Why clicking in ‘Monochrome’ in Camera is not a good option

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adobe photoshop, Adobe Raw Convertor, Black & White, black and white conversion, Black and white image processing, black and white photography, Converting to black and white, In-Camera Processing, monochrome, photo editing, RAW images, Shoot RAW

Most of the digital cameras come with the option of shooting in monochrome or black and white picture style. A lot of photographers choose this option for taking black and white photographs, but the in-camera conversion into greyscale is far from satisfactory. Black and white is not just pure black or pure white, is also about grey tones. Ansel Adams  and Fred Archer devised the “Zone System” for film exposure and development where zero is pure black and ten is pure white, one to nine denotes different grey tones.

Colours are easily differentiable in colour photography, the art of black and white photography lies in differentiating the grey tones. When different colours are converted into grey tones, the conversion should depict individual grey tones for each colour. This, most of the times, is not achievable when photographs are taken in monochrome picture style, the camera fails to work with individual colours and produce a greyscale image lacking in tonalities.

Here are two examples,  one colour photograph taken in standard picture style and another taken in monochrome picture style, both are unedited and SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera).

 

 

Red and Green are dominating colours in the colour photograph but in black and white option, the grey tones depicting the individual colour are almost identical and appear flat. This is a major drawback when in-camera processing takes place.

While post processing the colour photograph in the editing software, each individual colour can be worked upon depending on personal preferences. Even while shooting with black and white film, colour filters were attached to the lens to change the tonality of grey in the final output. Same principle is applied in the editing software, where intensity of each individual colour is increased or decreased to get the desired grey tone.

 

 

In the above photographs, the red colour is increased resulting in a lighter grey tone and green colour is reduced to produce a darker grey tone, the two grey tones are easily identifiable. Also some colours like yellow and magenta which are not noticeable in the photograph, have also been worked upon to get the desired output.

 

 

In the above photograph, Red has become a darker grey and green a lighter one by just playing with the individual colour sliders.

The above colour photograph is in jpeg format, where the image has already been processed in the camera and is compressed. This at times, may restrict in getting the finer tones. Shooting in RAW is always the best option if the photograph has to be converted into black and white.

 

 

 

 

The RAW convertor in the editing software give better options for converting into black and white, in the RAW the range of tones is much more wider as compared to a jpeg file.

It is time to stop using the “monochrome” or “black and white” picture style in the camera and start shooting in RAW format, if possible. Otherwise shooting jpeg in colour in camera and converting into greyscale using an editing software is a better option any day. Shooting in colour also gives the option of retaining the colour version and creating a separate  black and white version, it is not an easy task to add back colours in a ‘monochrome picture style’ image.

 

Happy Clicking!

© Ravi Dhingra 

 

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The Digital Photo Copy Cruiser

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Alera Technologies, blast from the past, CD, CD writer, CD writing, CF cards, Digital Photo Copy Cruiser, history of photography, memory card, microdrive, SD cards, transfer of images from memory card

The year was 2003 when I purchased my first DSLR, spent ₹ 1.75 lacs on the 6mp camera body & another ₹16000/- for 2 Compact Flash cards of 512 mb each. Thankfully the existing SLR lenses were compatible. It was the time of transition from film to digital technology for professional photography . With film cameras editing was taken care of at client’s end, there was no real need of laptops/computers at the time and location of shoot.

This was also the time of shooting with both technologies, film as well as digital, the clients were not sure about the output and quality of digital cameras. The camera which I was using, Fuji S2Pro, had the option of clicking in TIFF mode besides JPEG, RAW processing was not common as editing software were not very advanced unlike today.

On a 512mb memory card, there was a possibility of storing only 28 images, each file size being around 18mb, lesser than a film roll with 36 exposures and almost double than medium format film rolls. Two memory cards were always insufficient for the days shoot considering exposure bracketing.

Buying more memory cards was not a cheap option and laptops were not inexpensive either.

As a standby during that time I requested my friend to bring the Digital Photo Copy Cruiser by Alera Technologies from USA, it was never launched in India and I paid around ₹10000/- for it. I read about this product in an international photography magazine, not much of information was available on internet during those days.

This product was revolutionary which enabled the copying of digital photos directly from camera memory cards to CD without a computer. Each CD can store 700mb data which was more than sufficient for one memory card of 512mb.

This device with two memory cards and lots of blank CDs became an integral part of my camera kit bag and served my purpose for many years till the time memory cards started coming with higher storage capacity and became affordable.

Photos from memory cards could be added to the CD in multi-session format so the full capacity of the CD could be used, though I never used this feature . It could also be used as a USB 2.0 36x CD recorder when connected to a computer. The Digital Photo Copy Cruiser supported the following Digital Memory Card formats: CF Type I and II, SD, MMC, SM, MS, MS Pro, and Micro Drive.

