Bokeh

Bokeh is another style of photography which makes more conceptive and creative. Bokeh is from a Japanese word "boke" which means "blur" or "haze". Bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produd by a lens. The differences in lens aberrations and aperture shape caus some lens designs to blur the image in a way that is pleasing to the eye, while others produce blurring that is unpleasant or distracting. It occurs for parts of the scene that lie outside the depth of field. Photographers sometimes deliberately use a shallow focus technique to createimages with prominen out-of-focus regions.

Boken is often most visible around small background highlights, such as specular eflections and light sources, which is why is often associated with such areas. However, it is not limited to highlights; blur occurs in all out-of-focus regions of the image.

How to do Bokeh?

Now, the question is: how to do it? Here are some steps to do bokeh in photography:

• All lenses can create some kind of bokeh, but the really nice, drool-worthy bokeh is from prime lenses with large apertures or fast lenses, like f/1.4 and f/1.8. The larger the aperture (the smaller the number of aperture), a narrower depth of field and more bokeh. Usually, f/2.8, f/1.8, f/1.4 create the best results.
• You will want to shoot with the lens wide open, so you will want to use a shooting mode of Aperture Priority or Manual. Manual gives you the ability to choose both your aperture and shutter speed. Aperture Priority allows you to choose f/stop while the camera chooses the appropriate shutter speed for the exposure.
• To increase the likehood of visible bokeh in your photographs, increase the distance of between your subject and the background, or decreasing the distance of the camera and the subject. The more shallow the depth-of-field, or further the background is, the more out-of-focus it will be.

RAW vs JPEG

My first blog for Concept and Creative Photography. Rey Mendoza Jr. again is our professor in the second photography class. He is a great guy, really is. I expect in his class to be more adventurous than the previous class. Since this class will be more professional than the last class, I also expect to teach more advancing, expert-look, and professional photography, and also everything about photography. Alright! Let's move to the first topic: RAW vs JPEG.

When you shoot photos from DSLRs, do you wonder their formats? JPEG and RAW? Right? Alright! I'm going to explain those two and going to make difference for those two to which one is better to use.

I will explain RAW... RAW stands as "(stands as)" is also a common image file type but it is mostly used by multimedia professionals and professional photographers.

• RAW isn't a regular image file (it will require special software the view, though this software is easy to get).
• It is typically a proprietary format (with the exception of Adobe's DNG forma that isn't widely used yet).
• It have at least 8 bits per color (red, green, and blue (12-bits per X,Y location), though most DSLRs record 12-bit color (36-bits per location)).
• Uncompressed (an 8 megapixel camera will produce a 8MB RAW file).
• The complete (loseless) data from the camera's sensor.
• Higher in dynamic range (ability to display highlights and shadows).
• Lower in contrast (flatter, washed out looking).
• Not as sharp.
• Not suitable for printing directly from the camera or without post processing.
• Read only (all changes are saved in XMP file or to a JPEG or other image formar).
• Sometimes admissable in a court as evidence (as opposed to a changeable image format).
• Waiting to be processed by your computer.

I will explain JPEG... JPEG is a common image file type that mostly used by people in photographs. JPEG files can be directly printable.

• A standard format readable by any image program on the market or available open source.
• Exactly 8-bits per color (12-bits per location).
• Compressed (by looking for redundancy in the data like a ZIP file or stripping out what human can’t perceive like a MP3).
• Fairly small in file size (an 8 megapixel camera will produce JPEG between 1 and 3 MB’s in size).
• Lower in dynamic range.
• Higher in contrast.
• Sharper.
• Immediately suitable for printing, sharing, or posting on the Web.
• Not in need of correction most of the time (75% in my experience).
• Able to be manipulated, though not without losing data each time an edit is made – even if it’s just to rotate the image (the opposite of lossless).
• Processed by your camera.

