Thursday, 12 October 2017

Digital Image Printing Fabrics

Printing is the process of reproducing an image, design or text using different kinds of fabrics. The printings are widely used for the advertisements. The print advertisements are more effective for a driving business at a local level. The printed advertisement can be memorable and impactful than the digital media advertisements.

Digital printed fabrics make beautiful moments as a memorial one. It is used to cherish old memories of the past. People have pride in making their mark for presenting the memories in many ways. The event photographer wants to use different photographic backdrops to effectuate the beauty of the subject. The Technical Evolution of photography has influenced and shaped society through art, events and technology. Changes in photography bought the new and dynamic ideas to create the different types of photographic backdrops.
The choice of fabric is based on the usage of the print quality. Printing can be done by the following fabrics like Paper, Canvas, Vinyl, Polyester and Muslin.

Canvas: 

The customers wish to decorate the living space or the work space with creative hangings with an image or words in it. They also want to create large size wall shaped images and portraits in the living room. There are many photographic images printed sceneries, portraits which have been created by artistic marvels. Many of us want to display them on the living space.
We print high resolution premium quality images on canvas. Canvas is an extremely durable and it can produce the vibrant display in high resolution. It can be used for the indoor events.

Muslin:

Printing an image can be done in the fabrics like muslin which has a long life and capable of producing the impressive vibrant colors. They are commonly used as decorative ceiling banners in sales room or attractive wall hangings or for the partition in the exhibition room. They can also be used in the outdoor events as an attractive fence banners which can be an alternative to tarpaulin. It has the low reflecting index. It is washable and portable. It has to be maintained by ironing or steaming.

Polyester:
 
The Digital images can also be printed on the polyester. The image on polyester will mesmerize the viewers with the captivating outputs. It can be used as a decorative for the studios, apartments, small rooms or any other living spaces. Polyester brings the flexibility strength of mobility and portability. It is washable and easy for maintenance. The advantage of the polyester is wrinkle free. The printing on it will last longer.

Vinyl:

Vinyl is the artificial fabric and the printing on it will last longer. It is used for advertising the Business or to announce a grand event to a city wide. The usage of vinyl is only limited by the creativity. Apart from the advertising the vinyl can also be used to convey the wishes like “Happy Birthday” in an inexpensive way. One way vinyl can also be used to decorate the glass partition of the window, studio or office. It will be good for the fixed studios since the mobility may concern as it is folded.

Thursday, 21 September 2017

How to shoot subjects with White Backdrop


The fabric that stays behind the subject serves as a background is known as a backdrop. Fabrics used as backdrops are muslin, canvas, vinyl, paper, polyester or wall paint. It is available in different size and shapes. Photographers use a backdrop to showcase his subject crystal clear in high quality photo. Backdrops provide a smooth background and helps in minimizing the time of image processing.

The pure solid white background enhances the features of the subject and delivers a professional touch. White backdrop made from muslin is an ideal way to shoot high quality photographs. Muslin has a high light absorption capability. It provides a professional look, an excellent option for shooting pictures for identification cards. is washable and portable. Ironing or steaming is done to maintain smooth finish of the backdrops.

All the colors of light are observed to get the vibrant white light. The features of subtlety, edges, arc and curves are crystal clear against the white backdrop. It is chosen for all official, diplomatic, administrative, literary usage. Some photographers prefer to use white backdrops for non-conventional use like events shoot, family portraits and fashion group photography.

Muslin is an ideal choice of to enable a lasting photo finish. It brings out the subject nuances to its best demonstration. The pure white muslin is apt for headshots, portraiture and close-up shots with high resolution finish. Full scale or landscape photography also uses white backdrops for panoramic views in outdoor shoots.

Photographers should use contrast and brightness between subject and the backdrop. Though there are exceptions, it is essential that the subject should be brighter than the backdrop.
White Photo backdrop is versatile, by placing different coloured gels over lights the white surface will switch to the same color of gels or adjust as per the light falling on it. We can change a White backdrop to grey to black in few seconds just by turning the lights off and increasing the distance between the subject and the backdrop.

