Shooting Landscapes with your iphone

Transcription

1 Shooting Landscapes with your iphone The best camera is the one you have with you! P a g e 1

2 Contents So what makes iphones so good as a camera?... 3 The two most important things irrespective of which camera you use... 3 Composition... 4 Light... 4 How to best use my iphone's Camera to shoot landscapes?... 5 Some Really Cool Accessories... 5 Ollocli... 7 Glif... 8 Joby Gorilla Mobile... 9 Rain Ballet Some Even Cooler Apps ProCamera Photogene Best Pano Pro HDR Processing an image with the Photogene2 App Workflow P a g e 2

3 So what makes iphones so good as a camera? The iphone s camera is a lot more than just an ordinary point and shoot camera when you consider the possibilities when you combine an extraordinary array of accessories and Apps that let you do just about anything you like! So what makes an iphone so good as a camera and enough so to be writing this guide? iphones as we know have become extremely widespread so the number one advantage is that they are incredibly convenient we always have them with us no matter where we go! As the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you! The latest iphone camera at the time of writing this guide is the iphone 4s. Its camera boasts an 8MP sensor and whilst it can never compete for quality with a DSLR camera (irrespective of resolution, DSLR s have much bigger and better quality sensors), it can compete with digital point and shoot cameras where many people are now replacing their point and shoot cameras with their iphones. Sure an iphone s camera doesn t contain anywhere near the functionality available on even the most basic digital point and shoot camera however this changes when you combine your iphone s camera with the extraordinary array of accessories and Apps that let you do just about anything you like! By stating basic digital point and shoot cameras, it s applied that such cameras don t enable you to set a desired aperture or shutter speed as this is definitely not possible with the iphone s camera and a further disadvantage is that the iphone s (or any smart phone for that matter) aperture is typically set wide open so this ultimately means that not everything in the scene will be in absolute focus; something that is very important when shooting landscapes. But again we re reminded that most point and shoot cameras behave the same way and we re not trying to compete with a DSLR. That being said the iphone represents a great camera to use and easily capable of delivering excellent results for the irregular landscape shooter. Including the benefits already mentioned the iphone camera is so widely used today for the following reasons: 01 It s free when you already have an iphone 02 It s incredibly convenient they are everywhere we go so you ll be able to capture shots in situations when you might not be able to otherwise 03 The quality is good 04 Extremely easy to use anyone can use them 05 Very versatile when you combine the world of Apps 06 Compatible with a wide variety of photography-related add-ons P a g e 3

4 The two most important things irrespective of which camera you use First things first, irrespective of which camera you use in landscape photography there are two things to consider and when used correctly together will be responsible for capturing a great landscape image. These two things are composition and light. Composition The following is a list of the most commonly applied compositional rules which should be considered more as a guideline for when framing an image: Endeavour to compose images so that they all comprise of a foreground, mid-ground and background that way giving an image more depth and lead the eye into the photograph Include a foreground interest that will catch the viewer's eye and lead it into the scene. To achieve this look for natural lead-in lines or interesting patterns or colours Use lead-in lines to lure or guide the viewer's eye towards a main point of interest where the viewer's eyes will stop and rest, rather than have the lead-in lines lead the eye to the edge of the image. Often a lead-in line that runs diagonally works best Avoid bright areas/hotspots that draw attention away from the main subject. The main subject/focal point should always be the brightest area of the image as the human eye is naturally attracted to the brightest area Avoid unnecessary and distracting detail in images which can distract the viewer's attention away from the main subject. Always exclude any elements that do not have a role to play in the composition or does not help the image. The simpler the image is the more impact it has Finally and probably the most popular rule of all, endeavour to adopt the rule of thirds where an image is divided into two horizontal and vertical lines which create four points in the image (nine squares should be created). The most dominant elements/subjects are then placed at either of these intercepting points in order to produce a more balanced and visually pleasing image Light The quality of light that a photograph is captured in is equally if not arguably more important than a strong composition. When shooting landscapes, always endeavour to shoot at either dawn or dusk; from 1 hour either side of sunrise or sunset called the "golden hour. This time of day produces soft and warm light and produces soft shadows and subsequently aids in correctly exposing an image. Better still the colours produced by a setting or rising angled sun will be reflected by any clouds in the sky therefore producing colours in the sky not possible at any other time of the day. Cloudy/overcast conditions also represent a great time to shoot. Whilst no colours in the sky will be produced during these conditions, a good balanced exposure however is much easier to achieve as the intensity of the light is diffused through the clouds and also thus making shadows much more subtle. Shooting in harsh lighting conditions creates a high brightness range and subsequently leads to extreme contrast and limits tonal variations of each colour. In these lighting conditions, the subject brightness range exceeds the range that your camera s sensor is capable of recording and so therefore detail in the highlights and shadows will be lost. P a g e 4

