Topaz Clarity

Not to be confused with Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw clarity sliders, this plugin is useful for increase of image’s levels of micro, midrange, and overall contrast. The effect is somewhat similar to NIK’s Tonal Contrast preset in their Color Efex Pro plugin, but Topaz Clarity has many more options, and it seems to be doing better job, when it comes to halos and noise.

I have used it routinely for several months now in combination with Topaz Denoise, Adjust and Impression programs. There are over 100 presets available at your disposal, but I use just a few, and even then sometimes I dial them slightly back. If you like contrasty images, you will like this software.

 

Usually, I run all my images through the Adobe Lightroom first, but in this case for the purpose of demonstration, I processed the image below just with Topaz Clarity program. The bottom image half is unmodified – exactly as it came out from the camera, while the top portion was processed with the Topaz Clarity “Color and Contrast Boost II” preset, and with some color saturation added (while in this preset). The resulting effect is quite dramatic – akin to a removal of obscuring plastic sheet.

 
The second picture demonstrates the tonal adjustment capabilities of the program. This is a hidden gem in this program. If you just click on some of the presets (as we initially all do) without making any tonal adjustments, you are missing a lot of the Clarity’s potential.

Recently, at the end of the day, barely catching the last rays of sun, I took a picture of two big stalks of Brussels sprouts on a grass patch, and because of the poor light, I used the camera flash to add some light to the vegetables on the grass. The flash helped to bring out the details in the little balls, but it made the center of the picture also too bright, and thus making the overall looking quite artificial.

So after taking it into Topaz Clarity, I applied a slight increase in the contrast and saturation (pop), and then I used the Tonal adjustments sliders to lighten the background and to darken the highlights in the middle.

The next picture shows the “after” version with slightly darkened veggies, reduced hot spots on the tomatoes and softer shadows. Click on both versions to see it in more detail.

 

Here is one more harvest picture, this time from a large onion field:
This time, I processed the image first in Adobe Lightroom.

and a 100% crop from the central bottom section:

And then I ran it through Topaz Clarity, using the relatively subtle “Medium Contrast And Pop” preset (one click and done).

and a 100% crop from the central bottom section:

 

The last picture shows both versions side by side. Click on it to see it in more detail:

 

To download the latest Topaz Clarity program for a free 30 days trial, use the following link to enter the Topaz Labs website.

Topaz Clarity

To purchase it, use the same link and a discount code “lespalenik” for 15% discount. This will work at anytime for any Topaz single plugin or a complete bundle.

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Topaz Impression

Topaz Labs has just released a brand new “painting” program, called Impression.

Topaz Impression

Impression will run both as a standalone program and also as a plugin. In their promotional piece, Topaz Labs emphasizes the power and flexibility of the program that can yield up to 7 billion variations for any pictures. I don’t know how they arrived at this number, but after browsing through the 47 presets/filters and numerous sliders/customization options, the number of possible variations seems indeed mind-boggling.
The selection of one of the available presets is simple and easy, but it is just a starting point. After choosing certain painting style, you can vary the brush size, stroke width and length, opacity, color saturation, contrast, blending mode, and more. And if that is not enough, you could even combine multiple styles.

According to Topaz: No prior knowledge of art is required – all you need is a photo and an unbounded imagination!

When you start the Impression program in the standalone mode, it will present a simple small window where you can browse your images and select one. The program loads very quickly the source image, displays it on the screen, and then it takes a few seconds to initialize its workspace. Then it will show the following screen with the first of the available presets which happens to be an Abstract style. All available presets are shown alphabetically in the right panel.

You can quickly review all “looks” in the right panel and choose something you like. Once you pick a desired preset, the right panel will display the customization sliders.

You can also select a canvas type and background texture.

The following section shows some of the styles which I applied to my Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse image.

Monet

Cezanne

van Gogh

Oil Painting

Pointilization

Chiaroscuro

Charcoal

Urban #1

In the above examples, especially in the small size, some options look very similar, so make sure to click on them and view them in larger size. Another thing to consider, is that the individual painting styles will behave differently for different type of images, and on top of it, you can customize each style by changing the brush and light parameters, as well as the color saturation and contrast.