White is the most popular photo backdrop as it never goes out of fashion. It brings the sense of purity, Clean and it serves to isolate and draws the attention to the subjects. It also bounces the light. The advantage of using white is it goes with all the other colors

Wednesday, 13 September 2017

Necessity of Backdrop


In a photography, we have to choose the entire environment that suits the subject. The pleasant the environment, it will enhance the mood and feel of the subject and add beauty to the portrait. The answer for do we need a backdrop depends on the what are we going to use as a backdrop to enhance the effects. We have to provide a feel that boosts his mood to pose for the photo shoot.
When is a backdrop essential?
When we intend to put the portrait on a particular theme, the need for a backdrop that best suits the scene becomes essential. Our choice of the backdrop should be so as to add beauty to the shoot rather than taking away the importance on the subject. It should be delicate. Even a solid color pitch to the background will bring in effects for the picture. The choice of the color should get along with the subject's dress and skin color. The choice of color for a business photography should be matching to their logo and enhances their brand image.
Choice of the right Backdrop
Backdrops are available in wide range of colors and materials. The choice of the appropriate one that best suits our need is vital for good effects. In making a choice we need to consider a lot of factors like the design, color and the material. As trial of every backdrop is not possible, the skill of the photographer lies in the intuition in selecting the best one. But at no cause it should outrun the importance of the subject. The choice of the backdrop depends on the need and the situation. It may vary from situation to situation like the professional photo, family or business. Generally, muslin, seamless paper and vinyl backdrops are used for high quality prints. Everything depends on the vibrancy we intend to generate. The photographer has to bring in his innovative ideas. The skill lies in identifying the client's requirements rather than his wants
The backdrop chosen should highlight the features of the subject rather than suppressing his/ her looks. The backdrop shouldn't divert the viewer's attention to it. Initially we can start with paper backdrops as they are cost effective and more vibrant.
Perfect shots with Photo Backdrop
When we use a backdrop for a photo shoot, we must take utmost care in placing it in the appropriate position that suits our shoot. The portrait should realistic. The positioning of the subject is also important. They shouldn't place neither too close nor too far. As there are chances of shadows getting reflected on them. The backdrop shouldn't have stains or marks on it as it may suppress the image quality. When using an artistic backdrop, the images shouldn't appear as if they are protruding from the head of the subject. The light effects used should be appropriate. Lights shouldn't be placed on the same surface of the backdrop, as it may cause shadows and wrinkles might become visible. It is better to place the light source in front to illuminate evenly.
Photo backdrop necessity depends on the shoot we are going to perform. Also the right choice of the backdrop and the appropriate use of it will provide more vibrant results.

Thursday, 7 September 2017

Photographic Classification


Seniors Session:

Your senior year is unforgettable. Shouldn’t your photos of that time be too? We try to stylize each shoot so the senior is getting modernized pieces of art.

Headshot

Your Business picture is how the world sees you. This is not the place for a photo taken with your iPhone or cropped out of a wedding photo. A professionally taken photograph showcases you as a professional and a professionally taken photograph commands respect.

Step Up Photo gives you the convenience of coming to you or your business and will take easy, painless and fast Head Shots includes 10 photos with 2 edited photos. We can remove any perfect imperfections that you may choose.

Events

You will cherish memories from our compositions years to come.

Step Up Photo doing $200 special now for the whole event (up to 3 hours) !!! This includes the full resolution pictures in DVD. We also edit the pictures before giving the full-resolution pictures to the client.


Proposal Photographer

Hiring a secret photographer to cover your engagement is a fantastic and romantic idea, this way you will have images of the proposal itself, and will be able to keep those memories forever.

that INCLUDES : Your arrival together, the BIG moment, and fun engagement shots after.
Before Shoot: A personal consultation with our photographer. Our team will help you plan the details, offer tips and suggestions and provide a map on where to stand for the “ideal shot.”
Day of Shoot: The photographer will arrive 10 minutes in advance to hide discreetly, then capture you both arriving, the proposal moment, and a fun engagement shoot after the proposal. (60 minutes total)
After Shoot: CD/DVD is sent within 5 days and includes 50 or more high res digital images.

Engagement:

Capture those special moments after she says, “Yes!”
his includes one outfit.

