With all the new models of digital camera releaased at Photokina this week, I’m noticing a trend in the consumer-level digital cameras: face detection on digital cameras seems like it’s here to stay. Designed to automatically recognizes faces in a frame, face detection adjusts the autofocus to keep them as sharp as possible and the exposure to ensure they come out in the final frame.  At least in theory.  How well does it actually work?

How does it work?

Face detection tehnology is basically just a very specific form of pattern detection.  Not all systems work the same way, but most use an algorithm to locate the faces in a frame and give some sort of preview on the LCD screen.  Some cameras give you the option to turn off face recognition; others have enough confidence in their algorithm to leave it on all the time.

What are the limitations?

It’s important to remember face detection can’t work miracles. It’s not going to magically change your optics to keep two faces in focus that are dozens of feet apart or compensate for terrible lighting conditions.  It’s important not to become overreliant on face detection and forget the principles of good exposure or composition.

How well does it work?

From most studies, it works well in 97 percent of situations.  Especially since the technology matures, face detection has become able to handle most of the seemingly tricky situations you might throw at it.  From experience, it works just find handling off-center portraits, portraits with multiple people and group shots.  And when the group is rather large, the camera typically is able to identify a primary subject and several secondary subjects as well.

But it does fail on occasion - the technology still struggles with composition from extreme angles or occasions where the subject is backlit or dramatically underexposed relative to the rest of the frame.  But any photo you take under this conditions isn’t likely to be any good anyway - why even bother?  Sometimes props like a funny hat may throw it off as well, but it’s a simple fix: just turn the feature of and compose and shoot manually.

What types of cameras is it included in?

Face detection is becoming a mainstay of the entry-level consumer-class digital camera, where the user is likely to be in a fully-automatic mode most of the time anyway.  It really hasn’t trickled up to ultra-zoom digital cameras or to the pro SLR market at all.  Since the feature seems to be more than just marketing hype, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it included on more and more higher-level digital cameras in the near future, although we’d be shocked to see it make it to the pro-level cameras.

The bottom line: is it worth it?

Especially for beginner photographers, face detection can be a helpful set of training wheels, and the technology does what it promises.  While we wouldn’t necessarilly pay a premium for the feature - you’re still able to get just as good of results with some knowledge of manual settings - cameras offering the feature aren’t generally anymore expensive.  Some models to look out for are the Canon PowerShot A590IS, the Nikon Coolpix S550 or the Olympus FE-340, each of which offers face detection technology and is a good beginner camera for under $200.

Sorry for the rush of Canon-specific deals lately, but it just doesn’t seem like there are as many good savings out there for users of other systems at the moment.

We talked a while back about 50mm 1.8 lenses as being one of the first upgrades an SLR shooter should get.  Optics at 50mm aren’t too difficult for camera manufacturers, so a 50mm lens is usually a cheap and bright addition to the kit lens that came with your camera.  It’s particularly well-suited to indoor photography, as the wide aperture lets in several more stops of light than the average kits lens.

Abe’s of Maine has the Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens on sale for $89.95 with free shipping and no sales tax.  And if you enter the coupon codes FRIEND10 or LOYALTY10, you can knock another $10 off.  At $80, this lens is a great addition to your kit and give you a little more versitility with the light you can shoot in.

Photographers learn to value quality in a photograph above all else, and that’s why working on the Web can be a frustrating experience: you have to make compromises. In general, resized images for the Web:

• Are less sharp
• Introduce compression artifacts that reduce image quality

Pros will debate very specific editing techniques to prepare photos for the Web, but I wanted to give a guide for beginners.  Here are some basic steps you should be following to make sure your images display correctly online.

Choose the right file type.

This goes without saying, but you’d be surprised how often photographers still make this mistake. In 99/100 cases, you should be saving your photographs as JPG files for the Web. JPG is a file type that’s optimized for displaying photography online, and it offers enough compression without compromising image quality.

Chose the right file dimensions.

Full-resolution photographs never cut it on the Web. You’re going to want to downsize considerably. Consider this - the average width of a Web site today is right around 800-900 pixels. Today’s digital cameras are capable of taking images several thousands of pixels wide. You’re going to need to edit - and downsize - your photographs for the Web.

