tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64651284818985916982024-02-19T00:00:20.041-05:00Anthony Moringello PhotographyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6465128481898591698.post-83484081666494218532014-12-15T20:41:00.001-05:002014-12-15T20:56:26.439-05:00Fun with Bokeh and Christmas Lights<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Boken is essentially the aesthetic quality of the the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light. Although it is part of nearly every image to some degree it is often used to make spectacular images this time of year with Christmas lights.<br />
The image to the right is an example of this common, if not over-used effect. <br />
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But with a little extra effort you can make something a little bit out of the ordinary.<br />
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All of these images were created form the same source, a plain lit Christmas Tree like the image on the left. <br />
The image on the right is the most basic example. One simply puts the lens at a wide-open f-stop and racked to the far end of focus such as to get maximum blur. A combination of long focal length, large aperture (f2.8 is good, f1.4 is even better) and being closer to the subject will cause even greater blur. This image was done at roughly 80 mm at f2.8.<br />
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No reason to stop there. Once you get a nice Bokeh effect, try something a little different like adjusting the zoom ring while taking the photo.<br />
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These photos are often taken in low light with relatively long exposures. This gives plenty of time to adjust the zoom during the exposure.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0KDkRqE3Sz-7sJyhBhTR0KiVsIctPGSCxTI3NEqdQu3OmXFhsHaWUouQw578-dIgzpA_b94z7L_yZ62JTh9udsBRt7k8l0sAYYUcvEBOx_zXStr1vOYl36I2LS6eKDZ4z3atgCk4NGw/s1600/post_6728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0KDkRqE3Sz-7sJyhBhTR0KiVsIctPGSCxTI3NEqdQu3OmXFhsHaWUouQw578-dIgzpA_b94z7L_yZ62JTh9udsBRt7k8l0sAYYUcvEBOx_zXStr1vOYl36I2LS6eKDZ4z3atgCk4NGw/s1600/post_6728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0KDkRqE3Sz-7sJyhBhTR0KiVsIctPGSCxTI3NEqdQu3OmXFhsHaWUouQw578-dIgzpA_b94z7L_yZ62JTh9udsBRt7k8l0sAYYUcvEBOx_zXStr1vOYl36I2LS6eKDZ4z3atgCk4NGw/s1600/post_6728.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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You can also adjust the focus during the exposure. This causes a blooming effect as the size of the Bokeh changes with the focus depth.<br />
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Keep this trick in mind next time you photograph fireworks. It can give some amazingly unusual effects that people do not often see. <br />
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Finally, with some careful dexterity, adjust both the focus and the zoom at the same time. Causing both the bloom and zoom effects. Varying the speed at which you adjust each ring, no two images will be quite the same.<br />
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Take some time to relax by the tree this season and have some fun finding creative ways to show those extraordinary displays of lights.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6465128481898591698.post-85323554596434249422014-06-04T17:29:00.000-04:002014-06-04T17:29:56.911-04:00Making a DifferenceWhy are you are photographer? Is it for the money? Is it just a hobby? Maybe just to pass the time or perhaps to help you relax and get away from the daily job? Hopefully in the end there is something about it that makes you feel good about what you are doing.<br />
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Ive sat in my basement studio photographing water drops, flowers, fire and all sorts of things, but I get not true joy out if it. It all seems lifeless... and when you think about it, it is. Nothing about that drives me to want to do more. Even spending the day hiking up a mountain or walk local trails, although fun and possibly exciting at the time, is rather lack-luster when the day is over.<br />
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I have found the photography that makes me feel best about the time I am spending is when I can make a difference in someone else's life.<br />
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Now, I use the term "someone" rather loosely, as I don't only mean people, but animals. Mainly dogs, cats -- pets. <br />
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I can think of two ways in which I try to make a difference with my love for photography.<br />
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The first is with people, their family, and their relationship with their pets. <br />
It is a good feeling to be able to give someone a great photo of their pet.<br />
So many times, I hear; "you'll never get a good photo of fluffy", or "we've tried a dozen times to get a good photo, but fluffy just never listens to us and won't sit still for a second".<br />
You can see how their face glows with excitement when they are given the result of a photo they never thought would have been possible to capture.<br />
The real difference often comes much later when that person writes or calls to express how important that "last photo" was to them. Once their furry family member passes, the photos then become a keepsake of that loved-one's memory.<br />
It is of course sad to hear that their beloved friend has passed. But it saddens me more when I hear someone express how they wish they had just one decent photo to hold onto. <br />
To that end, it makes me feel good that can make a difference.<br />
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Another is donating my time and ability at a local animal shelter... and making a difference in a pet's chances of finding a new family!<br />
My wife and I help in various ways with shelter activities, but where I seem to make the best use of my time and talent has been with photographing the dogs for their web page profiles.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipR6DRciZ6EicQdjFDicBLi0Uc6P-Ym7luCs8dKPg_NWaKemXeSB_DY8yaNGVnVUZ7f0_tP7nFQ8IjHj5gxPlnrJ5sx6miv8USphEL26_yjcnFnSNemayFgoEa_qqkGoSXEj4k9EvPmKM/s1600/clark_orig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipR6DRciZ6EicQdjFDicBLi0Uc6P-Ym7luCs8dKPg_NWaKemXeSB_DY8yaNGVnVUZ7f0_tP7nFQ8IjHj5gxPlnrJ5sx6miv8USphEL26_yjcnFnSNemayFgoEa_qqkGoSXEj4k9EvPmKM/s1600/clark_orig.jpg" height="200" width="121" /></a>It is a small thing, but when someone visits the shelter's web page looking for their next pet, the first impression is often the photo next to that dog's name. If the photo is not appealing, it<br />
may get overlooked by a majority of viewers.<br />
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I cannot blame the photographer that takes the dog's initial photo, as they are battling many issues at the same time and in locations or conditions that do not lead to a quality photo of that animal. To compound issues, the dogs are often photographed shortly after they are picked up. Thus, the animals are frightened with their new environment, likely have come from tragic circumstances and may be in less than show-worthy condition (to put it mildly).<br />
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Instead of a background consisting of a cage, a cement kennel, or the backseat of a car, I will take photos within more enjoyable environments; along wooded pathways, in the cozy welcome center, or running free in the play areas. After a few days, these dogs will have been well cared for, been well loved, and have become a bit more adjusted to their environment.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiljyp8GyHJjaV77usr1t0Rs0KBDoXf4a1T1rtZojrEdZbPEMiND7X4Ymb55487MTFuQnLCqwXY3zAoNiINsWDGc-c3qzqwH5QRjepj7Gxwdw3-ZOSz03pY2egoMc56kPqdWPlFa1tVlCs/s1600/Clark02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiljyp8GyHJjaV77usr1t0Rs0KBDoXf4a1T1rtZojrEdZbPEMiND7X4Ymb55487MTFuQnLCqwXY3zAoNiINsWDGc-c3qzqwH5QRjepj7Gxwdw3-ZOSz03pY2egoMc56kPqdWPlFa1tVlCs/s1600/Clark02.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a>The change can be dramatic. In some cases you would swear they are not the same animal.<br />
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It is a small amount of time from my weekend, but it makes a difference for the dogs and for the families that want to take them home and make him or her their companion.<br />
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Hearing that someone saw one of the new photos of the dog and "just had to put in an application that day", warms my heart. I know I have played some small part in changing a life.<br />
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So, if you feel that your love for photography is giving you less enjoyment than it should for the time and effort you are putting into it, maybe looking at how you can make a difference with your ability can turn that around.<br />
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Below are some before and after photos of a few of the dogs (left/right) that I have done for the local shelter. There are not the most extreme cases, but they are good examples of what a little time, patience, and training as a photographer can do to help make a difference, if only for one dog at a time.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6465128481898591698.post-70981455036877563342014-04-02T22:40:00.006-04:002014-04-03T16:52:15.497-04:00And for my next trick -- Burning Light Bulbs!<br />
