How to Calibrate Dell Wide Gamut Monitors

In the past, hardware calibration feature was limited to premium wide-gamut models from companies like NEC or Eizo. Those models offer wide gamut, great uniformity and advanced calibration features…but at a fairly high price. Affordable wide gamut solutions with hardware calibration started in 2013 with Dell and after that other companies like LG, BenQ and Samsung begun to offer “similar” products with more or less success. It is important to point out that LG and Samsung wide gamut models cannot be properly calibrated internally with the i1Display Pro colorimeter using their software and the same applies to some BenQ models like SW2700PT and its Palette Master Elements software. The main issue with those models is that they bundle an outdated X-Rite SDK (Software Development Kit) in their software without GB-LED support, which is the current main* (see the footnote at the end of the article below) LED wide gamut backlight technology. Hence, their software won’t get accurate readings, which in turn leads to inaccurate calibration. The BenQ PG2401PT and its Palette Master software, on the other hand, come with proper GB-LED support.

These low-budget wide gamut monitors were an interesting option for hobbyists and professionals, who cannot or do not want to spend more than $ 1,500 on a fully-featured premium wide gamut monitor from NEC or Eizo. The release of Eizo CS240 in late 2014 lowered that budget gap, since it is a near fully-featured wide gamut monitor for $ 850-900 USD and even today remains as one if the most sensible and affordable choices.

Since 2013 Dell has released several GB-LED models with hardware calibration. Here is a brief overview of their features:

• sRGB, AdobeRGB and for new models DCI-P3 factory gamut emulation, also called factory calibration. Factory calibration is done at default brightness and contrast OSD values, 50%, which means a high cd/m2 output. Factory calibration white point is not accurate at all but gamut, gray balance and TRC is more or less accurate. You will need graphics card calibration on most units to make use of them (white point correction). You cannot fix factory calibration “inside” your monitor.
• 10-bit / channel input to monitor, for compatible hardware and software.
• “Custom Color” OSD mode with full native gamut, and fully customizable values for RGB gain and offset controls, to help with graphics card LUT calibration.
• Two OSD modes serve as independent “memory slots” for user’s hardware calibration, CAL1 and CAL2.
• Uniformity compensation feature, with limited usability and not available at all for some OSD modes.

And below are their issues:

• 2013 Models: U2413, U3713H, U3014. These were 1st generation of Dell’s GB-LED monitors with AH-IPS panel. They have more or less “good enough” uniformity but serious overshoot (ghosting) issues. In order to get faster response times and advertise magic “8ms” number, a strong pixel response policy is applied to electronics. This kind of strong and fast change when changing a pixel value from dark grey (let’s say 80/256) to a lighter grey (let’s say 160/256) made that pixel bright with a much more lighter grey during a short time interval (let’s say 200/256 as an example), which caused overshoot ghosting. For example, while scrolling text in an internet browser, ghost images of moving letters appear as you scroll up or down.
  A uniformity compensation feature was advertised, but cannot be enabled in hardware calibration OSD modes CAL1/CAL2, and if enabled in other OSD modes, it will block OSD brightness and contrast controls at 50%: this means a very high cd/m2 output not suitable for some applications. 1st generation was bundled with the very first version of Dell Color Solution software (DUCCS v1.0.x), a customized Color Munki Display software, which was buggy and inaccurate. v1.0.x versions work only with Windows and i1Display Pro colorimeter. To use exclusively i1Display Pro was not a real limitation, since it’s the only good and affordable colorimeter which has X-rite support for hardware calibration.
• 2014 Models (4K GBLED): UP2414Q and UP3214Q. These were the very first 4K IZGO GBLED models available to public. Being the first out, there were some issues and limitations. Bad backlight brightness control was applied to the 32″ model: slow under 1KHz Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) was used for this task which may be a problem to some users, leading to visual fatigue. Also they use DisplayPort and MST for 4K resolution at 60Hz, but MST makes some OSes think that there are two monitors with half the resolution attached to the DisplayPort output of a graphics card. With these 2014 models Dell released a new DUCCS version, 1.5.x, which is now i1Profiler customized software. More accurate than the infamous v1.0.x version, with more profiling options. This new DUCCS version is available too for the 2013 models like U2713H, which is obviously good news for their owners. Now DUCCS suports i1Pro2 spectrophotomer (and i1Pro is reported to work too) but keep in mind that these devices are less accurate than i1Display Pro colorimeter for a GB-LED display. Also, the first OSX versions of DUCCS were released but it seems that they only worked with 4K models – they won’t write LUT3D data to CAL1/CAL2 in 2013 models.
• 2015 (5K GBLED model): UP2715K. 1st GBLED 5K available to public, there are issues related to bad color uniformity in a significant amount of units. New DUCCS version released to support this monitor, which turned out to be very buggy. A new OSX version was released too.
• 2016: UP2516D, UP2716D, UP3216Q. It is a refresh of the previous GBLED generation with a backlight (a little different, in red wavelengths). This is not really a problem since i1Display Pro filters are almost equal to CIE 1931 2º in those wavelengths. At this point of time there is not an EDR from X-Rite with that specific backlight… maybe because i1Display Pro is well behaved in those wavelengths, so we are going to call them “GB-LED” in order to not to confuse our readers. Dell users have reported very bad quality control, uniformity issues everywhere and uniformity issues beyond 6 deltaC (Spanish Canon DSLR forums) which are unacceptable values. Dell released DUCCS v1.5.10 to support these new displays but it offers less functionality than v1.5.3. Some of these new units need a firmware update to work with v1.5.10. Hardware calibration for 32″ 4K model seems to be broken since DUCCS is unable to upload an accurate LUT3D (banding issues, grey coloration artifacts…) at least for some units. Dell also modified uniformity compensation feature, but it still cannot be enabled in CAL1/CAL2 OSD modes. If this feature is enabled in “Custom Color” OSD mode, it will block RGB gain control, so the user is unable to change the white point inside the monitor. Despite this, now users can use brightness or contrast control to lower or raise cd/m2 output even when uniformity compensation is enabled. If the native white point is close enough to your desired white point, you can see it as an improvement, but users will need GPU LUT calibration to fix whitepoint, grey and TRC.

This is the sad tale of affordable wide gamut monitors, a promise that could be, but wasn’t. Some of them truly offer value for their price and still can be purchased today if they are sold for a fair price: U2413, U2713H or UP2414Q…and even UP2516D / UP2716D but it’s highly recommended to check color uniformity (ArgyllCMS/DisplayCAL).

