Only Digital Photography: November 2016

Canon’s EOS 5D Mark IV is the long-awaited successor to the 5D Mark III, boosting the resolution to 30.4 Megapixels with a new full-frame sensor that supports Dual Pixel CMOS AF. It accelerates continuous shooting to 7fps, inherits the 3.2in touchscreen and 61-point AF system of the EOS 1Dx Mark II and can film 4k movies (in the DCI Cinema format) up to 30p. The body features improved weather-proofing along with a built-in GPS receiver and Wifi with NFC. In one of my biggest reviews to date, I’ve delved into the new features and made a wealth of comparisons with rival cameras – find out if it’s the body you’ve been waiting for in my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV review!
5d-mark-iv_1

Building on this legendary legacy, the EOS 5D Mark IV propels the series forward with a fusion of features and enhancements targeted to please even the most discerning creative eyes. The camera’s, 30.4 megapixel 35mm Full Frame Canon CMOS sensor offers stunning image quality while the DIGIC 6+ Image Processor delivers 4K 30P video and up to and seven frames per second (fps) continuous shooting. To make video shooting even easier, the camera also features Canon’s propriety Dual Pixel CMOS AF, even when shooting 4K to help ensure sharp focus and subject tracking. Read more here.

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Nikon D3400 – entry-level DSLR reviewed!

Nikon D3400 – entry-level DSLR reviewed

The Nikon D3400 is the company’s latest entry-level DSLR, aimed at beginners or those looking for a step-up in quality and control over a point-and-shoot camera without breaking the bank.
The D3400 shares a great deal with the earlier D3300, including the 24 Megapixel APSC sensor, 11-point AF system, 5fps shooting and 1080 video up to 60p, but the big new feature is SnapBridge, Nikon’s wireless technology which exploits Bluetooth to maintain a low-power wireless link with smartphones for easy unattended image transfer.

Before the D3400, you chose your smartphone camera for convenience. Zooming was clumsy. Shooting in low light was nearly impossible. Capturing fast action was a game of luck. But after the D3400, you’ll see that you were compromising image quality. That some of the greatest photos happen when the light is low. That fast action can be frozen in perfect clarity. And that a camera and a smartphone can work together in harmony to make the photos you share absolutely amazing.

Buy D3400 Here.

Nikon’s also claiming an increased battery life up to 1200 shots per charge. Find out if it’s the camera for you in my Nikon D3400 review!
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How to make a bokeh effect in Photoshop

How to make a bokeh effect in Photoshop

We show you how to spice up your portraits by adding out-of-focus effects. You’ll learn how to make bokeh in Photoshop by creating your own custom brush tip then using filters and blending modes to make bokeh.

The term ‘bokeh’ refers to the circular spots that appear in out-of-focus areas of an image. Usually creating bokeh in-camera means investing in a fast lens, shooting at a wide aperture and catching out-of-focus highlights in the background. But with a few simple skills we can replicate the effect in Photoshop.
The key to success here is the amazing Photoshop brush engine. Not only can you create your own brush tips from any shape you like, you can also change the way the brush applies colour by randomising it.
If this all sounds a little complicated, then don’t worry, it’s simply a case of opening the Brush panel and experimenting with the settings.
The key sliders for our bokeh effect here are Scattering and Jitters. Combine them with the right Spacing setting, and you can create beautiful random patterns with just a couple of brush strokes.
We’ll show you how to define a bubble-like brush tip here for our bokeh effect, with a transparent centre and opaque edge.
Once done, we’ll apply a few simple settings to create our randomized bokeh brush. All we have to do then is paint with the brush on a few separate layers and apply different strengths of blur to each layer to add depth to the effect, then drop in our cut-out portrait. It’s great fun, and easier than you might think…

Check out the Resources of Digital Photography School for more books and courses on Photography.

SEE MORE: How to cut out people like a professional with the Refine Edge tool

Step by step how to make bokeh in Photoshop

Cut out a portrait
We’ve provided a cut-out portrait for you to use here, but if you want to cut out your own, begin by painting over the figure with the Quick Selection brush to select it (hold Alt and paint to subtract if it goes wrong).
When you’re happy with the initial selection, go to Select>Refine Edge and increase the radius to improve it (while in the Refine Edge command, paint over tricky edges, like hair, for a better result). Set Output to Layer Mask and hit OK. You should now have a precise cut-out, to use either for this effect or for any other montage idea.
Click here to download our portrait

01 Make a brush
Go to File>New, choose A4, set Background Contents: Transparent, hit OK. Grab the Elliptical Marquee tool. Shift-draw a small circle, go to Edit>Fill and use black. In the Layers panel, set Fill 50%, then go to Layer>Layer Style>Stroke. Set Size 8px, colour black. Hit OK.

