: center;">
I thought it would be fun to compare a modern portrait lens I recently obtained to an older one that was my prized posession until now.</div>
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The two contestants are:</div>
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<b>M42 smc Takumar 85mm 1.8</b> (built in 1972) - manual focus</div>
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and the new</div>
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<b>Nikkor AF-S 85mm 1.8G</b> (built from 2012 on) - autofocus</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mboQkOXTAx0/VKakHz-aeaI/AAAAAAAABds/wqbER1M4l8w/s1600/IMGP1318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mboQkOXTAx0/VKakHz-aeaI/AAAAAAAABds/wqbER1M4l8w/s1600/IMGP1318.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a></div>
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My test setup:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zOC-ueL0QVg/VKaHuU9B6KI/AAAAAAAABdM/I1C7_3khh9Y/s1600/AA9_5976.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zOC-ueL0QVg/VKaHuU9B6KI/AAAAAAAABdM/I1C7_3khh9Y/s1600/AA9_5976.jpg" height="184" width="320" /></a></div>
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I shot this scene on a tripod with manual focus on the eyes (in liveview) of mr. frankenstein's monster here with a flash, trying to keep total exposure approximately the same. I went through aperture 1.8, 2.0, 2.8, 4 and 8.</div>
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I should not that the Takumar behaved as if it was slightly longer than 85 so I had to move the trippod about a cm back to get the same framing. All images were shot with a Nikon D610 and 1/160 of a second at ISO 100.</div>
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100% crops on the face:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pfS__6BTkM0/VKaHUYU2CvI/AAAAAAAABdE/GRniPkyt8QA/s1600/85mm-shootout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pfS__6BTkM0/VKaHUYU2CvI/AAAAAAAABdE/GRniPkyt8QA/s1600/85mm-shootout.jpg" /></a></div>
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The result came out as quite interesting.</div>
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These lenses have very different characteristics. The Nikon is clearly sharper at 1.8 and 2.0 while, to my eyes, it seems the takumar may have a slight advantage at f4 and f8. They seem to be tied at 2.8. This has to take into account as well that I have to use an adapter for the M42 Takumar lens which includes a lens for infinity focus. I would argue that this is a good sign that the lens inside the adapter (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CZ59W2K/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00CZ59W2K&linkCode=as2&tag=muphotography-20&linkId=SU7J7WCPJP7GE6KP">amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=muphotography-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00CZ59W2K" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />) does not mess things up too much and, if anything, points towards this 1970's lens being even better than shown here with a camera that accepts it without infinity focus adapter.</div>
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There is some green fringing going on in the Nikon 85 while the Takumar shows no signs of chromatic aberration across the board.</div>
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Now the sharpness at f1.8 and f2.0 one can see as a letdown on the side of the Takumar or a feature. It certainly has a special-soft-focus quality to it so you might actually like that look on portraits.</div>
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Keep in mind that these are 100% crops from a 24MP sensor. On images in more typical resolution the soft focus effect actually translates in smooth transitions and a dreamy overall look.</div>
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See here for the scenes at 1.8</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DxmE8kD0DA4/VKaOGg8GeEI/AAAAAAAABdc/-q93U2TxR2Q/s1600/fullscene1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DxmE8kD0DA4/VKaOGg8GeEI/AAAAAAAABdc/-q93U2TxR2Q/s1600/fullscene1.jpg" height="640" width="320" /></a></div>
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All in all I think the more modern 85/1.8 certainly has an edge at low apertures if your aim is a very neutral rendition of your subject. If you are in for some vintagy charm you should however consider trying out the Takumar.</div>
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smc Takumar 85mm @ f2.8<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oJHI-hFP5v0/VKx33ovrkzI/AAAAAAAABjs/u2_OuefRX0U/s1600/AA9_4370-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oJHI-hFP5v0/VKx33ovrkzI/AAAAAAAABjs/u2_OuefRX0U/s1600/AA9_4370-Edit.jpg" height="290" width="400" /></a></div>
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In the next article I will have a look at some lenses in the 50mm range including the Nikkor 1.8G, Helios 44-2, Funijon 55 1.8 and the Volnar-9</div>
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Have a happy and inspired new year everyone!</div>
µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-84717231460058660302014-12-29T22:49:00.001+01:002014-12-29T22:49:48.248+01:00Leaves are falling.. (Part 2)Finally here is the second part of my short look at how the image was made.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-574Qp8Qua94/VKHJQ8zIpNI/AAAAAAAABbs/ihL43zPJzAY/s1600/fall1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-574Qp8Qua94/VKHJQ8zIpNI/AAAAAAAABbs/ihL43zPJzAY/s1600/fall1.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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This is the image after I photoshopped the leaves in that I had shot separately. It's basically all using a photo of leaves and then adding a layer mask to fit it into the image. Sometimes also adding a curves layer to darken or brighten parts of the leaves helps to make it look realistic</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1bn8gkkymTE/VKHJQ47hiUI/AAAAAAAABbw/O5f9D1EnCVQ/s1600/fall2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1bn8gkkymTE/VKHJQ47hiUI/AAAAAAAABbw/O5f9D1EnCVQ/s1600/fall2.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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Here I added a blurry background which I tried to match to the colors going on in the image with the model already. The color matching can be done in several ways. What I like to do is open up channels and then start with, say, green. This now displays a monochrome image where ONLY green color is shown. With this selected I add a curves layer to the image background (and only the background) and start tweaking the green curve. I look at the image and adjust the background until the image looks like the background fits in. Once this is done, do the same for red and blue. It takes some time but usually gives nice results.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TEUd3cQOEeg/VKHJRdAraiI/AAAAAAAABb0/2QIusrYyGto/s1600/fall4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TEUd3cQOEeg/VKHJRdAraiI/AAAAAAAABb0/2QIusrYyGto/s1600/fall4.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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Here I added some atmosphere by painting some smoke into the background and the foreground. You can do the same by photographing some smoke and blending it in. I tried to make some smoke using a mixture of glycerol and water (in a mix of about 1+6 or so) and putting it into a humidifier. This actually gives nice smoke but I probably need to find a more powerful humidifier given that the smoke just pours out of it more or less and I'd rather have it emmited a bit.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TEWADb19UQw/VKHJR0lnDgI/AAAAAAAABb4/LYl5Hk6dNyQ/s1600/fall5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TEWADb19UQw/VKHJR0lnDgI/AAAAAAAABb4/LYl5Hk6dNyQ/s1600/fall5.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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Now I added some color grading using a curves adjustment layer in order to make the shadows a bit colder and add a bit more punch. The curves adjustments are shown here:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TqzVzcgKg7M/VKHJST0F7HI/AAAAAAAABb8/1LsAxRM_eBQ/s1600/fall6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TqzVzcgKg7M/VKHJST0F7HI/AAAAAAAABb8/1LsAxRM_eBQ/s1600/fall6.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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Final touches. Here I decided to tone down the image a bit to not make it too saturated. In the end I actually made it a bit brighter again (see final image in the last post)</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LhomNOG-wpA/VKHJStxRqoI/AAAAAAAABcE/sEIJkB2P45o/s1600/fall7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LhomNOG-wpA/VKHJStxRqoI/AAAAAAAABcE/sEIJkB2P45o/s1600/fall7.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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So I hope you found this in any way useful. Given that this year is approaching it's end I wish you a happy new year 2015- don't get too wasted on new year!<br />
<br />µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-37404740317964873142014-11-27T11:16:00.002+01:002014-11-27T11:17:50.313+01:00Leaves are falling.. (Part 1)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JwdY-krYafo/VHb6EgMDPzI/AAAAAAAABUQ/c15QVn1PzyI/s1600/20141120-Capture0104-2-Editv3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JwdY-krYafo/VHb6EgMDPzI/AAAAAAAABUQ/c15QVn1PzyI/s1600/20141120-Capture0104-2-Editv3.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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Some days ago I had arranged a photoshoot with a model online and over coffee we had gone through a list of things we could try to shoot. On the day of the shoot I was passing a playground in the morning that was surrounded by a lot of trees and suddenly the idea came to my head to create an image where the model's hair had been replaced by leaves and she was holding an hourglass representing the passing of time.<br />
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Photos like this, of course, have probably done before - but sometimes it's just fun to give something your own spin and try it out. Admit it, you have shot water droplets before too haven't you? Or that portrait of an old man in black and white? I know I have.. ;)<br />
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So as I was passing the playground I just grabbed a handful of leaves and put them in a plastic bag I had brought along.<br />
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At home I washed the leaves just to make sure there were no crawly things hiding in there that could make the model uneasy.<br />
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Since covering the whole head in leaves is a bit of work (and we were limited by the amount of hairpins) I decided to just put some leaves where her hair meets her face (the temples, the side of her head) and we took a picture like that. (One light source - it was an umbrella up top and my Yognuo 560 II)<br />
