Category: Be Inspired

Dreary clouds, rain, fog and wind are definitely not ideal for an outdoor shooting. But especially bad weather offers many interesting and new sceneries for photo motives.

Match Colors

Rain is a great scenery to capture, but the colors are often not emphasized enough in normal settings. Consequently, the picture looks dull and dreary. Therefore, +Correction helps the colors regain their luster. The adjustment slightly overexposes the subject and lifts the color mood. These corrections can be made in aperture or time mode, as well as in full automatic mode. If the colors still look dull, image processing can help them out.

Capture Raindrops

Raindrops are excellent design elements. Deciding whether to photograph rain drops or threads is the first decision to make. If you want to “freeze” drops, a shutter speed of 1/250 is recommended. For thread rain that runs through the entire image, you need slower shutter speeds. Of course, you can bring out interesting details again. For example, capturing a drop at the moment it hits a water surface. To capture this magical moment with a camera, it is necessary to shoot as close to the ground as possible. This will make the jumping raindrops look even more expressive. Leaves where the rain bounces off also make a fantastic subject.

Explore different motives

Raindrops are one of the go to’s, but there is so much more to discover. Thunderclouds, for example, bring more dynamics into the picture. Light reflections on wet streets or puddles that reflect the skyline can also be skillfully used for image composition. Moreover, the wind is also photogenic. It gives the image more tension and creates that certain something. To capture these elements, it is important to work with motion blur. This will give the image more dynamics.

Photos in fog

Fog creates the mystic atmosphere in a photo. Especially when sunlight hits the fog, fantastic color effects are created. The fog then shimmers in a light yellow-golden or even in a delicate bluish tone. This is not only interesting, it is also the perfect backdrop for captivating photos. Missing out on the classic in fog photography is not an option for any photographer: Rays of light making their way through the fog have a fascinating effect. Here the position is crucial! Standing in such a way that it is possible to work with the backlight. This brings out the light rays particularly well.

However, the autofocus of many cameras can fail with foggy subjects. The reason for this is the often low contrast. Therefore, focusing manually or using the hyperfocal distance is the way to go. In addition, the exposure needs to be readjusted manually as well.

Header Image © Pawel Kosicki

Raw Format without Loss

Nowadays most cameras, especially professional ones, include a RAW-function which allows saving images in a raw data format. This setup is perfect in order to rework pictures without a loss thanks to its large dynamic range. Unfortunately, there is no standard of RAW data yet, causing differences between camera manufacturers and models. Nonetheless, the internet offers a wide range of converter tools, helping to easily edit raw image data. For example, the Adobe-DNG-Converter transforms your data in a uniform format. Afterwards, the pictures can be adjusted with common photo editing tools. All RAW data not only have marginal differences, they also share two substantial characteristics. Firstly, the original image quality remains, including all details captured by the image sensor. Subsequently, the pictures always need to be edited. Secondly, the storage requirement increases.

Lightroom to edit image raw material

Not all shots are always 100% perfect. Honestly, they probably are never immaculate at first. Consequently, many photographers rework their data with editing tools such as the professional image editing software Adobe Lightroom. Lightroom was designed specifically for RAW formats. Beneficial is that this tool does not work destructive, meaning it is always possible to undo all changes made. The finished results can be synchronized with the original images on the user’s own computer. This gives Apple users an advantage for the time being, but an APP for Android devices is already planned.

LightZone 4.0 as free RAW converter

A free substitute for Lightroom is LightZone which is an open source project since its 4th version. Thus, it is a freeware under BSD licence for Windows, macOS, and Linux. LightZone is not only suitable for converting and processing RAW files, but also for JPEG or TIFF. Additionally, it offers similar tools for editing individual image areas as Photoshop.

JPEG decreases Image Quality

Joint Photographic Expert Group (JPEG), representing a cooperation of experts who developed this format. It is the most common used imaging formation, but has one major downside, the loss of picture information. Even though most camera models enable to choose the compression ratio, but it does not prevent a loss of details on photographic prints. In addition, there are some limits occurring while editing JPEG photos because the internal software of the camera already performs some editing processes. Especially, once changes have been made, they can only be edited afterwards to a limited extent. Overall, JPEG uses less storage capacity, but therefore provides fewer possibilities to enhance and edit the image professionally.

Image Optimization through FUJIFILM Ordering Software

The automatic image enhancement of myFUJIFILM is perfect for everyone who has not the possibility to optimize an image template for photo prints themselves. This is particularly suitable for unprocessed image files that need to be brightened. Please deactivate the automatic image enhancement in the ordering software or on our Internet platform for all images that have already been edited.

Why is image resolution so important?

Digital images are converted into small dots when printed (so-called dots per inch – dpi). The more dots per inch there are, the less individual dots the human eye can perceive. This means that the dots blur into an overall image and the photo looks razor sharp. Therefore, it is important that the image has a resolution of 300dpi. Moreover, it is decisive to consider the fact that the subject might look perfect on the computer, but the print can still be blurred later.

The reason: most monitors have a resolution of 72 or 96 dpi. This corresponds to about one third of the image format. To ensure a flawless print resolution, you should therefore rather determine the actual dpi number with the following formula: dpi = (horizontal pixel count of the photo x 2.54) / width of the photo

For example, a picture width of 15 cm and a horizontal pixel count of 1600 will have 271 dpi. Of course, calculating the value for each photo is not necessary at this point. Our software (ordering software / internet platform) shows via a warning triangle if the image quality is sufficient or insufficient for the selected format. If the image does not meet the requirements for a photo print in the desired size, there is the option of selecting a smaller image format via the selection menu. The formula is still very practical, as it helps to check shots at random. This makes it easy to calculate the right image format in advance.

Once the image processing and a quality check is completed, the next step is to order the prints. Fujifilm’s photo labs expose digital images on smudge-proof FUJIFILM photo papers. The images that are developed in this way are always of high quality. Digital photos that are printed out on your PC at home will therefore never meet this standard.

Header Image © Jerred Zegelis