I read somewhere that this device became very popular with intelligence and detective agencies as it didn’t leave a trail since no computers were used to transfer the images from the memory card resulting in utmost secrecy.

The technological advancements in last fifteen years or so has made a tremendous impact on photography, cameras have become much more affordable resulting in democratisation where more people are able to pursue the craft either as hobby or profession. The initial days of transition from film to digital was a great learning experience, things were changing at a rapid pace as compared to present. It is now the time again to concentrate on the art of photography rather than worrying about the changing technology.

©️ Ravi Dhingra

Say no to 300dpi

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300 dpi, 300 ppi, 300dpi, 300dpi myth, 300ppi, 72 dpi, 72dpi, fine art printing, graphic design, high resolution photograph, learn photography, megapixels, photography, photography tips, Photography Tutorial, pixel, print quality, printing

For a photographer, designer, advertising agency, publisher or printer, ‘300dpi’ is not an alien term, it is a kind of prerequisite for submission of photographs. From entering a photography contest to submitting images after a professional photo shoot, one comes across this term very often. For most of the people in the industry, 300dpi means high resolution but is it the right equation to describe the resolution of a photograph ?

In the current scenario 300dpi is the most misused term, it is rather incorrect, outdated and incomplete.

DPI is abbreviation for Dots Per Inch, a term which is related to printer dots per inch.

The resolution of a photograph is ascertained by pixels. Pixels are the square, solid colored smallest element of an image file. Camera manufacturers highlight MP-MegaPixels to describe the quality of sensor in the camera.

Megapixels mean million pixels, a 10mp sensor has 10 million pixels which is calculated by multiplying the horizontal pixel dimension with the vertical pixel dimension.

A 10 megapixel photo is 3872 pixels wide by 2592 pixels high

(3872 x 2592 = 10,036,224 pixels = 10 megapixels)

An 18 megapixel photo is 5184 pixels wide by 3456 pixels high

(5184 x 3456 = 17,915,904 pixels = 18 megapixels)

A camera does not give output in dots, only pixels are relevant in a digital image. When the term DPI is used, it really mean Pixels Per Inch or PPI.

When it comes to printing a photograph, even 300ppi is not the complete term, it does not mean anything unless accompanied by the size of the print.

A 6 inches by 4 inches at 300ppi will have 1800 by 1200 pixels ( 6×300 by 4×300) or 2.16mp (1800×1200). A same print at 100ppi will be 600 by 400 pixels and at 200ppi will be 1200 by 800 pixels.

A 12×8 inches print at 300 dpi will be 3600×2400 pixels or 8.64mp

A camera with a resolution of 24.2MP is able to record an image which contains a total of 24160256 pixels. Shot in an image ratio of 3:2 a 24.2MP image would have a resolution of 6016 x 4016 pixels. With this resolution, a print size of 20.05×13.38 inches is possible at 300ppi. At 200ppi the print size will be 30×20 inches and 60×40 inches at 100ppi. At 72ppi the maximum print size without any quality loss can be printed which will be 83.55×55.77 inches with this sensor. Below 72ppi, the print quality will start deteriorating but again it depends on viewing distance, sometimes the big hoardings which are placed at a distance are printed at lower than 72ppi.

So next time if you come across 300dpi ask for print size and do not forget to point out the difference between dpi and ppi.

Happy clicking!

© Ravi Dhingra

Photography in Future ?

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computational zoom, dual camera, future of photography, Godox, google algorithm in photography, iphone photography, light l16, lytro, phone photography, photography, photography in future, Photography Quote, photography tips, Photography Tutorial, smartphone photography, studio portraits with iPhone, what lies ahead in photography

Photography is witnessing a total overhaul, evolution or transformation are mild words to describe this phenomenon. Twenty first century brought digital technology in the lives of photographers but the acceptance was gradual, it almost took 6-7 years for traditional photographers to move from film to digital. Post processing became an integral part of image creation and has resulted in over dependence on editing softwares. What was possible with extensive lighting setups can easily be replicated with a few clicks on computer.

Shifting from film to digital faced a lot of resistance, the initial technology was not fully developed, there were image quality issues and most importantly photographers had invested heavily in the equipment and early digital cameras were expensive. By the time digital technology became stable, sensors started producing excellent images and camera prices came down, another technology revolution was in pipeline.

Camera in phone brought a whole new perspective in the field of photography, every one with phone could click pictures. Number of photographs clicked everyday now exceed the number of photographs clicked in first hundred years of introduction of photography. A good camera in a phone is a major selling point for the phone manufacturers, self portraits or selfies helped the cause of democratisation of photography.