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After this shoot with the model I then set up a styrofoam head (that I had adjusted to exactly her height) and pinned lots of leaves all over it. I then took a picture with exactly the same settings as in the shot with the model and replaced the styrofoam head with her head in the final image.<br />
This way we saved a lot of model-time and a lot of hairpins!<br />
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I will go into the post-processing that went into this shot in a second post.<br />
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<br />µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-33932969471119634342014-11-25T22:02:00.001+01:002014-11-25T22:14:58.869+01:00Fate II deconstructed (tutorial)This is a deconstruction for one of the recent images I have worked on called "Fate II". The basic idea was to have something remincescent of the greek fates that, according to mythology, were responsible for weaving the thread of every man and woman's life.<br />
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This is the image:<br />
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Some parts of this shoot were planned and some were improvised. I knew I wanted to have a mysterious, etherial look and that the model would be wearing a red veil of sorts that would be see through. I also wanted her to hold an hourglass because this fit well with the symbology of the initial topic.<br />
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I bought the hourglass on ebay (10€) and got some red organza curtains from a local shop (mömax, about 6€).<br />
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I went for a mysterious atmosphere and therefore wanted to have some smoke in the image. One good way to make your own smoke is by adding some glycerol to water (I added about 1 part to 8 parts water) and make that mixture evaporate. The easyest way to achieve that was by mis-using my humidifier for this purpose.<br />
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The lighting had to be dramatic and spooky so I decided to have one speedlight mounted right above my model shooting through a white umbrella (about 10€ on amazon) mounted on a lightstand (dynasun) connected to a weighted arm, holding the umbrella (wallimex).<br />
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The other speedlight below the model was first wrapped with some paper to prevent light spilling out too much and to only light up the background behind the hourglass and the model's chin.<br />
This speedlight was put inside of the curtain.<br />
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Both were triggered by the on-camera flash from my Nikon D610 set to the lowest flash power (Slave mode 1 for the Yoguno's. Both were set to 1/16 power).<br />
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This is the photo that we got. Notice that there was too little smoke in the background. I later went back and just shot some smoke on black background to later composite into the image. The model came up with this really great looking pose. Getting the curtain to fall in a way that looks nice was some work. We used some clamps to give it a bit of shape. The rest of the steps were done in Photoshop.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lMasv4Dza0E/VHTra77xr1I/AAAAAAAABTQ/0UknslEHtyE/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lMasv4Dza0E/VHTra77xr1I/AAAAAAAABTQ/0UknslEHtyE/s1600/2.jpg" height="320" width="201" /></a></div>
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Next the main character was separated from the background. This was done by adding a layer mask and painting with black on that layermask where the background was. To be faster you can also use the magic wand tool first to select the black background and then do a second pass with the paintbrush to remove all the background. I knew up front that I wanted to replace the background with something else so this step, although somewhat cumbersome, was necessary.<br />
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Next I made a new layer behind my character and filled it with a desaturated and dark color, creating a new background.<br />
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Leaving a solid color would have been possible but I wanted to give the scene a little bit more of a setting so I chose an image that I had shot on a photowalk the day before and put it between the character layer and the background layer at low opacity. I placed it such that the arc would form a "halo" around her head, leading the eye to look down.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sB35Zi3SVew/VHTrcAUvC_I/AAAAAAAABTY/J7cnthuTtl8/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sB35Zi3SVew/VHTrcAUvC_I/AAAAAAAABTY/J7cnthuTtl8/s1600/5.jpg" height="320" width="201" /></a></div>
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Now I lightened up the face and the hourglass by using a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2CTqDvl5uc" target="_blank">curves adjustment layer (click for an explanation) </a>and the paintbrush.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WCDRxsIbxbU/VHTrcuYNZWI/AAAAAAAABTc/m1An_11RPkI/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WCDRxsIbxbU/VHTrcuYNZWI/AAAAAAAABTc/m1An_11RPkI/s1600/6.jpg" height="320" width="201" /></a></div>
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I added smoke by taking a couple of different smoke images and carefully overlaying them over my character. I used the "Blend If" function to only blend the bright parts and leave the dark ones out. You can use layer modes like "Lighten" for a similar effect.<br />
