Page 85 - Smart Photography

LEARNING
Understanding Photography Smart Photography has been continually receiving requests to start a basic course for
beginners. With this in mind, we have asked a very knowledgeable photographer from
free as it is possible, so that newcomers to photography feel comfortable to pursue the
of the focal length is excellent for
hobby. Chennai to take over writing these articles. We have also requested him to be as jargon- First, sharpness. All modern lenses use where it might be subjected to a majority of them. The short end
are designed using CAD (Computer
thousands of lens changes and rough
Aided Design). This plus modern handling. landscapes and group shots and the
The author, Ashok Kandimalla has been in the photographic field for over three decades manufacturing techniques and tele end is satisfactory if not perfect
and has extensive experience in both film and digital photography. Being an electronics
engineer by profession and a photographer, he possesses a unique and deep insight into materials ensure that it is very difficult Kit lenses have usually close focussing for portraits. In essence, even this
the technical aspects of digital photography and equipment. He has published several to get an unsharp lens these days! capabilities better than prime lenses of limited range covers a great many
articles on photography and some of his writings have also been published in the well- The kit lenses are perfectly capable of similar focal lengths. This means that situations normally encountered by a
known international magazine Popular Photography.
capturing images that can make prints they can give a magnification of around majority of photographers, especially
Ashok Kandimalla An avid collector of photographic books and vintage cameras, Ashok has a keen interest up to 12 X 18 inches. Honestly, how 1:4 or about 25% of life size. While this those who are starting. However, if
in the history of photography and a passion for sharing his knowledge on photography many times have you printed larger is not bad, it is also not true macro. If your photography needs focal lengths
through teaching and writing. He is presently working as a Management and Engineering than that and how often? And if you you shoot closer than this often then beyond what is available, then you have
consultant. You can see his work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashok_kandimalla. He use images mostly for the Net, then, be think of some low cost accessories like to go for additional lenses. Also, resist
can be reached at kashokk@gmail.com
assured that a typical kit lens is more extension tubes or close up lenses (also the temptation to use tele-converters
called close up filters).
than capable for that purpose.
on kit lenses as the results will be
Kit Lens and Every lens has distortion and this is Once again, to keep the costs down poor and you will most likely lose AF
function.
true even for very expensive ones.
and size small, kit lenses have a limited
Beyond In most cases this is not a major zoom range, roughly three times for Finally, the lens speed. Though the
wide-angle end of most kit lenses
problem (for landscapes, other work
involving nature, etc.). Moreover, you
starts at a decent f/3.5, the speed at
can easily correct the distortion in Picture 3: You can make out that the mount is made the telephoto end drops to a rather
post-processing. All leading software of polycarbonate due to its black colour (left). Metal slow f/5.6. It is even worse in a few kit
mounts are in shining metal.
programs like Lightroom, Photoshop lenses. This has a two fold
have lens profiles built in and when effect. First, it limits your
applied, these will correct for distortion capability to photograph
f you are a D-SLR or a CSC user, sensor cameras is 18-55mm and for While this is not a true macro function, fully with just one click! in low light. True, you can
chances are that you have MFT cameras it is 14-42mm. Kit lenses you can get decent close-up images of increase the ISO but this
Ipurchased your camera as a are usually variable aperture lenses, flowers, small figurines, etc. Kit lenses, to lower costs, are will have a corresponding
“kit” (Picture 1), meaning that the the most common speed being f/3.5- constructed mostly of polycarbonates, negative impact on
camera was bundled along with a lens 5.6. There are exceptions of course. The biggest factor against a kit lens is including the mount (Picture 3). the image quality. The
commonly called the “kit lens” (Picture Higher end full frame camera kits are the perception. Since most of us feel This type of construction is perfectly other solution is to use a
2). As the lens is a part of the kit, you often supplied with lenses that have low cost means low quality, the kit capable of normal use and lens tripod but this may not
pay a lot less for it whereas the same a wider zoom range (e.g. 24-120mm) lenses usually get a bad rap. Some of interchanges that an amateur may be possible everywhere
lens when bought separately will be and some are also constant aperture the negative points often seen on the subject it to over its life time. However, – say a museum or night
priced considerably more. type, the most popular speed being f/4 net and in print are: it may not withstand hard professional photography in streets
(Picture 2). (Picture 4).