These differences lead implicitly to situations that require choosing one over the other. For instance, if you do not have much capacity to store images in camera (because you spent all your money on the camera body) then shooting in JPEG will allow to capture 2 or 3 times the number you could shooting in Raw. This is also a good idea if you are at a party or some other event afterwhich you want to share your photos quickly and easily.

On the other hand, if capacity is not an issue at all (1 GB and 2 GB flash cards are getting cheaper every week) you might consider shooting in RAW + JPEG, just to cover all the possibilities. If you cannot or do not want to do any post processing, then you simply have to shoot in JPEG. Taking a picture in RAW is only the first step in producing a quality image ready for printing. If, on the other hand, quality is of the utmost importance (like when you are shooting professionally), and you want to get every bit of performance your DSLR can offer then you should be shooting in RAW.

SHOOTING IN RAW

If you do shoot in Raw, your computer rather than the camera will process the data and generate an image file form it. Guess which has more processing power: your digital camera or your computer? Shooting in Raw will give you much more control over how your image looks and even be able to correct several sins you may have committed when you took the photograph, such as the exposure.

To take advantage of this you will certainly need to use some software on your computer to process the files and produce JPEGs (or TIFFs). I have found the Camera Raw that comes with Adobe Photoshop CS2 to be very good at processing Raw files (even batch processing them), though everybody has their favorite (RawShooter has a lot of fans). When you load a Raw file using Adobe Photoshop CS2 the Camera Raw dialog will automatically pop up. Most of the time the automatic settings are fairly decent, but you have the chance to change the white balance, exposure, contrast, saturation, and even calibration of the red, green, and blue guns or correct for lens abberation – all lossless.

If the white balance is off I have found that it is much easier to fix using the Camera Raw screen than loading the JPEG and manipulating that – the end result is much better as well. The richness, detail (sharpness), color range and ability to adjust these settings end up being so much greater with a Raw file, even though what a Raw file looks like before processing is anything but rich and sharp. As a side note, all of my work that uses creative coloring was colored using the white balance settings in the Camera Raw dialog.

Part of the conversion to JPEG are sharpening algorithms and as a result, the unprocessed Raw file is less sharp. Two things can affect this, one is the brand of camera (Nikon cameras are generally considered sharper, but this is not true across all models) and the other factor is the user settings for sharpening in the camera. Loading a Raw file in a program such as Adobe Photoshop CS2 will automatically apply white balance, sharpening, constrast, brightness, etc… and can even batch process Raw files. I often use this feature as a first pass and then go back and adjust the settings if needed. This is espeacially helpful because even if I did everything correct in camera when I took the photo and my conversion software was able to use the full processing power of my desktop computer, the conversion to JPEG could still trick the camera or my computer and only my eye can produce the correct while balance, constast, brightness, etc…

SHOOTING IN JPEG

When you shoot in JPEG the camera’s internal software (often called “firmware” since it’s part of the hardware inside your camera) will take the information off the sensor and quickly process it before saving it. Some color is lost as is some of the resolution (and on some cameras there is slightly more noise in a JPEG than its Raw version).

The major actor in this case is the Discrete Cosine Transforamtion (or DCT) which divides the image into blocks (usually 8×8 pixels) and determines what can be “safely” thrown away because it is less perceivable (the higher the compression ration/lower quality JPEG, the more is thrown away during this step). And when the image is put back together a row of 24 pixels that had 24 different tones might now only have 4 or 5. That information is forever lost without the raw data from the sensor recorded in a Raw file.

The quality of a JPEG taken with a DSLR will still be far better than the same shot taken with a top-of-the-line point-n-shoot camera that is as old as your DSLR. If your camera can burst (shoot continuously for a few seconds) you’ll actually be able to shoot more shots using JPEG than Raw because the slowest part of the whole process is actually saving the file to your memory card – so the larger Raws take longer to save.

Digital Panorama

There are a lot of awesome things you can do with photography. This really gained my interest. Have anyone knows "panorama"? Panorama is a very wide view or representation of a physical space in painting, in photography, and in everything else that makes art. If in the past days that this can only be done with painting just by sketching on a wide piece of canvas. But now, it can be done in photography. How? Alright! I will just tell what have I learned. But first, here's an example:

360 degree panorama picture of the center courtyard of the Sony Center at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. This picture was calculated from 126 individual photos using autostitch.

