Photo Enhancement is Starting to Get Crazy

As the worlds of artificial intelligence and digital photography collide, we’re starting to see some mind-blowing technology emerge. The latest research in turning low-resolution photos into high-definition photos may drop your jaws — it’s starting to cross into the realm of sci-fi.

What you see above isn’t a mockup of what these enhancement technologies may one day do: it’s an actual example of an AI-powered enhancement done by a new algorithm called EnhanceNet-PAT developed by scientists over at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen.

The example started with this original photo of a bird:

The scientists took the photo and created this low-resolution version in which all of the fine details are lost:

The low-resolution version was then processed by EnhanceNet-PAT, creating an artificially enhanced high-definition version that is virtually indistinguishable from the original photo.

What the fine details look like are obviously different in the enhanced version compared to the original one, but what’s lost in accuracy is made up for in realism.

“While the pixel-perfectness is being sacrificed, the reward is a better result,” the Max Planck Institute writes.

Here are some more examples of low-res photos (on left) and the enhanced high-res versions produced by the algorithm (on right):

Creating large photos from small ones is a field known as single image super-resolution (SISR) technology. Yesterday, we featured a free website called Let’s Enhance that uses one SISR strategy to offer this type of image enhancement as a service.

Traditional upscaling technologies have tried to fill in missing pixels and details by calculating looks based on surrounding pixels. The results of these types of strategies are blurry and unsatisfactory. What scientists are now exploring is using machine learning to “learn” what features low-resolution photos should have by also studying the original high-resolution versions.

Once trained in this way, the algorithms are able to take new low-res photos and make a best guess for what an “original” high-res version of that photo would look like.

“By being capable of detecting and generating patterns in a low resolution image and of applying these patterns in the upsampling process, EnhanceNet-PAT thinks how the bird´s feathers should look like and adds extra pixels to the low-resolution image accordingly,” the Max Planck Institute says. “You could say the technology created its own reality. For most viewers, the result is very much like the original photo. The picture of the bird is good to adorn the photo album.”

You can learn more about the technical details of EnhanceNet-PAT on the research project website and by reading the paper.

from PetaPixel https://petapixel.com/2017/11/01/photo-enhancement-starting-get-crazy/

The Value of a Photographer

So, you want to be a photographer? And why not, it seems to be a valued and respected profession. Or is it?…

Everywhere we look there is the product of a photographer’s work, from newspapers and magazines to online media, to huge advertising hoardings; an unmissable and vital part of the world today. And while those photographers behind the bulk of such work might remain anonymous to ordinary people, there are still names that become renowned: Annie Leibowitz, Mario Testino, Rankin, etc. With such a backdrop, you’d imagine that the profession would be valued.

Indeed, it’s striking how many times in ‘Holywood movies’ when the hero is a photographer, their work admired by everyone. It seems they have no problem deeming it a worthy profession!

Unfortunately, reality doesn’t seem to be quite so rosy. Most professionals these days will be able to tell of endless requests to work for nothing, oh sorry, for valuable credit, but that won’t pay the bills. Just as many know about the growing opinion that the fee photographers ask for weddings is ‘extortionate’, even when figures of £300 (~$398) for a full day are mentioned.

The halcyon days of the paparazzi have passed too, with few media outlets offering anything more than a couple of pounds for a celebrity shot, unless you miraculously manage to catch Prince William ‘in flagrante’ with Jeremy Corbyn! These days the ubiquitous ‘credit’ is mentioned and mostly the picture editors are happy to accept any passers-by image, shot on their phone, for nothing.

That’s all clearly bad, but just how low has the lot of a photographer become? Well in the last couple of days I think I have been made aware of how far down the league table photography has fallen.