When looking at its competitors in its price range, the sad tale becomes a tragedy:

• LG: very serious uniformity issues, reported to be >4deltaC (unacceptable), in its two 27″ QHD and 31″ DCI-4K wide gamut models. Software unable to make i1Display Pro measure a GB-LED properly (and that colorimeter is the only real choice). The reason is SDK issue discussed earlier.
• Samsung: unable to make i1Display Pro measure a GB-LED properly (same SDK issue and Spyder won’t measure it properly like with other GB-LEDs) and pretty low contrast after uniformity compensation is enabled. That means about 600:1 contrast at daylight 6500K (D65) white for such an expensive monitor, almost unsuitable for video or even sRGB content…since a “good enough” sRGB 24″ monitor has more than 1000:1 contrast for much less. It’s a bad deal unless it is used just for soft-proofing purposes. Low contrast means “more glow” on IPS displays, so you will need to sit further from the monitor to lower this effect. NEC or Eizo’s 32″ 4K models can get superb uniformity without sacrificing too much contrast but they are a lot more expensive.
• BenQ: has an overpriced PG2410PT model that is unable to offer the same features as NEC/Eizo counterparts in its price range. The software for this model, Palette Master, is like DUCCS 1.5.x, a customized i1Profiler and comes with proper GB-LED support. They have another model, SW2700PT, with bad quality control and uniformity issues like 2016 models from Dell and its software is unable to make i1Display Pro measure a GB-LED properly (same SDK issue, again).
• HP: has an expensive 27” model with hardware calibration within its firmware, without a computer. The sad tale is that built-in calibration is not very configurable, just a few presets, and it needs a specific i1Display Pro OEM version from HP which is a ridiculous requirement. HP offers an SDK for calibration under Windows, Linux or OSX, but AFAIK there is no user-friendly software that can calibrate them with a retail i1Display Pro. If you have very good programming skills it could be interesting to bring ArgyllCMS features to that HP internal calibration. This monitor is not bad, but it’s too expensive for what it offers and lacks user-friendly software. HP also offers a 32” 4K wide gamut with hardware calibration and proper GB-LED support for i1Display Pro (it comes with de-updated SDK and GBLED EDR).

Given these facts, I would stay away from any of these Dell models with high prices since they are not worth it: the risk of bad uniformity units is too high for the bigger screens and software for hardware calibration has some issues as we will see in this article. I would stay further away from LG or BenQ models since their cheap models have worse uniformity issues than Dells (at least worse than 2013 models) and their software is unable to measure them properly with a colorimeter. Crippled contrast after you enable uniformity compensation in Samsung’s 32” 4K wide gamut is not appealing for such an expensive monitor…you can get a fully featured 27” QHD wide gamut from NEC for that price and NEC offers 5-step uniformity compensation trade-off between max contrast and max uniformity.

This does not mean there is no hope for hobbyists or professionals with limited budgets. As I have pointed out before, models like U2413, U2713H or UP2414Q seem to be a sensible choice… but only if found for a fair (I mean low) price for their value, since they are pretty old models. Customers need to be aware of these Dell limitations before buying. This is the point of this article: to learn, evaluate and if possible fix their flaws.

Eizo CS240 (24” 1920×1200, like U2413) has an affordable price too and it’s very likely that it will show better color uniformity than Dell. It offers true uniformity compensation feature but it’s only an ON/OFF feature, there is no trad-eoff for contrast-uniformity. Its price is about the price of a 27” QHD GB-LED Dell like UP2716D, so this Eizo is another sensible choice for limited budgets.

For better uniformity or more calibration and color space emulation features, save money for middle-high (Multisync PA) or high end (Spectraview PA) GB-LED models from NEC since they are cheaper than Eizo counterparts. NEC’s Spectraview PAs offer the same quality as ColorEdge CG Eizos and the cheaper Multisync PA models offer better features than Eizo CX series.

Dell Color Calibration Solution (DUCCS)

After GB-LED family presentation, let’s see what these Dell owners can get out of their monitors and DUCCS software. Since v1.0.x versions were useless, this is a guide to the 1.5.x family. There are two major “stable” 1.5.x versions:

-1.5.3. which works with 2014 generation or older models. This is the recommended version for that monitors unless you notice bugs.
-1.5.11 which should work with all of these Dells but offer less functionality. 2015 or 2016 models will need that version.

User interface and almost every option are common to all 1.5.x versions, so unless stated otherwise this guide works with all of them. The following instructions are for the Windows version of DUCCS, OSX version should behave in a similar way unless bugs or Apple hardware limitations or incompatibilities are found. Ask Apple support team if DUCCS does not work for you…you are on your own since it seems that there is no official support of Dell monitors with Apple proprietary hardware configurations.

DUCCS included on your monitor driver CD may be outdated. They can be downloaded from Dell or Xrite websites. Below are the links to Windows versions (Windows 7 or newer is required):
DUCCS 1.5.3 (don’t worry about the model name on the page, it works with all 2014 and older models):
DUCCS 1.5.11 (for newer Dells)

Installation will need administration privileges; it will also install i1DisplayPro SDK, X-rite Services and .NET Runtime. After installation, which may require a reboot, you may want to check Windows Update for .NET Runtime security updates. Al the end of the process you should have a desktop shortcut to DUCCS. Before running DUCCS, plug in the i1Display Pro colorimeter. Windows may want to install is as a HID device (like a mouse, keyboard…), let it do the job.

The newer 2016 Dell UltraSharp models may need a firmware update (at your own risk).

While newer versions of DUCCS may work with a dual monitor setup, it is strongly recommended that there is only one GB-LED Dell connected to your computer when running DUCCS (or even one monitor at all). Calibrate each display separately.

Now run DUCCS. If you are running 1.5.3 and have Internet access, it will prompt you to update to 1.5.11. Do not update unless you know what you are doing. After it starts you should see DUCCS main screen which looks like X-Rite’s i1Profiler for those familiar with the program:

On the middle of the screen you will see a “User Mode” selection. Go ahead and pick the “Advanced” option so that you can see all the available calibration options.

Next, click “Display->Profiling” to proceed with LUT3D Calibration. The next screen will show your Dell monitor with its serial number and a set of presets for calibration target. If this screen does not display and you see the usual i1Profiler calibration target with white point, luminance and contrast, then your monitor is not recognized by DUCCS as a GB-LED Dell with hardware calibration. Unfortunately, it is a common issue for 2013 Dells under OSX. Here is how the screen should look like:

A brief explanation of the presets:

• sRGB: it will create a LUT3D calibration that emulates sRGB gamut, with D65 white and “sRGB gamma”. sRGB gamma is not equal to a 2.2 gamma, it is close to 2.2 but is lower (brighter grey) near black and higher (darker grey) near white.
• AdobeRGB: it will create a LUT3D calibration that emulates AdobeRGB gamut, with D65 white and “2.2 gamma”. It will try to get as close as it can to full AdobeRGB gamut.
• “Custom xy”: it will create a LUT3D calibration with gamut defined by CIE xy coordinates of R, G and B primaries. “Custom xy” preset has a customizable white point target with a few presets like D50 or D65, custom daylight color temperature and a full custom white under “xy” for CIE xy color coordinates. There is also a “measure” option to match whites but due to DUCCS limitations it is not useful with i1Display Pro when matching another display: you can use an external program to properly measure xy coordinates of whatever white you want to match. There is a combo box for Gamma (TRC) selection. You may choose between a constant value or “sRGB” TRC. DUCCS v1.5.11 only allows 2.2 gamma or sRGB gamma, if you input other value like 2.4, it will ignore it and take 2.2 value. DCCS 1.5.3 users have the option of other constant gammas than 2.2.
• With DCCS 1.5.11 there is another option for customized gamut emulation, “Custom u’v’” but it is not useful since all other customizable options disappear. It’s buggy too…if you go to “custom xy” after “custom u’v’” all these options will disappear!