Since the original image still exists in the memory and sits below your new creation (when using the program in standalone version), you can create yet another painterly version by changing its opacity and blending mode (similar to Photoshop). When you use it as plugin in Photoshop, you can create separate layers for several Impression presets, and then use the blending modes and opacity slider in Photoshop. This option may be overlooked, but it offers interesting and powerful transformation possibilities.

Here are a few more examples from my FineArtAmerica collection, demonstrating the renditions of Abstract, Oil Painting, Van Gogh, and Charcoal presets.

Topaz Impression is a 64-bit program and it should work on the current crop of Mac and Windows systems. You can download a trial version for free and use it for 30 days. Note that if your graphics card doesn’t support OpenGL 3.2 or later, you won’t be able to install the program. If you have OpenGL 3.1 or earlier, visit Intel’s Driver Download page and follow the instructions to manually identify your graphics card driver.

If you already own the Topaz Simplify program with the simple painting presets, you can compare the two programs and see for yourself how much the automated painting evolved in the new Impression program. It’s definitely worth the try!

To download the latest Topaz Impression, use the following link to enter the Topaz Labs website.

Topaz Impression

To purchase it, use the same link and a discount code “lespalenik” for 15% discount. This will work at anytime for any Topaz single plugin or a complete bundle.

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Topaz Adjust 5

Topaz Adjust has been around for a number of years and is one of the Topaz most popular plugins. The latest version adds over 100 new presets to their existing presets, so you get a really rich repertoire of many interesting and useful options both in HDR treatments and toning variations. The other main change is the option to add multiple filters similar to NIK Color Efex Pro without exiting back to Photoshop. That is quite useful if you want to combine HDR or saturation effects with some toning or vignette.

Adjustments / Settings

Frankly, with so many standard presets, there is a very good chance that you will never need to change any of those settings. But if you do have special needs, you will like the new Settings panel that has been also enhanced, and is indeed, extremely powerful now. With the many sliders in the Adjustment panel, you can fine-tune the settings in a variety of ways. In addition to the color balance, saturation, contrast and many other familiar sliders, there is now also a Curve adjustment, and borrowed from their Denoise product, also a very competent noise removal.

Topaz Adjust 5 now offers a user-definable Auto Create Layer. In the previous Topaz Adjust versions, as well as in most other Topaz programs, any effects are added directly to the current layer. Of course, you could always create a new layer in Photoshop prior to invoking the Adjust plugin, but it was an extra step. Now, a new layer is created automatically, but if you don’t want adding new layers, you can disable the Auto Create Layer in the user preference panel.

Another new feature is the Split screen capability that is useful for comparing the Before and After effects.

If you want to address just certain sections of your image without masking, you can use a local Brush and Edge Aware Brush tools. And similar to Photoshop Layer Opacity slider, Topaz Adjust 5 has now a Transparency slider which allows to dial back the amount of the applied effects.

Topaz Adjust 5 works with both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Photoshop CS5-CS6 and CS CC on Mac and Windows systems. To download the latest Topaz Adjust 5 version, use the following link to enter the Topaz Labs website.

Topaz Adjust

You can use this link and a discount code “lespalenik” also for all Topaz single plugins or a complete bundle at anytime for 15% discount

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Topaz Remask 4

Topaz Remask has been around for a while now, and it has earned high marks from photographers and graphic designers who need to isolate some elements or create complex masks to break the image into distinct layers. Remask 4 is the latest and most powerful version, released in July 2014. It is also more elegant and simpler to use than the previous versions. This program is different from most of the other Topaz plugins, and as such it uses a different user interface. If you used Remask 3 before, you’ll notice several differences how the new user interface is configured.

In this example, I’ll be using an image of a tiger which I photographed in a zoo and then pasted onto a sandy beach.

Source Image

Below is the Topaz Remask 4 version screen that appears after you invoke the plugin from Lightroom, Photoshop or other host image editing program (click on the image to display it in full resolution).

When you invoke Remask plugin from your editing program, it loads your image and paints it with semitransparant green color (as a default color for keeping the parts of image you’d like to work on).

Source Image

The procedure to cut out the desired part of image is very straightforward. Since the default brush mode is blue, you can immediately drop your pen or mouse on the tiger and start outlining the body with the blue color. It doesn’t matter where you start and you can draw the outline in as many steps as you like. When you finish outlining, fill the outside area with red (one click on the red bucket icon, and another click anywhere outside the tiger), and click on COMPUTE button.

