by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education, photoshop tutorial, video
Finally started playing with the 4K video capture to make still images on my Lumix GH4.
Why would you want to do that? Well having access to 30 fps images allows you to capture micro expressions during a fast moving shoot of a baby or if you want a photo from a video you made and couldn’t grab stills from. I didn’t realize how useful this could be until I started trying to photograph hummingbirds at the new feeder my wife put up. This is a pretty good image that will print fairly large. If you are using the entire frame you can grab an eight megapixel image from 4K video.
After grabbing the Frame for the video I opened the file in Adobe Camera Raw so I could use those controls by highlighting the image in Adobe Bridge and hitting Cmd R (Cntrl R for PC users). After some additional adjustments for color and sharpness and removing the bird feeder in Adobe Photoshop here’s the still photo result.
This image came in at 15 MB after cropping. Depending on the output media this could easily make a 20 inch or larger print.
Here’s the video.
YouTube Video on the original 4K video capture.
I’m thinking that his has more applications than I originally thought. When I first heard about this idea I was thinking there’s no way I’d want to dig through that many images for an expression or specific moment. Found out it wasn’t that hard stepping through the frames in Adobe’s Premeire Pro CC.
The photography landscape is changing as the lines between video and still capture get closer together.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, people photography, photography, photography education
I was working with a new lens the Lumix G Leica DG NOCTICRON 42.5mm/F1.2 Lens and is it sweet and fast. In this play session after a couple days of judging and presenting at the Tennessee Professional Photographers Association convention thought I’d try some fun stuff with Sarah Wykhuis. She was a great subject. It started in the hall when she was standing near a light. I set the camera for a high contrast black and white look.
Sarah in the hall. Kind of a Julia Roberts look don’t you think?
Then we went outside to shoot in the dark to see what we could see. It was pitch dark so we used the building lighting and fellow photographer and presenter Pierre Stephenson used his IPhone to add a bit of fill light.
I shot in RAW plus jpeg so I could get to all the info presented to the camera and was surprised at how much detail I was able to pull form the file. Camera was Lumix GH4.
I always advocate getting out to play. You learn the limits of your equipment, sharpen your skills and discover new ways of doing creative imagery.
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | Lumix Lounge, photography education, photography seminar, success education
Been away a little bit as I flew across the country to present my ‘Fine Art Photo Synthesis’ program to the TNPPA courtesy of Panasonic Lumix. I was also invited to be a judge for their state image competition.
While I was there I had time to catch Pierre Stephenson’s program on posing and picked up a few new ideas from him. I love learning this photography stuff! You can pick up some ideas from Pierre and you don’t even need to see him in person. He has some online lessons here on his Facebook page.
Some of the attendees at the TNPPA photography convention in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Thanks to Dorma Tabisz for grabbing some action photos of me speaking!
It was a great convention held by a wonderful group of people. The southern hospitality was on display big time! We took a riverboat cruise as part of the activities and I had a blast. I’ll share some of the people images I captured during the cruise. I was running the new 42.5mm f 1.2 DG Nocticron Leica lens through it’s paces. Wow is that thing sweet!
Here’s a few comments from attendees…
“For the first time in over 40 years in our photographic industry I set through the entire program Bob Coates presented to our Tenn. Professional Photographers convention. Even strained my neck and kept my hearing aids in so that I didn’t miss a thing. Thanks Bob.”
Gary Moor M. Photog., Cr. FBIPP, FRPS, FMPA
“Bob, I sure enjoyed your program last night at the TNPPA. I am not a member and mainly shoot landscape but your program inspired me to try some new directions with my photography.
Thanks again.” Sincerely, Latta Johnston
“Your program was fabulous and held my attention with information I KNOW I can put to use immediately !!! I can now leave the show knowing my time was well spent !!! Thank you for your willingness to share!” J. Wade Tipton M. Photog., Cr., CPP, TCD, TSD, F-PPMo, F-PPO
Til tomorrow…
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, people photography, photography
It was a blast creating images for the Greenfield/Weems real estate team photo session. While they need to project professionalism they want to add personality to their ad campaigns. Here’s an image that is just a bit different going all out for the personality!
Jolynn, Robin and Jackie from Greenfield/Weems Real Estate office.
I work in a fairly small (16’x16′) shooting studio so I take advantage of that and use my walls as lighting modifiers. In this shoot there’s one Paul C Buff light with a 7 inch reflector just to camera right pointing to the corner and ceiling of the room. This is metered to be about 2/3rds of a stop less than the main light. Another PCB light is forward of camera left just in front of the clients and pointing straight toward the wall. The reflecting light from these surfaces gives solid modeling and very soft shadow edge transitions. If I was photographing males or wanted a more dramatic lighting pattern I could lower the power on the fill light or increase the power on the main light or both. Since these images are going to be cut out I used a Super White background paper from Savage. Camera was the Lumix GH4 with a 12mm-35mm f2.8 Lumix Vario Lens. (24mm-70mm 35mm equivalent)
The clients were stripped out from the background and a soft drop shadow added.
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | fine art photography, graphic design, Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, photography education
The salesman for neon signs in Austin, Texas could sell ice to Eskimos in their Igloos!
At the very least he or she is very good at what they do. The neon in and around Austin’s downtown area is very creative and plentiful. When I came to town to meet with fellow Panasonic Lumix Luminaries for a brainstorming session after dark I hit the streets to see what I might capture.
Here’s the Heritage Boot sign just down the street from my motel.
This was created using three separate exposures and layering them together in Photoshop using masks and blend modes. I really like the feel of this… bright and warm yet it has an old time feel at the same time.
If you are ever in need of some beautiful boots this is the place! They are stunning.
Tripod is from the MAC Group MeFoto backpacker model. Easy to pack and surprisingly stiff with a nice ball head. Goes for around $150 bucks. Folded it’s about 12 and a half inches. (OK 12.6 inches) and will expand to 51.2 inches. Camera Lumix GH4 with 35-100 f2.8 with three different exposures and some zooming for extra interest.
Yours in Photography, Bob
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