You may have noticed that “sRGB” and “AdobeRGB” presets are just particular configurations of “Custom xy” and it’s true. You only need to know CIE xy color coordinates for R, G and B of sRGB and AdobeRGB (available on Wikipedia for example) in order to manually set an AdobeRGB calibration target without presets. You can obtain your monitor’s full native gamut R,G and B locations in CIE xy color coordinates from:

• EDID information
• driver default ICM profile, upon inspection (DispcalGUI, ICC Profile Inspector or other applications)
• an actual measure of R, G and B CIE xy coordinates (ArgyllCMS or a validation from DispcalGUI)

Basic configuration and use of ArgyllCMS and DispcalGUI (DisplayCAL from v3.1 onwards) will be covered on the next article. For each preset you can configure target luminance between some common preset values of a value of your choice in cd/m2.

DCCS does not allow custom contrast value, it will aim to the best contrast that fit its needs. If you need a fixed contrast value (paper) you cannot do it with DCCS, you will need GPU LUT calibration and tweak monitor’s brightness and contrast controls under “Custom Color” OSD mode.

After choosing your calibration target, click next. Now you are prompted to choose a profile configuration, the way monitor behavior will be stored in a ICC/ICM file after calibration:

Here is a short explanation of the options:

• Chromatic Adaptation: is about translation of coordinates from your desired gamut and white to a Profile Connection Space (PCS) defined at D50. This PCS is where color management operations are done. There is lot of free information about color math involved, but we are trying to keep this guide simple (no formulas). Bradford or CIECAT02 will work fine.
• ICC profile version: it MUST be version 2. If you choose version 4, you won’t be able to validate profile with ArgyllCMS and some incompatibilities with other programs may happen too. Choose version 2 in this step, always.
• Profile type: Matrix profile will create one of the simplest profile types. If will assume that after calibration your display has a neutral grey, be it true or not, so profile TRC values will be equal for R, G and B channel. Table profile will create a complex profile with a more accurate description of actual after-calibration behavior. It will make 3 independent TRC for each channel. Firefox is a color-managed browser but it will not understand X-Rite’s table profiles, even tweaking its advanced configuration, so you are better off keeping it as Matrix profile.

After choosing profiling options, click next.

Now you are prompted to choose a number of color patches for profiling. These patches are not for calibration, just to profile your monitor. With DUCCS you cannot choose patch set for calibration and this is one of the main reasons of its inaccuracy. The bigger the patch set, the more information DUCCS can use to compute display’s profile in an accurate way. The simple nature of matrix profiles makes them suitable for a low number of color patches.

Click next.

Now you must choose where to store calibration: Calibration 1 (CAL1) or Calibration 2 (CAL2):

If this screen does not show up, you are not able to hardware-calibrate your Dell because of some software or hardware issue. If an error shows with information about “no USB cable plugged from monitor to computer”, check it, but maybe monitor’s USB hub drivers are not properly installed, or maybe it’s just another DUCCS bug. Sadly, if this happens, you are on your own. You can report this problem to Dell, but it’s very doubtful that the folks from support will be able to help you. At this DUCCS step, the software tries to communicate with your monitor in two ways (DDC/CI and USB) to read the serial number. If any of these operations fail, this error happens.

If there are no errors, proceed by clicking “Start Measurement”.

At this point of calibration, DUCCS will go fullscreen and will prompt you to uncover the i1Display Pro lens and place the device on the center of screen. When done, click next.

Now, the actual calibration starts. User has no control during this process so just sit and wait:

• The chosen CAL1 or CAL2 will reset to factory configuration, erasing previous LUT3D
• It will measure a few white and R, G and B patches and change contrast OSD control for that CAL OSD mode until measurements meet its needs (whatever they are, DUCCS is just a black box, not GNU software). That means that you can get lower contrast (-200) than its nominal 1000:1 value near native white, and even lower contrast for warmer whites which are far from native white point. User has no control over it.
• With contrast configured, it will measure several calibration patches in order to measure uncalibrated monitor response: it will read 44 patches for native gamma of grays (14) and of each channel (10): this is one of the most severe issues with DUCCS. If there is some kind of bad behavior (pink-green tint for example) between those measures (read my first article), DCCS cannot correct that grey because this bad behavior does not exist for DUCCS. It doesn’t measure it. Next, it reads 68 patches for gamut measurement: secondary colors, etc.
• With that information DUCCS will compute actual LUT3D data that brings that uncalibrated state to target calibration values with more or less accuracy. A pre-lut (target gamma), matrix (gamut emulation) and post-lut (de-gamma, neutral grey and white point calibration) data of LUT3D are computed, compressed and sent to monitor. White color may change to pink or some weird color during this process. Hardware calibration for the new 32” 4K UP3216Q seems to be broken here. DUCCS 1.5.11 seems to be unable to write or to compute an adequate LUT3D for this model. Maybe this hardware has another LUT format, or it is just another of the long list of DUCCS bugs.
• After LUT3D is written, DUCCS will try to fix luminance, trying a few brightness OSD values till it gets the closest OSD control value to desired value. There isn’t a fine tune for desired luminance, just a best effort. Since LUT3D calibration is written, white point may drift a little from desired value if DUCCS changes brightness. This is another source of inaccuracies of DUCCS calibration.

At this point CAL1 or CAL2 are calibrated to our desired target, but you need an ICC profile too because color managed applications need to now actual monitor behavior to manage color properly. So DUCCS starts a series of patch measurements (chosen in profile configuration step) and stores that information in computer’s memory.

After all patch measurements are finished, DUCCS will ask you to place close the i1Display Pro lens. Click next after you are done. Then DUCCS goes back to windowed mode. Click next.