5 How to best use my iphone's Camera to shoot landscapes? Follow the steps below to achieve the best possible results when shooting landscapes with your iphone. This is all you need to know! Disclaimer The following instructions are intended to apply to the iphone 4 and above models equipped with the ios 5 software Using the Native Functionality of your iphone Activate the gridlines by tapping Options at the top of the screen and then tapping On adjacent to Grid and then Done. The grid breaks the image up into nine equally sized squares and helps you compose your image; especially handy when applying the rule of thirds. The gridlines will also come in use when focusing Activate HDR by tapping Options at the top of the screen and then tapping On adjacent to HDR and then Done. HDR or High Dynamic Range automatically captures multiple exposures of the same scene and then automatically combines them to create a better exposed image. This is especially important when shooting a bright sky where the foreground is much darker Double tap 1/3rd of the way into the scene (on the centre of the bottom gridline) to activate the focus and exposure locks. You will know when the focus has been locked when a blue square pulsates. At this point you should notice an AE/AF notification on the bottom of the screen further verifying that the focus and exposure has been locked. Focusing 1/3rd into the scene maximises the amount of the scene that will be in focus Holding your iphone very still with both hands and elbows tucked into your body, depress the volume up button on the side of the iphone to capture the image Note: Avoid pinching the screen to zoom in or out as zooming significantly reduces image quality. Also avoid using the flash as flash washes out too much detail and is not suitable for shooting landscapes P a g e 5

6 Expanding the Functionality of your iphone with the ProCamera App To expand on the step-by-step instructions using the native functionality and enable you to further increase the quality of your image, it s recommended that you install the ProCamera App which is covered in detail later in this guide. The ProCamera App includes a handy built-in level to keep the horizon level and a self-timer and image stabiliser to increase the sharpness of your image. The self-timer is useful to prevent having to touch the iphone when capturing the image and the image stabiliser feature allows you to click the shutter button and where it will then only capture the image when the camera is perfectly still. In addition the PoCamera App allows you to set exposure and focus locks independently of one another where you can select an area in the scene which represents the most neutral tone; i.e. somewhere where it is not bright or dark. These extended functionalities are all very important when shooting landscape photographs. More on these later. P a g e 6

7 Some Really Cool Accessories All very affordable and all very useful, this section reviews 4 of the best and most suitable accessories for your iphone camera for shooting landscapes. Don t waste your money on buying anything more! Ollocli How much? $69 Where can I get it from? Olloclip What is it? The Olloclip system is a 3 in 1 focal length expansion system that allows you to expand the focal length range of the fixed lens found in your iphone s camera. It therefore allows you to realise the vision that you have but were previously restricted to the fixed focal length. Three lenses are provided; the fisheye, wide-angle and macro lenses and each are simply slid over the rear-facing lens on your iphone and ready to go! The only limit to your vision then becomes your imagination. P a g e 7

8 Glif How much? $30 Where can I get it from? Studioneat What is it? The Glif is the perfect companion for the Joby Gorilla Mobile tripod discussed later. It s a very light yet very sturdy tripod mount that attaches your iphone to a tripod and is incredibly versatile. You can easily position your camera in either portrait or landscape orientation. It s also so small that it even comes with a keychain holder so you can attach it to your keys and use it whenever you like! P a g e 8

9 Joby Gorilla Mobile How much? $30 Where can I get it from? Joby What is it? The Joby Gorilla Mobile tripod has been especially made for the iphone. This compact and very practical tripod can be adjusted to suit any surface with its flexible and wrappable legs so is even more effective for the landscape shooter. It allows you to take images from any angle you can imagine. If you re shooting landscapes then this piece of kit is absolutely critical! P a g e 9

10 Rain Ballet How much? $50 Where can I get it from? The Joy Factory What is it? The Rain Ballet is a waterproof case for your iphone; ideal for anyone wishing to shoot seascapes and protect your iphone against any sea spray or in the event you drop your iphone near the water... The case can protect against water immersion for as long as 30 minutes and at a depth of 1 meter. The case features front- and rear-facing Sharpvue lenses that still allow you to capture images. P a g e 10

