Adding some va-va-voom with vibrance

A few weeks back, we took a peruse around Lightroom's clarity slider, to see what it does to your photos and how you can get the best out of your photos by giving it a gentle nudge here and there. This week, it's the turn of the vibrance slider—clarity's bed-fellow—to come under the Photocritic microscope.

Much the same as the clarity slider has its most pronounced effect on the mid-tones of your images, the vibrance slider is also a 'smart slider' and applies its effects selectively. Rather than adjusting the contrast in the mid-tones, a la clarity, vibrance takes hold of the more muted tones in your photo and gives them some oompf. It's a selective saturation slider, if you will.

More often than not, vibrance will pick up on the blues and greens in a photo but go easier on the reds and oranges. This is great for bringing out the intensity of a sky or making a lawn look that bit more inviting while not letting your portrait subjects look as if they've been tangoed. I've heard some people refer to vibrance as being like 'fill light for colours'.

With the exception of the sweetpea, I've not been exactly subtle with either the vibrance or the saturation in any of my examples here, but that's to give you a clear illustration of the difference between them. Usually, I'd be far more reserved and I'm sure you would be, too. But at least you know what vibrance does now, and can begin using it to intensify your colours without feeling you've chucked a red wash over your photos.

Focus and re-focus after the event with Lytro

I get asked what I think the next big thing in photography will be, or what direction technology will take, quite a bit. It’s one of those things that you can’t really answer. Not until you’re actually living in that imagined future does it seem possible. So if you’d asked me a few years ago if a camera that would allow you to focus and re-focus your image as much as you wanted to after you’d captured it was on the cards, I’d've probably shrugged my shoulders. But it’s here now. It’s the Lytro.  

The idea behind the Lytro is that it captures all of the light rays in a given scene. According to Lytro, it captures a scene in four dimensions by recording the colour, intensity, and the direction of every ray of light that hits the light field sensor in the camera. And what does it do with all this information? It processes it using a light field engine so that you can re-focus pictures directly on the camera. If you want to share your images on-line, this light field engine will travel will them, allowing anyone to interact with them from any device, from mobile phones to desktop computers. No special software required.

I’ve had a play with some sample images: you click on the area where you want to focus and… tah-daa!… the focus will shift there in a second or so. It’s simple and quite good fun. You can mess around there, too.

Despite the technology involved, Lytro wants to keep their cameras sleek and simple. There are just two buttons on the camera – on/off and the shutter – and everything else is achieved through a touchscreen. As for the design, I can’t help but think it looks a bit like something I would’ve made using mirrors and cardboard when I was seven, but perhaps I was weirdly ahead of my time. Still, it’s small, light, and comes in blue, red, or graphite.

The lens has a constant aperture of f/2.0 and an 8× optical zoom. With no need to focus, it’s pretty speedy; and as it captures all of the available light in a scene, it should have pretty good low-light capability, too.

The Lytro comes in two sizes, an 8GB model in blue or graphite that stores 350 photos, or a 16GB version in red that holds 750 images. They cost $399 and $499 respectively. If you’re one of Lytro’s first customers, they'll provide you with free storage for your light field images uploaded to Lytro.com, too. They should be shipping come the new year.

You can learn more from Lytro.

A camera that sees around corners

It’s super-early days, but the super-clever people at MIT have developed a camera that can see around corners. And when I say super-early days, I really do mean it. At the moment, the prototype camera is the size of a room and relies on a femtosecond laser. It’s not exactly technology that Canon or Nikon will be making available next year!

The camera works by firing a beam from a laser that bounces around the scene, and some of the light particles will eventually make their way back to the camera’s sensor, where they will be pieced back together to make an image. It’s a process that needs to be repeated at least 12 times to form a complete, if at the moment somewhat fuzzy, image. In order to protect the sensor from the ultra-strong intensity of the laser, the shutter won’t open immediately, either.

Images are basic right now, but still. (Picture thanks to BBC.)

Professor Ramesh Raskar is heading the team that has developed the camera. They’re envisaging it being used to assist in search-and-rescue missions, and with robot vision, although they are working towards an endoscope right now. And there’s a way to go yet as the camera still gets confused by complex scenes and only works in the lab. But still. Wow!

(Headsup to the BBC.)

Models: Preparing for a photo shoot

The modelling industry is very competitive. Every photo-shoot is a chance for a model to show herself at her best, and any model is only as good as their last shoot – so there’s a strong incentive to make each photo-shoot count towards

This article highlights some recommendations that a model may want to review in order to prepare him or herself for a photo-shoot. While digital photo processing software such as Photoshop can work miracles, neither a model nor a photographer will take as much pride in highly photoshopped pictures. If you take the time to prepare well in advance of your photo-shoot, you will feel more confident and as a result, look better. 