<span style="text-align: left;">It's cool. It's fun. It has an ever so slight edge of danger.... But it can give some fascinating results.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;">Yes, it is photographing broken lightbulbs.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;">(examples below found here: </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/amoringello/sets/72157642511037734/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/amoringello/sets/72157642511037734/</a>)<br />
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I've been wanting to do this for years. With all of the days off work due to snow this year, I finally got the time grab the necessary supplies gave it a whirl. </div>
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There is not all that much to it. A little preparation, a little safety, and a bit of luck to go along with it. </div>
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First things first: safety.<br />
You are dealing with broken glass, exposed electrical wires (filaments inside the lightbulb). <br />
When powered on the exposed filaments do catch fire. There is the possibility of hot wire and hot glass to end up where it is not wanted. Keep the area clear and take any necessary precautions as you would for having an open flame indoors.<br />
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Ok, on to my lighting setup. <br />
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It is a simple setup with a garage light securely tied to a light stand and a black velvet backdrop a few feet back from the light.<br />
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I have a studio strobe on either side, but only for use of the modeling lights. Any constant light will do. These happen to be 250W each and are brighter than any other lights I own. <br />
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The brighter the better, as it allows faster shutter speed to better capture the flame and the raising smoke while maintaining a decent aperture for DOF.<br />
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Tools:<br />
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<li>safety goggles</li>
<li>gloves</li>
<li>hammer</li>
<li>file</li>
<li>pliers</li>
<li>screw driver (or pointy object)</li>
<li>large plastic bag (to contain broken bits)</li>
<li>incandescent light bulbs</li>
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Note: Use only incandescent light bulbs. Do not attempt with fluorescent or CFL bulbs. I have used both clear and white light bulbs. Each have their own characteristic that may be useful.<br />
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Breaking a light bulb is more difficult than it seems. A globe of glass is a pretty durable object. </div>
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It usually results in the bulb breaking off at the base. (Although certainly useful, I find the results more interesting if some portion of the bulb is intact for the smoke to billow around.)</div>
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Unfortunately, when that happens, it often results in the entire bulb shattering and subsequently damaging the filament(s) at the same time. It may be difficult or impossible to salvage broken filaments.</div>
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I have found that using a file to score, or etch, the glass allows the bulb to break more easily and not shatter completely. Just be careful, as scoring too deeply can result in breakage or even crushing of the entire bulb. Just lightly scratch the surface! WEAR GLOVES JUST IN CASE!</div>
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Next, place the scored bulb into the bag to help reduce required cleanup from shattered glass.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiGDt35Xhyphenhyphenfx2zzxFuQCRWTNm5CIEcf98EHQE9dKtKRHD2AM0RGL705lYsYc96oHD8rhMwNSRkgfc_2MQ26D_1zXqhab0Fw7Bz1jMWjzS6Uk2uZjM2U0MzGL_wru3hmUyFUB4Bqh61VuY/s1600/blog_0381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiGDt35Xhyphenhyphenfx2zzxFuQCRWTNm5CIEcf98EHQE9dKtKRHD2AM0RGL705lYsYc96oHD8rhMwNSRkgfc_2MQ26D_1zXqhab0Fw7Bz1jMWjzS6Uk2uZjM2U0MzGL_wru3hmUyFUB4Bqh61VuY/s1600/blog_0381.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>Use the hammer to tap a pointed object, like the tip of a phillips screwdriver, onto the scored area of the light bulb. This will often result in a tiny hole that can be manually enlarged as desired. <br />
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Finally use the pliers to careful chip away at the glass to create the general shape you want.<br />
Chip at tiny-tiny bits at a time. Still, the glass has a mind of its own and often breaks in unexpected ways. Part of the magic is that no two will ever be the same.<br />
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Once you make double-sure that the power to the socket is OFF, carefully screw the bulb into the socket. And you're ready to go! <br />
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I've found that using the camera's Live View mode helps a lot to ensure perfect focus on the filament. If your camera has focus peeking, even better!<br />
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I set up my camera with ISO 200-400 at f/5.0 or higher, if light allows it, to keep most of the bulb sharp. I try to keep the shutter speed at about 1/1000s or higher. It reduces the brightness of the flame as well as freezes the smoke rising so it doesn't become blurry.<br />
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A 50mm or larger lens should allow a safe enough distance to keep the lens safe from potentially flying hot debris. (you don't want splattering molten metal or glass to hit your front lens element!)<br />
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I also set my camera on burst mode to capture the action from start to finish. At eight frames per second, I can capture plenty of interesting moments as the smoke rises around the broken glass.<br />
Merging several photos can also make for a more interesting image, so capture as much as you can!<br />
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<li>Test your focus, and make sure your camera is in burst mode.</li>
<li>Press the shutter release just before you power on the socket.</li>
<li>Keep shooting until the last glimmer of light fades from the filament.</li>
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The whole event only takes about two to four seconds.</div>
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IMPORTANT! Be sure to POWER OFF the light socket before attempting to unscrew and throw it away!!</div>
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Below is an example I created while taking the example photos for this writeup. </div>
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You can have some further fun with post-processing, adding color and merging multiple images.</div>
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So go grab a big'ole box of light bulbs. Be safe. Be creative. And have fun!</div>
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I would love to see your results.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6465128481898591698.post-7275855922437266612014-01-11T15:25:00.003-05:002014-04-03T05:25:14.913-04:00What were they thinking? No. 2: more nonsense things I've heard people saySometimes you hear people make comments or reiterating "rules" of photography and you just have to ask yourself "What were they thinking"?<br />
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So, how many times have you been given the following helpful piece of advice or criticism? <br />
"Always keep your horizon level"<br />
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It may not sound like such a bad rule on the surface, and for the image to the right, it certainly seems to make sense. :-) :-)<br />
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Sadly, I find that it is one of the most overused comments from new photographers and by those who like to throw around rules without actually knowing what it is that they are talking about. <br />
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Lets take a look at why this statement rarely applies in the real world and why you need to question the other person's reasoning when you hear it being said.<br />
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This statement can only apply in one situation; when you can see the horizon over a large body of water that extends past your ability to see any further due to the curvature of the Earth. In this situation it is accurate and in most cases should be followed. (naturally, as with any rule of photography, rules are made to be broken -- when you know how and why).<br />
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In all other situations this "rule" can not possibly apply. In any situation where land is at the horizon, it may be affected by changes in elevation and by perspective. <br />
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The absolute dumbest comment I hear is "Always keep your shoreline level". Again, on the surface it almost sounds intelligent and to some it seems to mean the same thing. But think about it in places where the shoreline is not absolutely parallel to your point of view. i.e. where one point of the shore is closer to your point of view than the other. <br />
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Lets look at the following image. The shoreline is obviously not level. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh70HIqWDYxxbU2p_WdQTc4eMPhKqLOknnSXdWU9lkFhBAETdyQQwoGRaRMvy7KGE1YbLlcM2Lo-1VgdWVNDB-uuZCIEFnB2qLkOz78clLiuRhrlDei0T-NUHiG6ZxTnYQ0YEcU2oODyg/s1600/CustomName_1090049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh70HIqWDYxxbU2p_WdQTc4eMPhKqLOknnSXdWU9lkFhBAETdyQQwoGRaRMvy7KGE1YbLlcM2Lo-1VgdWVNDB-uuZCIEFnB2qLkOz78clLiuRhrlDei0T-NUHiG6ZxTnYQ0YEcU2oODyg/s1600/CustomName_1090049.jpg" height="320" width="297" /></a></div>