First to appear, innocuous enough and a fairly typical story, was an article highlighting the position of the local bus drivers. They are having a series of strikes to fight for better pay and the figures involved were featured. This indicated an average wage for a bus driver here in Liverpool is approximately £23,000 to £24,000 ($30,500 to $31,800) per annum. I won’t discuss the particular merits of the job itself, but I don’t think it presumptuous to suggest that the requirements to do it are particularly high, nor the skills especially onerous. There is, of course, plenty of scope to argue over whether the reward is sufficient.

But then a day or two later it was all brought into stark reality when an email landed in my inbox.

There was a job available, in Salford, for a photographer! Full time, ‘fashion’, to provide product and promotional shots for a clothing supplier. The requirements are reasonably demanding, as you might expect: a photographic degree, plenty of fashion experience, and fully conversant with Lightroom and Photoshop, amongst other details. And the reward for this highly qualified and experienced photographer? Well here is the advertisement:

So there you have it. Work hard for several years for your degree, put in a lot of graft getting experience and, if you’re really lucky, someone will hire you for the minimum wage. Now doesn’t photography sound like a great career choice? I might just become a bus driver!

---

P.S. Just in case you need it for reference, here is the direct link to the advert in question.

---

About the author: Peter Kelly is a full time photographer based in Liverpool, UK. He offers his photography services through his business, Captivating Photography.

from PetaPixel https://petapixel.com/2017/11/01/the-value-of-a-photographer/

An Interview with Celebrity Portrait Photographer Michael Schwartz

Michael Schwartz is a New York-based photographer who shoots fashion, advertising, and celebrity portraiture. He has shot top celebrities for some of the largest brands and publications in the world.

PetaPixel: Can you tell us about yourself and your background?

Michael Schwartz: I just a regular dude from Miami. I really had very little interest in fashion growing up, so its funny to most of my friends that I wound up a fashion photographer. I’m the guy who wears shorts and a flannel most of the time.

Growing up, I was always enamored by films and television, and my goal was to direct or write screenplays. After high school, I went to college at Emory in Atlanta and studied Violence Studies and considered going to work for the FBI as a profiler, so I’m all over the f**king place.

How did you first get into photography?

I was living in LA working at a talent agency, and my best friend’s brother was running Ford Models in NY. I wanted to move back to NYC and he offered me a job at the agency. How could a 22-year-old kid turn down the chance to work with the most beautiful people on earth in a cool brownstone office building in Soho? It’s like a sitcom come to life.

I started out as a consultant working on a lot of behind the scenes projects. Eventually he asked me to work in the women’s division as an assistant. One thing led to another and I was promoted to be an agent. Part of being an agent was taking Polaroids of the models to send out to clients. It became my favorite part of the job.

After a few years I was unfulfilled and wanted to do something more creative, so I wound up buying a camera and some cheap lights and shooting the models for fun. I taught myself how to use the camera and lights and luckily had many photographers to ask for guidance.

What are you shooting these days?

I am shooting a mixture of fashion and celebrity these days. I do a lot of work for international editions of Vogue, GQ, etc. I have also had the amazing opportunity to photograph some of my favorite actors/actresses such as Samuel L Jackson, Amanda Seyfried, Ben Stiller, Salma Hayek, Chris Hemsworth.

How does one start on the path toward photographing celebrities?

I assume everyone takes a unique path. But first and foremost it takes a good portfolio to get you in the door. From there, you need to work quickly on set and keep everything laid back and comfortable. I am a pretty laid back dude, so I think my demeanor on set puts celebrities at ease.

A lot of celebrities hate photo shoots – one actually likened it to going to a dentist. He was one of the biggest rappers out there, and he took me aside and told me he is petrified of photo shoots. The dude can stand on stage in front of a packed arena, but being in front of my camera scared him! That blew my mind. So you have to be able to understand and relate to people and work with all types of personalities.

Another thing to remember is that the publicists are the gatekeepers – they often decide who will photograph their talent.

What advice do you have for building relationships with publicists?

