Chris Poindexter, Author at Snapsort

Tips For Better Golden Hour Shooting

golden hour photo — Golden hour is officially 6 degrees above the horizon to 6 degrees below - By Phil Sangwell

The term “golden hour” is somewhat of a misnomer as the actual time may be somewhat less or more than an hour, depending on where you live. When you’re in the middle of shooting and trying to find the perfect moment, it sometimes seems to fly by in just a few minutes. One thing is for sure, when you really need the shot it will never be long enough.

Golden hour is another one of those areas where video and photography intersect. If you’ve ever been on a movie set late in the day, there will be one person obsessing, “We’re losing the light!” every time shooting stops. That would be the DP, or DOP in the U.K., the person responsible for the videography and camera work and they would be in a hurry to capture as much footage as possible before losing that wonderfully warm late day lighting.

The technical definition of “golden hour” are the times from when the sun is 6 degrees above the horizon, until it is 6 degrees below the horizon. That wonderful reddish gold color comes from sunlight passing through more atmosphere before striking the ground and more of the light in the blue spectrum being scattered, leaving behind reds and gold. Aside from the color temperature, there’s also a difference in the quality of the light. Shadows are less distinct, the lines between colors less obvious.

These days there are some wonderful web sites that will take the guesswork out of golden hour, where ever you happen to live. iPhone and iPad users can also find apps that will pinpoint morning and late day golden hour times where you are. A few minutes research will save a lot of time standing around waiting for the light.

Tips For Golden Hour Shooting

You can maximize your shooting time at the end of the day with a few simple tips.

1) Bring a monopod or tripod – You’re working with fading light and your exposure times will get progressively longer as the light fades. The shutter speed jumps can sneak up on you in rapidly changing lighting conditions.

2) Turn off AWB – Turn off your camera’s Automatic White Balance. As the color temperature of the light around you changes, your camera may be tempted think you’re in a place with incandescent lights and try to color correct the results.

3) Bring an external flash – If you have one, bring it. There are many situations where foreground subjects will be underexposed, or you’ll lose the quality of the background light with a long exposure. Don’t hesitate to try a shorter exposure and fill in with an external flash as appropriate.

4) Consider gels for your flash – If you want to try and match your fill flash to the warmer late day lighting, consider covering the fill flash with a warm up gel.

5) Look for silhouette opportunities – Take advantage of underexposed foreground another way by exposing for the ambient light and silhouette your subject.

There are lots of neat experiments you can try with late day lighting. Plan ahead, shoot fast, and enjoy those golden rays!

Portrait Touch-Up Software

model shot — What used to be done by the makeup artist is frequently managed by software today - by Brettpress

Software today has giving photographers the ability to do with the click of a button what makeup artists spend years learning and practicing. Many software products can do things a makeup artist can only dream about, making the eyes bigger and clearer, slimming cheek bones, and making changes to the subject’s facial structure.

Even today it could be argued that a professional makeup artist is hard to beat, but the software is catching up. Here are a few of the more popular products in wide use in professional shops, some of these software products are stand-alone applications, while others are plug-ins that harness the power of image manipulation programs like Photoshop, some will operate either way.

All of these products have some “issues” that prevent them from being all things to all photographers. So there’s a market to be had for any company that can come up with a better product.

Imagenomic’s Portraiture

I have yet to set foot in a professional studio that didn’t have a copy of this plug-in in their toolbox. It can look intimidating the first time you fire it up, but Portraiture 2 has added much more automation and has become the clear favorite for applying subtle enhancements to skin tones.

Available for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Aperture it will set you back a cool $199.95 but, if you do a lot of portraits, it will be worth every penny. Portraiture is considered by many to be the gold standard of portrait software.

Portrait Professional

Portrait Professional comes in three different versions, available as a stand-alone product or plugin for Photoshop. Even the basic version gives you all the tools photographers seek including skin tone adjustments, fixing the mouth, hair, teeth and eyes and tools for sculpting the face shape.

OnOne Perfect Portrait

It appears to be what once was Phototune SkinTune 2 has now been rolled into OnOne Software’s Perfect Portrait.

Fast, accurate selection tools, and loaded with slider controls for fine adjustments, Perfect Portrait looks poised to carry on the good name of SkinTone 2.

This is a stand-alone software product available for pre-order for $99.95.

AKVIS Makeup

Makeup is available as a stand alone product or plug-in and the strengths of this product are the automatic features and batch processing capabilities. You can try the full-featured version of this product free for 10 days. $49 if you decide to keep it.

I’d still maintain it’s hard to beat the talents of a professional makeup artist, but if you don’t have the money to pay one or they’re not available, software is the next best thing.

Panasonic Announces New DMC-GX1

The new Panasonic DMC-GX1 to upgrade the GF series - by Panasonic

Panasonic launched a replacement for the highly regarded Lumix DMC-GF1 labeled the DMC-GX1. In the GX series Panasonic seems to be taking aim at more advanced users.

Many consider the Lumix GF line, with their interchangeable lenses, small form factor, RAW output, and rangefinder styling to be one the original entries in the mirrorless market that has grown in popularity. Unfortunately, the GF1 successors, the GF2 and GF3, never achieved the market acceptance of their predecessor. With the new DMC-GX1, Panasonic seems determined to push farther into the higher end of the camera market and reclaim the glory days of the GF1.