A good rule of thumb is this: try and keep the longest end of your photograph around 500-600 pixels for a LARGE image, think more in the 300-400 pixel range for a medium-sized image. This should help keep your file sizes low and keep your users happy. If you want to offer a full-sized image, great! Just make it as a link from a smaller thumbnail. Your users will thank you.

Examples of some common Web file sizes:

Choose the right compression.

Just as you needed to downsize your images for the Web, you’re also going to need to reduce the quality too. A small - but consequential - percentage of Internet users still don’t have high-speed access, and you’ll lose out on their page views if your images take too long to download.

When you reduce the quality of a JPG image, you introduce something called file artifacts. These look vaguely like digital noise, but they’re not produced by anything in your camera. They’re results of the compression algorithm discarding visual information in your image in order to reduce the file size. Optimizing images for the Web is a challenge between getting the file size as small as possible while keeping the image quality high. Generally, you want a photograph to be around 50-60 kilobytes for the Web….much larger and your pages will take too long to load. Too much compression, though, and your images will end up looking like this tortured flower.

Resize your images - don’t let the browser do it for you.

Part of the <IMG> tag in HTML lets you define an image’s size when inserting in on a Web page.  For example, I can define an image that’s 1200×800 pixels as 300×200 pixels by entering the following HTML code:

<img src=”my1200×800image.jpg” width=”300px” height=”200px”>

But the results will be far from perfect.  Here’s what the result looks like, versus an image that was resized down in Photoshop and inserted at its correct dimensions:

The browser-resized image takes too long to load, and looks bizarrely oversharpened.

The image resized in Photoshop looks a little softer, but it’s much more pleasing and takes much less time to download.

Handle your resizing in your favorite image editor; please don’t leave it to the browser.

Sharpen after you resize

Softness is a side effect of most algorithms image editing software use to resize photographs. So don’t be afraid to sharpen your image a little bit after you resize - even if you’ve done it previously in the editing process. A little sharpening makes our city image that much more pleasing for the Web.  Just be careful - a little goes a long ways.

We’re back after our end-of-summer vacation, and I wanted to share with you a great blog I found during some downtime in the last week.  We’ve linked to the personal blogs of professional photographers in the past, and indeed, this whole blog thing seems to be catching on with the pros.  So many photographers are writing blogs and giving great insight that you can learn from as an amatuer shooter.

I don’t think there’s a much more marquee placement in the business than the cover of Sports Illustrated, and David Bergman earned this week’s spot.  That’s only one reason you should read his photo blog.  The other is that he is generous in sharing a number of his different shots and he isn’t stingy with the details on how he shot them.

Bergman also gives you tons of insight on what it’s like to shoot for one of the biggest magazines in the world, so if you harbor any dreams of being a pro (or just like to live vicariously), check out his articles like this one on the kit he travels with and the burden it often proves to be.  Budget it defintitely is not.

http://www.davidbergman.net

Summer’s coming to a close, and fall - with all its gorgeous photo opportunities - is fast approaching.  We’re going to be giving you all the guides you need to take better fall photos, but we wanted to give you a reading list for the last of the doldrums of summer.  Here’s our slide show of your recommended reading list - hover over it to read my comments and to see the complete list.

Happy reading!

Photo by Just Fab using a version of the do-it-yourself scrim.

It’s senior portrait season, and that means people are looking for easy ways to take better portraits outdoors.  Direct light is the double-edged of outdoor portrait photography.  On one hand, it produces beautiful, rich, saturated backgrounds.  On the other hand, it produces harsh shadows on the face - a big no-no for proper portrait photography. For better portraits, you want diffuse directional light.  This is the purpose of using a soft box indoors - you’re able to use a bright light while softening it to eliminate its harsh qualities.  But how to you diffuse the sun?

Enter the do-it-yourself scrim, which lets you shoot outdoors in direct sunlight while softening the sun enough to produce sharp portraits.  The best part?  It can be produced for under $30.