11 Some Even Cooler Apps With so many Apps now available you can be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed and not knowing where to start! This next section subsequently reviews the top 4 Apps needed by anyone looking to capture and produce the best possible landscape image from their iphone s camera. Image Capture: ProCamera - Use this App when capturing your image Download it here The ProCamera App provides unrivalled extended functionality during image capture. Of the most useful capabilities for the landscape photographer is the built-in horizon level, self-timer and image stabiliser where the later two are critical towards achieving sharp results when combined with a tripod. This is definitely the must have App for anyone wanting to extend the native functionality of their iphone s camera. How much? $2.99 Features 01 Built-in rule of thirds grid and horizon level with the ability to calibrate at any stage 02 Self-timer to ensure sharp images with the capability to define a custom duration 03 Set the exposure and focus points separately just tap, hold and drag 04 Image stabiliser the image won t be captured until the camera is still. You can even set the tolerance 05 White Balance lock point and lock the White Balance and then reframe 06 Burst shooting mode just hold down the shutter and images will keep being captured P a g e 11

12 Best Pano Use this App when needing to capture a panorama Download it here A common complaint often heard when looking at an image after it s been taken is that it doesn t reflect the scene and this is often because we can t capture everything that we see. Shooting a panorama overcomes this restriction and with the Best Pano App the process of capturing one is made so simple. There are no limits on how many images you can put together with this App allowing you to create sweeping 360 degree views. With a builtin horizon level and the ability to retake an image however many times you like, it s easy to achieve good results. How much? $0.99 Features 01 Very simple 02 Built-in horizon level 03 Super-imposing view of previous image enabling each image segment to be perfectly matched together 04 Ability to retake an image if it has not been correctly overlayed the previous image P a g e 12

13 Pro HDR Use this App when capturing images with high tonal contrast Download it here A favourite tool of landscape photographers is a Neutral Density Graduated (ND Grad) filter which is generally used to hold back the exposure on the sky as the sky is typically much brighter than the foreground. Without this filter exposing for the foreground would blow-out the sky and make it become pure white and similarly exposing for the sky would render the foreground under-exposed. An alternative to using an ND Grad is to take two separate images (one exposed for the sky and the other for the foreground) and blend them together; this is the concept of High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. The Pro HDR App subsequently allows you to manually define two separate exposure points and automatically captures and blends the two different exposures together to create a well exposed image. How much? $1.99 Features 01 Take separate exposure readings from any two areas of the image (typically sky and foreground) 02 Set-up timer to avoid camera shake and achieve sharp images P a g e 13

14 03 Crop final image 04 Basic image adjustments Image Processing: Photogene2 Use this App when processing your image Download it here The Photogene2 App represents the ultimate in image processing capabilities boasting many similar capabilities to that found in Photoshop. From noise removal and Curve and Levels adjustments to dodge and burn localised adjustments this App has it all. Even save your adjustments as pre-sets and apply them later to any number of images in an instant! Photogene2 also allows you to create metadata templates to apply to each image on export which is very handy for appending copyright and keyword information. How much? $0.99 P a g e 14

15 Features 01 Intuitive design making it very easy to use 02 Extensive range of image adjustments unmatched by any other image manipulation App 03 Retouching brushes enabling localised adjustments 04 Cloning and Healing tools 05 Ability to create custom pre-sets and apply them to any image in future 06 Full metadata (EXIF) data display P a g e 15

16 Processing an image with the Photogene2 App Workflow The final section in this useful ebook provides a step-by-step process on the workflow one can follow when processing an image through the Photogene2 App. Almost every aspect of this sophisticated App is covered so some steps you may not necessarily require in your workflow but nevertheless this represents a good starting point. Follow along To follow along the workflow feel free to download the before and after images available online The Starting Point Start at the centre main navigational control all of the adjustments are found here in the very intuitive menu system Image Straightening First things first, if your image is not level then straightening it should be the first step prior to any cropping. Tap the Rotate option Tip: Always straighten prior to cropping in order to prevent excessive cropping of the image Image Straightening Next use the Straighten Angle slider to adjust the angle of the image in conjunction with the grid lines to accurately determine the correct position of the horizon. If no horizon exists use any straight lines in the image as a reference. In the example here the line where the base of the mountain meets the ground was used P a g e 16

