Review Digital Camera World 06-29-2013

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Digital Camera World

Film vs Digital: 10 reasons every beginner should forget about film Jun 28th 2013, 23:01, by jmeyer Isn’t the film vs digital debate over? Some photographers get all misty-eyed when they talk about film, but our friends at Photoventure reckon that digital photography is a whole lot better. In their latest guest blog post they offer a few reasons why digital not only wins the film vs digital debate, but if you’re a beginner trying to learn your craft… you’re better off picking up a digital camera… Film vs Digital Reason 1: What you see is what you get If you compose images on your digital camera's LCD screen, or have model with an electronic viewfinder, you see how the image will appear before you take the shot. All the exposure and colour information is taken into account, so you see just what you're going to get. Even if you compose images in the optical viewfinder of a digital camera you can see the image immediately after it has been taken, so you can make any adjustments and take another shot. With a film camera it's a leap of faith. You could have entirely the wrong exposure settings selected and you won't find out until the film's been processed days later. Film vs Digital Reason 2: You can check the image data Digital images have EXIF data with all the camera setting information, so when you're reviewing your shots you can check how you created the various effects. The only way to do this with the average film camera is to make a note of the exposure settings at the time you took the shot. Comparing images is also easier with digital photography because you can put two or more images on the screen and compare them at different magnifications. You need to reach for a loupe with a film photograph and then quickly move between the prints or slides. READ MORE 10 common camera mistakes every photographer makes How to use a camera: exposure modes made simple 99 common photography problems (and how to solve them) 15 common photography questions from beginners (and how to solve them) Chromatic aberration: how to avoid color fringing when using white backgrounds Jun 28th 2013, 11:21, by jmeyer If chromatic aberration is a problem for you, there is a simple method of fixing this lens-based problem in the digital darkroom. Here is our simple guide to fixing color fringing when shooting against white backgrounds. Isolating a subject against a white background is a familiar stock photography technique utilising simple studio lighting with dedicated lights blowing out the background while a foreground key is balanced for the subject. However, if your background lights are a few stops higher than the key then you're increasing the chances of colour fringing occurring on high contrast edge areas. You may have come across chromatic aberration, as the effect is technically referred to, in snapshots of darkened trees or building edges against a bright sky, or reflected highlights on lapping water. These items adopt a hazy line of red or blue at the edges of contrast where light wavelengths converge. The distortion is a lens-based issue that even the most expensive lenses can generate in such high contrast situations. In the studio, you can reduce the chances of this occurring by balancing your key and background lights and reducing the extremes in strength. If this isn't possible, there are methods for reducing and even removing this through post-processing in Photoshop. The most immediate choice is to make use of the dedicated tools in Camera Raw found under the Color tab of the Lens Corrections options. A simple one-click method is available but be sure to zoom in to at least 100% on a problem area that includes both the blue and red fringing found most commonly along the left and right verticals respectively to determine how effective the automated method is. Manual sliders are available if you feel a little more adjustment is necessary. An alternative method for more localised problems such as specular highlights in eyes or teeth reflections is to selectively desaturate the problem area. This can be done by painting black or white onto a newly-created blank Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer with a soft-edged brush small enough to be effective – just remember to zoom into your image adequately to restrict the removal of colour to the problem areas. Of course, you could achieve the same results by changing the Blend Mode of the Brush tool to Hue and painting directly onto the image. With an Adjustment Layer, you have the non-destructive freedom to backtrack if you feel the effect isn't quite as satisfactory as you'd hoped. Step-by-step how to fix chromatic aberration on white backgrounds 01 Identify the problem At 100% magnification, we can see the blue and red fringing running down the vertical edges of the suit trousers of a model wearing a dark suit against a brightly lit white background. 02 A quick fix From within Adobe Camera Raw, choose the Color tab under Lens Corrections and then check the Remove Chromatic Aberration option. View at 100% and make use of the manual Defringe sliders if necessary.   03  Manual correction For overlooked areas, create a blank Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer and paint over any additional problem spots with a black or white brush to desaturate the fringing or specular highlights such as catchlights. READ MORE 10 reasons your photos aren’t sharp (and how to fix them) How to process raw images the right way in Photoshop Elements Crop photos the right way: classic mistakes and how to avoid them Adobe Camera Raw: 8 tools that will rescue your raw files

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