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And at first glance, our "expert" photographer buddy recommends that we need to straighten the horizon. OK, lets take a look at what happens when we do....</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OYbXtjNosWu0D_DexX0QajmMdfGiiUZ5TAW7B3Seefycj0DM8sMjuqDE1GluRWef0jFWyp2v5SX69avmpMJKD15FNiGPcyiLwz19JnzUwi-MvhnDyl57szo2s-pP2VJOWaMWT6Jf8X0/s1600/CustomName_1090049_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OYbXtjNosWu0D_DexX0QajmMdfGiiUZ5TAW7B3Seefycj0DM8sMjuqDE1GluRWef0jFWyp2v5SX69avmpMJKD15FNiGPcyiLwz19JnzUwi-MvhnDyl57szo2s-pP2VJOWaMWT6Jf8X0/s1600/CustomName_1090049_s.jpg" height="320" width="297" /></a></div>
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Is it better? Well, out of context I suppose I can see why one might think so. The waves do appear a slight bit off no, but maybe only because I know the context of the original scene and why this could no longer be correct. BUT WAIT... even out of context, looking closer now, one has to ask themselves; Why would someone build a lighthouse on an angle? Is it about to fall off the cliff? It is now clearly tilting towards the cliffs.</div>
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Perhaps with a little more context we can see what is going on here.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG5-8lGwYV1Q9MI5M_24dhDZmZof__XccviK2yrw27fv5lWiG7Si4z-Lm2rYXwW0LhxKz_bz64fLyPUJFuph8yA7vZ3KNM4JnlAR7oRQbdieX0jiHeGkUF4lDEYkmuI6BaoQGSP69BJd8/s1600/CustomName_8698.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG5-8lGwYV1Q9MI5M_24dhDZmZof__XccviK2yrw27fv5lWiG7Si4z-Lm2rYXwW0LhxKz_bz64fLyPUJFuph8yA7vZ3KNM4JnlAR7oRQbdieX0jiHeGkUF4lDEYkmuI6BaoQGSP69BJd8/s1600/CustomName_8698.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
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The shoreline to the right is cut off but you can still see more clearly that the shoreline is extending away from us from the right, out towards the left out into the ocean beyond the lighthouse. </div>
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If you look at the actual horizon you can see that the original image is in fact level even when the shoreline was not.</div>
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It has instantly become clear that our "expert" photography buddy didn't really pay attention to detail, and likes to brag about his vast technical knowledge -- knowledge that is clearly lacking.</div>
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Look at the following side by side. Out of context, the shoreline looks like it may need some straightening adjustment. Again, straightening the shoreline clearly introduces problems with the monument at the center of the image.</div>
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This is a bit of an extreme example, but it is honestly not too far off from a recent image for which I was quoted this rule of photography by an "expert" photographer. If the person had actually looked at the subject and understood the "rule", it would have been clear that the image was in fact level, regardless of the appearance of the so called horizon. Instead the person was more interested in impressing a group with his knowledge of "the rules", and ended up looking foolish.</div>
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So, my simple tip for today to help stop people from looking like fools is to stop re-iterating rules for the mere sake of expressing your knowledge of them. </div>
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Keep in mind that truly level horizons are rarely possible, nor desired!</div>
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We need to stop looking at the horizon and start looking at vertical lines. If there are any manmade object in the scene, this is more reliable method of determining what is "straight". There are few situations where manmade objects are intentionally created or left tilted. The "Leaning Tower of Pisa" comes to mind. Not much else. </div>
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Just be aware of wide angle lenses creating curved or keystone effects which will affect vertical lines near the sides of your image. It is best to look for correctable vertical lines near the center of your image when possible.</div>
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When there is no context for what is level of straight, then it may be perfectly acceptable to rotate the image create a sense of a level horizon... whatever that may mean for that specific image.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6465128481898591698.post-4417082140554501432013-12-20T18:50:00.000-05:002013-12-20T19:10:57.688-05:00Oh Christmas Tree<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxXLyuip-Mv8Whfdo3boto_ESDv-MSlLNVRy52GmH2UGXcKANnuIJ_pupYN361woDWgMspRRM0TTx4RfikNH6I1pHFQjlN9kDBQ14Jnp4VO0yYCf1JVVB1jyWIHVXs9VeA8LUA9RraWE/s1600/photo_9782.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxXLyuip-Mv8Whfdo3boto_ESDv-MSlLNVRy52GmH2UGXcKANnuIJ_pupYN361woDWgMspRRM0TTx4RfikNH6I1pHFQjlN9kDBQ14Jnp4VO0yYCf1JVVB1jyWIHVXs9VeA8LUA9RraWE/s400/photo_9782.jpg" width="265" /></a><br />
Have you ever tried to photograph your family in front of your beautifully decorated and lit up Christmas tree only to get a bland green tree with no apparent lights?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QZ3ViQD60XsupW6M0h9Ajpi8CULSUPm5r4MGoHydt3KMJffUTlrFmJC-isJJbf3XiBjWPlKC4IQMnHRJUWptt8ACjxLZ6sLcMrFle91O4z0A5l_hipcoMe7_bKujDtTY5UCyFA3aJu4/s1600/photo_9781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QZ3ViQD60XsupW6M0h9Ajpi8CULSUPm5r4MGoHydt3KMJffUTlrFmJC-isJJbf3XiBjWPlKC4IQMnHRJUWptt8ACjxLZ6sLcMrFle91O4z0A5l_hipcoMe7_bKujDtTY5UCyFA3aJu4/s1600/photo_9781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QZ3ViQD60XsupW6M0h9Ajpi8CULSUPm5r4MGoHydt3KMJffUTlrFmJC-isJJbf3XiBjWPlKC4IQMnHRJUWptt8ACjxLZ6sLcMrFle91O4z0A5l_hipcoMe7_bKujDtTY5UCyFA3aJu4/s1600/photo_9781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QZ3ViQD60XsupW6M0h9Ajpi8CULSUPm5r4MGoHydt3KMJffUTlrFmJC-isJJbf3XiBjWPlKC4IQMnHRJUWptt8ACjxLZ6sLcMrFle91O4z0A5l_hipcoMe7_bKujDtTY5UCyFA3aJu4/s1600/photo_9781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QZ3ViQD60XsupW6M0h9Ajpi8CULSUPm5r4MGoHydt3KMJffUTlrFmJC-isJJbf3XiBjWPlKC4IQMnHRJUWptt8ACjxLZ6sLcMrFle91O4z0A5l_hipcoMe7_bKujDtTY5UCyFA3aJu4/s1600/photo_9781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QZ3ViQD60XsupW6M0h9Ajpi8CULSUPm5r4MGoHydt3KMJffUTlrFmJC-isJJbf3XiBjWPlKC4IQMnHRJUWptt8ACjxLZ6sLcMrFle91O4z0A5l_hipcoMe7_bKujDtTY5UCyFA3aJu4/s1600/photo_9781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QZ3ViQD60XsupW6M0h9Ajpi8CULSUPm5r4MGoHydt3KMJffUTlrFmJC-isJJbf3XiBjWPlKC4IQMnHRJUWptt8ACjxLZ6sLcMrFle91O4z0A5l_hipcoMe7_bKujDtTY5UCyFA3aJu4/s1600/photo_9781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QZ3ViQD60XsupW6M0h9Ajpi8CULSUPm5r4MGoHydt3KMJffUTlrFmJC-isJJbf3XiBjWPlKC4IQMnHRJUWptt8ACjxLZ6sLcMrFle91O4z0A5l_hipcoMe7_bKujDtTY5UCyFA3aJu4/s1600/photo_9781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QZ3ViQD60XsupW6M0h9Ajpi8CULSUPm5r4MGoHydt3KMJffUTlrFmJC-isJJbf3XiBjWPlKC4IQMnHRJUWptt8ACjxLZ6sLcMrFle91O4z0A5l_hipcoMe7_bKujDtTY5UCyFA3aJu4/s1600/photo_9781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QZ3ViQD60XsupW6M0h9Ajpi8CULSUPm5r4MGoHydt3KMJffUTlrFmJC-isJJbf3XiBjWPlKC4IQMnHRJUWptt8ACjxLZ6sLcMrFle91O4z0A5l_hipcoMe7_bKujDtTY5UCyFA3aJu4/s1600/photo_9781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><br />
If you simply turn on your flash, you're likely to get a nice green tree, but the lights do not show up.<br />
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The camera's flash is so much brighter than the lights on the tree that they simply do not have a chance in being seen. The tree also ends up being full of dark shadows and no life.<br />
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It just isn't worth wasting your family's time having them come out and pose just yet.<br />
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Here are a few tips for getting a more decent image.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJMegpzeMrXkTlVb6XW62VhP1A1BOYkH_XQVuLbKRyT7sjy0rENqRQ2a-fHSvbDOyuXd-WJxNy3CwgizUDILtWbO_00aGdEzGaupquZMHAjbO4P1N2fhDI6wAo0_9GZgAs9sp5VVwYcUE/s1600/photo_9777.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJMegpzeMrXkTlVb6XW62VhP1A1BOYkH_XQVuLbKRyT7sjy0rENqRQ2a-fHSvbDOyuXd-WJxNy3CwgizUDILtWbO_00aGdEzGaupquZMHAjbO4P1N2fhDI6wAo0_9GZgAs9sp5VVwYcUE/s400/photo_9777.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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It is a simple enough task to set your camera on a tripod and use a long exposure to get a more beautiful result in your tree. With several seconds exposure (about eight seconds here), you can get something like the following. <br />
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If your family is like mine, it is unlikely they will not sit still for eight seconds. Even if they do, it is unlikely that they will sit still enough to create a sharp image. It is likely that they will turn into unrecognizable blobs due to motion blur. <br />
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So again, we won't call them out just yet.<br />
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Wouldn't it be great if our camera could perform some magical mix of flash and long exposure?</div>
Luckily it can. <br />
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One method is to use "Slow Shutter Sync" -- sometimes called "Fill Flash".<br />