Just be 100% transparent and honest with your concepts and needs and work quickly on set. I never go out of my way to kiss anyone’s ass or treat anyone on set differently. I just work efficiently and keep the set comfortable and everyone seems to appreciate it, including the publicists.

What are some tips and tricks for celebrity photography that you’ve learned over the years?

Oh man, I always blow out there skin in the computer settings so they don’t see any flaws on the screen. One of my first celebrity shoots the subject kept looking at the screen and commenting on the skin. Overexposing in the settings helps avoid this. And I’ve also learned that for the most part, celebrities don’t want to have their photos taken. This is just a part of their job they usually don’t like. So I get them in and out quickly.

Who are some photographers that inspire you?

LOVE Irving Penn first and foremost, but who doesn’t? The image he did of Truman Capote wrapped in the coat is one of the best portraits I have ever seen. Also love Man Rey, Avedon, Vivian Maier, Jeanloup Sieff. But I really get most my inspiration from cinema.

What’s your favorite celebrity portrait so far and the story behind it?

Most likely the image I did of Samuel L. Jackson wrapped in a coat. Kind of reminds me a bit of the Penn image of Capote that I mentioned above. On set, I had accidentally left the chair in place, and Sam came on set and automatically sat down. I looked at him and said, “Sam, actually I was going to have you stand for this shot if that’s okay.” With a completely straight face, he said to me “I am a 67-year-old man and you’re gonna make me stand my ass up!?” Who am I to argue, so we did the shot sitting and he gave me an amazing image.

By the way, he was joking and offered to stand. After the shot, we were looking through the images together on the monitor and I showed him the one I loved and another version and said the other version is safer. He looked at me and said “we aint here to be motherf**king safe! Go with the one you love.” So I went with it and I’m thankful he pushed me to do so.

What changes have you seen in your industry over the past several years?

On the fashion side of my business, I have seen a lot of changes. Fast fashion and social media have been the perfect storm. Designers are putting out more collections than ever to keep up with the demand for faster fashion, and images are being consumed online more than in print. So the life of an image is much shorter than ever – as our attention span has become the duration of time it takes to click.

With that in mind, brands need images done quickly and do not need the same length of use they once did. Therefore, they are willing to sacrifice production value in order to stay within their budgets, which have been spread more thinly. It is really driving down the rates and the creativity. But I have seen video start to really take off, so hopefully that will become a way to re-direct the creativity and budgets.

Where do you see your industry going in the future?

I think it will be moving predominately towards video in the not-too-distant future. There will always be a need for stills, but I think they will become secondary to video. Whereas now, still images are the primary objective and many clients ask to add video as a bonus.

Do you have any horror stories from shooting celebrities? (Without naming names, of course)

Oh man, I have been so lucky. I have had really great luck with the celebrities that I work with. I have honestly only had one celebrity who was terrible to deal with. She was incredibly rude to the entire team, but everyone kept their cool and we got through the day. Luckily the images turned out great and the whole crew went out for lots of drinks afterward — so all’s well that ends well. But she was an a**hole. LOL.

What camera gear do you use and why?

These days, I love my Canon 5dMark4 for most situations. I really dislike images that are too sharp and feel “digital,” so the mark4 lets me take down the sharpening and move away from the overly digital feel while still keeping amazing file quality. It also has large enough files that they look great in any size magazine. My “go-to” lens is the 50mm1.2, but I often use the 85mm and the 35mm as well. I only shoot with prime lenses.

If I am doing an ad job and need larger size printing abilities – I go with the Phase One IQ250. I love those files for their depth and file size.

I always shoot tethered to capture1 so we can see what we are capturing.

How much do you shoot for personal reasons compared to what you shoot for work?

I was just having this conversation last week. I really don’t shoot “personal work” much at all. To be honest, most of my editorials ARE personal work. I come up with the concepts, handle the casting and really make my vision come to fruition. So almost every time I shoot for a magazine it feels like personal work. I am constantly trying to cast actors whose work I admire so that it is personally fulfilling. I have been giving some thought lately to doing a gallery show of images that I do just for me. Something a bit more abstract than fashion or celebrity images. I look at Avedon’s In The American West images with awe. It feels so personal and that is inspiring.