17 Image Cropping With the image straightened it is often necessary to crop out any distractions to present a stronger composition or to conform to a common ratio. Tap the Crop option to begin Image Cropping The default cropping option is to define a custom ratio allowing you to select the width without affecting the height and vice versa. This option offers the greatest flexibility Tip: Confine your images to a small set of ratios to achieve consistency when you display your images together Image Cropping Another option is to select from a pre-defined set of common ratios by tapping the Ratios option in the top menu. Using this method automatically sets the height of an image if the width is changed and vice versa Image Cropping If the desired ratio doesn t exist then you also have the flexibility to define one and save it as a custom ratio for future use. In the example here a 3:1 panoramic ration was defined and saved for future use P a g e 17

18 Image Adjustments - The Engine Room Tapping the Adjust option reveals a multitude of adjustments and is where all of the main processing is performed. The first adjustment is to improve clarity Tip: Be very subtle with the adjustment sliders. Build-up the affect slowly Clarity Adjustment The clarity adjustment works by increasing contrast between edges separated by highlights and shadows and essentially boosts not only the contrast of an image but also the sharpness as well. Be very subtle with the Clarity adjustment as it s very easy to overdo it. In the example here only an adjustment of 0.77 was applied Exposure Adjustment Tapping on the Brightness adjustment reveals both an Exposure and Contrast adjustment slider. It s recommended that you only modify the exposure and ignore the contrast adjustment slider here. The contrast can be adjusted with far greater precision later using Curves. You will see why it s important to use Curves as an alternative. Increase the exposure to lighten the image or decrease it to darken it. In the example the image has been darkened overall to reduce the brightness of the clouds so as to not distract attention away from where the viewer s eye should be directed. The foreground is now darker than what it should be but this will be lightened back up with localised Dodge and Burn adjustments later. It s useful to point out that an Auto option exists which you can try first as a starting point Saturation Adjustment Adjust the intensity of colours in the image overall using either or both the Saturation and Vibrance adjustment sliders. In the example the saturation was reduced to make the sky greyer and a closer representation of the scene on the day. The foreground was also impacted in performing this global adjustment however this was also intended P a g e 18

19 White Balance Adjustment Change the overall feeling of the image using the White Balance adjustment by either cooling or warming-up the image. Dragging the Color Temperature slider to the left cools the image (image becomes more blue) and dragging the slider to the right warms-up the image (image becomes more red). It s also possible to give the image a tint using the Tint slider Shadow/Highlight Adjustment Up and till this point in the workflow all adjustments have been global meaning that the entire image is modified. The Shadow/Highlight adjustment is the first of the adjustments that allows you to target specific areas, or as in this case tones in an image. This subsequently allows you to lighten-up areas that appear too dark without lighting-up any of the image s brighter areas Shadow/Highlight Adjustment In this example the shadows were lightened to recover and reveal some detail in the mountains in the background and avoid the shadows blocking-up Tip: Double tap the pointer on the slider to re-set it to its default starting position Sharpening the Image Typically performed as the last step in a workflow, sharpening an image is performed after re-sizing the image as the amount of sharpening directly relates to how big the image will be printed. In this case however it s assumed that the image will be exported and saved at the native full resolution size and so sharpening will be performed earlier in the workflow. You can adjust both the strength of the sharpening (amount) and the spread (radius). It s recommended that the Default settings are applied as a starting point P a g e 19

20 Removing Noise Noise is typically an issue when shooting in dark conditions and is more noticeable in the shadows and in the sky; anywhere where there is a lack of detail. In a more serious workflow noise would be among the first things to remove in an image but to keeping to a logical order it will be removed here. It s important to note that noise will not be an issue in all images so skip this step if you can t notice any when fully zoomed in. An adjustment using the Luminance slider will often only be required Tip: Double tap on the screen to zoom in Levels Adjustment Tapping the Histogram option reveals the image s histogram; a graphical chart measuring the tonal range from pure black (left-hand side) to pure white (right-hand side) and is the best source to determine the exposure of an image. If the tonal range does not fully extend from pure black to pure white as in the example, drag each of the left and right-hand sliders in until they touch where the tonal range begins on each end. Performing this adjustment increases the tonality of the image Colour Balance Adjustment The RGB option allows you to independently alter each of the primary colours (red, green and blue) and acts in a similar way to the Colour Balance adjustment in Photoshop. Drag each of the sliders left and right and observe the affect P a g e 20