The photo above is an example of a panoramic image. It has a very long way to create one. Ok! Here goes:

1. Equipment: Have a DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex) camera that you depend most and you proud most because of your career. Let me explain about lenses: Those lenses having 8-24mm, those are wide lens. Those lenses having 24-70mm are medium. And, those lenses having 70-200mm or more are telephoto. Wide lens are pretty good for panoramic shots. Panoramic shots can be done in any lenses as long as you have instincts in photography. And also, have multimedia/high definition gaming class PC that runs stitching editing programs like Adobe Photoshop CC's Photomerge (explained later).
2. Adjustments: Aperture is very important to for making panoramic shots. f/16 is mostly used for panoramic shots because it is truly the middle of the two limits of aperture. If anything is set lower than f/16 (like f/22) causes chromatic aberation and simply called vignette.So set the most middle aperture as most middle as possible. The equity is in there. In your DSLRs, set the mode into "Av", that's Aperture priority. Consecutive shots must be done in manual mode "M" because staying in "Av" might alter exposures.
3. Techniques: Did you know that the images must be stitched afterwards? Well, editing is required. When you are about to take another shot in another angle. Leave a space similar to the right end of the first one and the left end of the second one. Overlap by 20-50%.
4. Formats: The image must be large JPEGs or RAWs.
5. Lost?: If you don't know where your shots begun or ended, take a shot as a marker.
6. Editing: Use stitching software like Photoshop's Photomerge, Hugin, and Autopanogiga.

Stop Motion

Do you even watch movies and observe the flow's motions? I'm both analytic and creative person so I do observe motions while watching movies like how much the frames are shown in every second. Let's talk about Stop Motion. What is stop motion anyway? Stop motion is a kind of movies that animates objects that really do move when watched. Stop motion is a form of animation. Stop motion is a traditional animation from my point of view. Here is a sample of stop motion:

That's my video that conceptualizes stop motion. I just drew a lot of sketches on a bunch of pieces of paper and capture them one by one. Now, how to make stop motions anyway? Every frames are made of pictures. Some video editing to make a single picture move in seconds. In video editing, you also need to make a picture move with a certain less than 1 or 0.75 seconds per picture. If you are using a camera, the camera must be still and untouched its position (if you want to have one angle). Having tripods is best for making still images (and videos). And you just need to place and move some objects used for stop motion. Anything is appreciated for making one. Clay (playing dough) is the best one for making stop motions. One thing that mostly costly making stop motions is time management. It takes a lot of time to achieve one. And, you really do a lot of hardwork.

Wallace and Gromit

One example of a stop motion/clay animation done is the Wallace and Gromit series created aand produced by Nick Park of Aardman Animations. It is the best one I've seen so far. Thus, it is really amazing. Living figures are in clay (like what have I said earlier that clay is the best for making stop motions).

Chicken Run

Another example is Chicken Run also done by same creators and producers of Wallace and Gromit. You might find out that it is not stop motion and clay animation. It is really made with stop motion but the flow is smooth. About the clay usage, it is very clean when built. Mindblowing, isn't it? People are just glad that there are still people doing amazing things such like these.

Stop motion is one of the animation styles you can do rather than using some 2D and 3D digital animation programs. This one is most likely a traditional animation and a longer time to take. Doing the good work is appreciated. The world was once empty and filling some amazing things.