What this does, essentially, is tells the camera to expose for the background but send out enough flash to expose the subject in the foreground. <br />
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The key is to balance the flash with the background / ambient light. This works well in some cases, but it can take some experimentation.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAaD0y-5RVa4NtFKJgWCEY2URb19yM9irh1ott7N4UD6rC-g0MNFrMoiNwfZrxdOZAh05S8QTF1ckfOw_eckEwvqm_sGu05IzmdphcBXpVCP9I0EUwLSnZOitz4O6ATsQgzWUBdFBPRtg/s1600/photo_9772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAaD0y-5RVa4NtFKJgWCEY2URb19yM9irh1ott7N4UD6rC-g0MNFrMoiNwfZrxdOZAh05S8QTF1ckfOw_eckEwvqm_sGu05IzmdphcBXpVCP9I0EUwLSnZOitz4O6ATsQgzWUBdFBPRtg/s400/photo_9772.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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Since we know that exposing for the image without flash is going to take some eight seconds at ISO 100, we're going to have to bump up the ISO to something our subjects can tolerate. <br />
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Here I've set my camera to ISO 800 giving me an exposure time of one second. <br />
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With the Slow Shutter Sync, the flash goes off and the shutter remains open for one second, allowing the bulbs to illuminate through the bright camera flash.<br />
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We can see the lights now, but in my opinion, the flash is still causing the image to be far too bright. I really want more impact from the bulbs.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3EaZeuaOwzRC6fTMoPXB2xWEHxjiS6OPWQE_Yd5hPjtuoumCOzNT55BTb1ESKe7QbwTdxH86BGWmCl4XHhFwMJAVfJfDuH4odcutRy27gYI0JDt77gm33LW-CfXTSiEqbBMFtsBDiY1M/s1600/photo_9778.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3EaZeuaOwzRC6fTMoPXB2xWEHxjiS6OPWQE_Yd5hPjtuoumCOzNT55BTb1ESKe7QbwTdxH86BGWmCl4XHhFwMJAVfJfDuH4odcutRy27gYI0JDt77gm33LW-CfXTSiEqbBMFtsBDiY1M/s400/photo_9778.jpg" width="265" /></a><br />
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Finally I've cut the flash down to -2.0 stops. The will still be enough flash power to light up my subject yet I am retaining the beautiful Christmas tree and lights behind.<br />
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I am happy with look that ISO 800 giving me. The exposure of one second is a little long for my subject to sit still but not unreasonable, so I'm going to go with it.<br />
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This ISO setting is also still plenty low enough that it is going to introduce very little noise with my camera. <br />
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I could certainly raise the ISO and reduce the shutter speed, but I risk introducing unacceptable amount of noise. <br />
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In the end, I've set my camera to ISO 800 with an exposure time of one second.<br />
I've set the camera to use Slow Shutter Sync / Fill Flash mode, and I've cut the flash output to -2.0 stops.<br />
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The final result has a well lit tree and a beautiful subject at the same time.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-FDD0CC1Go8SDVX5UwHebnrziVjaYzHxyNBab3iozBwg5WE_-d8MtcTvpPH8H6Oyb1FbDwiLoBN2im63scydsNLktJcVKOdvVBoE5kx_Lk6w1YujmcUfpZ3DUzgx7yKhiUG6ooJ9SjM/s1600/photo_9781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-FDD0CC1Go8SDVX5UwHebnrziVjaYzHxyNBab3iozBwg5WE_-d8MtcTvpPH8H6Oyb1FbDwiLoBN2im63scydsNLktJcVKOdvVBoE5kx_Lk6w1YujmcUfpZ3DUzgx7yKhiUG6ooJ9SjM/s320/photo_9781.jpg" width="285" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Have a safe, happy and well lit Christmas this year!</span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6465128481898591698.post-81051028320899697072013-10-02T18:47:00.003-04:002013-10-02T18:47:30.497-04:00Know Your EquipmentHere's a short little story you're sure to love.<br />
So I've been using Apple Macs for the past few years. At the time the switch form Windows allowed my blood pressure to drop several dozen points. Although honestly with today's operating systems, I would not recommend one over the other to a new user. They're each equally as good/bad as the other now. Well, up to Windows 7... that Windows 8 schtuff is an utter disaster. But that is neither here nor there to my point. :)<br />
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Anyway... I recently upgraded my iMac in January of this year and have been doing fine since.<br />
Until this past week while post-processing a group of images for the weekend's event.<br />
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Well, every few minutes the brightness on my monitor would change. Nothing drastic, just subtle enough that after 20 minutes or so I could tell it was different than my second monitor which had stayed the same.<br />
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Anyone who works on photos knows how critical it is to keep your monitor color and brightness stable and calibrated to ensure proper results. So needless to say this was quite frustrating when I am doing work for customers.<br />
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Long story short, there is now a setting in the Mac OS that allows the brightness of the iMac to be adjusted automatically. Apparently there must be a light sensor in there somewhere! How am I supposed to know that? And who really wants their monitor settings to change "randomly"?<br />
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It just happened that this was the first day I worked during daylight hours with the curtains open.<br />
As the sunlight changed, so did my monitor.<br />
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Sort of funny ... once I figured that out. <br />
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Maybe this will save someone some frustration. <br />
Under your Display settings, find the following check-box and turn it Off.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3zMNxAfmH051ZMEBnRQuHf6UAUovsom91is3ASt0ULSSrt6wVgL2KSAqOyWKpaxJm7N-MjCpevwKn-Aqw8Ve9XAfsx944sfsfRANTWnRyTP8RYY3aqzL63VXhz231Zre2Sh04OtqoYw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-10-02+at+6.44.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3zMNxAfmH051ZMEBnRQuHf6UAUovsom91is3ASt0ULSSrt6wVgL2KSAqOyWKpaxJm7N-MjCpevwKn-Aqw8Ve9XAfsx944sfsfRANTWnRyTP8RYY3aqzL63VXhz231Zre2Sh04OtqoYw/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-10-02+at+6.44.42+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6465128481898591698.post-43259164940503316842013-04-11T17:54:00.002-04:002013-04-12T05:38:24.509-04:00Cherry Blossoms - another yearWell, this was certainly a fabulous year for viewing the cherry blossoms. Certainly the best I have had the pleasure photographing for the past, maybe five years. Regardless of the weather; if it be darned near freezing and requires three layers of clothing, gloves and every pocket filled with hand-wamers... or like this week with temps near 70 degrees, photographing the cherry blossoms is something I wait for every year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Sn02rd2RVsT_EMJ2DndgmrPG3dzmWVKrPqzMrlvjjFFhz97QprSUthmcxPowmOYXLorHB7TFyPvrGCtNQm76M2TCuisULpzDy6VMWIO8OO_uENp09D2IWXE_T_Utau5iB9ytk9dvrbA/s1600/_AMP2952-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Sn02rd2RVsT_EMJ2DndgmrPG3dzmWVKrPqzMrlvjjFFhz97QprSUthmcxPowmOYXLorHB7TFyPvrGCtNQm76M2TCuisULpzDy6VMWIO8OO_uENp09D2IWXE_T_Utau5iB9ytk9dvrbA/s1600/_AMP2952-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Sn02rd2RVsT_EMJ2DndgmrPG3dzmWVKrPqzMrlvjjFFhz97QprSUthmcxPowmOYXLorHB7TFyPvrGCtNQm76M2TCuisULpzDy6VMWIO8OO_uENp09D2IWXE_T_Utau5iB9ytk9dvrbA/s400/_AMP2952-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I tend to arrive by 3am and circle most of the tidal basin before sunrise, capturing some unique images of iconic landscapes. It is a very peaceful and relaxing time to visit the DC Mall, and taking photographs at that time is almost therapeutic. When I started photographing the cherry blossoms in the pre-sunrise morning I saw no one around the tidal basin. Each year I see more and more photographers joining me in this seemingly crazy ritual. :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8dnKmNrdu8373JXCuI60z-AKsvz7xghEaK-4VYYhv28r3nOBJ_QiYYkbyEaipMCcXxxsht0UAm1gMRMSpkpLn-k6OkIhARtE12RkujVTsNQkAnoDjIdNf7K-0IfBxrtxIcBtBaXxkqvw/s1600/_AMP3117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8dnKmNrdu8373JXCuI60z-AKsvz7xghEaK-4VYYhv28r3nOBJ_QiYYkbyEaipMCcXxxsht0UAm1gMRMSpkpLn-k6OkIhARtE12RkujVTsNQkAnoDjIdNf7K-0IfBxrtxIcBtBaXxkqvw/s400/_AMP3117.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Crowds congeal around the tidal basin as soon as the light starts to shine. I tend to think of them as anti-vampires. They only come out when it is light, yet they will also suck the life from an otherwise perfect photo of the DC cherry blossoms.<br />
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Therefore, I try to get out before the crowds and arrive long before sunrise. This not only alleviates having people in all of your photos, but it results in unique images few others will have or be willing to get. For example, this year sunrise as 6:40am. But to beat the sunlight altogether, you need to be out before 5:00am when the first signs of light start to fill the sky even before the sun crosses the horizon.<br />
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Since the word "photograph" has origins from the Greek words roughly meaning "drawing with light", you will need some soft of light. We are lucky in the downtown DC area that the major monuments are lit up all hours of the day. So taking nigh-time photos of these is trivial. <br />