I have not found my “American West” yet. Once I come up with my idea for a personal project I will let ya know. Any suggestions?

---

You can find more of Schwartz’s work on his website, Twitter, and Instagram.f

from PetaPixel https://petapixel.com/2017/11/01/interview-celebrity-portrait-photographer-michael-schwartz/

Photographer Barely Avoids Crashing Rally Car

Photographing rally car racing from right next to the track can be extremely hazardous to your health. Here’s a 1-minute video that shows how one cameraman narrowly avoided getting squashed recently by a crashing and flipping rally car.

Positioned at the end of a bend, the man found himself directly in the path of an out of control car that slammed into the hill and began rolling toward him. He grabbed his camera and tripod and managed to sidestep the car just as it barreled past.

And it’s not just out-of-control cars that photographers need to watch out for — runaway tires can be a scary experience as well.

(via Nikolay Pavlov via Fstoppers)

from PetaPixel https://petapixel.com/2017/11/01/photographer-barely-avoids-crashing-rally-car/

7 Tips to Get More Creative Photos of Well-Known Landmarks

Photographing landmark buildings when you visit a new place, or even places closer to home is a great way to get stand out photos. Often the architectural beauty of the natural or man-made landmark will make the image dramatic, you simply need to compose the photo well.

In this article, you’re going to see the standard photo, and then how to make more creative images of well-known landmarks. You’ll see a case study of how to shoot one particular landmark in many different ways.

This photo was taken from the Trader’s Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. It shows the Petronas Twin Towers.

1 – The standard photo

Ahead of photographing more creative images of landmarks the aim is to make the best standard photograph you can. Chances are that a quick search on a photo sharing site like 500px.com will reveal this, so there is no need to re-invent the wheel here.

Once you know which landmark you want to photograph, the next step is to find out where that photo was taken from, if the same image has been taken many times there will likely be a viewing platform.

Once you are in position it’s time to compose your photo. It’s better if you can use a slightly different composition to those used before, perhaps try a vertical shot.

The last step is to ensure you have good images to process once you return home. Bracketing your images when the sky is brighter than the foreground will allow you to use creative post-processing techniques like digital blending. Alternatively, you can use graduated neutral density filters, and get your photograph exposed correctly in camera, with a single frame.

2 – Paint with light for creative images of landmarks

This photo shows how light painting can be used to create your own image.

One of the most creative things you can do in photography is light painting. There are several forms of this technique and each can give you dramatic results.

This is innovative in that the results will be your own, and difficult for someone else to replicate. Let’s take a look at the different forms of light painting that you could try.

• Light painting – Most people know light painting as writing their name with a torch (flashlight) in front of the camera. How about light painting around a landmark to add a creative edge? Those really interested in should look into buying the pixelstick.
• Kinetic light painting – This refers to moving the camera, as opposed to moving the light source. Examples of kinetic light painting are camera rotation and zoom bursts.
• Lighting up an object – You can light up a landmark using a strong flashlight, providing it’s not too far away. Using lights to brighten a landmark can make it stand out even more in the frame.

Camera rotation is a good way to make a creative image of a landmark.

3 – Infrared photos of landmarks

Make creative images of landmarks by using infrared photography! There are several avenues to achieving this look, and you have a choice of in-camera or post-processing.

The classic infrared photos show lots of foliage, sky, and usually a water element. The effect creates a dreamscape image by turning the sky black, and the foliage white. Infrared photography is best done on a clear sunny day, with a few clouds to create more interest.

The following are the three avenues open to you to create these photos when shooting with a digital camera.