Now you are prompted to choose a profile name. Write a meaningful name like “DELL U2413 sRGB CAL1.icm”, do not overwrite the generic “U2413.icm” profile. Click on “Create and save profile”, which will transform profiling measurements to a profile and write it to an ICM file, stored in your Windows OS profile folder. It will also set it as a “Default Profile” for your Display in the “Color Management” configuration of Windows Control Panel. That means that all color managed applications will work like if that profile accurately describes your monitor, but this won’t be true if you either factory-reset the monitor / reset that CAL1/CAL2 slot, or change OSD mode from your CAL1/CAL2 to other mode.

Now you can repeat the process for the other CAL1/CAL2 slot or exit DUCCS since all other application options are useless: uniformity, validation…not reliable, not accurate, not to be trusted. We will deal with validation and uniformity measures in next article.

Since calibration is stored inside the monitor, you can take DUCCS’ ICM files with its behavior to another computer or OS (Linux, OSX, another computer with Windows), then install one of those profiles as the default profile for your display. Profiles are stored in “C:WINDOWSsystem32spooldriverscolor” folder in Windows OS. You need to know that OSD brightness/contrast values for CAL1 and CAL2 are independent from the other OSD modes, but they may be independent too for each DVI/DP/HDMI input (may vary with model/firmware revision). If you calibrate your Dell monitor on a desktop computer connected with a DVI cable to your monitor and you want to use that calibration with a laptop connected with HDMI to your monitor, then you may need to copy OSD contrast & brightness value from CAL1/CAL2 modes in DVI input to CAL1/CAL2 brightness and contrast controls in HDMI input. CAL1 and CAL2 computed LUT3D will remain unchanged between monitor inputs, it’s just contrast and brightness values what you may need to copy to the other inputs. The same applies to RGB gain and offset controls for “Custom color” OSD mode (for GPU calibration), each DVI/HDMI/DP input may need its own configuration.

Color Management Configuration for MS Windows

If you go to Windows Control panel, and double click on “Color Management” you can change default profiles for each of your displays. On Windows 10, visit “System”, click “Advanced Display Settings” under “Display”, then click “Display adapter properties” under “Related settings”. When a new window comes up, click on the “Color Management” tab, then “Color Management…” button to see the following screen:

Under the “Devices” tab there is a Device drop-down box. Make sure that your Dell display is selected. Don’t forget to check “Use my settings for this device”. Below that you will find a list of profiles associated to that display. You can add and remove profiles. You must select as “default” profile the profile that matches your current monitor configuration before using color-managed applications. For example for CAL2 calibrated to AdobeRGB preset in a U2413 with DUCCS, there must be a profile with your desired name, “DELL U2413 AdobeRGB CAL2” ICM file. Make sure that this profile is set to “default” while in CAL2 OSD mode.

Do not change anything in the “Advanced options” tab – leave it as is. The only change that “may” make sense for some configurations is to enable Windows LUT loader for GPU. To enable it, click on the bottom button “Change system defaults” (administrator rights are needed). It will open another “Color management” configuration. Go to advanced tab and enable “Use Windows display calibration”. Then close all Color management windows.

With this LUT loader enabled, every time you set as “default” a display profile, Windows will load that profile’s calibration curves in graphics card LUT. DUCCS profiles have a linear LUT (no calibration), so this configuration is not needed, but if you use i1Profiler or ArgyllCMS profiles mixed with DUCCS ones, then it may be useful. Windows LUT loader is less accurate than ArgyllCMS LUT loader. It will load a low-resolution version of calibration curves (without “decimal values” we talk about in my first article) which may lead to banding artifacts. This does not matter at all for DUCCS profiles, they have a linear LUT calibration embedded. Unless for some strange reason you do not want to use 3rd party LUT loaders, I would avoid MS Windows LUT loader and use ArgyllCMS/DisplayCAL. DisplayCAL 3.1.x comes with an autoloader that notices changes in “default profile” (actually it seems to be a polling mechanism) for each display in your OS, and IMHO it’s the way to go.

Keep in mind that if you change the preset mode on the monitor to a different one (say from sRGB to AdobeRGB) and forget to change it in the Color management settings above, then fire up Photoshop, all colors might be wrong. Your display (while in that OSD mode) has a close to AdobeRGB behavior, but Photoshop will do color management as if it was close to sRGB. Before you open a color-managed application, there must be an accurate profile for your current OSD mode set as “default” for your display, as shown above. This is not a Dell limitation, this is true for every monitor and every operating system… unless a color managed application has its own monitor profile configuration. Because of this, always make sure to select the same preset (CAL1 or CAL2) as the default Color Management profile in your settings. If you change one, don’t forget to change the other. It may be possible to do this change sequence automatically with a third party application like Dell Display Manager (after tweaking it, out of scope of this guide). The same happens with Eizo/NEC monitors and their OSD configuration programs.

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*NOTE: X-rite packed a GB-LED backlight SPD sample under “RG_Phosphor” EDR file – it covers AdobeRGB 99% LED backlight models. That GB-LED SPD is not exactly the same LED backlight for iMac 5K DCI-P3 (smaller gamut) or super high-end Eizo CG318-4k (bigger gamut); there is a noticeable difference in red channel output SPD between GB-LED backlight and those two models. ArgyllCMS with SPD sample data from those two displays (a “CCSS” file with SPD data) can properly measure those displays with an i1Display Pro, so do not worry about it.

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This article has been submitted by a guest poster who wanted to remain anonymous. He goes by “Color Consultant” nickname in articles and forums at Photography Life.

The post How to Calibrate Dell Wide Gamut Monitors appeared first on Photography Life.

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Tips for Structuring Great Vlog Content

Well known video bloggers, such as Casey Neistat and the likes, have raised the vlogging standards in recent years. How they manage to post captivating content so regularly is astounding. Many try to emulate their successes, and as a result, YouTube is crammed full of filmmakers trying to be the next viral vlogging sensation. These vlogs vary in content, style, and quality, and while there is a niche space for almost anything these days, some people are “nailing it,” and others aren’t.

[ Read More ]

Fstoppers

If you are interested in Photography, check it out here for more details.

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To St. Helens and Back: Olympus TG-Tracker Shooting Experience

Olympus has been in the rugged camera business for a very long time, with its first model, the Stylus 720SW, released way back in 2006. Ten years later the company has made the leap to action cams. 

The TG-Tracker is a camcorder-shaped device that can capture 4K/30p and 1080/60p video as well as timelapses. The F2 lens has a whopping 204° field-of-view ‘on land’ and 94 degrees when you take it diving with its included underwater lens protector. It features a 7.2MP, 1/2.3″ BSI CMOS sensor paired with the company’s latest TruePic VII processor. (If 7.2 Megapixels sounds a bit low for 4K, you’re right – the camera has to interpolate in order to produce 4K as well as 8MP stills.)

The TG-Tracker captures every data point you could possibly want from an action cam.