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Sadly, there are few lights available for photographing the cherry blossoms themselves, and the results are not very impressive. Below you can see the results when additional light is added to what would normally be a disappointing photograph. Even with the first example, some light was available from giant industrial flood light behind me. Even these were not enough to add much life to the image.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3EWeND_OrMxGzekOHVReYpHAPnsiYB3EnjrpL1VaO7xGhppjr2Y0OCaI8cjw1cLR6LhZN5oUDHtTGcGcQm46J6B1Fq7bOSoIWZsIdSkb_y5SQfBo7ds_JEm3QqrTYx-W53ADKv_iXvhU/s320/01_ordinary.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">no flash - ordinary</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHy4xYAdSU8JlaHshjcVvnJIpJh8wFLf_gnhuYi0ex-Y4DMNysZDD8VblbAPm-49JFqYI0VYLAYoYdMK50RQOU489kfxZban7ZHMLhNHIV25za6LT0jpcKo4sbO4oMHQqaoIlEY9bEpwE/s320/01_extra-ordinary.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">with flash - extra ordinary<br />
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</tbody></table>
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You could bring a flashlight, or many photographers may have a handheld flash, a "speedlite"for example. My lighting weapon of choice is a battery power studio strobe -- Paul C Buff's Einstein to be exact. Powered by their Vagabond Lithium Mini. Its a few extra pounds of weight but the extra power and light coverage well worth it!!<br />
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<table 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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hZAWCtxxBfPYpZAvgYzoTfWnxvygoa2CAb0H2JLnoqPuJ0VCb7Ok3cACAGbV-oFEnxc6TyhWa3mR1ctsCgduh_f9cRxOFR0QSEeFopOeL5kgIZwa79_EudE1RGfdy-8ArfY2CkS4lPk/s1600/_AMP2913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hZAWCtxxBfPYpZAvgYzoTfWnxvygoa2CAb0H2JLnoqPuJ0VCb7Ok3cACAGbV-oFEnxc6TyhWa3mR1ctsCgduh_f9cRxOFR0QSEeFopOeL5kgIZwa79_EudE1RGfdy-8ArfY2CkS4lPk/s320/_AMP2913.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">no flash - less than ordinary</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibEiB8s7bt7NX5p0YiE5ooVkbnbcnkbOnWVCwP1qsSIGmtFoBx949lW5hDs3TyMDn9BYK-ncYKicGExUV57m-3JL7wV0JnuL0c0OLLZgpZw9IxFgPy5mYUOVHpUsbq1Kb1W7I7CMQrLlE/s1600/_AMP2912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibEiB8s7bt7NX5p0YiE5ooVkbnbcnkbOnWVCwP1qsSIGmtFoBx949lW5hDs3TyMDn9BYK-ncYKicGExUV57m-3JL7wV0JnuL0c0OLLZgpZw9IxFgPy5mYUOVHpUsbq1Kb1W7I7CMQrLlE/s320/_AMP2912.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">with flash - extra ordinary</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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At night, all photos will require long exposures. The wind will almost always be causing the cherry blossoms to move and sway throughout your exposure. Use of a flashlight will invariably result in a blurry mess by the time you're done lighting your scene. <br />
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Even a "speedlite" may result in poor results. You may need to pop off multiple flashes during the long exposure to light all of the cherry blossoms you want to capture. This will often result in multiply exposed blossoms, as they move in the wind and are exposed repeatedly in different positions by your flash. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8aS2110b1-8sox-mlFc27TiAycKpH2-LBg7bi62wG0uUJICNVnzuhpFPOMd3IqPv7Zu9ZE85xbMosHs0fA4GAVoQbD4f3b-jqTaRj824ti-Whyphenhyphenc56GqpcsInUxGwKexdGJA9cEtgyMg/s1600/_AMP2972.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8aS2110b1-8sox-mlFc27TiAycKpH2-LBg7bi62wG0uUJICNVnzuhpFPOMd3IqPv7Zu9ZE85xbMosHs0fA4GAVoQbD4f3b-jqTaRj824ti-Whyphenhyphenc56GqpcsInUxGwKexdGJA9cEtgyMg/s400/_AMP2972.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
If necessary, limit your field of view and increase your flash power as high as possible to allow your flash to fire only once.<br />
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As the sun rises and the sky lights up, you may run into additional problems but with a little care you can still use your flash. If your camera/flash has an option called High Speed Sync, it might help. But the effective distance diminishes so greatly, you're often just wasting your time!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmLLhpZEBvz38ioOPFR01ueiStm3tDGIjhFIkue2WVIpd0RGl4XfXEiUzgQi6k57CNMbpwMjTbPzj5LOqs0qW2ZdGelE1pUXrCQIGPD-Ui0hy0jBMAGAt-J1h1pynNsGmPZrgPyQ1_ABY/s1600/_AMP2954_comp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmLLhpZEBvz38ioOPFR01ueiStm3tDGIjhFIkue2WVIpd0RGl4XfXEiUzgQi6k57CNMbpwMjTbPzj5LOqs0qW2ZdGelE1pUXrCQIGPD-Ui0hy0jBMAGAt-J1h1pynNsGmPZrgPyQ1_ABY/s320/_AMP2954_comp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Once the sun is completely up, put away your flash and enjoy the splendid beauty of the cherry blossoms themselves. Don't forget to be creative. Sometimes that full canopy of blossoms can make a great background for other images. Or blend images and create something completely unique.<br />
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So be bold and daring, and set your clock for the wee hours. Relax and have fun before the "cherry blossom anti-vampires" feeding frenzy begins and you feel like you've just stepped into the Metro at rush hour.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6465128481898591698.post-26222897586194958142013-03-07T18:04:00.000-05:002013-03-24T08:20:18.292-04:00Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC - Photography Walking Tour<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizGH2bARq4lxF3NClG8n0yOvEf7n7VhV7O5RLcgyp-po1kgNj3oyuJJJpafe1XAiFogQB7aXhwYRnfHPYuOle5Na2czb-4QspXSeSYkWHp7Se7qwlHIuXRBCh37GQvWeUJe3b5V6VI40A/s1600/facebook_1689-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizGH2bARq4lxF3NClG8n0yOvEf7n7VhV7O5RLcgyp-po1kgNj3oyuJJJpafe1XAiFogQB7aXhwYRnfHPYuOle5Na2czb-4QspXSeSYkWHp7Se7qwlHIuXRBCh37GQvWeUJe3b5V6VI40A/s200/facebook_1689-2.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
One of my favorite times of the year is late March / early April when the cherry blossom blooms are at peak levels. This year they are expected to peak about April 2 - 6. Of course, it is really a guessing game as any change in weather patterns can alter that target window. That is part of the fun, of course -- watching and waiting for the right time to head out and capture a scene that is rather unique to our area.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrbFbDLFiR7PqTXtqsoYEvBk9nLZXiohSKo7srEd1UsaPiI7nbNNMUy6TGPhA8iUncSFIIsPev1R1rlTxnKqbhBL063dFXjV5VKMIeIN-JdEtDqi0d82f9011ShlSLSoPoZ5XA1en9HBA/s1600/facebook_1741-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrbFbDLFiR7PqTXtqsoYEvBk9nLZXiohSKo7srEd1UsaPiI7nbNNMUy6TGPhA8iUncSFIIsPev1R1rlTxnKqbhBL063dFXjV5VKMIeIN-JdEtDqi0d82f9011ShlSLSoPoZ5XA1en9HBA/s200/facebook_1741-2.jpg" width="200" /></a>The early morning is a great time to photograph the cherry blossoms and the nearby monuments. You do not have to contend with the literally thousands of people that flock to the tidal basin after sunrise this time of year.<br />
For the past few years I have been leading dedicated photographers out long before sunrise to help them learn how to take fabulous photographs using both long-exposure and flash. This year is no different. <br />
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Follow along with me again this year if you wish to learn how to use your camera and flash to create more exciting photos of the cherry blossoms. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeyAyT29kcuUPpwLCc4rXel__HHonykj6Rvvk0xi8I2dCtN8bBbOKQkxGt6zoCvmZmhUnUs79kPO9SaXAdKciGeje4mEoqCPUDrpWwm-Qo7s4TeHbZR3fPoZAt9NtIHuFNBtNhmpnzzk/s1600/facebook_1754-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeyAyT29kcuUPpwLCc4rXel__HHonykj6Rvvk0xi8I2dCtN8bBbOKQkxGt6zoCvmZmhUnUs79kPO9SaXAdKciGeje4mEoqCPUDrpWwm-Qo7s4TeHbZR3fPoZAt9NtIHuFNBtNhmpnzzk/s200/facebook_1754-2.jpg" width="200" /></a>This early morning tour is geared towards the advanced-beginner to mid-level photographer looking for a unique take on one of our city's most beautiful treasures. Guidance will be given for taking beautiful photos, but we will move fast and cover a lot of information as well as a lot of ground in the short time available before the night quickly turns to day. You should be familiar with how to change the settings on your camera, even if you do not know exactly how or why they work the ay they do.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXcThBVdu_-nrC_-a6tj0mrmdSPRDVykNO4pqnQKyloYPIvkVMx7_IU-1xw34epJ9OuwD4AdQuBEQqy9dzUXkA0Vu3SFwMVbRGTUKPvTaWWJnaGzWiFcJ_ZMUxMQpJ64emQeGHxvg5b8/s1600/facebook_1775-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXcThBVdu_-nrC_-a6tj0mrmdSPRDVykNO4pqnQKyloYPIvkVMx7_IU-1xw34epJ9OuwD4AdQuBEQqy9dzUXkA0Vu3SFwMVbRGTUKPvTaWWJnaGzWiFcJ_ZMUxMQpJ64emQeGHxvg5b8/s200/facebook_1775-2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
We will cover shooting long night exposures and mixing those with flash. As the sun starts to rise, we'll be adjusting the flash to work under those environments and highlight the pitfalls this might cause. We'll end with the fabulous sight, weather willing, of the sun rising behind the Jefferson Memorial.<br />
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NOTE: I am limiting this tour to five dedicated persons.<br />
You must be willing to be up and out, on time, well before the sun rises. Contact me directly for more information at: <span style="color: red;"><b>photo@moringello.com</b></span><br />
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Current plans are for Apr 6 and possibly Apr 7, but weather and nature's timing may require plans to change.<br />
