Resolution has always been a tricky subject for new photographers to grasp. After all, there is not a single resolution that we talk about. The quality of the lens optics affects the resolution of the lens. The size and design of the sensor significantly influence the resolution of your camera. Even your image data file has variables that define the image data resolution. But display screens are changing and they are chinging the way we look at display resolution.
Watch any decent movie and you’ll see a variety of shots used to tell the story. One of the first is the Establishing Shot. This tends to be a wider shot that includes the environment in which the story takes place. It’s used to establish the spatial relationship among the films characters, objects and overall setting of the film.
In still photography, this is akin to the broader scenic images. As the story unfolds, you find the camera come in tighter on the main subject in the story. In a Long Shot, you’ll see the main character almost fill the frame.
Now there are a lot of things you can do to polish an image like this. In Lightroom, you can adjust your white balance and tone until it looks right to you. You can also use a program like Luminar or Skylum’s Aurora to process the image. Remember it’s like cooking - do what you like until you like it. What I want to focus on today are two other changes that I made to the image that made a significant improvement to the image.
It has now been a few years since the first mirrorless cameras made their appearance in earnest in still photography with professionals using them either full-time or at least as a significant part of their arsenal of equipment. The reasons seem quite varied. Of course, size is at the top of the list as well as features. But before looking closely at the advantages and disadvantages, I'd like to talk about my own findings and opinions.
Last year we saw many friends lose everything. Studios and homes flooded in Houston. Fires roared through many parts of California leaving a trail of destruction. December 26 was the two year anniversary of a monster tornado that ripped through communities near Dallas. A dear friend lost her home and personal belongings along with her camera equipment and most photographs.
The equipment and software we use are getting smarter and smarter every day. It’s amazing what our cameras can do today. And with the latest rounds of updates of Adobe software, we see the addition of artificial intelligence. The latest versions of Lightroom and Photoshop can literally learn how to best edit our images.
The temperatures are dropping around the country as winter hits with full force. To maintain a comfortable environment, we turn up those thermostats and increase the output of warm, dry air into our homes and offices.
Though many people have humidifiers for relief from the dryness, most do not. This can result in a number of inkjet printer problems.
Range masking is a feature of the local adjustment tool that will allow you to limit the adjustment to a range of colors or tones in your image. You'll find Range Masking in both Lightroom Classic and Adobe Camera Raw. As a part of the local adjustment tool, these adjustments are completely non-destructive and can be edited later on.
When you’re done shooting you have a lot of RAW photos that look great on the back of the camera. Then you download them into Lightroom and you’re presented with a gallery full of flat, lifeless images. So, what happened to what you saw on the camera?
If you can’t seem to get great RAW images straight out of the camera then you may have a problem with your workflow. And, it’s not a problem that is unique to any one manufacturer. Instead, it’s how RAW files are processed in your workflow.
In 1944 someone stood behind a camera in Evergreen, Louisiana and captured a photograph of two military men home on leave. One, Lieutenant John Hollingshead (left), and the other, Sargent Robert Hull (right), my father. That image helped tell the story of two army buddies coping with the war.
A faded memory of my fathers past.
This faded photograph is quite unusual because there was a caption written on the back. We know it was taken in 1944 and that they were in Louisiana on training maneuvers. We also know that they were at Lt. Hollingshead’s family home. Beyond that, very little is known about this photograph. But unlike most of the photos in our family collection, this one had a caption.
This was the text that we found on the back of the original photograph.
My father died in 1986 at the age of 62. He was the same age that I am today. He died a very young man and with him the stories of his life, including the story illustrated by this photograph.
Inevitably, time marches on and the memories of the past fade. In 1944, relatively few photographs were taken and often those memories fit inside a shoe box. Today, the volume of photographs taken each day has increased exponentially. Whereas the older photos lack a story, today’s photographs get lost in the sheer volume of data that inundate our lives.
Many very learned people are suggesting that today’s digital generation will be the first generation in the last century that may end up with no photographs of their immediate family history. When they become parents and grandparents, they will not be able to find any photographs of themselves as children. Instead, these images will be lost.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be celebrating holidays with our families. Take some time to sit down and talk about some of your family photos. Select those that have a story to tell. Ask your grandparents or parents about the photos and listen to their stories. It’s amazing the things you can learn about your own family history.
Be sure to write down what you hear. Include the names of those in the images and try and zero in on a date and location for each. Software today, like Adobe Lightroom, let’s you enter titles and captions to your photographs. Add that information. But, more importantly, print some of these photographs and create a family album or a wall display of family photos.
Such a thoughtful gift - in a far different day and age. There is definitely a story here.
We’d love it if you would share some of your discoveries with us. Share meaningful family photographs that you’ve found and tell us some of the stories behind the photo. So, here’s the challenge. Take time over the holidays to discover new old family photos and interview someone to learn more of the story. Then, share the photo and story with us.
Share on Facebook or Instagram and tag @corbellworkshops - include #fadedmemories
In Twitter, tag us @corbellworkshop and include the hashtag #fadedmemories. (In Twitter there is no “s” on the end of the user id. Just not enough space.)
At the end of the holidays, we will select one of the #fadedmemories images posted on social media and that person will receive free admission to our Mastering Portrait Lighting workshop - a $595 value. Visit our website for more information about the workshop.
We are into the busy “announcement season” for the photography industry. This week is the start of PhotoPlus Expo at the Javits Convention Center in New York. In the run-up to this show, we’ve seen vendors announce new products and updates to entrenched classics.
It really is a time of change and for some, that can be a stressful time. Personally, I find the new products and features quite exhilarating. But, you don’t have to browse social media very long to realize that not everyone shares my enthusiasm.
Funny thing about our wonderful craft of photography. Once you begin mastering the camera and light techniques, along with a strong dose of composition and creating impact, you have to find a way to determine your future use of this craft. What do you want to do with this knowledge and your photographic ability?