At present, photography has become totally technology driven, lot of innovations are taking place both in hardware and software. Advanced sensors which are smaller in size combined with fast processors driven by intelligent software are able to produce brilliant results which are comparable to high end cameras. Mirrorless cameras have brought down the size of the camera and allowed shooting at higher fps (frames per second).

 

Few years back Lytro brought a whole new technology introducing a new way of focusing, it allows choosing a point of focus at the time of editing. It was supposed to be a game changer but didn’t really catch the fancy of photographers. Not considering the sales figures of the camera, the innovation is commendable. Changing focus points can alter the story in a photograph and bring out better imagination and creativity.

Dual lenses (not front & rear cameras) in phone were introduced in the recent past but to introduce 16 lenses in a compact phone, the Light L16,  is surely a stroke of genius. This opens up a lot of new possibilities as far as imaging is concerned, it is revolutionary. Over a period of time, considering the speed in which technology is changing, multiple lenses in a phone camera can become an essential feature in the future.

Besides the hardware improvements, photography is becoming more dependent on softwares, the algorithms. Manipulation of images in the camera itself before or after clicking is another area where immense progress is happening. Uploading the photographs on computer and sharing will be a thing of past soon. The smart devices with extra smart cameras will do the job perfectly from clicking, advanced editing to sharing and storing in the cloud.

Google’s New Alogrithm

Computational Zoom 

  

iPhone studio portraits

For a traditional photographer this could be a scary situation where technology is fast taking over the human skills but at the end of the day, no technology can ever replace the eye behind the camera. The art of visual story telling will never change in spite of all the technological advancements after all photography is more about sensitivity and aesthetics than the camera. As Ansel Adams had quoted ‘ You don’t take a photograph, you make it’ .

© Ravi Dhingra 2017

The Photography Monitor BenQ SW2700PT

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109ppi, Adobe RGB, Adobe RGB vs sRGB, BenQ, BenQ India, BenQ monitor, BenQ SW2700PT, Calibration, CIE, Colour Gamut, Colour Management, Colour Space, Digital Display, Display, Gamut, Gamut warning, IPS, Monitor Calibration, Monitor Review, Palette Master Element, photo editing, Photography Monitor, Post Processing, ppi, QHD, Review, sRGB, sRGB vs Adobe RGB, SW2700PT

We all live in a colourful world surrounded by a huge variety of hues, shades, tints and tones. Our moods vary depending on the vivid or dull views our eyes experience, we simply cannot imagine a monochrome world devoid of any colours. Besides the colours which nature has provided, we spend quite a long time on looking at the colours reproduced in photographs and graphics appearing in books, computers and personal devices.

For a photographer colours have a different meaning altogether, every colour tells a story. The nature, flora & fauna, people, architecture, food, still life etc are beautifully captured on the camera and many a times bring out a totally different perspective which the naked eye may have ignored to see. Majority of photography is about colours and there is a journey which photographs undertake which start from pressing the shutter release button and end at either on a print media or on a display screen. The success of this journey depends on the accurate depiction of scene in the final output, accuracy of colours and tones play a pivotal role.

Colour Space:

Reference Space: Most of the colour management softwares use a device-independent space defined by Commission International de l’ éclairage (CIE) in 1931 as the reference space. This space broadly describe all colours visible to the human eye and is based upon an average response from a set of people with no vision issues.

Working Spaces:

Adobe RGB 1998 space was designed by Adobe Systems Inc. with the basic purpose to include nearly all the colours achievable on CMYK printers, but by using only RGB primary colours on device like a computer monitor. This space encompasses approximately 50% of the visible colours specified by CIE.

sRGB space was introduced by HP & Microsoft and has become the standard colour space because it approximates the colour range (gamut) of most common computer display devices. sRGB colour range is approximately 35% of the visible colours specified by CIE.

 

It can be seen from the above figure that Adobe RGB improves upon primarily in cyan-greens.

JPEG images can contain up to 16.7 million colours and different colour spaces allows to use a broader or narrower range of those 16.7 million colours used in a JPEG image.

Most of the computer based devices, applications, internet, video games, smartphones have adapted sRGB as the standard colour space.

Typically an average monitor will display about 97% of the sRGB space and only about 76% of the Adobe RGB colour space.

Our DSLR cameras give us the option to choose a colour space in the shooting menu settings.

 

The end use of photographs is a major factor in choosing the colour space. If the photographs are to be used only on Web, sRGB is a good option because any photograph uploaded on internet even if with Adobe RGB colour space will get converted into sRGB space.