• Take a normal photo, and use post-processing to give the image the look of an infrared photo.
• Add an infrared filter to the front of your lens. To get the infrared look you will need to take your file and process it on the computer.
• Convert your camera body so that it’s usable for infrared photography, again further processing will be required.

Though this photo uses the same composition of a previous one above, the mood is changed by using an infrared technique.

4 – Get those detail photos!

It’s always a good idea to take some detail photos of a landmark, these are texture images that often use repeating patterns. When photographing a landmark building, whether it’s old or new, you can use bricks or glass windows to create these texture photos.

Photos of natural formations will also have good details. Cliff faces may, for instance, have good lines and textures in them. The aim with this type of photo is to show detail, but at the same time make it obvious which landmark you are photographing. This could be structures that are unique to that particular landmark.

When shooting glass windows, is there a reflection in those windows that will give the photo context? When photographing landmarks always try to get detail photos to add more variety to the set of photos.

Creative images of landscapes can be achieved using detail photos. The metallic structure of the tower and the Malaysian flag lend context.

5 – See another world with refraction

An alternative way of producing a unique landscape image is through using refraction. A transparent spherical object will be needed for this, there are several options available. The best objects for producing this effect are a wine glass filled with water, a crystal ball, or perhaps a clear marble.

This is a great way of capturing a large area of your scene, with the effect in the refracting object being similar to a fish-eye lens. The image inside the ball will be upside down, so managing this aspect of the photo is important. This technique is a lot of fun, though the need to carry around a heavy glass ball can be taxing.

Refraction is a great method of producing a unique image, this one also shows a reflection.

6 – Long exposure for artistic effect

A great way to produce creative images of landmarks is to play around with long exposures. This is a variable that can be used in different ways to great artistic effect. It’s more common to carry out long exposure at dusk, or during the night; however using an ND filter will allow you to take long exposures during the day.

Here are three ways you can use long exposures:

• Car light trails – This is a form of light painting. In this case, the car headlights will paint their way through your frame, along the road you’re photographing.
• Cloud movement – If there are clouds in the sky, and they’re moving fast enough, you can use a long exposure to capture this motion.
• Moving water – Similar to the above cloud movement, but with water! The main subject is, of course, your landmark, but if that landmark has water near it, then use that to your advantage.

All good landscape photographers carry a tripod, and anyone planning this type of photo will need one. Your exposures will be anywhere from one second to several minutes long.

Long exposure photos of car light trails are a staple of photography. Here the road leads up to the Petronas towers on the horizon.

7 – Change your vantage point

The angle that you photograph a landmark at can have a dramatic effect on the type of photo taken. Today the sky literally is the limit, as drones allow for the overhead photos that were previously out of reach.

But a drone is not the only way to achieve a good photo by changing your vantage point. The standard photo is that at street (eye) level, so any variant on that changes the type of photo.

• Bird’s eye view – This type of photo is taken from a high vantage point, where you will photograph downwards. The most extreme example would be a drone, or perhaps an airplane.
• Worm’s eye view – The opposite of a bird’s eye view, this is taken from street level looking upwards. You will need to be close to the landmark you are photographing.

The challenge with this is finding a good location that allows a view of your landmark. In the city, this will mean getting access to a rooftop, or viewing platform. In a more rural setting, it means climbing a mountain!

A worm’s eye view can give you a different style of photo.

How will you make creative images of landmarks?

There are many ways to photograph a famous landmark in your own unique way. How do you go about putting your own stamp on a location that has been photographed many times before?

Have you tried any of the above suggestions? Can you revisit one of your previous photo locations, and photograph it totally differently? We’d love to see the results of your work past and present, please share with the community in the comments area below.

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur has been photographed many times. It can be a challenge to find a unique photo.

The post 7 Tips to Get More Creative Photos of Well-Known Landmarks by Simon Bond appeared first on Digital Photography School.

from Digital Photography School https://digital-photography-school.com/7-tips-more-creative-photos-landmarks/