Part 1: Show your body and skin at its best!

1. If you work out, you may want to vary your routine to show off the muscles you’re most proud of. Or, a week before the shoot, you may want to increase the intensity of your workout. For example, if you usually do aerobics or body shaping, switch to working with gym equipment for a couple days. You will notice how well your muscles will respond. In no way does this mean you need to have a stereotypical fashion model’s body. Exercise can be great for any body and can boost confidence – and confidence is really what makes you attractive.

2. Moisturize: Hopefully you moisturize your skin regularly. If not, certainly apply moisturizer on the days before and morning of the shoot. To make your skin look smooth, supple and glowing, consider using with a hydrating cream containing exfoliators such as hyularonic or glycolic acid.

3. Remove: If you shave, do so 2 days before the shoot, in order to give your skin a chance to recover. If you do it yourself, follow the main rules of depilation to avoid irritation and ingrown hair:

- cleanse your skin and exfoliate before depilation
- do not stretch your skin when depilating
- do not apply too much pressure when shaving or using hair depilation cream
- do not run the shaver over one and the same spot several times or you can create irritated spots. If you have to, reapply shaving cream.

4. Color: Instead of using a solarium and prematurely aging your skin due to UV damage, consider using self-tanning creams and bronzing products. Choose a light type that gives you a chance to regulate intensity with each application and to avoid disasters like uneven color, lines and spots. Experiment with these products well in advance of your shoot, so you know that the color will look right for you. Try to avoid tan lines.

5. Watch it: Avoid too much salt and iodine in your diet. Salt can lead to water retention in the skin and the skin surface does not look smooth and tight but tired and bumpy. Iodine, for example in sushi and marine dishes, can trigger break-outs. Include more fiber into your diet it will help your body to get rid of toxins, and drink plenty of water.

6. Spots: If you do get a pimple the day of the shoot, do not touch it, as you will make it redder and harder to cover. Most photographers have no problem with one or two pimples as these can be easily covered with makeup or digitally removed by photoshop. If you have serious acne problems, be sure that your photographer knows this in advance.

Caution: Do not experiment with new skin treatments the night before the shoot. Any new treatment can cause skin irritations or allergic reactions. Test out the treatments well in advance of the shoot in order to know how your skin will react and how long your skin needs to recover.

Part 2:

Okay, your skin and body look great! What else you can do to prepare for a photoshoot?

1. Hair: If you dye your hair, make sure that you have had your roots recently treated. Studio lighting can exaggerate dark roots.

2. Nails: Make sure your finger and toe nails look clean and manicured. Use a clear nail polish which will go with any color clothing. If you must color your nails use a neutral white or cream. Red nails will look strange if your outfit is blue.

3. Makeup: If there will be a makeup artist at the shoot, arrive with no makeup on. Otherwise, you will loose time and potentially irritate your skin (and your photographer) when the makeup comes off. If you will be doing your own makeup, remember that photography lighting and the heat from the lights tend to make the skin look shinier than usual. Do not use any shiny or bright make-up that might cause reflection or glare during the photoshoot. Apply a base to smooth your skin and make it look consistent. Use mascara to bring out your eyes. Bring several colors of lipstick that you can apply depending on the color of clothing.

4. Wear antiperspirant. Avoid using any deodorant which may stain clothing.

5. Tattoos: If you have tattoos, experiment to see what make up will cover them naturally. If you are interested in being a traditional fashion model, don’t get tattooed, as many photographers don’t like them. On the other hand, tattoos can make a portrait more interesting – just make sure the photographer knows about them ahead of time.

6. Posing: Practice your poses before the shoot. This is especially advisable if you are a beginning model. Flip through some magazines and find the poses you like. Practice your facial expressions and poses in front of a mirror so you can see how you look at your best. Often exaggerated or unusual poses look most interesting. Wild and disheveled hair may be better for you than the well-groomed look. Do not be afraid to experiment and try new things. It will be much better than standing like a stick in front of the camera.

7. What to wear to the shoot: If your shoot is glamour, swimwear or lingerie, wear loose fitting gym clothes which have no elastic bands. Do not wear underwear. Underwear leaves lines on the skin, which can require 30-60 minutes to disappear.

8. Get plenty of rest: Have a good night’s sleep the night before the shoot. Avoid partying the night before a photoshoot. Alcohol and cigarette smoke, even smoke in the air, can make your eyes red and puffy. Also, if you are a smoker bring down the number of cigarettes your smoke or stop completely before the shoot. Smoking deprives skin of oxygen and nutrients and makes it look gray.

Invest the time to make yourself look the best you can be so you can feel confident during the shoot. If you feel great about yourself, you will exude confidence. Confidence shows and will help to make your photos the best they can be.

This article was written by Eden Fenrick for Photocritic. If you fancy writing a guest article, get in touch!

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