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Last but no least: color. I chose a color that was opposite (<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/RBG_color_wheel.svg" target="_blank">click for a color wheel</a>) of my light red (green) using a curves layer and colored that background and some areas around the hourglass with that color to bring out a stronger contrast between the character and the background. Eventually I shifted the whole picture from red-green more towards magenta-cyan using a hue-saturation layer. I did this because I found the green looked a bit too harsh while the blue had a bit more of a natural/pleasing look.<br />
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I hope you found this little rundown useful. If you would like to see future posts like this or things were unclear, please make sure to drop me a comment.<br />
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All the best and have fun!<br />
Mark<br />
<br />µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-22667185450372525092014-11-24T16:28:00.004+01:002014-11-24T16:28:49.503+01:00Long time no seeOh my.. it's been forever. I had a long break from blogging now.<br />
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I spent the last months on various RL issues, finishing science projects and making some major life decisions. Since most of those have been done, it's time to get writing again.<br /><br />I have updated my website and got a new domain (http://mu-photography.com), I much prefer the new layout to the old one. I will keep it rather minimalist and simple.<br />
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Other than the website relaunch I have been working a lot on getting a nice portfolio together including several fine-art images. Some of which are shown here:<br />
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A lot of images, especially collaborations with models, are coming up.<br />I will also post quite a couple of how-to's in case you are interested in a behind-the-scenes look for some of these images.</div>
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Take care and happy shooting,</div>
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<br />µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-40529215640742668482014-04-25T15:39:00.000+02:002014-04-25T15:39:13.869+02:00concert photographyi brought the camera along for a rock concert yesterday and learned a couple of lessons<br />(also thanks to matthias hombauer, an established concert photographer who gave me some tips afterwards)<br /><br />1) pick a lens that has a decently wide aperture. i had an 18-135mm f5.6 with me and that was not so great. next time i will try a 50mm 1.4 - although that one is quite heavy.<br />
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2) shoot in manual. my camera likes to make rather "creative" choices under the lighting conditions of a stage so i set it to manual and went this way. my settings for the pictures below were f5.6, 1/60 iso 6400.<br />
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i'd prefer to shoot at a smaller iso setting due to excessive noise but in the end.. well, you learn. here are some pictures from that shoot:<br />
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<br />µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-50922762438420795872014-04-12T18:03:00.000+02:002014-04-12T23:25:38.036+02:00ateliera friend who is also a very talented painter invited me to the atelier recently and to me it was an almost religious experience. the smell of oil color and canvas, the brushes, colors, tools, the old flat it was in.. little bits of artwork here and there.<br />
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the place was fairly dark with a lot of mood lighting spilling in from the streets outside through the windows.</div>
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i did not want to use a flash so i had to take pictures as rather high iso settings (3200 or 6400) on my pentax. i have to say it worked better than expected even though i definitely should have brought a tripod. next time.</div>
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here are some of the shots i took there:</div>
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µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-90476368309313843222014-04-04T00:50:00.002+02:002014-04-04T00:51:51.855+02:00outsidethe sun is getting stronger and stronger over here and so this was the perfect time to pack some gear and go out into the wild. the wild being the forests close to the danube slightly outside of vienna in this case. i wandered about there and took a couple of pictures of trees (mostly). here are a few from the shoot last weeked. have an awesome week!<br />
