Mists rolling through bare vines. Blazing fires, hearty local fare and award winning red wines. Rug up, join us and capture the season of winter in the Adelaide Hills. Weekend program of events available here mid-May!

CAPTURE THE SEASON PHOTO COMPETITION

Celebrate the winter beauty of the Adelaide Hills by capturing your own image of the season. Shortlisted images will be displayed at the Hahndorf Academy’s “Capture the Season” SALA Exhibition. Over $3000 worth of prizes to be won! Refer to the TERMS AND CONDITIONS for full details.

How to enter:

• Take an image of people or places that represent the Adelaide Hills in winter, using a camera or smart phone camera
• Complete the entry form/entry fee below ($15 per image to enter)
• Email your image to INFO@ADELAIDEHILLSWINE.COM.AU
• Competition opens May 11, closes June 25, shortlisted entrants will be notified late June

- Prizes will be awarded at opening of Hahndorf Academy SALA Exhibition, July 25By submitting this form, you acknowledge and agree to the terms and conditions for the “Capture the Season” Photographic Competition and that the photograph/s submitted by you for the Competition is your own original work, was taken in the Adelaide Hills and has not been entered in any previous competitions.

We will assess each entrant before they are accepted as we have done in the past. If you are not a regular customer of AtkinsTechnicolour, you may be asked to submit a portfolio of wedding photography.

The date to enter by has been extended to 18th May at 6pm. Entry involves using our @tkins online software;

1. going to the ‘wedding competition’ catalogue
2. selecting the horizontal or vertical layout,
3. entering your AIPP membership number,
4. uploading and paying the entry fee.

Link to rules with update.
Link to more information.

The trade show is a great attraction bringing all elements of our industry together, from equipment to education, there is a feast on photography.

Located on the tradeshow floor will be the AIPP professional photographic awards, the APPAs. Attendees are welcome to sit in on any of the three judging rooms and experience Australia’s best photographs being judged by some of our best photographers. This is an amazing learning experience.

Link to PMA The Digital Show.
Link to AIPP APPA.

When: May 24 – 26th 2012.
Where: Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Melbourne Victoria.

This is an astounding example of using still photos with spoken work to create a memorable portrait. Very moving. This should be inspirational for all, and photographers, a guide into the world of ‘fusion’ where stills can be used to make a short video.

This is a New York Times presented essay and is a part of a series “One in 8 Million” that tells the story of New York characters. It is a mix of images from Todd Heisler and interview and production by Alexis Mainland. Enjoy.

Link to video.

SALA is huge, it is a great opportunity to bring your art to the world, ideal for first time exhibitors and experienced alike. August will see hundreds of South Australian artists showing in venues all around SA. Galleries, cafés and wineries, offices, shops, public spaces will be flooded with visitors doing the art tour that has become a fixture in the calendar.

Register now to exhibit, it closes in 2 weeks.

More about SALA 2012 – Click here.
Want to register? – Click here.
Need a venue? – Click here.

Do you need help from AtkinsTechnicolour to stage your exhibition?  - Contact Paul Atkins

How much shadow and highlight detail can you capture?

Why do this test?
Years will go by where you guess what your camera’s exposure latitude may be, you may wonder why in some shots the skin tone has gone grey. You may want to know if you can shoot that scene at midday, or what those night shots will come out like and what different ISOs do to the detail and colour of a scene.

In doing this test you will quickly learn the quirks of your camera, you will gain a better undstanding of exposure and light. Eventually these numbers will become a part of how you work with your camera, you will be able to engineer shots that are much richer in colour and detail. You will know what you and your camera gear are capable of.

It will take about 40 mins the first time, if you choose to run the test at various ISOs, it will take about 20 minutes each test.

Why can’t you trust the histogram on your camera?
It is based on your in-camera processing, you know you can pull more out in your raw converter. The camera’s histogram is only a guide, as is the highlight warning tool. Those flashing highlights are only an indication of what you have captured. Careful metering based on an understanding of what your camera is capable of is the only way to get perfect exposure for any scene.

What you need.