SEE MORE: 10 Photoshop mistakes photographers make (and how to avoid them)

Step by step how to make bokeh in Photoshop: step 2

02 Define a brush
Go to Edit>Define Brush Preset. Name it and hit OK. Create a new layer, hit Alt+Delete to fill it, go to Layer> Layer Style>Gradient Overlay. Click the preview bar, double-click the little squares under the gradient to choose two colours (blue and purple here). Hit OK.

SEE MORE: Orton Effect: try this quick, soft-focus Photoshop trick

Step by step how to make bokeh in Photoshop: step 3

03 Customize the brush
Grab the Brush tool. Toggle the Brush panel in the Options bar. Use Brush Tip Shape, set Spacing 100%. Use Shape Dynamics, set Size Jitter 100, Minimum Diameter 50. Use Scattering, set Scatter 1000, Count 3. Go Transfer, set Opacity and Flow Jitters to 50%.
SEE MORE: Photoshop Adjustment Brush – how to make quick, localised tweaks

Step by step how to make bokeh in Photoshop: step 4

04 Paint and blur
Make a new layer, click the Blending Mode drop-down in the Layers panel, choose Color Dodge. Pick a light grey and paint scattered bubbles. Pick Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Blur the bubbles (Radius 40px), hit OK. Repeat on another layer, with a lower amount of blur.

SEE MORE: How to mimic studio lighting for stylish portraits

Step by step how to make bokeh in Photoshop: step 5

05 Build it up
Continue painting and blurring on more layers (set to Color Dodge), varying the brush size and blur amount. Go to File>Place Embedded and choose bokeh_cutout.png to drop in the subject. Add more bokeh layers on top. Hit Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E to merge a layer.

SEE MORE: The 7 best colour controls in Photoshop (and how to use them)

Step by step how to make bokeh in Photoshop: step 6

Check out the Resources of Digital Photography School for more books and courses on Photography.

06 Add tonal effects
Select Filter>Blur Gallery>Iris Blur and blur the edges of the frame. Go to Filter>Camera Raw Filter. Grab the Radial Filter, set Exposure -3 and drag to darken the corners. Create an adjustment layer, choose Colour Lookup and select a tonal preset, like ‘2 Strip’ here.
Final Tip
To add atmospheric sparks to the effect, paint random white dots then use Filter> Blur Gallery>Path Blur to create streaks of light

READ MORE
5 signs that mark you out as a Lightroom rookie Recreate the look of a medium format portrait Abuse your raw files for a striking high-key portrait
Dramatic Lighting: how to create stylish portraits using simple Photoshop effects
Fine-tune image colour: how to remove casts, boost colours and apply instant effects

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The post How to make a bokeh effect in Photoshop (download our cut-out portrait and follow along!) appeared first on Digital Camera World.

Source: Digital Camera World

Amazing Trick Photography Tutorials Offer Ending Soon

The recent second edition includes 100 new e-book pages (300 pages total) and 9 full hours of video tutorials. The eBook is in PDF format so it is perfect for tablet devices or can be read on any computer. It is one of the most popular tutorial eBooks available for photographers.
We were able to negotiate a temporary 60% discount for our readers this week, don’t miss it!
Ending soon here: Trick Photography eBook at 60% Off

How to do Levitation Photography

Extensive Chapters on How to do Non-Traditional Panoramic Photography

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Extensive tutorials on how to do Light Painting

HDR Photography Techniques and Style Strategies

Capturing Split Second High Speed Photos

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High Speed Photography Tutorials

How to Achieve Bokeh in Photography

Check out for more books and courses on Photography.

Many Chapters on Composite Photography and Combining Photo Elements

Various Techniques for Capturing Smooth Water Motion

Find more on Special Effects photography Made Easy

Photography Tricks for Dynamic Floating Subjects Such as Fruit

Tutorials on Creative Night Photography Methods

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Tutorials and Chapters on Infrared Digital Photography

Articles on How to Capture Portraits at Long Exposures

Steel Wool Light Painting Photography and more with Long Exposures

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How to Get a Discounted Copy This Week:

If you have been wanting to learn any of these techniques, this week is a good time to look into it during the markdown. It also carries a 60 day no-questions-asked guarantee so there is no risk in trying it.

Deal found here: Trick Photography & Special Effects at 60% Off
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Article from: PictureCorrect
If you are interested in Digital Photography, check it out here for more details.