Amateur Photography:
Photography practiced by the non professionals when cameras were integrated into mobile phones. Photos are taken at anywhere by anytime with low quality. The point is to have fun, and to be able to look back on your images and remember the important moments of life.
Event Photography:
Event photography is not just a representation of what one sees in reality. It often represents something that is not seen by an ordinary observer in an event like weddings, festivals, concerts, parties and gatherings.
*Sports / Action Photography
*Wedding Photography
*Baby Photography
* Candid Photography
Commercial photography:
This photographic art is used for advertising the product and for the promotional purpose.
*vehicle photography
*Architecture photography
*Modeling Photography
*Conceptual Photography
The art of clicking the amazing pictures of vehicles, which requires the photographers to capture the interior and exterior of the vehicle from the different angles, as these images are used to promote the automobile by highlighting its features. The purpose of taking shots of houses and buildings from different angles is to create a positive impact on real estate buyers. The real beauty of the model is shown to the world through the photographic art. The stunning pictures of the models are used for promoting the products and services. This is mostly used by the business organizations for the brand establishment. The photographer's art of presenting his concept or an idea to other people through the medium of photographs is known to be Conceptual photography. This is generally used in advertising.
Culture photography:
Photographers shoot people and place to showcase the different culture, environment and traditions of our world.
*Travel Photography
*Urban Photography
*Historical Photography
People who love to travel can become amazing travelling photographers. This type of photography is generally used for showcasing the important features of specific locations and the beauty of different traditions. These photographers can enjoy the life and culture of different locations. The urban photography is generally used for the purpose of visual record keeping of the various urban and industrial sectors. The images taken over a period of time are presented side by side within the same surroundings to show the past and present images in a comparative manner.
Wildlife/Bird Photography:
The photography that focuses on animals and their natural habitat is called wildlife photography. It is a challenging style of photography as a photographer should have a good patience and the sense of timings to capture the wild animal behaviors. These pictures are captured mostly to be printed in journals or exhibitions.
Fashion Photography:
Fashion photographers are the gateway to the world of Glamour. It is the most sought after career, since it is one of the most highly paid jobs. This type of photography is conducted mostly for advertisements and fashion magazines. Nude or semi-nude photography is also popular by the name of erotic photography.
Nature Photography:
Natural photography does not involve only plants and trees. it involves the of pictures of nature as seen through the eyes of photographer. It can be land, water, sea, plants, trees, waterfalls, hills, landscapes or anything that can be captured.
*Underwater Photography
*Sunrise/Sunset Photography
*Storm Photography

Thursday, 31 August 2017

How to choose the right studio lights

Lights can make or break an image. Lighting is something essential, and it should be considered when taking a photo, so it is important to understand the different types of lighting and how to make use of the most out of each. This blog is an attempt to answer the few common questions that we get from the Amature / beginner who has just started the Photography studio setup. It is an introduction that will be useful to the people who has just started out in studio photography.
Here come the two forms of lighting - Continuous and flash.

Continuous light:




Continuous light is often used for the video shoot. In fact, the continuous lights are cheaper than FlashLight. What you see is what you get (WYSIWUG) in continuous lighting. What Ever we see through our eyes will be the same in the camera.The common continuous light are:-
  • Quartz
  • LED
  • Fluorescent
Quartz:
This is the warm light used in the studio and on movie sets. If cost is a consideration, Quartz lights are the first option when compared to the other Lights. The price of continuous light is less than the flashlights. They are referred as hot lights because of their characteristics

LED:
LED stands for light emitting diodes. There are series of many small light diodes on one of the LED panels. These lights are new to the photography and video market, and their use is getting more in common.

Fluorescent:
This light produces the daylight color. This could be the most interesting option when it comes to studio lighting. They are cool running light. They come in different forms like cool white light, warm white light and daylight.

Flash:
Flash/strobes are more powerful than continuous light. Strobe is often used for the photo shoot. It ensures the clean and crisp image. To get different colours we can gels. It comes in white balance-friendly daylight fluorescents, too.
Do I prefer continuous light or Flash? If you ask this question to me, Honestly, I would suggest both. There are lights and kits for every budget and purpose. In other words, it depends on your needs. Do you need power and portability? Then go with strobe. Are you tied up with the fixed photo studio and rarely go out then, I'd say to go with continuous light.
Based on your situation and your needs I can't offer any one option that fits all the requirements. However, this blog should have given you some insight on the topic, and help you to take the decision.

Thursday, 10 August 2017

How Flickr improves your photography skills?

One of the advises that I offer to any beginner in photography is to create an account in flickr.com. The intent of this article is that beginners and casual photographers, who don’t have a Flickr account, would come to know the absolute purpose of the same after reading this article.

 Why Flickr, why not facebook??


One common practice among beginners in photography is that they upload their photographs in Facebook rather than flickr. The reason is pretty simple: they want their friends to see it, appreciate it and comment on it. This is always fun. But if you had noticed, most of the friends always have something very nice to say about the pictures: “good, awesome!”, “mind blowing”.
What they don’t offer is suggestions or minor improvements that you can make in the picture to make it a better one. Flickr does that. This, to me, is the biggest USP of Flickr – the ability to connect to a vast pool of professional photographers, who can appreciate, comment and share their knowledge with you. What more can you expect! A gain, I’m not against uploading pictures in facebook. But also upload them to Flickr, so that you can learn and as well as entertain your friends with your photography skills.