• Camera with manual function, this test is for digital cameras, but same principals can be used for film.
• Set the camera’s metering to spot rather than center weighted or matrix as you will need to meter off a specific part of the scene.
• Tripod or other method to lock the camera position.
• Consistent light source.
• Pure white object that is not too reflective, textured white fabric is good.
• Something to cast a deep shadow.
• Colorful object that has both pastels and strong colour, include a skin-like tone and other pastels as well as some saturated colour.
• Grey card for metering and white balancing.
• Good quality calibrated monitor to evaluate the results.
• Photoshop or Lightroom or any program that can display digital images accurately.

This test is partly subjective. You need to decide what you would accept as a white with detail and how much shadow noise is acceptable.

Ideally the test camera will be capturing raw files, while the test can be performed with jpegs, you will be sacrificing dynamic range shooting jpegs. You may also want to consider ensuring your camera is set to the maximum bit depth, It is a little known fact that the Nikon D700 ships in 12bit mode when it is capable of 14bit mode! That is a strange decision by Nikon as those extra bits contain useful data.

How a light meter works.
It is important you understand how a light meter works. They are simple tools, all they do is calculate the exposure required to make what they are pointed at a mid-toned density (12% grey to be precise). Therefore, metering off pure white will make that white expose as a mid grey. Metering off a black will make that black a mid-grey. So in proper use, you only want to meter off a mid tone to get correct exposure. A white in the scene needs to be over exposed, and a black, under exposed.

The setup.
Set your light close to your subject so you get a fairly dramatic subject with shadows and highlights. You want enough shadow and highlight to meter off accurately. Ensure the setup fills the viewfinder. Ensure the camera is focussed and it will pay to leave the focus in manual mode so it doesn’t change.

White balance the camera to your lighting (do not choose auto white balance). Set the camera on manual. The camera can be moved for the metering otherwise, everything must be locked down. To make the test easier to evaluate, you can vary the framing for each of the three tests slightly, so you can tell one from the other easily.

Set the camera’s ISO to a typical setting. Tis test should be repeated at both high and low ISO to see how ISO affects dynamic range with your camera. You may also want to test with different lenses and filters if you have the time.

If you want to compare several cameras in a truly scientific manner, the test must be performed identically each time with each camera, so be precise where you meter off and do not change the set up between tests.

Highlight test.
Point the camera in spot metering mode at the whitest part of the subject. If the white material chosen is shiny (highly reflective), it may pay you to avoid the specular highlight as this should be blown our as it is a direct reflection of the light source. You are tying to meter off the area where you would want white with detail.

The camera will be in manual mode, choose a high-ish f-stop and set the shutter speed so the exposure meter indicates correct exposure. Then adjust the fstop to the lower numbers (not adjusting shutter speed) as you gradually over-expose each frame, letting in more light. Ideally you want to open up at least 5stops through the test. Most dslrs fstops’ move in 1/3 increments, in this case you will make 15 exposures. You will note on the back of your camera the image getting brighter and eventually blowing out the whites.

Shadow test.
Point the camera in spot metering mode at the darkest part of the subject, the deep shadow you arranged. You are tying to meter off the area where you would want minimal detail.

The camera will be in manual mode, so set the shutter speed so you get correct exposure at a low-ish fstop (perhaps f4). Then, adjust the fstop to higher numbers so you are letting less light in, gradually under exposing. Ideally you want to close down at least 5stops. As in the highlight test, expose at each 1/3 stop closing the lens up to minimum aperture (f22 or whatever your lens is capable of). You will note on the back of your camera the image starting with out blown out whites, then getting darker and eventually loosing a lot of detail as you go through the steps.

Midtone Colour test.
Use the spot metering mode to meter a mid-grey that is in the scene. Ideally a grey card should be used. The grey card should be facing the camera on the same plane as the scene (the closer to the light the brighter it gets, so meter as precisely at the subject as you can) and with grey card pointed directly at the camera.

Next, in manual exposure mode shoot three stops up and three down from the ideal metering. Use the smallest increments your camera offers. Your starting fstop needs to be midway on the scale (f8) to allow for the 3 up and 3 down. If your camera shoots in 1/3 stop increments, you will shoot 9 frames up and 9 down from that mid point.

Using Lightroom to assess.