Design-wise, there are two things that stand out. First is the camera’s flip-out (but non-articulating) 1.5″ LCD, which is mainly used for menu navigation. Second is what Olympus calls a built-in ‘headlight,’ capable of projecting up to 60 lumens of light.

What really makes the TG-Tracker unique, as its name implies, is tracking. It records location, altitude or water depth, temperature, orientation, and acceleration. All of this data is shown on graphs in the app, allowing you to see the pictures you took at a certain altitude or in a specific area of the map.

There are two other neat tricks the camera can do thanks to all these sensors. First, if the accelerometer detects a sudden change in equilibrium, it will put a chapter marker in your videos. Also, the TG-Tracker can detect when the camera goes underwater and switch the switch to the appropriate white balance setting.

All of this metadata is viewable in the Olympus Image Track app, which is where you can preview your photos and videos and then transfer them to your mobile device (save for 4K video)

To see how the TG-Tracker functions in the real world, we sent it to Mount St. Helens, an 8363 foot-tall stratovolcano most famous for its major eruption in 1980. But before we get into that, let’s take a look at the design and what it’s like to use this action camera.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Photography Tips for Wall Art

Almost every photographer has had the urge to mount and display his or her photos as wall art, either at home or maybe in the office at work. At one time or another—we’ve nearly all done it—we took one of our ‘best shots’, had an enlargement made, and framed it. We brought it home or to the office and hung it on display. Then something depressing happened; the picture became unsatisfying, then boring, and finally, wall clutter. What went wrong?!

“Tuscan harvest” captured by PictureSocial member David Hobcote

Perhaps a favorite shot beguiled us and we overlooked a basic fact: many good photo’s are better suited to a book or a magazine. They’re simply not appropriate for hanging upon a wall. Sometimes pictures with strong contrasts and vibrant colors can look very pleasing at first, then start to grate on us after a while if displayed as wall art.

So, now we are a little sadder but what we really want is to become somewhat wiser. We realize that what we need are photo’s that can be displayed as prints and stand the test of time, right? Definitely. Prints with lasting interest! So, how do we go about successfully shooting for that specific goal? Well, there isn’t any simple sure-fire method. But there are a few basic things to keep in mind which can definitely help in making and displaying wall art prints with lasting interest.

What lasts?

If you do a bit of looking around in your local decorative art & poster galleries, and ask a few discreet questions of the sales staff as to which kinds of photos are most in demand for home decor, you’ll likely discover, as I did, the following:

• They are usually landscapes which have a definite mood
• They are usually foreground or middle ground scenes, not panoramic vistas
• The colors in them are usually muted, or pastels
• They are often shots with mist and fog in them
• They are usually printed on a ‘luster’ (not glossy) print surface

You can readily see that most of these factors will usually add up to a ‘painterly’ looking print. They will provide subtle pastel colors. Since such pictures already have a proven track record as successful (i.e., enduring!) wall art, why not use the above info as a set of guidelines for shooting wall art photos of lasting appeal?

If you want to display some of your photos as prints on an office wall, here’s the scoop on ‘commercial & business area’ photo decor that wears well:

• They are mostly close-ups of flowers, leaves, ferns, etc., with dew or rain drops on them…
• Or else, they are frequently natural abstract or pattern shots

“Cold Blue Ice” captured by PictureSocial member Evar Guomundsson

• These pictures often feature strong color and a near-graphic look
• These kinds of prints are best made on glossy or semi-glossy print materials

These type of prints yield brighter colors and stronger contrast for a bolder look. Here too, you may want to make use of marketing info as practical guidelines for your own wall display shooting.

Find it

Rather than leaving things to chance, plan your lasting decor landscapes and close-ups. First of all, search out some local places that are unspoiled and natural, with few signs of human presence or activity. Check out your nearby parks, conservation areas, or wildlife refuges.

Scope it

Scout these prospective locations, looking for areas and things with appealing color, pools and ponds for reflections, running water for abstractions, etc. When you find something of interest move around it in a circle and note the various possible compositions. Be especially aware of those compositions that call for either a north- or south-facing camera position. (They’ll provide maximum side-light for modelling and texture, and polarizing for saturated color.) And while you’re at it, note whether the east and west sides of such subjects are open to admit either direct early morning or late afternoon sunlight for the warm, glowing light at these times.

A number of photo apps provide information as to when and where on the horizon the sun will rise or set in your area. Same for the full moon. Taking note of these things as well as what’s around you while scouting will help you foresee good photo opportunities well in advance.

Check it

Check the local weather maps for what’s upcoming in your area. Do it frequently. Remember, bad weather is good photo weather, especially during the clearing-up hours after a storm; it’s great for injecting mood into your images! By the way, online weather sources will also give you precise local sunrise and sunset times.

“Twilight on the Jetty”captured by PictureSocial member Beth

For close-ups with dew, just keep in mind that a hot sultry day that ends with a cool and clearing evening usually guarantees heavy dew conditions the next morning.

Go for it

Start out well before sunrise and get on location early. Set up and shoot at first light, early light, etc. If you’re shooting a landscape that includes sky, be alert for clear strips of sky at the horizon with clouds immediately above them. This situation will often yield terrific cloud effects! Alternatively, start out well before sunset and be on-site to shoot through sundown and twilight. At either time it may be possible to shoot both landscapes and close-ups if circumstances allow.

Tools & Tips

By all means take your tripod. Also a cable release, perhaps a polarizer, or a neutral density grad filter. Use either a low ISO setting or else slow speed transparency film. And, perhaps most important of all, take along a resolve to go back to your favorite spots again and again. And again! When you know a place like the back of your hand, and you’re frequently there, you’ll be surprised at the photo ‘breaks’ that come your way!

Your personal ‘seeing’ and camera skills will undoubtedly improve as you persist at shooting both frequently and regularly. You should have no difficulty acquiring a considerable number of shots well suited for wall art.

Mounting & Display

Once you have on hand some images you feel will keep their appeal as wall decor in the long term, select one or two and make a 5 x 7 or a 8 x 10 print of it and tack it up somewhere that you’ll see it frequently. Give it a couple of weeks and see how well it keeps its appeal. If it passes the test then get a larger display print made, tastefully mounted and display it appropriately.

To assist you in these regards, why not turn to one of the many reliable guides available on the subject such as, for example:

• Kodak Publication no. 0-22, Cat. 104 8479, PHOTO DECOR – A Guide to the Enjoyment of Photographic Art.
• A Guide to the Enhancement & Presentation of Photographs, by Otha C. Spencer (Prentice-Hall, NJ 07632)

Such publications will provide numerous fine visual examples, as well as explanation of useful guidelines, tips, and techniques, and also offer helpful advice on many related topics such as print location, fading, lighting, etc.