1. Not sharp
While these specs are 2. High distortion Second, the tele-end
not headline making, 3. Flimsy construction of a kit lens is mostly
they are quite decent. Kit 4. No real macro used for portraits.
lenses are usually small, 5. Limited zoom ratio Here, an aperture of
lightweight and hence 6. Slow speed f/5.6 will not blur the 86
highly portable. Most also background enough
support close focussing. Let us look at these in detail. The first due to the large depth
four are of field (DOF) causing
not limiting distractions.
unless you
are into
specific
genres of
photography
Picture 1: A camera “kit” box.
where these
While there are no rigid specifications Picture 2: features are Picture 4: A low light street
Examples of scene. This was a photograph
for a kit lens, these are mostly short kit lenses – an a must. You taken with a prime lens set to
18-55mm
an aperture of f/1.8. If a kit lens
Smart Photography February 2018 telephoto. The most common focal f/4. These are lot of these aperture would be f/3.5. This Smart Photography February 2018
zoom lenses that cover focal lengths
can in fact
overcome a
f/3.5-5.6 and
was used, then the maximum
from a decent wide-angle to a short
a 24-120mm
is a 1.7 stop advantage and
length range is from 28mm to 85mm on
perceived
for cropped
translates to an ISO increase
a full frame D-SLR. The corresponding
sensor and full
drawbacks as
of around 3½ times more thus
frame D-SLRs
greatly increasing noise in a
86 focal lengths for (APS-C) cropped respectively. we will see. situation like this. 87 Kit Lens and Beyond
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If I Were You In association with Wait for the position of the sun Amit Parkhi
Composition
more behind the clouds.
One simple suggestion will be to have the people
www.pixlent.com
a bit more inside the frame.
Exposure
Please see the box around the sun. Ensure
that the area especially around the sun is not
overexposed.
How about keeping this tree in the
strategic location than towards the edge Processing
In black and white processing its imperative
Prasad Paranjpe that we bring more grey tones out. If you are
choosing straight desaturation to convert to
Composition black and white, I would rather suggest selective
Nice idea. See the annotated squares for the
details to achieve balance. processing in Adobe Camera RAW HSL tab or
Channel Mixer in Photoshop.
Exposure Creativity & Impact
Looks good. This is supposed to give you a feeling of love
or romance, or simply togetherness. Use
Processing better processing, exposure management and
How about burning the bright tones trees a composition as suggested above. Use dodge and
bit in the foreground? burn to bring more contrast in clouds too.
Creativity & Impact These two converging lines add some I enjoyed how you have captured Reviewed By : Lalit Deshmukh
this beautiful couple with hands
Yes it gives a nice feeling substance in the foreground. Make
the shadows stronger for the fore- together. I also liked you selected a Camera: Nikon D5200;
ground line traced by the sand. vertical angle where the forms are
sticking above the horizon line. Lens: 10.0-20.0 mm f/3.5
Reviewed By : Lalit Deshmukh Focal length: 20mm;
Aperture: f/22;
Shutter speed: 1/24sec; ISO: 100
This or these trees are too dominat-
ing in the foreground and the image Exif-Information Not available
requests for the balance
How about a bit more
Bhushan Navare breathing space? Exif-Information Not available
Can give a bit more leading space Impact
Pradhyumansinh Mori for better composition Fair but nothing too exciting
Composition Composition
Using a zoom lens you can easily Fair. Please check the boxes.
cover the entire subject, legs of the
deer is cut Exposure
Looks good. Brighten the sky a bit. www.smartphotography.in 92
Exposure
Over all exposure is OK. Processing
Use the light more creatively.
Processing
Can increase the orange shade so Creativity & Impact
that the deer looks pleasing recover some highlights from the
bright walls of the houses.
Creativity & Impact
could have waited till the deer Reviewed By : Lalit Deshmukh
behind also look at you Too big for the subject in the foreground that is
Reviewed By : Shibu Nair P very much in the shadow. If you waited for light on
the peak region of the hill where monastery sits on,
would have helped. Then the light would separate
from the shadow below and would create apt layers.
Smart Photography February 2018 Lens: EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II Using a zoom lens you can easily cover the entire Connect with professional photography experts and get your images reviewed by the expert of your choice. You also Smart Photography February 2018 If I Were You
Camera: Canon EOS 1300D;
Focal length: 250mm;
Aperture: f/7;
subject, legs of the deer is cut
have the option of choosing Smart Photography (editorial team) to review your pictures. Register & submit your
Shutter speed: 1/395sec; ISO: 320
pictures on www.pixlent.com
92 www.smartphotography.in In addition, if you would like your reviewed images to be published in this section of Smart Photography, you have 93 Learnings
the option to choose from print + ezine or ezine only (attractive packages available).