To see the original image and compare it with the newly created mask or a cut out element. you can click on the desired option in the upper display option menu.

Display Options

Topaz Remask 4 Trimap screen

Extracted tiger

If you are happy with the outcome, press OK, and the program returns to your editing program (Photoshop or equivalent), having created a new layer with the cut out element on top of the original layer.

In my case, I copied the tiger and pasted it into another image, scaled down the new layer slightly, flipped it horizontally, and voila – a much more inviting prowling hangout for our tiger (almost exactly as I saw it in my mind when I pressed the shutter – just kidding).

Beach scene with the tiger pasted in

The whole procedure from start to finish took only a few minutes. The mask was created with a minimum effort and it looks quite good. There were a few color contaminations outside of the tiger body which I cleaned up in Photoshop. You can also finetune the mask in Remask by using the adjustment brush and changing the parameters shown in the Remask Control Panel.

 

The second example shows a felt hat, which was photographed with multiple backgrounds around the hat. The top portion is a white board which makes for an easy extraction, on the bottom there is a graduated shadow, shiny metallic can, and a patterned ground touching the right side of the hat.

Felt hat with a brim

The picture below shows the black and white mask layer with the very fine details all around the brim, all accurately rendered regardless of the surrounding background. Click on the mask to see the details at 100%.

Mask Layer

Cut out hat

Topaz Remask 4 works with both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Photoshop CS5-CS6 and CS CC on Mac and Windows systems. To download the latest Topaz Remask 4 version, use the following link to enter the Topaz Labs website.

Topaz Remask

You can use this link and a discount code “lespalenik” also for other Topaz single plugins or a complete bundle at anytime for 15% discount

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Topaz Clean Review

Topaz Clean is a small, but potentially very useful plugin for cleaning up images.

Below is the Topaz Clean Version 3 screen that appears after you invoke the plugin from Lightroom, Photoshop or other host image editing program (click on the image to display it in full resolution).

Topaz Clean 3 Screen

The screen will be familiar to existing Topaz users, with several standard, easy-to-use presets on the left panel and detailed adjustable settings in the right panel.

TOPAZ CLEAN PRESETS

TOPAZ CLEAN SETTINGS

In most cases, using one of the standard presets will be all you’ll need. It takes just two clicks – one to select the appropriate collection, and a second to choose the desired preset. There are seven different presets, each creating a distinct filter.
Depending on your image, you can try one of the standard presets and if needed, fine-tune it in the right Settings panel.

The Detail tab is the most important group of controls, allowing you to adjust with a great precision the three levels of details within the image. You can adjust the small, medium, and large details in three specific tonal regions (Overall, Shadows, and Highlights). This provides an unprecedented amount of customizing options.

The Tone tab allows you to increase or decrease the brightness and contrast. You can change brightness globally or selectively for specific color ranges.

The Color tab gives you the option to change the saturation, as well as the temperature and tint. Personally, I don’t use this tab, as I prefer to set the color adjustments non-destructively in Lightroom which is the first step in my workflow.

EXAMPLE 1:

Original image

Skin Even preset

DeGrunge preset

Stylize preset

Crisp preset

 

EXAMPLE 2:

Original image

Cartooned preset

DeGrunge preset

Stylize preset

 

EXAMPLE 3:

Original image

Cartooned preset

Crisp preset

Stylize preset

The Stylize preset accentuates the structure, but as you can see, it also introduces strong haloes around all edges, so you may want to tone down this preset in the settings or your layers.

Topaz Clean 3 works with both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Photoshop CS5-CS6 and CS CC on Mac and Windows systems.

 

To download the latest Topaz Clean version, use the following link to enter the Topaz Labs website.

Topaz Clean

 

You can use this link and a discount code “lespalenik” also for other Topaz single plugins or a complete bundle at anytime for 15% discount

 

 

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Topaz Detail 3.1.0

Topaz Detail, an image detail sharpening and enhancement program, is one of the most used plugins, made by Topaz Labs.
Below is the Topaz Detail Version 3.1.0 screen that appears after you invoke the plugin from Lightroom, Photoshop or other host image editing program (click on the image to display it in full resolution).

Topaz Detail 3 Screen

Topaz Split Screen Example 1 – Before and After

Topaz Split Screen Example 2 – Before and After

The screen will be familiar to existing Topaz users, with several standard, easy-to-use presets on the left panel and detailed adjustable settings in the right panel.

