Review Digital Camera World 06-13-2013

Digital Camera World

How to use an iPad or laptop as a light source for portraits, still lifes and more Jun 12th 2013, 23:01 In our most creative DIY Photography Hacks series post yet we show you how to use your iPad, tablet or laptop as a light source for illuminating portraits, still life set-ups, create shapes in catchlights, painting with light, making backgrounds in macro photography and even cross polarisation. Did you know that you're carrying around a brilliantly versatile little softbox in your backpack? Your tablet or laptop isn't just useful for editing and sharing photos, it's also easily converted into a light for illuminating portraits and still lifes. Plus, it's a lot cheaper and more portable than expensive, heavy lighting systems. Laptops put out a lot of light, especially in a darkened room, and using a program like Microsoft Paint or our favourite lighting app, Softbox Pro (£1.99/$0.99), you can open up a white screen that will act as a light source in the same way as a softbox does. The great thing about a digital lighting system is that you can choose new backgrounds, colours and shapes to instantly customise the effect. In this guide we'll look at six different lighting set ups that use just your tablet as a light source. We're shooting portrait photos of our model, Charlotte, using iPads as softboxes to light her face, and experimenting with shapes to create unusual catchlights in her eyes for a really striking look. We'll also look at how to use your tablet to light a simple still life for better food and product shots. Plus, we'll show you how to add patterned backgrounds to your macro shots, play with cross-polarisation effects and even paint with light for really creative photos. Using an iPad to light a portrait Set your tablet up next to your model's face like we did at the top of this page, or have them hold it so the light falls where you need it For this technique, you'll need to shoot in a darkened room so that the tablet's light is the only thing illuminating your model. Use a tripod for stability and pick a high ISO to compensate for the low light. We used a shutter speed of 1/15 sec and created a shallow depth of field with an aperture of f/5.6. Set your tablet at an angle to the model's face and adjust the angle until you get an effect you like. This technique works just as well with a laptop screen. Proper support Tablets and laptops produce a lovely soft light, but there's not very much of it, so you need to choose your settings carefully. Start by mounting the camera on a tripod – this will enable you to choose whatever lens aperture you need to make the photo composition work without having to worry about the shutter speed. If you're shooting portraits, though, you'll need to increase the ISO because your subject won't be able to stay still enough for long exposures. We were using our 18-55mm kit lens at its maximum aperture of f/5.6 at its maximum zoom setting, and ISO1600 gave us shutter speeds in the region of 1/15 sec to 1/30 sec at f/5.6. PAGE 1 – DIY Photography Hacks: using an iPad to light a portrait PAGE 2 – DIY Photography Hacks: use your tablet to create cool catchlights PAGE 3 – DIY Photography Hacks: use your iPad to light your still life photography PAGE 4 – DIY Photography Hacks: use your tablet to create a background for macro photography PAGE 5 – DIY Photography Hacks: create rainbow cross-polarisation effects using your iPad PAGE 6 – DIY Photography Hacks: use your iPad to paint with light READ MORE Studio Lighting: 4 seriously simple lighting techniques to try at home 6 simple lighting setups for shooting portraits at home Snoot lighting: how to take moody strobist portraits using your hotshoe flash Famous Photographers: 100 things we wish we knew starting out Get correct white balance every time: a simple trick for amazingly accurate color Jun 12th 2013, 10:30 Getting correct white balance is absolutely essential to any image you want to take. Getting your colors right, in fact, is one of the biggest mistakes most photographers make. In this quick guide we’ll show you how to make a custom white balance setting in the blink of an eye. Image and words by Mark Hamblin Ever wondered why the colors in your images look… well… off-colour? Do the whites in your picture actually have more than a hint of green, yellow or blue? If your images are suffering from some dodgy looking colors, then they have probably been taken at the wrong white balance setting. Most people shoot on Auto white balance, which is often fine, but under more unusual lighting, such as indoors, low light, artificial lighting and heavy shade, images can have a color cast where the whites are no longer white. In these situations, you can customise the white balance to get the colors spot on. Here's how… How to ensure correct white balance every time Use a reference card Place a piece of white (or 18% grey) card facing towards the camera in the same lighting as your subject. Move or zoom in to fill the frame with the card without casting a shadow onto it, and take a shot. Exposure isn't critical as long as it isn't completely under- or over-exposed.   Customise white balance The camera will use the colour in this image to set the white balance for the subject you want to shoot in the same lighting. Scroll through the Menu to Custom WB (Canon), or the equivalent with other brands. Select the picture of the card, and set this as the white balance reference image.   Get accurate colours You can now select this custom white balance and use it to shoot your subject. If you shoot in JPEG format, this will ensure accurate colours, and for raw shooters, it'll save time when processing your images. You'll need to go through this process again for each different lighting situation though. READ MORE Golden Hour Photography: tips for making magical landscapes at dawn Creative landscape photography: master the dark art of shadows and shade 5 accessories every landscape photographer must own The landscape’s greatest challenges: a free photography cheat sheet What is white balance: common problems and how to solve them

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