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<br />µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-90488760558919923102014-04-03T17:48:00.000+02:002014-04-04T10:52:35.916+02:00Interview: Philomenarecently, as i was browsing deviantart (www.deviantart.com) i stumbled upon a couple of photos that totally blew me away. the images below are some examples from Philomena's body of work (http://www.chat-noir.at/) who i decided to interview and she was kind enough to accept my request:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DZf91QBOBGk/Uz1764RTcrI/AAAAAAAAAiA/S7wk__aXngs/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DZf91QBOBGk/Uz1764RTcrI/AAAAAAAAAiA/S7wk__aXngs/s1600/4.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;">For the people who don’t know you yet, please tell us a little bit about yourself </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;"><b>and </b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;">where you live currently.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11.818181991577148px; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm Philomena and I currently live on the outskirts of a larger german city. I moved here to study.<br />Creative work is a constant part of my life and a kind of an inner need for me.<br />I discovered photography for me about a few years ago on my journey to find ways to express myself, and I do this currently mainly with portraits/self-portraits.<br />Photography is also a passion and love. I spend a lot of time in nature and even there I always go with a camera.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you could wake up tomorrow in any city in the world you wanted to, where would that be (and why)?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Maybe a city near the sea in France or Sweden, because I love these countries and I love the sea.<br />But if I can wake up in a place I want to be, I don't would wake up in a city,<br />but in a place with pure nature around me. Nature has always been a precious ally and refuge for me.<br />Cities are often too noisy for me, too crowded and unpeaceful.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15;"><b>What music can be found on your ipod/mp3 player/</b></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px;"><b>walk-man</b></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15;"><b>/gramophone at the moment?</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Music! I listen to so much music, it's an important thing in my life!<br />A small excerpt from my current playlist:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And Also The Trees - <span title="And Also The Trees ~ Dialogue">Dialogue </span><br />Sixth June - Back For a Day<br />Gertrud Stein - Sick<br />Ane Brun- To Let Myself Go<br />Nirvana - Something In The Way<br />Daybed - Lack Of Light<br /><span title="Of The Wand and The Moon - The Raven Chant">Of The Wand and The Moon - The Raven Chant </span><br />Depeche Mode - Blasphemous Rumours<br />Apparat feat. Soap&Skin - Goodbye<br />Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Weeping Song<br />Lebanon Hanover - Gallowdance<br /><span title="Goethes Erben - Schreiheit">Goethes Erben - Schreiheit </span><br />Rammstein - Eifersucht<br />John Frusciante - Going Inside<br />Deine Lakaien - Vivre</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">I listen to many genres, but have a </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">fable</span><span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;"> for Dark wave, New Wave, Gothic, Ambient, Electro Wave ...</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4Rw_7SoFPVA/Uz170SadWEI/AAAAAAAAAhg/DoXWBn9t3QU/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4Rw_7SoFPVA/Uz170SadWEI/AAAAAAAAAhg/DoXWBn9t3QU/s1600/15.jpg" height="222" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;">How did you start getting into photography and art?<br />Did you go to art school or are you self-trained?</span><br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I discovered photography actually just a few years ago,<br />but I had it for some time in mind as an idea.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As a child/teenager I photographed infrequently</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">and learned a bit <span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">about in school. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">I'm a autodidact</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">in many things, also in photography.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the moment it is the most direct way of creative expression for me.<br /> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 15px;">If it wouldn't be photography - what other creative outlet would you have chosen?</span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 15px;">Do you currently indulge in art forms other than photography?</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I paint and I write a bit. But till now only for me.<br />I find it interesting to combine different creative outlets with photography; maybe I'll spend more time on it in the future. I am also interested in sculpting (but completely inexperienced so far).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You have a very mysterious and fairy tale-like theme in your photos. What inspires your work?<br />Are there any photographers or other<br />artists you would count as your influences?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mostly I'm inspired by inner processes of myself - emotions, dreams, fears, thoughts, experiences, memories ...<br />Of course things around me inspires me also - people, nature, music, books, art ...<br />stuff and themes, that move me and trigger something inside of me.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4gieFRruFC8/Uz176uDGIQI/AAAAAAAAAho/InDJVsbMmHw/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 11.818181991577148px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4gieFRruFC8/Uz176uDGIQI/AAAAAAAAAho/InDJVsbMmHw/s1600/1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15;"><b>Your visual style is very </b></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px;"><b>recognizable</b></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15;"><b>. Is this something you achieve mainly in camera or in post production of your images?<br />Could you take us through the process of one of your images from concept to realization?