Here’s what you need to purchase:

• 3 ten foot sections of PVC Piping
• 4 T Connectors
• 2 90-Degree Connectors
• White Nylon Shower Curtain

That’s it.  Cut two sections four feet in length.  These will serve as the two, perpendicular horizontal parts of the frame.  Then, cut two five foot sections for the side of the frame, two 16-inch sections for the legs and four nine-inch sections for the base.  You end up with something like this:

This should give you enough support for the frame to be freestanding.  The shower curtain you purchased will act as the diffusing material.  For an inelegant solution, you can simply drape it over the frame.  Or, if you’re nitpicky, you can cut and tack it so it looks a little more professional.

How do you use it?  Position your subject so they’re facing at a right angle to the sun.   Stick your new do-it-yourself scrim between them and the sun.  The shower curtain acts as a diffuser, casting softer shadows across the face and improving the quality of the portrait.  At the same time, the background is still bright and saturated.

For better results, use in the early morning or evening - the so-called “golden hours”.  This will keep your background from being washed out from a bright sun and the sun is at a greater angle, making your scrim more effective.

Be sure to come back and post your results!  This will be a great addition to the toolkit for parents looking to take senior photos, and might save the need for hiring a professional.  Good luck!

The do-it-yourself scrim was refined from an original concept by Just Fab.  Thanks for the inspiration!

I’ve been happy that a few Cheapshooter readers have followed up with the Canon Loyalty Program post from a couple weeks back and shared their experiences.

Reader SeattleGuy exchanged his “ancient” Powershot S100 for a refurbished Rebel XT, and he said the process went smoothly:

Well, it took 4 days longer to get the camera than I thought. But it was worth the wait. Sure, there is the newer 10 MegaPixel model on the market right now, but you can’t get one for anywhere near $310.00 USD.

The camera seems perfect. It is the silver model rather than the black model, but it is spotless. The finish is perfect. The lens is perfect as well; glass, finish and even the contacts are clean and shiny.

The kit came with everything I expected. Besides the camera body and lens there were the manuals + software, charger + battery, strap, eye-piece cover, all caps - everything except a cover for the hot shoe. But I don’t see where that is included even on newer models..

The pictures are great and all of the settings seem to work, I’ll need more time to be 100% sure about that.

Thanks Canon..!

So if you’ve been hesitant to test it out, give it a shot.  Canon’s number for the program is 866-443-8002.

Also, here’s one more idea.  If you want a cheap upgrade to a digital SLR, older Canon cameras are available pretty cheap on eBay.  For example, here’s a Canon S100 on eBay for under 30 bucks.  While it might not be the most ethical thing in the world, I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t fulfill the trade-in requirement.

In another role, I occasionally read obscure real estate blogs.  Never did I think that it would pay off with some cool photo info, but I found a relatively cheap and easy way to get into aerial photography.  Well, aerial photography of a sort at least.

Welcome to pole aerial photograph, an easy way to get your camera off the ground and change your perspective.  This particular setup is used for real estate photography - taking better pictures of houses to use in real estate listings.  And while it’s not the most mobile setup in the world, it would be an interesting way of changing up your perspective for something as simple as a local sporting event or family gathering.

Here’s the details on how it was assembled, straight from the original thread.  The author is using a Canon Digital Rebel and the remote software, but the method could easily be adapted for other camera models - you might just lose the benefit of the computer preview:

USB extender ($6 from eBay, i got it from the same seller as the cat 5 Cable, I think the cable and extender was $25)

75 ft Cat 5 cable, plugs into one section of the USB extender and then directly into the USB port on the computer.

My Hot Stick find was the key to my low cost. They normally run $300-$500 dollars. The one I got is 50 Ft. The highest I’ve ever had it with the camera attached is 40 Ft and it was swaying substantially. I would suggest a 35 Ft Hot Stick maximum unless your very daring.

The other section of USB extender is on the other end of the Cat5 cable. I used a Hose clamp to attach a carabiner to the pole. I use the carabiner to attach the Cat 5 cable so It’s not pulling down on the plug attached to the camera. Then use then Canon cable to plug into the camera. (I always get a “slow USB” warning on the computer screen because of the distance but it doesn’t effect the outcome. The picture DL’s to the screen in 3-4 seconds.)

The EOS utility on your computer does allow you to remotely operate the shutter but I was more comfortable with a remote shutter release (besides I wanted one anyway) I found a non-infrared style remote shutter release on eBay new for $10. The receiver end plugs into the camera, the other end is a key-fob size button with a 6 inch antenna.