21 Darker Tones Lighter Tones Curves Adjustment You might recall that we ignored the Contrast slider under the Brightness adjustment and it was for very good reason as Curves allow you to more precisely improve the contrast of an image. The bottom of the curve represents the shadows, the top of the curve represents the highlights and the middle point in the curve represents the neutral (grey) tones in the image. You can tap on any point along the curve to add a new point and specifically target the respective matching tones where dragging the point higher lightens the matching tonal range and dragging it lower darkens the matching tonal range. In the example the Lighten pre-set was selected as a starting point to lighten-up the image and a point was then selected near the top of the curve so as to prevent the brightest tones in the image from being lightened and therefore blowing-out to pure white Tip: Prevent highlights and shadows from clipping by setting separate points on the curve at the top and bottom Retouching Applying the Finishing Touches Tapping the Retouches option reveals a number of tools to refine and apply the finishing touches to the image. This workflow will just cover the more frequently used Clone and Burn and Dodge tools. All of the Retouching tools are localised adjustments. Localised Darkening Select the Burn retouching tool; we re going to darken the top right-hand corner of the sky which is too bright and distracting attention away from where it should be directed. This is commonly referred to as a Hot Spot Brush Adjustments The first thing is to refine the default brush settings and this can be found by tapping the options menu at the top. Tap the last option to begin where we ll set both the size of the brush (radius) and the softness of the brush (feather). Reduce the feather to 0 to produce the softest edge this way helping make any adjust-ment made invisible as possible Hard Edge Soft Edge P a g e 21

22 The next brush attribute to change is the instensity (opacticty) of the brush. To change this tap the next brush option and drag the slider to a low intensity. In this example the slider was dragged down to 20% High Intensity Low Intensity Tip: Paint with a low brush intensity setting so as to apply the change very subtlely and build-up the effect Applying the Brush and Mask Display Brush onto the hot spot area to subtly darken; building-up the affect gradually until the right balance of darkening has been achieved. Try to blend the change in so as to make it impossible to notice where the darkening has taken place. To display the area where you have darkened tap the Show Mask option Menu Checking Once all burning has been completed, tapping the Done button reverts you to the Retouching menu where you will notice that the Burn option has now been ticked allowing you to keep track of your retouching refinements Localised Lightening Following previous steps apply the same changes however this time selectively lighten areas using the Dodge tool. In the example the mountains in the background were further lightened to try and preserve more detail. However after revealing the mask to see the area that has been affected some of the sky has also been lightened. This needs to be corrected. With the mask visible, tap the Erase option, reduce the size of the brush (radius) and increase the brush s intensity (opacity) and erase the lightening incorrectly applied to the sky P a g e 22

23 Try and be as accurate as possible and if you accidently erase lightening where you shouldn t have then simply revert back to the Dodge tool and brush those sections back in easy! Tip: To assist you when erasing pinch the screen to zoom in so you can target the affected area with great precision Cloning At times it is useful to be able to remove any distracting objects within the frame and to allow you to do so a Cloning retouching tool is used. In this example the top of a road marker has been included within the frame and rather than cropping it out and subsequently cutting out a large section of the image, the cloning tool will be used to just remove the road marker. Before you start reduce the feathering of the brush right down to 0 and adjust the size (radius) of the brush to suit. Now you need to touch a point on the image where you want to clone from. Choose a specific area that closely matches the brightness and texture of the section that you want to replace. Once complete you will notice a round dotted circle appear where you have taken a sample from; this circle can be dragged should you need to reposition the sample area. Finally, touch over the area that you want to clone out where in this example the top of the road marker was touched and subsequently replaced with the previously selected area. Keep brushing until the affected area has been completely cloned out P a g e 23

24 The Final Adjustment The final adjustment is to add a vignette to the image to help draw and focus the eye to the centre of the image. To do this tap the Enhance option from the main adjustments menu Applying a Vignette With the first option in the Enhancements selected, drag the slider to the lefthand side to darken the edges; you can observe the impact this has on the image in real-time. It s important to not over-do-it and darken the corners too much. Again you want to try and make any image adjustments appear invisible Tip: For more options when applying a vignette, tap the Manual button Before and After At this stage it s handy to view a before and after preview of the image to see how far you ve come and also to allow you to check for anything that you might want to go back and adjust. All of the changes made so far are completely reversible and editable until the image is exported. How s that for a complete non-destructive workflow? Tap and hold the before and after preview button to view the original image P a g e 24

25 Exporting the Image Once you re finally happy with the image, it s now time to save your masterpiece. Tap the export button to reveal a number of options including the following: - Change the resolution - Resize the image - Save to Photo Library - Share on Social Media - Direct FTP upload to your website - the image Tip: Always export the image at full resolution and full size to maintain the best image quality Now go out and have fun with your iphone s camera! P a g e 25

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