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What you need:<br />
* You will need a tripod. Borrow or rent one if necessary.<br />
* You will need a camera capable of manual control of aperture and shutter speed. Bulb-mode or manual shutter release is highly suggested but not strictly required. Any DSLR will work fine. Most point and shoot-cameras will also have these features, but may have them buried in menus. Be sure you know how to set these before attending. <br />
* Having a your own external flash is not strictly required, but will be very helpful.<br />
*A flash that includes High Speed Sync is a plus and may be required for some daylight shooting.<br />
* Bring extra batteries for the camera and the flash. Long exposures eat batteries, and we will be using flash extensively.<br />
* Lens choices vary,<br />
- You will likely want wide angle for monuments. i.e. 24-70mm full frame or 16-50mm crop sensor.<br />
- You may want to bring a zoom or macro lens around 100mm for close-up photos of the blossoms themselves.<br />
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Things to keep in mind when packing/dressing for this tour:<br />
* It is often cold in the morning. It has been near freezing some years. <br />
We will be moving fast at times, but standing still at others.<br />
Gloves and hand/toe warmers are not out of the question. (then again, I've gone some years it has been 60 degrees... just be prepared)<br />
* It often warms up significantly once the sun rises. Wear layers. Check expected weather conditions.<br />
* You may want to bring snacks or water. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6465128481898591698.post-90438015384603103562013-03-06T12:55:00.000-05:002013-03-11T16:32:17.937-04:00Its all in the bits... Why edit in 16bit mode when your image is 8bit.<h3>
8 bit v.s. 16 bit</h3>
Today I look at whether we should edit our photos in 8 bit or 16 bit mode?<br />
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We all know that JPEG images are 8 bit images. Meaning that the color of each pixel made from 256 levels of Red, Green and Blue (16 million color in all) . Most of us also know that RAW images may have 12 or even 14 bits per color potentially giving each pixel over 16,000 levels of each Red, Green and Blue (nearly 4.4 Trillion colors). It therefore seems obvious that if you shoot in RAW that you are probably going to edit in 16bit mode to retain that extra information rather than throw away 4+ trillion colors..<br />
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But lets say you're not ready to jump into taking photos in RAW mode, or perhaps you have decided for whatever reasons that JPEG is the best method for shooting for your style and workflow. Does that mean that just because your photos are 8bit images that you should also edit those photos in 8bit mode? <br />
Of course not! Silly question. Forget I asked. I wouldn't be wasting time with this post if that was the answer. :-)<br />
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So why on Earth should anyone waste their time, computer memory and processing to edit an 8bit image in 16bit mode? Well, for starters, similar to RAW mode giving may more shades of color to work with, using 16bit mode goes even further. You will be working with the potential of using more than 65000 shades of Red, Green and Blue. That gives more than 281 Trillion possible colors.<br />
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What this means is that every time you modify your image, you are able to work with much finer level of color modification. Imagine it sort of like moving from a 1MP camera of the 90's to a 250MP camera of the future but you're working with colors of each pixel rather than the pixels themselves.<br />
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For some simple editing you may not notice an immediate difference or you may see some minor degradation of colors. Yet for other procedures you may see huge areas where your image starts to break down. You may have already seen the effects and not realized that the problem could have been avoided. Normally this is easily seen as banding in solid color shaded areas.<br />
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Before we get started, lets address the common fear that 16bit editing is slow and more difficult to work with. Yes, 16 bit mode is slower, takes more memory and uses more disk space to save an image, but the results are worth the effort. Additionally, we no longer live in the dark ages of 8MB (not GB, but MB) machines with single-core processors running in the sub-1GHz range. Where there was once a need to be concerned about what your computer could handle, there is rarely a reason now to worry about processing power and computer resources required to edit in 16bit mode. If you do still use one of these machines, you can ignore my rant.<br />
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Almost any machine made in the past 10 years is going to handle 16bit editing with little or no discernible effect. Any machine made in the past 3-5 years is almost certainly able to handle such a task several times over.<br />
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<h3>
Lets Get To It</h3>
Don't just take my word for it, lets take a look at a very simple example to demonstrate one effect. Although this example is a bit extreme for the purpose of demonstration, you should be aware that nearly any modification done to your image has the potential of causing or being compounded with other edits to create exactly the same issue.<br />
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First, be sure that your image editor of choice supports 16bit editing.<br />
These instructions are going to use features in Photoshop, but you can likely find similar examples to follow along with. We're also going to use grey-scale images simply because it makes the effect more uniformly visible.<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLDF_zq2UUB1rTNZx1NX3Z67wLcRbsaRLB_q1kzXF6Zmo8UAJlwRh_XMhrrv5ALxnPev7FPA8QLhFhtsRjlzFpR-qs4ZgpE1we3_rtMCA-0s86ewx8NYsqUJw1PUJ8bA_VkggFK6Im4FI/s1600/image1_clouds.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLDF_zq2UUB1rTNZx1NX3Z67wLcRbsaRLB_q1kzXF6Zmo8UAJlwRh_XMhrrv5ALxnPev7FPA8QLhFhtsRjlzFpR-qs4ZgpE1we3_rtMCA-0s86ewx8NYsqUJw1PUJ8bA_VkggFK6Im4FI/s200/image1_clouds.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLDF_zq2UUB1rTNZx1NX3Z67wLcRbsaRLB_q1kzXF6Zmo8UAJlwRh_XMhrrv5ALxnPev7FPA8QLhFhtsRjlzFpR-qs4ZgpE1we3_rtMCA-0s86ewx8NYsqUJw1PUJ8bA_VkggFK6Im4FI/s1600/image1_clouds.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"></a><br />
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Create some clouds</h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLDF_zq2UUB1rTNZx1NX3Z67wLcRbsaRLB_q1kzXF6Zmo8UAJlwRh_XMhrrv5ALxnPev7FPA8QLhFhtsRjlzFpR-qs4ZgpE1we3_rtMCA-0s86ewx8NYsqUJw1PUJ8bA_VkggFK6Im4FI/s1600/image1_clouds.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"></a>1. Create a new document. Lets use 1000 pixels on a side for this simple example.<br />
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2. Be sure you create the document in 8bit color mode. </div>
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3. Now that you have a new document, make some clouds using the following menu,</div>
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Filter -> Render -> Clouds</div>
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We now have some nice fluffy clouds.</div>
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<h4>
<span style="text-align: left;">Add some blur</span></h4>
<span style="text-align: left;">Next, Add some Blur using the following menu,</span></div>
Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur<br />
Blur to a rather high amount of about 40-100 pixels, the amount will vary on your image, as clouds are rendered randomly. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMpJtg6zq99JUVF1_8itA96MUSfSLl2iy2WnIhgK2FTSwnHCje8KSr1LBnlvn4DiNoo7EylN-rZqGfAb8ziGPsiQX6k5Py9Lr32-QUKktRk3pVbIekyC6eTj04nPKVJ5YAhjN7OQ7obwE/s1600/image2_gaussianblur.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMpJtg6zq99JUVF1_8itA96MUSfSLl2iy2WnIhgK2FTSwnHCje8KSr1LBnlvn4DiNoo7EylN-rZqGfAb8ziGPsiQX6k5Py9Lr32-QUKktRk3pVbIekyC6eTj04nPKVJ5YAhjN7OQ7obwE/s200/image2_gaussianblur.png" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgO7Chn_9WF-Q0STnuGZNecoaag8XoK5E08zJMC7U_YPosqVLsd5lJgCo7HpTK7YHL1CFki0Dlek7AOCHrsPoj-rGBn92h-dC-Gztr5E7KIJPKI1iqoMJKkw2MI3MyUhOgt2zsl_wbYTQ/s1600/image3_afterblur.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgO7Chn_9WF-Q0STnuGZNecoaag8XoK5E08zJMC7U_YPosqVLsd5lJgCo7HpTK7YHL1CFki0Dlek7AOCHrsPoj-rGBn92h-dC-Gztr5E7KIJPKI1iqoMJKkw2MI3MyUhOgt2zsl_wbYTQ/s200/image3_afterblur.png" width="200" /></a></div>
(blur at 88.4 pixels) (resulting blur)<br />
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It really does not take much, but at this level the effect is exaggerated to an extent that it is easily seen.<br />
Depending on the quality and calibration of your monitor, you may or may not see the bands of colors in the blurred image. We'll make things a bit more obvious.... <br />
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<h4>
Add Levels Adjustment </h4>
Lets do some contrast adjustment, a culprit of severe pixel destruction to further exaggerate the effect.<br />
Make a Levels adjustment and bring the black and white sliders in to meet the curve.<br />
You'll find the Levels adjustment accessible in several locations in Photoshop (and therefore your display may look slightly different, but will work the same). The easiest way to get there is with the following menu,<br />