TOPAZ DETAIL COLLECTIONS AND PRESETS

TOPAZ DETAIL SETTINGS

SETTINGS PANEL with expanded Detail and Tone tabs

The right panel also includes a handy magnifying switch that allows you to view the noise reduction effects at 100-400%.

In most cases, using one of the standard presets will be all you’ll need. It takes just two clicks – one to select the appropriate collection, and a second to choose the desired preset. The main advantage of the Topaz Detail, when compared to Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom sharpening is that you can specify different sharpening values for the small, medium, or large elements in your image. The nature and structure of the image will also call for a different treatment. For example, a landscape image with trees and rocks will require different sharpening approach than a glamour portrait or a close-up of a flower.

Depending on your image, you can start with the Light or Medium option in the Creative Detail Collection preset and if needed, fine-tune it in the right Settings panel.

The Detail tab is the most important group of controls, allowing you to adjust with a great precision the three levels of details within the image. You can adjust the small, medium, and large details in three specific tonal regions (Overall, Shadows, and Highlights). This provides an unprecedented amount of customizing options.

The Tone tab allows you to increase or decrease the brightness and contrast. You can change brightness globally or selectively for specific color ranges.

The Color tab gives you the option to change the saturation, as well as the temperature and tint. Personally, I don’t use this tab, as I prefer to set the color adjustments non-destructively in Lightroom which is the first step in my workflow.

The Deblur tab allows you to reduce the blur in the image and to suppress color artifacts.

Finally, the Effects tab option gives you the option to mask in or out the specific parts of the image by painting with an advanced edge-aware brush.

EXAMPLE 1:

Original, unsharpened image

Creative Collection, Light I preset

Creative Collection, Medium II preset

 

EXAMPLE 2:

Original, unsharpened image

Creative Collection, Medium II preset

Stylized Collection, HDR II preset

In this last example (click on the image below to see it at 100%), we used Creative Collection, Medium II preset, and as you can see, not only the fine details such as the sail cables and metal railings have been sharpened, but also the texture in the wooden panels has been enhanced and brought out more fully.

Topaz Split Screen Example 3 – Before and After

 

I find that for most images, the standard presets work just fine, but it’s useful to have access to all the customizing options above, especially to the painting mode by brush in the Effects tab.

Topaz Detail V3 works with both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Photoshop CS5-CS6 and CS CC on Mac and Windows systems.

Topaz Detail

 

You can use this link and a discount code “lespalenik” also for other Topaz single plugins or a complete bundle at anytime for 15% discount

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Topaz DeNoise 5

Topaz DeNoise 5 from Topaz Labs is the latest version 5 of the noise reduction program. Among other improvements Topaz Labs introduced two innovative noise reduction tools – a Dual-directional Debanding technology that tackles banding noise, and a Correct Black Level parameter that helps to restore shadow tones. Topaz claims that while other competing noise reduction tools utilize a range of subtle blurring techniques that often removes detail as well as noise, Topaz DeNoise 5 is the only software of its kind that is able to recover crisp detail while simultaneously removing up to four stops of noise with the utmost quality.

Below is the DeNoise screen that appears after you invoke the plugin from Lightroom, Photoshop or other host image editing program (click on the image to display it in full resolution).

Topaz DeNoise 5 Screen

The screen will be familiar to existing Topaz users, with several standard, easy-to-use presets on the left panel and detailed adjustable settings in the right panel.

Topaz DeNoise Presets

The right panel also includes a handy magnifying switch that allows you to view the noise reduction effects at 100-400%.

Topaz DeNoise Presets

In most cases, using one of the standard presets will be fully adequate. For images with a low amount of noise, use the Light or Moderate presets, and for really low-ISO images with a lot of noise and color contamination use one of the Strong presets (Strong, Stronger, Strongest, Strongest with Debanding).

If your image requires a more advanced treatment, start with the Moderate or Strong preset and then switch to the right Settings panel.

Typically, you’ll start with the luminance noise reduction. The Luma channel preview masks out the color information and makes it easier to see the luminance noise as you use the Strength, Adjust Shadows, and Adjust Highlights sliders to reduce the visible noise in Midtones, Shadows, and Highlights to an acceptable level. After making the luminance noise adjustments, use the Detail Adjustment controls to recover any details lost in the noise reduction process.