In the DMC-GX1 Panasonic returned the better build quality and ergonomics of the GF1 with an updated feature set and improved specs.

Packing a 16-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor, with an impressive ISO range of 160-12,800. At reduced resolution the DMC-GX1 can snap off an impressive 20 frames per second.

Panasonic bumped up the video specs as well with the DMC-GX1 delivering full 1080 HD video at 60 interlaced frames per second, along with a stereo microphone.

The LCD screen is also a touchscreen interface with features such as tap to focus on a subject.

New electronic leveler — The GX1 has a built-in electronic leveler

Panasonic seems to be aiming for the niche currently occupied by the Samsung NX200 and Sony Alpha NEX-5 series.

Available in mid-December with an expected price tag of $700 for the body only, or $800 for the kit with the standard 14-42mm zoom lens. The mount is compatible with both the Panasonic and Olympus line of Micro Four Thirds lenses.

From the beginning I’ve questioned the commitment of Panasonic and Olympus to the Micro Four Thirds concept. With APS-C size sensors available at similar price points, I question the utility of the smaller and oddly sized Micro Four Thirds chip.

All the same the DMC-GX1 seems to be a capable performer with very good build quality and attention to detail. If Panasonic and Olympus would ever start pushing the Micro Four Thirds line as a price competitor, they might have something.

Comparisons:

In The Digital Age Prints Still Rule

Your prints may not appear in an art gallery, but you still want them to look good - by Spiritia

Even in the digital age there is a lot of demand for prints. As far as digital picture frames have come in form and function, there’s something uniquely personal and appealing about a quality print. Probably one of the reasons you won’t find many galleries using digital displays.

The good news is you have a bewildering array of really chic display options on a variety of new papers and print materials. The same care you put into taking pictures should be put into the printing and display, after all that’s how the world will see your work. Most of these suggestions are offered by more than one lab, so shop competitively.

Floating Gallery Blocks

These come in a bewildering number of options and arrangements. I’d spend some time comparing the possible design and layout options.

I also count Splits and Clusters in this group, which gives you even more options and price points. You can get everything from desk size splits up to full-size room hangings. They can be made from a single print or multiple photos.

Press Printed Books

Few things can highlight your work like a well-designed press printed book. Select both the pictures and background with custom colors and binding options.

Again, a product that is going to take a bit of research when it comes to selecting the photos, paper, and binding options. I’d suggest springing the extra money for the lay-flat page binding.

Textured Prints

You can choose from textured paper, canvas, linen hand-tinted canvas, and a world of different types of paper finishes.

This category also includes the new metallic papers, which can make your colors pop. Really good prints on metallic paper can look like they’re back lit.

Metal Prints

These are really popular right now. Choose from printing on standard aluminum sheets, or get the type that are shaped to stand on their own.

The advantage to metal prints is, under the right conditions, they’ll last a lifetime. Beyond that it’s just neat, a photo print on a piece of metal. Seriously, how cool is it they can do that?

Glass Prints

For something different you might want to try printing on glass. I stumbled upon this company a few weeks back, there process really makes the pictures come to life.

You can also have your own pictures printed on almost anything you can imagine: Calendars, coffee mugs, t-shirts, blankets, greeting cards, just about anything.

Six Special Effects You Can Borrow From The Video Guys

Just because your pictures don’t fly by at 25 progressive frames per second doesn’t mean you can’t pick up a trick or two from the film guys for dressing up your sets and studio shots. Here are a few I picked up from my friends in the video business that can not only help your photography, but might also be handy with Halloween coming up.

special effects paint — Special effects paint can trash anything in a few seconds, then clean it up with soap and water

Washable Paint Effects

Originally developed for film and TV, these paints offer a variety spray on effects and textures that can be washed off again with soap and water. Designed specifically for scene and set painters, you can get some really interesting effects with names like MP-DIRT and MP-ROT.

Gaffer Tape

Real gaffer tape, not a low price substitute like painter’s tape, is indispensable on a location or studio shoot. Anywhere you might need to tape something down or make a temporary repair and not leave tape residue behind.

Do not try to use duct tape instead of gaffer tape! Duct tape will leave a glue residue behind that takes an incredible amount of effort to clean off.

Mini Fogger

These are great for creating a spooky or surreal fog that’s safe to use indoors. It doesn’t have the floor cling and thick, puffy consistency of C02 fog, but it won’t kill you in a confined room, either.

Theatrical fog is usually made with a fog juice composed primarily of ethylene glycol. If you’re going to use CO2 fog, I would suggest outdoor use only.

Lighting Gels

Instead of filter gels that go on the end of your camera lens and color everything, you can get sheets of gel material in a variety of colors and gel just the things you want to be colored, like background lighting.

Flash heads can be wrapped in single sheet gels and used to color the background, leaving your subject clear of the effect.

Two Stop Silk

Really handy for covering practicals and open windows with precise control instead of throwing up some screen and hoping for the best. Preserves the quality of the light while giving you a smooth, predictable reduction.

Smoke Drops

Different than the fog machine, mix a couple drops of the binary liquid and you can make anything smoke. A much more realistic effect than you can get in post without spending a lot of time working at it.

Don’t get it on your skin or use on aluminum, but let me warn you that this stuff is addicting to play with. Hey, why should the video guys have all the fun?