Image -> Adjustment -> Levels...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxxSHOHEE2JtAUXleBiaB0HxTdNRGh572I7FgXVZC3VD0qEodejA4r_8z-RgupOAxmaUqto687lz7BU9_W0LMgOvuWgh87vKp8isPIDwoDpbgd0gRABrnWvQfKK4gK-cLuLGZ0PjlXqCk/s1600/image4_levelsorig.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxxSHOHEE2JtAUXleBiaB0HxTdNRGh572I7FgXVZC3VD0qEodejA4r_8z-RgupOAxmaUqto687lz7BU9_W0LMgOvuWgh87vKp8isPIDwoDpbgd0gRABrnWvQfKK4gK-cLuLGZ0PjlXqCk/s200/image4_levelsorig.png" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiA4qgvH-s0Y9rTmv48Z9nSXn6qHZEy1v_7rK8wv2G5tZA3Tkdf0ar6y-vg-_-U4FnYg33SteGCJQ13TG-_qWp6mMCCXo86Oz9lelRnMvodERQeLdQJA4L4avbAUCf8HLb8Mkj6vKi__M/s1600/image5_levelsmodified.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiA4qgvH-s0Y9rTmv48Z9nSXn6qHZEy1v_7rK8wv2G5tZA3Tkdf0ar6y-vg-_-U4FnYg33SteGCJQ13TG-_qWp6mMCCXo86Oz9lelRnMvodERQeLdQJA4L4avbAUCf8HLb8Mkj6vKi__M/s200/image5_levelsmodified.png" width="200" /></a></div>
(levels panel before adjusting) (levels panel after adjusting to the curve)<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
What we're doing here is essentially throwing away all the pixels with brightness levels to the left of the black slider and making them black. All pixels with brightness levels to the right of the white slider are thrown away and made white. Everything in between is stretched adjusted to fit the entire range of black to white. We'll take a look at what that looks like later. But for now the result on an 8bit image is quite drastic.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJvFjM7Vr24sW-tlbST6mFDfN-RNplt5m4sGR9FdXtIhIB0JCRPv7M0hxaXX_ObpvRouQie5FWZlkZDVIZ0yEmIxT1CH0BZpWxi4jNR7_1Hm2QZlamNVZR6jn2Sib662g6dobEOciwIk/s1600/image6_exagerated.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJvFjM7Vr24sW-tlbST6mFDfN-RNplt5m4sGR9FdXtIhIB0JCRPv7M0hxaXX_ObpvRouQie5FWZlkZDVIZ0yEmIxT1CH0BZpWxi4jNR7_1Hm2QZlamNVZR6jn2Sib662g6dobEOciwIk/s200/image6_exagerated.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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The banding is much more visible after the contrast Levels adjustment. </div>
Have you ever seen this issue in your own images? Lets see what happens when using 16bit mode...<br />
<br />
<h3>
Lets Do it Again in 16 bit Mode</h3>
We're still going to start with the same bit clouds image. Either Undo to where the 8bit clouds were initially created or create a new document.<br />
<br />
Now that we have our original clouds back, convert to 16bit mode using the following menu,<br />
Image -> Mode -> 16 Bits/Channel<br />
<br />
You won't see any change as the resulting image color is simply expanded to fit a 16bit space. <br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Here you see the clouds after 16bit conversion on the left, and after the same blur we did above but now for the 16bit version on the right.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhWKvEmECJyAKrYbD49nQkgl9uDmQrQXoEhNcgtG8FAORHF457FJaxDZXePdT6e-aERLy8bkvj0P-kkYXcgXImDBepIVbnVeApHXMQVhBFXNpAbfqsbP_iotdZmZdf7ngLlzWfVJbQds/s1600/image7_clouds16b.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhWKvEmECJyAKrYbD49nQkgl9uDmQrQXoEhNcgtG8FAORHF457FJaxDZXePdT6e-aERLy8bkvj0P-kkYXcgXImDBepIVbnVeApHXMQVhBFXNpAbfqsbP_iotdZmZdf7ngLlzWfVJbQds/s200/image7_clouds16b.png" width="199" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNj86kMIeUdraHl6DC9yQdsYmI-r7JiT3L0V0y9VpVL65x5adcvY3h2xe6whR3xMlxoz_qDFyLb3j4lh1qNXZLTwi6pE7MMrnniMt8F1cJm_HbCmbx4yfMWoT5wKvvQZq6q970Q5Mh-E/s1600/image8_gaussianblur16b.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNj86kMIeUdraHl6DC9yQdsYmI-r7JiT3L0V0y9VpVL65x5adcvY3h2xe6whR3xMlxoz_qDFyLb3j4lh1qNXZLTwi6pE7MMrnniMt8F1cJm_HbCmbx4yfMWoT5wKvvQZq6q970Q5Mh-E/s200/image8_gaussianblur16b.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
(clouds converted to 16bit) (16bit clouds blurred)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
You may see some banding in the blurred version. This is partially due to the limitation that most monitors can only display images in 8bit mode. So although Photoshop is working in 16 bit mode (and behind the scenes in an even larger color mode than that), sadly, you may see some effect. This also depends greatly on the quality and calibration of your monitor. </div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Don't believe me? The image looks nearly the same as with the 8bit version, you say? <br />
Lets see what is happens if we try to exaggerate the banding again by using Levels adjustment. If the banding actually exists in the image, you should see the same results as we did earlier. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmzjY3GlQ-5lVF0cMiEzJUCiW8EGpyzbY3y7oHd-1DnoYo4idWeKHmS3nAzqN3XVB4dCTcrQbHWEhjPWr1A4VilDGMLTh5GLJMKRNxjV9U6LztBtvDUSUOeE3etINWdYIZRDZNe01VJ0/s1600/image9_levelsmodified16b.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmzjY3GlQ-5lVF0cMiEzJUCiW8EGpyzbY3y7oHd-1DnoYo4idWeKHmS3nAzqN3XVB4dCTcrQbHWEhjPWr1A4VilDGMLTh5GLJMKRNxjV9U6LztBtvDUSUOeE3etINWdYIZRDZNe01VJ0/s200/image9_levelsmodified16b.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
So again, perform the same Levels adjustment.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
What will we get?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Compare 16bit v.s. 8 bit after Levels Adjustment</h4>
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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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigvkyeRRez_1Ak9-QxHqv8tEy_lIb7WVVf8wKIM2Juq5tHOqnRPSjB29SatWUwBiDUG9z-uIVrIQUQEoLshaP15YiVEiUWPUiIrdoa_ItfjI-QgtQp5_nd8RcxmzaKKww0GEICf8Q6q6g/s1600/image10_exaggerated16b.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigvkyeRRez_1Ak9-QxHqv8tEy_lIb7WVVf8wKIM2Juq5tHOqnRPSjB29SatWUwBiDUG9z-uIVrIQUQEoLshaP15YiVEiUWPUiIrdoa_ItfjI-QgtQp5_nd8RcxmzaKKww0GEICf8Q6q6g/s200/image10_exaggerated16b.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">(16bit image, blurred and level adjusted)</span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table 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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJvFjM7Vr24sW-tlbST6mFDfN-RNplt5m4sGR9FdXtIhIB0JCRPv7M0hxaXX_ObpvRouQie5FWZlkZDVIZ0yEmIxT1CH0BZpWxi4jNR7_1Hm2QZlamNVZR6jn2Sib662g6dobEOciwIk/s1600/image6_exagerated.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJvFjM7Vr24sW-tlbST6mFDfN-RNplt5m4sGR9FdXtIhIB0JCRPv7M0hxaXX_ObpvRouQie5FWZlkZDVIZ0yEmIxT1CH0BZpWxi4jNR7_1Hm2QZlamNVZR6jn2Sib662g6dobEOciwIk/s200/image6_exagerated.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> (8bit image, blurred and levels adjusted)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
Here I placed the 16bit image and the 8bit image side by side so you could see the difference.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
The color transition of the 16bit image is smooth and will print that way. i.e. Beautifully.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The banding on the right is just a mess that cannot be fixed and will print just like that! i.e. Ugly.</div>
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The banding in the 8 bit image will of course remain when you save your image.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
What about saving the 16bit image back to 8 bit?<br />
First we should try to understand what is happening behind the scenes. Why is the banding visible in the first place?</div>
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<br />
<h4>
A little behind the scene look</h4>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So what is happening? It might help to see a simple demonstration of what happens with any edits.<br />
The Levels adjustment has the unique functionality of giving some idea of how many pixels is at each luminosity level. It isn't perfect but it will give a fantastic visual idea of what is going on with your pixels after a little photo editing.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiA4qgvH-s0Y9rTmv48Z9nSXn6qHZEy1v_7rK8wv2G5tZA3Tkdf0ar6y-vg-_-U4FnYg33SteGCJQ13TG-_qWp6mMCCXo86Oz9lelRnMvodERQeLdQJA4L4avbAUCf8HLb8Mkj6vKi__M/s1600/image5_levelsmodified.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiA4qgvH-s0Y9rTmv48Z9nSXn6qHZEy1v_7rK8wv2G5tZA3Tkdf0ar6y-vg-_-U4FnYg33SteGCJQ13TG-_qWp6mMCCXo86Oz9lelRnMvodERQeLdQJA4L4avbAUCf8HLb8Mkj6vKi__M/s200/image5_levelsmodified.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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Remember with the Levels adjustment, we threw away all the pixels to the left and right of curve.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZAHO5x-Os1iOS0dT_wNmlbNH-7hvBPIN4dcT9ANFfTJiyIlgzVziBM1EjiL683YKeJZ5Q0gSDeppYddlf8g8YT-Y6lNH8tsXKxeg1XJQU1nyb19jkmjQzV-EPYw5ykRnNOTl5ocYrnQ/s1600/image12_newlevels16b.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="71" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZAHO5x-Os1iOS0dT_wNmlbNH-7hvBPIN4dcT9ANFfTJiyIlgzVziBM1EjiL683YKeJZ5Q0gSDeppYddlf8g8YT-Y6lNH8tsXKxeg1XJQU1nyb19jkmjQzV-EPYw5ykRnNOTl5ocYrnQ/s200/image12_newlevels16b.png" width="200" /></a>This results in the remaining pixels' color values being expanded to fit the entire range. The resulting Levels looks like the image to the left. Simply open the Levels panel again and you'll see this new graph. Notice how each spike in the curve above is stretched and expanded to fit the entire graph form left to right? </div>
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We now have a higher contrast image with all pixels again ranging from black to white. </div>