 Flickr gives you a chance to get inspired:

A common trait that runs among photographers (or for that matter, any person in the creative business) is inspiration. Even the best in the business have been inspired by legends & geniuses who went before them. So, inspiration is extremely crucial for beginners who can use as many ideas and techniques to get inspired from, that serves as learning tools in their quest to become better photographers. Flickr gives that opportunity like no other photo sharing site. By looking at others’ works, one can learn a lot about composition, post processing, perspective and what not.

By adding your favorite photographers into their contact list, a user can send mail to another photographer appreciating his work and gain knowledge from his experience. The user can also mail their work to other photographers and get comments and suggestion. By providing such avenues for learning, Flickr acts as a powerful platform for beginners and amateur photographers to hone their budding skills.

 Weekend Photo Groups and photo walks:

Beginners can look out for Weekend groups on Flickr that give them the much-needed opportunity to learn from other photographers, in person. Beginners can find photo groups specific to their city by defining the search appropriately in Flickr. There are also specific groups available for every camera model, where users generally discuss issues they are facing, features of the equipment, improvisations they were able to perform and pictures that were taken with their camera.

Many active groups organize weekly photo walks around your city or town and this will be a great learning experience for a beginner or any one who wonders what to do with a newly bought camera. Photo walks play a very important role in learning because, as a beginner he/she will be joining other amateurs and professionals who can help them gain knowledge in real time. They can see others framing and composing shots and learn the techniques in a practical way than learning them from YouTube videos. A beginner can also learn other things like interacting with the subjects, staying inconspicuous while shooting photos and lot more. You learn something new from each photo walk and you are a better photographer at the end of every single photo walk.

I want to be clear here that I’m not advocating beginners to go all out and get themselves a pro account (as Flickr is a premium service and you have to pay for the pro account). The free account is a good starting point, as you can most of these Flickr features discussed above. And when you are ready to that next big step, you can always upgrade to the pro account.

Happy Flickring!

Thursday, 3 August 2017

Need for a Chroma key?


Green/blue screens are used for chroma keying that is to change the background of our desire post production. The blue or green best suits the purpose and so it is chosen. They are generally used in a movie, weather or a gaming industry. Blue is much softer than green and had more chroma key effects. But mostly green is used as people wish to be in blue attire and it illuminates more and so the reflection is high.

Need for a Chroma key?
Chroma key is used by photographers to add more stunning creative backdrops. For example, when we have a video effect of rain ,we can utilize it as a background later after shooting the subject indoor with green screen. It paves way to implement your perspectives. Chroma key is more profitable for event and studio photographers. Amazing backdrops can be included on a wedding photography by using chroma key. In TV, actors can be made to act in front of a green screen and post production, special effects can be inserted effectively.
Working of a Chroma
The practice of keying is in practice since 1940's wherein the subject was photographed in foreground with masking the background and vice versa. Then they both were combined although they were two different shots.

ChromaKey works on the color and this becomes disguise/ masked. The color choice of green/blue was made as they are farthest from the skin color and separation process can be made simple post production. But actually any color unrelated to the color on the foreground can be used using electronic compositing.
Effective Utilization of a Chroma Key
The prerequisites for a chroma keying includes a camera, light effects, chroma backdrop and a digital image to insert post production.

In initial stages a green or a blue paper can be used as backdrop as it can be easily lit evenly. The light effects on the subject should be even and matching to the digital background. Light effects shouldn't show up any wrinkles, creases or shadows incase of fabric green. Light spills may cause extra work on photoshop post production. Ensure to light the environment evenly. When everything is set perfectly, we can shoot the photograph effectively.
Digital modification of the Chroma Key
The chroma keying can be done with conventional image processing tools to extract the green or blue backdrop and inserting the backdrop of our choice in Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, Photoshop Elements or other Paint program
In Photoshop 
  • The background has to made as layer 0 by double clicking the layer palette.
  • From the select menu, the "color range" has to be selected and then click green or blue with the default pipette.
  • Fine tuning can be done by clicking on the plus or minus symbols using the fuzziness slider.
  • Finally, the invert checkbox has to be clicked. Our selection can now be used as a mask by clicking the make mask icon.

Green Screen in film making
Green screen paves way to have a personal touch with the audience by using it effectively on video production. This can be used for:
  • presentation slides
  • screen video
  • screenshots
  • photos
  • animated fundamentals
People believe that extracting the green/blue color is a tedious job. But when one knows the technique, it will give an aesthetic look for our video at a competitive price. The video can be shot anywhere and the background can be replaced with quality graphics, stock photo or video elements. We need not spend on renting a stunning building or setting up a ultra modern background.
The choice of the backdrop is of our choice and test shots may be required to bring out ultimate results. When we master the chroma keying, we are sure to make good money.