Evaluation

Evaluation of shadow and highlights.
This is where you need your opinions. Open up all of the files in your editing software. I use adobe Lightroom as it allows for quick evaluation of the raw files. Make sure all presets or effects are off. A good quality, properly calibrated monitor will ensure you are seeing the detail you should see. Many monitors struggle at the extremes and we are testing extremes.

Start at the first exposure for white, which will look ok, but dark. Move through the successively lighter exposures until you find one that you can’t recover the highlight detail satisfactorily. Use both exposure adjustment and highlight recovery tools. The image prior to this is your is your ‘white with detail’ point. Count back to the start exposure. Count the full stops. This is your highlight latitude.

Next look at the exposure for black where the shadow you metered off is grey and the image will look very light. Again move through the successive exposures, getting darker, looking for the image where the shadows are strong but can be lightened so detail appears, but noise is acceptable to you. Use exposure and shadow lightening methods, you are testing all the tools you have to make those extremes work for you. Again count the full fstops to the first exposure for the shadows. This is your shadow latitude.

Evaluation of midtones.
Start with your ideal exposure and work both up and down the apertures noting at what point the pastel, or midtone colours begin to change. You may see a desaturation or loss of colour in some of these softer colours. As they drift away from ideal, note both the under and over exposure point at which this happens. This will give you your midtone latitude.

In conclusion and in practise.
If midtone colour and highlight and shadow detail are critical to you then you need to know your camera and how to use it’s light meter.

If you know white with detail is 3 stops over exposed, then, when shooting a scene, meter the white you want detail in. If it is 3 stops or less over the midtone exposure, then all is great!

If your black with detail is 4 stops under exposed, and your scene metering matches this, then also great!

If the scene falls outside of these boundaries…

• You have to accept a less than ideal result. Which you will understand what it will look like as you will have performed this test.
• You can change the lighting by using repositioning, reflectors, or flash to manipulate the dynamic range of the scene.
• Or use HDR techniques to take multiple frames varying the exposure for the problem areas, and combine the frames in post production.

We are bound by the laws of physics. In knowing your boundaries, you can play at your fullest potential.

Paul Atkins.

Assessment. In the past our competition has attracted some work that I am not completely happy with. I want to be proud of the entrants in this competition, I need to be able to stand by each one. Rejecting an entrant is tricky, particularly when we are not always in a position to assess their work properly. Our clients, we know. But this competition is open to anyone. So we need a simple yet solid criteria to differentiate those entering.

The AIPP, for better or for worse, are trying to establish a standard for our industry, and they are doing better than anyone else. An AIPP Accredited professional must meet certain standards and maintain them. The AIPP is the largest representative body and are growing rapidly through efforts to set standards and improve members’ skills. The industry must support these efforts.

This leads to my second point. Support. Pro-photography must get together to present a unified definition of what it takes to be a pro-photographer. Otherwise the market will continue to be muddied by anyone with a camera and a Facebook page. Being a pro-photographer takes a lot of work, many years of practise and improvement. It involves insurance, legal compliance and contract law, ethics, business sense…etc.

Too many photographic businesses are being run as a hobby and not as a business. There is no thought for paying a wage to the owner as well as being profitable. No consideration for the business’ future, no consideration of it standing alone without a second income to ‘prop it up’. The AIPP has a distinct focus on this aspect of professionalism.

AtkinsTechnicolour wants to support the AIPP’s efforts. We can see the AIPP’s flaws, but who else is trying…? The only hope our industry has to survive and thrive is if we act together to lift the idea of what it takes to be a professional photographer.

What is dynamic range? – this is the measure the ability of your cameras’ sensor to record detail from highlights to shadows. The greater the dynamic range, the more detail you will have to play with.

Dynamic range is mearured in “fStops”. To give a base line, slide film is approximately 5 stops and negative film 7 stops, high end digital backs can be as much as 14 stops!

Paul will demonstrate how to measure the dynamic range of your camera, so bring your camera along if you want to try with a group.

When: April 27th 2012, 4 – 5.30pm
Where: AtkinsTechnicolour, 89 Fullarton Rd Kent Town, South Australia.
Booking: No need to book, no cost, just turn up!

Here is a link for more information.

Entries open 9am Adelaide time April 20th and close May 11th.

The next of these workshops will be held on Saturday 26 May 2012, whilst there is also a week-long workshop in the Flinders Ranges later in the year.