“Flamborough Dusk” captured by PictureSocial member Tony Taffinder

The presentation info in such publications, together with the above shooting guidelines, will put you well on your way toward appropriate, enduring, wall art with long-term appeal, instead of disappointing and depressing wall clutter.

About the Author:
John Maxymuik authored this article for those photographers who want large prints of their work for display, either in a residential or business setting, but they want the results to have enduring appeal, instead of soon turning into disappointing wall clutter. To see examples of photography suitable for wall display go to his fine art photography website at ambienceimages dot net.

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Huge Discounts on Fuji Cameras and Lenses

While it was pretty sad to see Nikon recall its last round of rebates due to earthquakes in Japan, other manufacturers like Fuji are continuing to push pretty aggressive sales on both cameras and lenses to lure in more customers and increase their market share. I am a big fan of the Fuji X system (I own the Fuji X-T1 and a couple of X-series lenses – see my detailed Fuji X-T1 review), so when I saw all the available deals on lenses and cameras, I wanted to let our readers know about these deals. Although these deals are supposed to last until the end of June, if you have plans to purchase Fuji gear, I would suggest doing it sooner than later, since many of the lenses are already out of stock and it might take a while for your order to arrive if it is backed up too deeply in the order queue.

Here are all the best Fuji X-series camera deals:

• Fuji X-T1 Black ($ 300 off + Free Vertical Grip + Free Accessories)
• Fuji X-T1 Graphite Silver ($ 300 off + Free Vertical Grip + Free Accessories)
• Fuji X-T10 Black ($ 200 off)
• Fuji X-T10 Silver ($ 200 off)
• Fuji X100T Black ($ 200 off)
• Fuji X100T Silver ($ 200 off)

Please keep in mind that the above sale for the X-T1 + Free VG-XT1 Vertical Grip are only good while supplies last. Once stock is gone, you will only get the $ 300 discount and some accessories. These are all excellent deals and if you have been thinking about investing into the Fuji X system, now seems to be a very good time to do so. The Fuji X-T1 will soon be replaced by the X-T2, but it will most likely sell at the MSRP of $ 1,300 when introduced and such a heavy discount won’t be offered for a while. If you don’t want to drop $ 1K towards a Fuji camera, the Fuji X-T10 is a steal at $ 600 (see my detailed review of Fuji X-T10).

And here are all the Fuji X-series lens deals:

• Fuji XF 10-24mm f/4 R OIS ($ 200 off)
• Fuji XF 14mm f/2.8 R ($ 400 off)
• Fuji XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR ($ 300 off)
• Fuji XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR ($ 200 off)
• Fuji XF 18mm f/2.0 R ($ 150 off)
• Fuji XF 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR ($ 200 off)
• Fuji XF 23mm f/1.4 R ($ 200 off)
• Fuji XF 27mm f/2.8 ($ 150 off)
• Fuji XF 35mm f/1.4 R ($ 150 off)
• Fuji XF 35mm f/2 R WR ($ 100 off)
• Fuji XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR ($ 200 off)
• Fuji XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR + 1.4x TC ($ 350 off)
• Fuji XC 50-230mm f/4.5-6.7 OIS ($ 200 off)
• Fuji XF 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 RLM OIS ($ 200 off)
• Fuji XF 56mm f/1.2 R APD ($ 400 off)
• Fuji XF 56mm f/1.2 R ($ 200 off)
• Fuji XF 60mm f/2.4 Macro ($ 200 off)
• Fuji XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR ($ 200 off)
• Fuji XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR + 1.4x TC ($ 350 off)

The above discounts are very significant and the selection of lenses is outstanding. Personally, given the aggressive discounts, I would jump on the following lenses for my needs: XF 14mm f/2.8, XF 16mm f/1.4, XF 23mm f/1.4, XF 35mm f/2, XF 56mm f/1.2 and XF 10-24mm f/4. All other lenses are also superb, but these are the ones I really love shooting with. One lens in the list that falls into the no-brainer category is the XF 35mm f/2 – at $ 300, this is a wonderful lens. If I were starting out with the Fuji X system, I would get the Fuji X-T10 along with the XF 35mm f/2 first.

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‘Know This’ – An Artist’s Tribute to Travel

The ultimate movement; adventure, experience, and escape rolled into one single word. Travel. The word itself, a title to encompass all of life’s passion and emotion in transit. Life is frustrating, funny, and challenging; an endless series of events in random order, asking us to interpret meaning and understanding. Travel allows us to put the randomness into perspective, the daily events elaborated as just blessings from the road that eventually tally up to what amounts to be a life fully lived. Travel Photographer Christian Sorensen Hansen does an amazing job capturing highlights from six years on the road, with the camera he always has with him: his phone. His short movie, “Know This,” will stir the fire of escape from deep inside and have you planning your next trip in no time.

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Water Droplet Photography Tips

Do you love taking pictures? If so, this is a new and exciting way to take awesome photos that will have your friends and family talking! The best part is that you can do this at any time of year or time of day, and you don’t have to leave your home to do it. I will show you how to photograph water droplets for some downright amazing images!

Photo captured by PictureSocial member Jeff Carson

Start by mounting your camera on a tripod in front of your setup.

Using your viewfinder, make sure you background color is reflecting strongly off the water. Try using a piece of magazine as a target to get your camera ready for focus. I stick with using an aperture of f/4 to f/4.5 to make sure the depth of field is still keeping the drop sharp while blurring the background.

Make sure your setup is well-lit with flash units, then dim the room lights.

Set a fast shutter speed.

I have found that an eye dropper works best for making a drip. Squeeze out a drop, and start by manually flashing. Then continue till you achieve your desired result! Your hardest task is going to be timing!

Your best method is going to be trial and error. It does take some practice. After about a dozen shots, you will start getting in sync with your camera and your amazing pics will be proof!

Another method is to use a sound-activated or motion-detecting device that will automatically make your flash units trigger.

“Droplet” captured by PictureSocial member vjekoslav antic

Creating your Shape

1. Crown shapes. You need to fill the receptacle with liquid to about 1 centimeter or less.
2. Column shape. Your are going to need to add a tad more liquid. Plain water works best, so no need to waste your time trying anything else. It’s cost effective and reflective!

Backgrounds

Have fun with this. There are several different ways you could go:

1. Go all black with a beautiful wine glass as your receptacle.
2. Use bright, fun colors underneath your container; it creates a fun, upbeat effect!
3. Try placing some colorful stones in the bottom of the dish.
4. Wrapping paper works great. Make sure your receptacle is a contrasting color to really make it pop out at you.

At about 120 degrees, water drops will reflect a given area. Your background doesn’t have to be huge since it is only going to be sitting about 3 inches behind the receptacle.

Photo captured by PictureSocial member Jeff Carson

I hope you now have learned how to photograph water droplets and are well on your way to making stunning photos to show to your family and friends!