I determined that a half inch piece of galvanized conduit was exactly the same size as my tripod head so I cut off about ten inches, flattened one end with a hammer, drilled a hole and used a bolt to attach to the universal mount on the end of the Hot Stick. I also had to use a jig saw to cut a slot in the end of the conduit to allow for the tripod head mounting screw. The mounting screw assures that the tripod head will not fall off the conduit.

With everything attached and “on” then, the hot stick raises in 5 ft sections with a button release. Raise to the height you want, align the camera in the general direction and snap the first shot. DO NOT move the pole or the angle, review your shot in 3-4 seconds on the laptop screen then adjust angle, pitch, height as you see fit until you get the shot you want. Use the widest angle you can without distortion. You can always crop out the unwanted streets and neighboring houses.

At $300-500, a Hotstick isn’t exactly the best option for a shooter on a strict budget.  So the question becomes — how much do you want to risk your camera?  The post also discusses the merits of using a tree-trimmer, window washer or painters’ pole.  It just might require more effort/risk to secure your camera in.

How much of a difference does the additional height make?

Certainly enough to make a striking difference and to make a boring photo much more unique.  There’s also a Flickr group devoted to pole aerial photography with some other cool examples.

I’m going to try and put a rig together, but I wanted to put this out there now to see if we get a few people interested in refining this method a bit further.  I’ll work on finding a bit more elegant and simple of a solution, but if you have any suggestions, post them in the comments.

]]> http://www.cheapshooter.com/2008/08/26/do-it-yourself-pole-aerial-photography/feed/ http://www.cheapshooter.com/2008/08/25/photocalc-on-location-photo-assistance-for-iphone-users/ http://www.cheapshooter.com/2008/08/25/photocalc-on-location-photo-assistance-for-iphone-users/#comments Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:52:35 +0000 Dan http://www.cheapshooter.com/?p=545

If you have an iPhone, the flurry of recent development for the new Apps Store produced a nice, cheap photography tool for the novice- to intermediate-level photographer.  Meet Photocalc, an app that gives you an easy way to calculate some of the more complicated variables involved in taking a photograph.

The app, which costs $2.99, comes with three different calculators - an exposure, depth-of-field and flash calculator.  The exposure calculator isn’t the most useful thing in the world - most digital cameras can do the same thing with metering, obviously - but if you’re trying to teach yourself to be a full manual shooter and to recognize the light conditions quickly, it can be helpful.  Of greater use is the depth-of-field calculator, which combines focal length, distance and aperture to tell you how much of your photograph will be in focus.  It’s a handy way of making sure your photo is as sharp as you want, and depth-of-field is difficult to gauge when looking at images on a camera’s tiny LCD screen.

There’s also a handy reference mode with a glossary of common photographic terms and rules.  But the coolest feature is the sunrise/sunset mode.  Photocalc uses the iPod’s autolocation feature to automatically determine your location and give the sunrise and sunset for a given day.  If you’re trying get that perfect “golden hour” of light, this is a great feature to have.

It also works with the iPod touch, though you lose the autolocate feature.  Check out more at the Photocalc site.  For less than a price of a cup of coffee, it’s definitely a good add to your toolbox.

I feel bad for the Nikon shooters, who were left out of the Canon Loyalty Program last week. This is small consolation, but if you use a Nikon SLR, there’s a great deal going on at Amazon for a solid starter telephoto lens.

The Sigma 55-200mm f/4-5.6 DC lens isn’t the fastest or sharpest on the market, but if you’re looking for a second lens to augment the kit lens that came with your Nikon SLR, it’s a good choice. Typically this lens goes for about $150, but Amazon and Cameta have it on sale for $60 + $7 shipping. It’s definitely worth it at that price. I’ve had great luck with my Sigma lens, and no problems with Cameta in the past.

This lens will give you the range to start doing a little telephoto work, and it’s not a terrible lens for sports photography in broad daylight. Just be careful - the relatively small starting aperture at range (f/5.6) makes this ill-suited for lower-light conditions. Still, for the budding SLR shooter, it’s a must at this price.

Click here to check it out.

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