[Basic Photography] Food Fun

Taking pictures of nice food is fine as long as it has beauty on it. That's creativity one of these days: with beauty. Really! It is ever since the world is created... HAHA! Enough for wisdom and shit stuff. Here are my five shots. Enjoy! (caption format: [flash settings] - [shutter speed] - [aperture] - [ISO] - [white balance])

No Flash - 1/125 sec - f/8 - ISO 800 - Auto White Balance

No Flash - 1/125 sec - f/8 - ISO 800 - Auto White Balance

No Flash - 1/125 sec - f/8 - ISO 800 - Auto White Balance

No Flash - 1/125 sec - f/5.6 - ISO 3200 - Auto White Balance

No Flash - 1/125 sec - f/8 - ISO 800 - Auto White Balance

Display Resolutions and Frame Rates

DISPLAY RESOLUTIONS

HERE IS THE FIGURE OF DIFFERENT DISPLAY RESOLUTIONS

• Standard-Definition (SD)
• 480i (NTSC-compatible digital standard employing two interlaced fields of 243 lines each)
• 576i (PAL-compatible digital standard employing two interlaced fields of 288 lines each)
• Enhanced-Definition (ED)
• 480p (720 × 480 progressive scan)
• 576p (720 × 576 progressive scan)
• High-Definition (HD)
• 720p (1280 × 720 progressive scan)
• 1080i (1920 × 1080 split into two interlaced fields of 540 lines)
• 1080p (1920 × 1080 progressive scan)
• Ultra-High-Definition (UHD)
• 2160p (3840 × 2160 progressive scan)
• 4320p (7680 × 4320 progressive scan)
• 8640p (15360 × 8640 progressive scan)

FRAME RATES

• 24p is a progressive format and is now widely adopted by those planning on transferring a video signal to film. Film and video makers use 24p even if they are not going to transfer their productions to film, simply because of the on-screen "look" of the (low) frame rate, which matches native film. When transferred to NTSC television, the rate is effectively slowed to 23.976 FPS (24×1000÷1001 to be exact), and when transferred to PAL or SECAM it is sped up to 25 FPS. 35 mm movie cameras use a standard exposure rate of 24 FPS, though many cameras offer rates of 23.976 FPS for NTSC television and 25 FPS for PAL/SECAM. The 24 FPS rate became the de facto standard for sound motion pictures in the mid-1920s.[7] Practically all hand-drawn animation is designed to be played at 24 FPS. Actually hand-drawing 24 unique frames per second ("1's") is costly. Even in big budget films, usually hand-draw animation is done shooting on "2's" (one hand-drawn frame is shown twice, so only 12 unique frames per second)[10] and some animation is even drawn on "4's" (one hand-drawn frame is shown four times, so only six unique frames per second).
• 25p is a progressive format and runs 25 progressive frames per second. This frame rate derives from the PAL television standard of 50i (or 50 interlaced fields per second). Film and television companies use this rate in 50 Hz regions for direct compatibility with television field and frame rates. Conversion for 60 Hz countries is enabled by slowing down the media to 24p then converting to 60 Hz systems using pulldown. While 25p captures half the temporal resolution or motion that normal 50i PAL registers, it yields a higher vertical spatial resolution per frame. Like 24p, 25p is often used to achieve "cine"-look, albeit with virtually the same motion artifacts. It is also better suited to progressive-scan output (e.g., on LCD displays, computer monitors and projectors) because the interlacing is absent.
• 30p is a progressive format and produces video at 30 frames per second. Progressive (noninterlaced) scanning mimics a film camera's frame-by-frame image capture. The effects of inter-frame judder are less noticeable than 24p yet retains a cinematic-like appearance. Shooting video in 30p mode gives no interlace artifacts but can introduce judder on image movement and on some camera pans. The widescreen film process Todd-AO used this frame rate in 1954–1956.[11]
• 48p is a progressive format and is currently being trialled in the film industry. At twice the traditional rate of 24p, this frame rate attempts to reduce motion blur and flicker found in films. Director James Cameron stated his intention to film the two sequels to his film Avatar higher than 24 frames per second to add a heightened sense of reality.[12] The first film to be filmed at 48 FPS was The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a decision made by its director Peter Jackson.[13] At a preview screening at CinemaCon, the audience's reaction was mixed after being shown some of the film's footage at 48p, with some arguing that the feel of the footage was too lifelike (thus breaking the suspension of disbelief).[14]
• 50i is an interlaced format and is the standard video field rate per second for PAL and SECAM television.
• 60i is an interlaced format and is the standard video field rate per second for NTSC television (e.g., in the US), whether from a broadcast signal, DVD, or home camcorder. This interlaced field rate was developed separately by Farnsworth and Zworykin in 1934,[15] and was part of the NTSC television standards mandated by the FCC in 1941. When NTSC color was introduced in 1953, the older rate of 60 fields per second was reduced by a factor of 1000/1001 to avoid interference between the chroma subcarrier and the broadcast sound carrier. (Hence the usual designation "29.97 fps" = 30 frames (60 fields)/1.001)
• 50p/60p is a progressive format and is used in high-end HDTV systems. While it is not technically part of the ATSC or DVB broadcast standards yet, reports suggest that higher progressive frame rates will be a feature of the next-generation high-definition television broadcast standards.[16] In Europe, the EBU considers 1080p50 the next step future proof system for TV broadcasts and is encouraging broadcasters to upgrade their equipment for the future.[17]
• 72p is a progressive format and is currently in experimental stages. Major institutions such as Snell have demonstrated 720p72 pictures as a result of earlier analogue experiments, where 768 line television at 75 FPS looked subjectively better than 1150 line 50 FPS progressive pictures with higher shutter speeds available (and a corresponding lower data rate).[18] Modern cameras such as the Red One can use this frame rate to produce slow motion replays at 24 FPS. Douglas Trumbull, who undertook experiments with different frame rates that led to the Showscan film format, found that emotional impact peaked at 72 FPS for viewers.[citation needed] 72 FPS is the maximum rate available in the WMV video file format.
• 120p (120.00 Hz exactly) is a progressive format and is standardized for UHDTV by the ITU-R BT.2020 recommendation. It will be the single global "double-precision" frame rate for UHDTV (instead of using 100 Hz for PAL-based countries and 119.88 Hz for NTSC-based countries).
• 300 FPS, interpolated 300 FPS along with other high frame rates, have been tested by BBC Research for use in sports broadcasts.[19] 300 FPS can be converted to both 50 and 60 FPS transmission formats without major issues.