About the Author
This article was written by Brooks Carver from antiquecuckooclocks dot net.

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Broncolor launches range of softbox edge masks for rim light effect

Swiss lighting brand broncolor has announced a range of diffuser panels for its softboxes that help to create a rim light effect when the subject is positioned in front of the softbox. The Edge Masks feature a large black panel in the center of the diffuser that prevents light from passing, but leaves strips all the way around the panel for the flash to pass through. The idea is that people posed in front of the panel will appear on a black background but highlighted with a rim of light all around them.

The panels are designed to replace the usual white diffuser of the softbox, which is removed when the Edge Mask is in place. The effect is relatively easy to achieve using any softbox and a panel of black material, but these are a bit more convenient and look more professional.

The company has also launched a 110cm parabolic umbrella that can be used to vary the focus of the reflected light. The umbrella has a particularly long arm that allows the light source to be placed at a range of distances from the reflective material.

The Edge Masks come in a range of sizes and are available now, as is the Focus 110 umbrella. The Edge Masks are priced from £42/$ 54 to £84/$ 113, while the umbrella costs £150/$ 210.

For more information visit the broncolor website.

---

Press release:

New Light Shaping Tools – Edge Masks & Focus 110

Hot on the heels of the new Siros L battery powered studio monobloc, broncolor have also released two brand new lights shaping tools – the Edge Mask diffuser and Focus 110 umbrella.

Edge Masks
Using the broncolor range of softboxes just became even more creative and flexible. The new Edge Mask helps turn the rectangular sizes of the softboxes in to a rim light, allowing for subjects to be photographed in-front of and against the softbox, with the light wrapping around the subject from behind. This is a popular technique previously only created by flagging off the softbox with a board, but the Edge Mask provides a professional, easy and uniform method for creating the effect. Simply attach the Edge Mask to your existing softbox as you would an external diffuser.

Focus 110
The new parabolic Focus 110 umbrella (110cm diameter) provides a quick an easy way of producing a focusable parabolic light effect. Simply pop it up and use the lamp heads umbrella holder to slide and focus the shaper.

Pricing and availability
The new Edge Masks and Focus 110 are ready and available to ship now!

33.612.00 – Edge Mask for Softbox 35 x 60 – £35 ex. VAT
33.613.00 – Edge Mask for Softbox 60 x 100 – £40 ex. VAT
33.614.00 – Edge Mask for Softbox 90 x 120 – £50 ex. VAT
33.615.00 – Edge Mask for Softbox 120 x 180 – £70 ex. VAT

33.576.00 – Focus 110 – £125 + VAT

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Beginner’s Guide to Better Landscape Photography: Infographic

If you’re new to photography, you most likely get a little confused when it comes to keeping all the jargon, camera settings, and composition rules straight. We’ve all been there. And those of us who are visual learners will appreciate this helpful landscape photography infographic, which clearly illustrates all the basics:

The Novice’s Guide to Better Landscape Photography (Via CustomMade. Click to see full size.)

This easy-to-understand resource sets us straight on choosing aperture settings, deciding on a focal point, and composing interesting landscape images. Print it out and hang it on your wall for a visual reminder that will improve your photography in no time.

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Photoshop Layers and Layer Masking for Beginners

Arguably the most versatile adjustments in Photoshop are the layering and masking tools. Together, layers and masks make up a large portion of the work most photographers do in Photoshop, both for subtle and complex edits. However, if you are just beginning to work in Photoshop, these two irreplaceable tools may not be completely intuitive. In this article, I will cover some basic tips and techniques for using layers and layer masking in Photoshop – laying the groundwork for far more advanced post-processing adjustments.

Note: This article is specifically written with Photoshop in mind, but nearly all photography programs that use masks (such as GIMP, among others) work in similar ways. I use Photoshop CS6, but all of this information applies to any modern version of Photoshop as well, including Photoshop CC.

1) Introducing Layers

In order to visualize layers in Photoshop, it helps to think of a physical, paper print. If you have several prints, you can stack – or layer – them on top of each other easily. Layering in Photoshop works the same way, although your stack is made of digital images rather than physical prints.

Both in print and in Photoshop, the first rule of layering is simple: the layer on top is the one that’s visible. In other words, if I stack a red print on top of a blue print, I’m only going to see a red print. The same is true with the layers in Photoshop (the layer tab is highlighted in red):

The versatility of digital layers, though, is that you can change their strength using the opacity option in Photoshop. The lower the opacity, the more you can “see through” the top layer. So, as I reduce the opacity from 100% to 0%, this photo becomes progressively more and more blue. At 50% opacity, for example, the image is purple, halfway between red and blue:

Opacity is incredibly useful for any work in Photoshop, since it lets you change the strength of your adjustments. However, there are more variables at play than appear at first glance.

2) Putting Layers into Practice

Every time that I open Photoshop, my first step is to duplicate the background layer – the one that has the lock symbol next to it – with the shortcut Control + J (Command + J on a Mac). Why do I do this?

The main reason is simply because I want to avoid making changes that I can’t undo easily. For example, if I make ten edits to a single layer, I can’t delete the first without undoing all the others. However, if each edit is its own layer, it is easy to delete the one I don’t like (or simply reduce its opacity).

Adobe knows all this, and that’s why they put a “lock” on the background layer in the first place. This lock makes it impossible to do certain edits to the background layer, since there would be no way to undo them selectively. If you want to unlock this layer, it’s very easy – just double click, then hit “enter.” However, it’s a good safeguard that reminds you to use layers whenever you can.

Another important part about layers is the ability to change their names. This might not matter when you only have two layers – red and blue – but it is crucial if you have dozens, or even hundreds of layers. The title “Background Copy 14” doesn’t tell me anything, but “Sharpening Layer” does. To rename a layer, just double click on the layer’s current title and type the new name.

Lastly, the opacity tool is far from the only way to adjust a layer’s transparency. Instead, Photoshop has another valuable tool up its sleeve: the power of layer masking

3) Layer Masking

At its simplest, layer masking gives you extreme flexibility in deciding which portions of a layer are important or not. It’s easier to show an example than to describe one, so I’ll include a screenshot of a layer mask in action. Here, I “masked out” part of the red layer, revealing the blue layer below:

It’s clear that this is a dramatic change, and it proves that masking is a powerful tool. Using this technique, I can make selective edits to individual portions of the photo. Do I want to brighten a person’s face, but leave the rest of the photo unchanged? No problem – layer masking does the job. So, how does it work?

Layer masking isn’t that difficult, but it helps to follow along while you use it. The first step is to click on the layer where you want a mask. Then, create a mask by clicking on the “Add Layer Mask” tool.