Special Effects photography Made Easy:

Nov 3, 2016

How to Go Beyond the Hero Image and Get Real Storytelling Photos

Good photography is really about telling stories, and that’s where all the lessons of composition, juxtaposition, lines, and focus fall short. Compelling images tell compelling stories, but the hard part is recognizing that story. I’ll tell you a story of how I missed the opportunity to do that, and look at some ways you can add more storytelling into your photography.

A bear story with a moral

I was camped on a low tundra bench above a swift blue river in Alaska’s western Arctic. Our green canoes lay upside down next to the kitchen tent, and the willows along the river were flecked with the first autumn yellow. It was early when I crawled from my tent, stood and stretched. While still reaching skyward I saw another form rise from the tundra a stone’s throw away, a young grizzly giving me a curious look. I dropped my arms and turned just in time to see its sibling offering me a similar stare from a bit farther back. These bears were three-year-olds, spending their first summer away from their mother, ursine-teenagers, and just as troublesome. Unlike the many adult bears we’d encountered on our journey down the river, these two didn’t yet know to give humans a wide berth.

In Katmai National Park at the famous Brooks Falls tourists are inescapable. In this image, I embraced that part of the story.

Safety first

They backed off, after I shooed them with a wave of the arms, though not far enough. I woke my co-guide, and together we herded them away from camp and down onto the gravel bar below. One of the two young bears, rather than wandering off, decided to push my buttons and walked straight over. When off hiking or away from camp, you always give bears the right of way, but in camp, you can’t do that. Bears cannot learn that camps are places to explore.
Standing on the low bench, I knew that I could not let this mischievous youngster enter our camp. I stepped forward as he approached, right to the edge of the cut bank, and started speaking to the bear in a low steady voice. “I can’t let you up here, you have to back off. Back off. Now.” The bear paused in its approach, then stepped forward again. I raised a can of strong pepper spray, and held it up, ready to fire. The bear took another step forward, and then another until he was just eight feet away.

Hard lesson learned

And that’s when I felt a sudden moment of regret. Not for my behavior around this young, dumb bear, (in that, I knew I was doing the right thing) but for the fact that my camera lay in my tent. This beautiful (if troublesome) beast was so close I could count his whiskers. What a photo-op I was missing! But I pushed that aside, and spoke again, “One more step and you are getting it in the face. Don’t do it”, I said. “I’ll give you a count of three, then you are getting sprayed. One. Two…” before I could say three the young bear thought better of his situation, turned and ambled back to the river, swam across with his sibling, and disappeared.

Similar to the story I related above, this bear approached a group of photographers I was a part of on Admiralty Island, Alaska. He came very close, and I regret not taking a moment to show a wider shot with the group of us in the frame.

Think outside the frame – the moral

In retrospect, as I thought about the images I missed, I realized that it wasn’t the frame-filling portraits of the bear that would have been so spectacular about that moment. It was the story that went with it. Facing the bear down with a can of pepper spray, the bear testing us, and his eventual retreat. That’s where the compelling images were, not in the missed photos of the bear, but in the missed story that went with it.
If I had a camera in that moment with the bear, even if I’d been on the sidelines, I know I would have blown it and gone for the wildlife portraits, missing the much more interesting interaction that was taking place.

Here a herd of caribou is seen migrating across the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. This image tells a more important story of movement, landscape, and perspective than a more typical portrait of just an animal would.

Learn from the best

Take a look at any issue of National Geographic. Many, even most, of images that are selected are storytelling images, not illustrations. The compositions are atypical, often showing the interaction of people or animals within the scene. Those photographers stepped back from a typical composition and explored their surroundings in a way that most of us, myself included, usually forget to do.

This image of an Adelie Penguin on an iceberg, I made in Antarctica. Getting close to wildlife is easy there, and the following image provides information to see just how easy.

A zodiac pull right up to an iceberg with Adelie Penguins.

A zodiac pulled right up to an iceberg with Adelie Penguins.

Look around

This is an easy lesson to say, a much harder one to perform in the field because the real story is often easy to miss.
Another example: I was photographing the start of the Yukon Quest sled dog Race in Fairbanks, Alaska, where I live, a few years ago. I’d been concentrating on the passing dogs, the smiling mushers, and been studiously avoiding the crowds of people that surrounded me. At one point a spectator raised a point and shoot in front of my shot, I was irritated, but in that moment I was forced to pause. It clicked, and I realized that the real story was the crowd of mushing fans, out on a cold morning to watch the race. I changed my composition and made an image of the spectator’s camera. That shot is much more telling of the experience than any of my previous photos.