Lighting Patterns for Portraits

1.) Split Lighting

SPLIT LIGHTING

Split lighting is exactly as the name implies – it splits the face exactly into equal halves with one side being in the light, and the other in shadow. It is often used to create dramatic images for things such as a portrait of a musician or an artist. Split lighting tends to be a more masculine pattern and as such is usually more appropriate or applicable on men than it is for women.








2.) Loop Lighting

LOOP LIGHTING

Loop lighting is made by creating a small shadow of the subjects noses on their cheeks. To create loop lighting, the light source must be slightly higher than eye level and about 30-45 degrees from the camera (depends on the person, you have to learn how to read people’s faces).









3.) Rembrandt Lighting

REMBRANDT LIGHTING

Rembrandt lighting is so named because the Rembrandt the painter often used this pattern of light in his paintings, as you can see in his self portrait here. Rembrandt lighting is identified by the triangle of light on the cheek. Unlike loop lighting where the shadow of the nose and cheek do not touch, in Rembrandt lighting they do meet which, creates that trapped little triangle of light in the middle. To create proper Rembrandt lighting make sure the eye on the shadow side of the face has light in it and has a catch light, otherwise the eye will be “dead” and not have a nice sparkle. Rembrandt lighting is more dramatic, so like split lighting it creates more mood and a darker feel to your image. Use it appropriately.



4.) Butterfly Lighting

BUTTERFLY LIGHTING

Butterfly lighting is aptly named for the butterfly shaped shadow that is created under the nose by placing the main light source above and directly behind the camera. The photographer is basically shooting underneath the light source for this pattern. It is most often used for glamour style shots and to create shadows under the cheeks and chin. It is also flattering for older subjects as it emphasizes wrinkles less than side lighting.