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The above Levels panel is showing the 16bit result. Notice the curve is a smooth transition from black to white. Below is the what happens with the 8bit Levels adjustment.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6-kYxfXRf5Zm3mNqjCcEM0kRHjC61sqiLqu8KfVUoWLYMRc-g9ljgXyZHdMz9Ref68qOkYFUxQlUvwyAZYMVGlb7otBg3LcjQ6FZjEPca7tCxTIt-ZEMH8JJ3BEJA1IWf3GXcE5uY38/s1600/image11_newlevels8bit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="74" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6-kYxfXRf5Zm3mNqjCcEM0kRHjC61sqiLqu8KfVUoWLYMRc-g9ljgXyZHdMz9Ref68qOkYFUxQlUvwyAZYMVGlb7otBg3LcjQ6FZjEPca7tCxTIt-ZEMH8JJ3BEJA1IWf3GXcE5uY38/s200/image11_newlevels8bit.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Whao! Look at all those spikes! The stretched curve itself matches that of the 16bit curve above but it has a lot of blank gaps or spaces. These gaps in the 8bit graph are due to the conversion of a small curve containing a limited amount of information being stretched like a Slinky to fit a larger space. <br />
This lack of smooth transition between levels of luminosity is what causes the banding effect that we saw in the examples above.<br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But with 16bit mode, there are many more possible values to spread out across the graph. Thus no gaps, or at least to a very reduced effect, and your end up with a much smoother transition from one point to the next.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<h4>
Going back to 8 bit</h4>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
At some point whether it be for printing or for displaying on a website, you will need to convert your image back to 8bit in order to be useful. Many color levels from the 16bit colorspace do not exist in the 8bit world and due to its limitations must be converted to the next closest possible color. So some degradation will naturally occur. Lets see if it was worth the effort.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Below, the left image has been converted from 16bit back to 8bit color mode. There is some banding and dithering evident, but it is difficult to see and is still quite pleasant. The image on the right remains as it was, quite un-pleasant. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<table align="center" 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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJvFjM7Vr24sW-tlbST6mFDfN-RNplt5m4sGR9FdXtIhIB0JCRPv7M0hxaXX_ObpvRouQie5FWZlkZDVIZ0yEmIxT1CH0BZpWxi4jNR7_1Hm2QZlamNVZR6jn2Sib662g6dobEOciwIk/s1600/image6_exagerated.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJvFjM7Vr24sW-tlbST6mFDfN-RNplt5m4sGR9FdXtIhIB0JCRPv7M0hxaXX_ObpvRouQie5FWZlkZDVIZ0yEmIxT1CH0BZpWxi4jNR7_1Hm2QZlamNVZR6jn2Sib662g6dobEOciwIk/s200/image6_exagerated.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">(8bit image saved as 8bit)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjniHW1XCUKEsxQG7gD17NvdaP3_Jv7MLKal6Vw34JLk-YV6PkeB5zGhdeoTKZFGubHOayEQ6gWrB6biepYaNiEOt1FYpQ_JbWsgWvVCWqro_gYgOGcPP3i494rqDDzyLhPRyMXd4xsaTc/s1600/image10b_converted8bit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjniHW1XCUKEsxQG7gD17NvdaP3_Jv7MLKal6Vw34JLk-YV6PkeB5zGhdeoTKZFGubHOayEQ6gWrB6biepYaNiEOt1FYpQ_JbWsgWvVCWqro_gYgOGcPP3i494rqDDzyLhPRyMXd4xsaTc/s200/image10b_converted8bit.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> (converted from 16bit back to 8bit) </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
It becomes quite obvious that the 16bit conversion was worth the effort, but why?<br />
If you look back at the result from the Levels adjustment with the 8bit image, you'll recall the gaps in the graph. The final result was not using the entire set of colors and luminosity values available even to an 8bit image. There is little you can do after the fact to fill in those gaps once it has been destroyed to that extent. Adding some noise or blurring can help hide the flaws but will rarely eliminate it.<br />
When using a 16bit image, the entire 8bit range is available to receive a close approximation of what the 16bit version had available. If you could print and display a full 16bit image, you would see a more drastic change but since we're limited to 8bit in most cases the transitions again appear as smooth as these mediums will allow.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Conclusion</h4>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
When performing any destructive retouching, color modification, levels/curves adjustments, blending, smoothing, etc.. you should seriously consider first converting to 16bit mode. It will result in cleaner, better looking results even if you are starting with 8 bit images.<br />
<br />
<br />
Additionally, be sure you save your files in a NON-lossy format like TIF or PSD if it is likely that you may perform any future editing on that same image. <br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Saving your edited files as JPEG will repeatedly throw away more detail and pixels due to the lossy-compression that JPEG uses. It may be for another discussion, but trust me, if you value your work enough to edit in 16bit mode, save in TIF or PSD format. Re-saving a JPEG over time will result in an unusable image.<br />
<br />
JPEG is often very efficient at throwing away "unnecessary" information, so your file sizes can remain very small. Saving as compressed TIF or as PSD retains all detail without throwing out any information, ever. This benefit has a cost as it will result in larger file sizes. Saving as a 16bit image v.s. saving as an 8bit will result in even larger file sizes. But disk space is cheap and I think you will find it is worth the extra bytes to retain the higher quality in your images.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">* Note that it should be stated that some filter effects and certain features may work slightly differently in 16bit mode than in 8bit mode or may not work at all. If you find this to be the case and your favorite feature is suddenly unavailable, you may need to drop back to 8bit mode. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But try to leave the use of these features until major image corrections are completed in 16bit mode.<br />
You can always go back form 8bit into 16bit mode, but any information thrown away from the conversion back into 8bit mode will be permanently lost.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6465128481898591698.post-71636076838326688552013-03-06T12:42:00.000-05:002014-01-15T18:51:33.013-05:00What were they Thinking? No. 1: Remembering How Masking Works in PhotoshopPhotography like any specialty has its own sets of buzzwords, phrases and rules that just make you ask "What were they Thinking"? I have a few that I swear were created merely to confuse novices and make people in training videos sound like they have something relevant to say.<br />
<br />
Lets start, for example, my least favorite phrase regards use of masks in Photoshop. It is very simple and goes something like this,<br />
<br />
"white reveals and black conceals". <br />
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Or is it "black reveals and white conceals"?<br />
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Its a quick little phrase to help you remember whether you want to paint in black or white in the layer mask to hide or expose what is underneath. I don't know where it started, but popular training professionals regurgitate the phrase like its a message from the Heavens to save humanity from their confusion.<br />
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When you break it down, there is no context from which to attach meaning. There is no rhyme linking neither black nor white to concealing or revealing. It is a meaningless and senseless phrase and has to be properly memorized to be used in the first place. <br />
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To make things worse both are correct (or is it that neither is correct), as it depends whether you think about the mask revealing/concealing the image to which it is attached, or whether it is concealing/revealing the image beneath it. I've seen use of masks described both ways.<br />
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That is too much ambiguity! Why not just memorize how to use your photo editor rather than adding on crazy ambiguous phrases? It therefore tops my list as the most useless and annoying phrase one could give to someone learning how to use layer masks in their photo editing software.<br />
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Here is a simpler way to think about it... Each layer is like a sheet of paper or transparency projected onto a screen. (much like the ones use when you were in school... assuming you are also old enough where such relics were used). The light is white and is what allows the image to be seen. If you put a black sheet of paper over part of the image, it is not seen. In other words, black blocks the image from being displayed.<br />
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Hmmm, "black blocks"? Look at that! They are nearly the same word, and the relation between them makes sense. How much simpler can it be to remember that? But if you want to go further, the "light is white". Not only do the words rhyme, but it makes logical sense that the light shines through and allows the image to be seen. And in most cases the light is going to be a white light. Additionally, one can easily recreate the relation between the two without having to memorize random associations.<br />
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You might be asking yourself, how do I keep track of whether "black blocks" the current image or the image(s) beneath? Well, the mask is attached to the image which it affects. Simple as that.<br />
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