But when it comes to Professional photography, the end use is not restricted to internet, quite a number of photographs are printed and for printing Adobe RGB colour space is a better option as most of the good printers are capable of printing more colours than encompassed in sRGB space.

In short, Adobe RGB space provides not only a wider range of colours compared to sRGB space but also more vibrant and accurate colours for printing. A photograph clicked in Adobe RGB space can be converted into sRGB but reverse is not possible. As far as the camera settings are concerned,Adobe RGB space is the preferred option.

 

The Photography monitor

Most of the monitors available are mainly sRGB colour space monitors, which means that all the colours available in Adobe RGB space will not be visible on these monitors, roughly 76% of Adobe RGB space is displayed. This is one of the reasons that prints look different than the screen display. This difference comes as an element of surprise to many photographers, wysinwyg- what you see is not what you get.

To get the accuracy in colours, Adobe RGB space monitors are better placed than sRGB ones and BenQ SW2700PT is a competitively priced good option.

The 27 inches monitor looks impressive and stands tall with a sturdy stand, shading hood & an external circular On-Screen Display (OSD) controller which connects via mini-USB.

The assembly and installation was easy and in less than 10 minutes the display was operational, that too without the help of instruction manual or any tool.

The first thing which came to mind was to check the colours, USP of the monitor. There are various options available in Colour mode but the real test lies in Adobe RGB vs sRGB.

 

And for this test, selected some photographs of Japanese food which has lot of texture and most importantly is very colourful. The initial editing of these photographs which were clicked in RAW mode/Adobe RGB space was done on a 27 inches iMac using Adobe Lightroom and saved as Tiff files.

To start with, just opened the file with the standard viewer. Even in the standard viewer the change was noticeable. The colours look much more vibrant, bright and crisp with lot of details, could see some extra tones with the Adobe RGB mode vis a vis sRGB mode. The monitor gives 99% Adobe RGB coverage.

 

 

Though in Adobe RGB space the range of colours is wider in cyans and greens as compared to other colours in sRGB space, the difference was quite obvious in reds and oranges also.

 

 

These photographs were clicked and edited in Adobe RGB colour space, opened the files again in Photoshop and tried the option of proof setup with gamut warning activated. This step can also be tried on sRGB monitors but all the colours will be displayed only on Adobe RGB monitor. This helps to identify the colours which are there in the photograph clicked in Adobe RGB colour space but not visible in sRGB space.

 

 

The IPS (in-plane switching) technology in the monitor offers viewing angles close to 180° without any changes in the display of the image in terms of contrast and luminosity. It doesn’t darken or change colours when there is a change in viewing angle or when two people are looking at the same screen while editing the photographs.

For calibration of monitor in order to maintain the colour performance to its optical performance basically for colour management, BenQ monitor comes a software “Palette Master Element” which can be used with most of the external calibrators available in the market.

Even with the calibration, best of the monitors cannot reproduce a colour space perfectly, there will surely be a deviation, Delta-E. There is nothing in the universe with a Delta-E of zero. For the accuracy and uniformity of colours, the best monitors will have a Delta-E of less than 3 and BenQ SW2700PT has Delta E≤2.

The shading hood or the visor is bundled with the monitor which has to be separately purchased in case of many other brands. This helps in avoiding reflection and glare on the screen while working in the ambient light especially in the environments where it is difficult to control the ambient light. The reflection or glare can sometimes obstruct the eye’s ability to perceive colour on the monitor. The non-glare or matte screen of the monitor and the shading hood together makes the working on it a wonderful experience.

 

The Black and White mode can only help in previewing the effects at a macro or a broad level but the details which can be brought out during actual conversion in editing may not be visible here in this mode.. The process of converting to B&W involves working with various colour channels and a simple press of button may not depict or display the desired shades of grey.

The monitor has QHD (Quad High Definition) resolution which is standard for high-end monitors, (2560×1440 pixels at a 16×9 aspect ratio, four times that of 720p standard HD) and 109 ppi (Pixels Per Inch) density which display photographs with extreme details and clarity. This surely is helpful for advanced image editing.

Advanced image processing has become an integral part of photography after the shift to digital technology from Film era. It is essential to get the accuracy of colours and tones, especially if the photographs are going to be printed. The SW2700PT is a perfect solution at an affordable price, the build quality is remarkable, image sharpness and accuracy of colours are outstanding. The simple switch over from preset sRGB to Adobe RGB in the Colour Mode option summarised the capabilities of the display. It is a delight to actually see all the colours on the monitor which the camera captured, something which was lacking in the sRGB monitors used earlier.

Overall an impressive monitor for both photography enthusiasts who may choose to work at factory settings without calibration and for professional photographers who need extreme colour accuracy.

Click here for technical specifications: BenQ SW2700PT