Here, the scene of the dog teams seen through a spectator’s camera is more telling of the experience of the start of the Yukon Quest.

This broad perspective is also an effective way to tell the story, showing the rows of spectators and the buildings of Fairbanks in the background.

Sometimes it’s a sudden realization like mine at the mushing race, but often, you have to put some effort into the real story. You need to break away from the scene you think you should be photographing, pause, and look around. Consider not just the scene, but the experience. What are you, or those around you, feeling, seeing, and doing?

Stay open to your surroundings

While being focused on your subject is vital to creating good images, it’s important not to close yourself off too much. Take the time to look around. Literally step away from your tripod, and turn 360 degrees while paying attention. What else is out there? Have you been missing anything as you’ve been staring through your viewfinder? What happens if you back up and show the surroundings?

While an image of single bird, in this case a Least Sandpiper is nice portrait, it is more of an illustration than a story.

While an image of a single bird, in this case, a Least Sandpiper is a nice portrait, it is more of an illustration than a story.

A large flock of shorebirds, when compared to the single-bird portrait, is more telling of the lives of the birds, and their epic migrations.

Think in terms of stories

That real story can be told within a single image, but there are also other strategies. Though an entire article is required to discuss the photo essay (5 Tips for Creating a Photo Essay with a Purpose), I do want to note that you can always think through your story using a series of images. This is also a good way to make the classic images you strive for while simultaneously capturing the storytelling ones as well.
Telling the real story is important not just for the quality of our images, but also for the quality of our experience. These storytelling images may not have the flash and glamor of a bear portrait or a sprinting sled dog, but it will help your viewers know the story, and that really is where the real excitement lies.

The post How to Go Beyond the Hero Image and Get Real Storytelling Photos by David Shaw appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Interview with Makoto Oishi on the new Fuji GFX 50S

At Photo Plus NY, we also had a brief conversation with Mr Makoto Oishi of Fujifilm Corporation, who has been involved in the design and planning of the new Fuji GFX 50S medium format mirrorless camera. As you may already know, Fuji was the second to introduce the medium format mirrorless camera, after Hasselblad made the headlines a few months ago by introducing the Hasselblad X1D-50c. Both feature similar 50 MP medium format CMOS sensors and compete directly with each other in this new market segment. Previously, Pentax was the only company to offer a medium format camera in a similar price range of under $ 10K (see our Pentax 645Z review), but it cannot be really considered a competitor, since it is a medium format DSLR, which differs vastly in terms of size, weight and ergonomics.

The new Hasselblad and Fuji mirrorless cameras are certainly game-changers in that regard, being so compact and lightweight. While full-frame mirrorless cameras can be comparable in size and weight to smaller full-frame DSLRs, the same cannot be said about what Hasselblad and Fuji have done with their mirrorless offerings – the difference between them and something like the Pentax 645Z is just too drastic.

So when John and I were cruising through the isles on the expo floor, we saw quite a bit of interest from public in both the Hasselblad X1D-50c and the Fuji GFX 50S.

Since Fuji has not yet finalized the camera system and its pricing, the company mostly hid their medium format pre-production models under thick glass, so in order for us to get a closer look at the system, we had to request an interview with the Fujifilm management. It was a bit hard to secure a spot in between the many meetings Fuji was hosting with the media, but we were able to get into a remote area of the expo to have a more intimate conversation with Mr Makoto Oishi, who was kind enough to talk about the GFX 50S and the new Fuji medium format lenses:

It is exciting to see that the system will sell for less than $ 10K for both a camera body and a lens. If Fuji manages to keep the price of the GFX 50S lower than $ 8K, it would be impressive and if the company pushes it even lower towards $ 6K, I can see many photographers investing in such a system – I would probably be one of them. I love the Fuji X system and own the Fuji X-T1, so if the GFX 50S turns out to be an amazing camera for my landscape photography needs, my Nikon D810 might go on vacation for a while!
Good times! Now give it a few years and these cameras will probably drop below the $ 5K range, which is really exciting…

The post Interview with Makoto Oishi on the new Fuji GFX 50S appeared first on Photography Life.

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Nov 30, 2016

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Nov 5, 2016

Step by step how to make bokeh in Photoshop

How to Get a Discounted Copy This Week:

Nov 3, 2016

A bear story with a moral

Safety first

Hard lesson learned

Think outside the frame – the moral

Learn from the best

Look around

Stay open to your surroundings

Think in terms of stories