LEARNING
Image Editing Printscreen 5
- PART 15
Creating & Using Actions
Rohinton Mehta
Original Image Printscreen 2
5) You will the action at your
see the new own pace.
dialog box
(Printscreen 5). 7) Click on the half
By default it black half white
shows ‘Action icon at the bottom
1’ but you can of the Layers
Printscreen 3 rename this if panel to create an
you wish. adjustment layer
3) Give it a suitable name. I have and select Levels
named it ‘Levels’ (Printscreen 2). You 6) Click the (Printscreen 7)
will see the word Levels in the Actions Record button
panel (Printscreen 3). at the bottom of 8) Now adjust the
the Actions panel Black Point by
4) Again click on the arrow shown and (Printscreen 6). moving the black
select New Action (Printscreen 4). You will notice slider to the right.
a red dot that Adjust the White
Printscreen 4 indicates that you Point by moving
can now record the white slider to
the Action. There the left. Also adjust 94
is no time limit. the mid-tones to
You can record your liking – move
Printscreen 6
Printscreen 7
et’s say that you have a large do that is what we call ‘Actions’.
number of images exposed in the
Lsame/similar lighting conditions Let’s see how we can create an
with more or less similar exposures. Action.
Let’s also say that you need to apply
the same/similar corrections to all 1) Open an image in Photoshop.
of them. So if you have, say, 50 such
images, you will have to apply the 2) Go to Window > Actions.
Smart Photography February 2018 affair. A simple solution to this can be Actions already present. So, you Smart Photography January 2018 Smart Photography February 2018 Image Editing - Part 15
same corrections 50 times! This can
When the Actions dialog box
be a tedious and time-consuming
opens, you may see some earlier
to instruct Photoshop to automatically
may want to create a new Set.
apply the same corrections to all those
Click on the arrow shown and
94 50 images. The set of instructions to select New Set (Printscreen 1). Printscreen 1 www.smartphotography.in 95 Creating & Using Actions
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LEARNING Frequency Open the Layers panel (F7 key) if not
Portrait Retouching
Separation Natalia Arantseva already open.
2. Retouch the very obvious skin
defects like acne, pimples and
wrinkles by using any retouching
tool that you are familiar with. Spot
Healing Brush and Healing Brush are
generally used for this purpose.
Natalia Arantseva 3. Create two copies of the
Background layer (Cmd/Ctrl J two
times). Give them new names – the
Original Image top copy layer as Texture and the
lower one as Tones/Colours (If you
double click on the word Layer, the
field will start blinking and then you
will be able to type in the new name).
Screenshot 1. Screenshot 3
Screenshot 1 5. Go to Filter
> Blur >
Gaussian Blur
(Screenshot
3). Adjust the
Radius to apply
blur but just till
the point when
you can’t see
the skin texture
and the features
are well
distinguishable
(Screenshot 4).
We have used 5
px. Click OK. Screenshot 4
Model: Anastasia Cheporukha 6. Click on the eye 98
icon on the Texture
layer. Select the layer
(Screenshot 5).
7. Go to Image > Apply
requency Separation is a skin texture. With Frequency workshops on portraiture in and Image (Screenshot 6).
technique used in portraiture to Separation, we divide the image in around Mumbai and worldwide. The image will change
Fgive the skin pleasing softness to Frequency (texture) and Tones/ Here is one of her methods for FS. its appearance. Don’t
without actually blurring out the skin Colours and edit mainly the tones/ 4. Deactivate worry. In the Apply
texture. colours while leaving the texture Note to readers: You might get the the Texture Image dialog box, in
untouched (overdoing the process can impression that the procedure is layer (click the Layer field, select
In the days of film photography, we reduce the texture!) too lengthy or difficult. It is not! It on the eye Tones/Colours. In the
often used skin-softening filters We requested professional portrait is assumed that the reader is fairly icon to make field for Blending, select
accustomed with Photoshop but even
for portraits. These filters actually
the icon
Subtract. As soon as
Smart Photography February 2018 reduced the overall sharpness photographer Natalia Arantseva, if you are not, you can follow, because disappear) you select Subtract, the Smart Photography February 2018
who is known for her excellent
image will turn grey,
we have broken down the procedure
and select
provided by the lens in order to hide
portraits, to share her secrets on
similar to the way it
facial defects such as pimples and
the Tones/
in 15 easy-to-understand steps.
Frequency Separation. Natalia is
scars. Most methods that soften the
Colours layer.
looks when you run a
98 skin also tend to soften the underlying based in Mumbai. She conducts 1. Open the image in Photoshop. Screenshot 2. Screenshot 2 High Pass filter. Ensure 99 Frequency Separation
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Screenshot 5