In the world of Photoshop, a mask does absolutely nothing if it is completely white, which is how it appears at first:

When a mask is perfectly black, the opposite is true; a black mask is the equivalent of using 0% opacity, resulting in a transparent layer. For example, notice the black line painted on the mask in this section’s first screenshot; that line corresponds to the blue that shows through the top layer!

You aren’t confined just to painting white and black when you work on a mask; in fact, you can paint in any shade of gray. A dark shade of gray leads to a nearly-transparent layer, while a light shade of gray only shows a faint impression of the layers below. As you might expect, a 50% gray mask corresponds to a 50% level of opacity.

However, masking is much more flexible than the opacity tool, since it lets you adjust specific parts of the layer, rather than the entire layer. As I mentioned earlier, a mask lets you brighten just a small portion of the photo, such as someone’s face, which would be impossible with the opacity slider.

Finally, note that it is impossible to paint any colors other than white, gray, and black onto a mask. This makes sense, since whatever you do to a mask doesn’t directly appear in a photo; it simply tells Photoshop which portions of a layer to reduce in opacity.

4) Masking on Adjustment Layers

The sections above cover most of the basics of layers and layer masking. However, there is one other important aspect to cover: adjustment layers.

If you want to make color, contrast, brightness, or many other changes in Photoshop, adjustment layers are one of the quickest tools at your disposal. The process is quite easy. First, click on the adjustment layer tab at the bottom of your Photoshop window:

Say, for example, that we want to increase the brightness of the sky in this photograph. Let’s add a brightness adjustment layer:

Notice something interesting? The brightness adjustment layer is already a white mask. Notice what happens when you paint black on portions of it:

Now, the sky has gotten much brighter, but the black part of the mask eliminates all effects on the ground and water. They stay just as dark as they would without any adjustment at all. That’s the power of layer masks!

(Note that I mentioned earlier that I always duplicate the background layer upon import. This is usually true, but in this particular case there was no need; the adjustment layer is already separate from the background, so I can delete it whenever I want.)

5) Conclusions

This article is only the briefest of introductions into layers and masking. The more time you spend in Photoshop, the more you will learn about masking techniques, tips, and tricks. However, a comprehensive article on masking would be the length of a book, and it still wouldn’t cover everything there is to know. The best way to learn about advanced masking techniques is to practice in Photoshop yourself, then look up new strategies online if your old methods are insufficient.

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23 Street Photography Tips For Your Next Photo Walk

The Cooperative of Photography​ (COOPH) teamed up with Switzerland-based Street Photographer Thomas Leuthard as he hits the streets of Salzburg to demonstrate some of the techniques he uses to be a true ninja street photographer. Leuthard arms himself with a discreet Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II mirrorless camera to capture the essence of everyday life as it happens on public streets.

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Levitation Photography: Techniques for Defying Gravity

Levitation is one of the most intriguing subjects in trick photography; it has inspired millions of people since its invention in the mid-19th century. The ability to harness the creative aspects of the photographer and combine it with real-life images has resulted in a combined revolution of art and science.

photo by Photo Vanova

One of the simplest, yet most overwhelming and inspiring feelings is found in the types of photographs where the subject seems to levitate above the ground. Levitation photography is still one of the most eye-catching and spectacular types of photographic subjects. However, despite the seemingly complex nature of these photographs, many of them are simple to achieve, either all in-camera, or with the use of technology such as Photoshop or an application on your phone.

For most amateur or aspiring photographers, the ability to improve picture-taking skills is actually easier than we might think. This article shows you how to incorporate this type of special effect into your repertoire. The following techniques will help you accomplish levitation photography:

Jumping Technique

The most spectacular effects are the simplest of all to photograph. The subject simply jumps in place, above the ground, and then the photographer snaps the picture. There are no post-production or editing effects required, since everything takes place inside the camera. However, it does take more than just simple jumping to achieve the effect.

Stationary objects should also be included. In other words, the levitation effect is more pronounced when we see objects that are normally stationary in the frame of the picture, such as a house, vehicle, furniture, or any type of stationary object in a levitated position.

photo by Curtis MacNewton

The human subject must not look like he or she is jumping. You can achieve this stationary position with a calm expression on the face, slight bending of the knees so that the feet appear to be floating effortlessly off the ground, and some kind of rigidity in the clothing that does not give away the subject’s motion.

If your subject has long hair, it’s important to press the shutter button during the middle of a jump and not in the final phase while the subject is descending with their hair appearing to be hanging from the sky. You can also use hair styling product to minimize hair movement to make the shoot easier.

The shutter speed on your camera must be set fast enough so that there is no motion blur. You can hire a skilled model, particularly a dancer or athlete who is accustomed to jumping, to create a more realistic effect.

Double Frame Technique

The next type of levitation trick is using objects, for example stools and ladders, to support the subject. After this, you mask out the subject in post-production editing with the use of photo editing software (e.g. Adobe Photoshop). This is perhaps the most common type of levitation photography.

photo by Lucy Maude Ellis

This type of levitation photography can achieve some spectacular effects if done correctly. You should ensure that objects used to support the subject are easy to remove in post-production editing. To perform the post-production editing, you will require double frames (i.e. shoot two images for post-processing).

Double Frame Levitation Photography Tips

• Use a sturdy tripod to hold your camera, and place the tripod at a fixed position for the entire shoot.
• Use manual mode on your camera to achieve your desired lighting exposure, and maintain the same setting for your entire shoot.
• Use manual focus-mode on the camera lens to achieve the desired focus point on your subject, and maintain the same focus point for your entire shoot.
• Consider using a remote shutter release or set your camera on self-timer mode if you are modeling for your own shoot.
• While shooting multiple frames, the first image should consist of only the background without the subject and supporting object. The second image should consist of the exact same background but with your subject and the required supporting object.
• After capturing the images, you will need to use Photoshop or other editing software to align the two images. You can then easily remove the supporting object by using the masking technique.

photo by Louish Pixel

In essence, there needs to be a significant color difference between the supporting objects and the subject itself. This makes it easier to isolate and remove the supporting object while editing.

Tips for More Realistic Levitation Photography

• Try to include or create shadows of your levitating subject. You should shoot the picture under soft lighting to achieve soft shadows, as it will make your work easier during post-production editing. When necessary, you can clone out the shadow of the supporting object and add in artificial shadows using the burn tool in Adobe Photoshop.
• The more complex the background, the more believable the levitation. Using a simple, solid color background makes it very easy to achieve levitation effects. However, the more complex and natural the background, the more believable the image. Removing and replacing the support structure is more difficult to achieve.

photo by Louish Pixel

If you apply the above tips and tricks, you will definitely add wings to your existing portfolio. Expert levitation photography draws an impressed audience at a quicker rate.

About the Author:
Swee Shiong Chong writes for SG East Photo, a photography blog on techniques and equipment that is used in creating all types of photography from around the world.

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