</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px; line-height: 1.15;">That reminds me of one of my </span><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 13.590909004211426px;">favorite</span><span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px; line-height: 1.15;"> quotes from the american photographer Ruth Bernhard:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px; line-height: 1.15;">"I never question what to do, it tells me what to do. The photographs make themselves with my help."</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px; line-height: 1.15;">I never follow a strict pattern.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px; line-height: 1.15;">But mostly it starts with an emotion, an inner process and then I'm guided by it.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px; line-height: 1.15;">Sometimes it makes me change only a few things, sometimes it makes me carve out details for a longer time. Many of my pictures have their own way of coming to existence.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px; line-height: 1.15;">For me it's important to try making the emotion or the thought, that led to the idea for the picture, is not only just visible to the viewer, but can be felt.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15;"><b>What are the things currently in your camera bag? Is there anything essential that you </b></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px;"><b>wouldn't</b></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15;"><b> want to miss there?</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px; line-height: 1.15;">In my photo backpack are: my DSLR (Olympus E-5), 3 lenses, extra battery, small cleaning set, paper + pen (for ideas or some notes on the road). And sometimes a instant camera and/or a other </span><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 13.590909004211426px;">analog</span><span style="font-size: 11.818181991577148px; line-height: 1.15;"> camera.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How much time on average do you spend on a shoot?<br />How many pictures do you take until you are happy with a shot?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is very different - it can take between 5 minutes and few hours. The number of pictures varies likewise.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lkfgh0jlzok/Uz176m9SG5I/AAAAAAAAAhs/8goXaLL4BEU/s1600/21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lkfgh0jlzok/Uz176m9SG5I/AAAAAAAAAhs/8goXaLL4BEU/s1600/21.jpg" height="320" width="319" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What advice would you have for someone just starting out in photography (or art in general)?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hm, that's difficult, because I myself still feel as a beginner or rather as a seeker in art.<br />Perhaps something like "be patient with yourself, let you not to be put off by others and find your own way".</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If there was one single thing that you have learned that you could let everybody in the world know about/experience - what would it be?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can not get out of your own story.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What does the future hold for you?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Undreamt dreams.</span></div>
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<br />µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-41261950539159891422014-03-25T18:00:00.000+01:002014-03-25T18:00:11.747+01:00under the bridgei had another photoshoot with helen recently and this time we decided to take a couple of pictures outdoor. i brought a lot of equipment along i did not end up using (lightstands, multiple speedlights, umbrella) because there was a fairly strong wind which made it very difficult to not be hit by the lightstands.<br />
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still, there were a couple of shots that, after adjusting the exposure settings, turned out quite nice i think.<br />
here are some of them:<br />
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while a few people walking by stopped to look at what was going on and what we were doing, there was not too much distraction. unfortunately it was also quite cold on that day and the light was fading quickly so we had to make the shoot rather short.<br />
<br />µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120199130462521598.post-35259265775278192792014-03-24T11:54:00.002+01:002014-03-24T11:54:02.937+01:00plants at nighti went out to take a couple of pictures a few nights ago and only recently managed to have a look through them. the idea initially was to do some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_painting" target="_blank">light painting</a> which in the end did not quite come out as planned so i will have to give that another try.<br />
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i realized however, as i took a couple of shot of the plants around the area of altes akh in vienna, that you get a really nice color gradient going on with all the soft bounce-light at night.<br />
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in combination with a really shallow <a href="http://mtothepoweroftwo.blogspot.co.at/2014/03/fundamentals-tutorial.html" target="_blank">depth of field</a> this gives a somewhat dreamy look:<br />
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µ²-photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17253869707390050580noreply@blogger.com0