If your image contains color noise problems, switch from Luma to RGB mode or specific Red and Blue color modes and use the Red, Blue or Clean Color Adjustment sliders to neutralize the color spots. The Correct black slider is one of the new additions and it helps to eliminate haze from the black areas and make them darker.

Finally, if you see any banding noise, you can experiment with the horizontal or vertical sliders in the Debanding panel to clean it up. In my testing, I found that when debanding eliminated some abnormalities, sometimes it introduced new random patterns, but that might be what the designers intended.

Topaz DeNoise 5 is the most advanced noise reduction tool I used, yet it is very logical, easy-to-learn, and easy-to-use. Compared to Lightroom and NIK Dfine, the ability to restore fine edges, other fine details, and black levels is very good. DeNoise 5 works with both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Photoshop CS5-CS6 and CS CC on Mac and Windows systems.

EXAMPLE 1:

Owl – Untreated Image – minimal noise, ISO 2500, D600

Owl – LR NR with Luminosity value 25

Owl – NIK Dfine Automatic

Owl – Topaz Denoise 5 – Moderate Preset

Owl – Topaz Denoise 5 – Strong Preset

Although this image didn’t require too much noise reduction, from the last two Topaz images it can be seen that the detail in eyes and feathers has been preserved better than in the LR and NIK treatments.

EXAMPLE 2:

Fruit – Untreated Image – heavy noise, H1.0/ISO 6400, D300

LR NR with Luminosity Value of 60

NIK Dfine – Automatic

Topaz DeNoise 5 – Moderate preset

Since this image started with a heavy noise, it required a more aggressive treatment. All three programs handled competently the large areas, but if you look at the end of the pepper stem, you can see significantly more detail in the Topaz result than in the other treatments.

EXAMPLE 3:

LR NR with Luminosity of 60

NIK Dfine, Automatic

Topaz Denoise 5 Strongest Preset with Debanding

In the last example, we applied the strongest possible Denoise preset that almost eliminated the really heavy noise, and although the image is much cleaner than the ones processed by LR

and NIK, the details are not preserved quite as well as with a slightly less aggressive treatment.

 

To download the latest Topaz Denoise version, use the following link to enter the Topaz Labs website to get a discount

http://www.topazlabs.com/861.html

You can use this link and a discount code “lespalenik” at anytime, also for other Topaz single plugins or a complete bundle at 15% off

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Neuroscience Tips For Photographers

A grizzly sprinting at 35 miles an hour from hundred feet away will sink its teeth into your expedition cargo pants in less than two seconds, giving you just enough time to engage the autofocus, select burst mode, and press the shutter. Depending on your reaction time and camera model, your closed ones may inherit six to ten pre-mortal frames that could be made into a very short viral video clip.

Reaction times for trained athletes vary from superfast 40 ms for Muhammad Ali’s fastest punches to 150 ms required to return a table tennis ball. Sprinters take 100-150 ms after registering the starting pistol to jump off the blocks.

As an action photographer, you might find it interesting that once an image hits the retina, it takes approximately 100 milliseconds before it consciously registers in the brain. Although the light travels much faster than sound, the human’s body visual system is actually slower than our audio system. When the light or an image hits our retina, the photons must be translated into a chemical signal that in turn must be converted into an electrical impulse that can be carried via the nerve fibres to visual cortex residing in the back portion of the brain. Visual cortex will process the input signal and split it into two entities – one processing the shape and identity of the object(s) we see, and the other decoding the location and motion of the object(s). These two streams are then combined into a final information block which is converted into conscious awareness. Lot of complex data manipulation and processing.

Neuroscientists have discovered another problem with the real-time watching. A simple assumption is that our visual system continuously monitors the surroundings and records it in “video camera” style. In reality, we are continuously scanning the entire scene and taking a quick sample from each location. The seamless connection and stitching of the entire scene is handled by the brain that combines the individual segments into an equivalent wide-screen scene that appears like a movie.

Typically, we perform about five such visual relocations per second with the minimum time of 200 milliseconds to shift our viewpoint. Then you add 300-400 milliseconds required to execute a cognitive decision and another 50 milliseconds to engage a motor command to be communicated by nerves to the finger on the shutter. All these activities add up to 500-600 milliseconds or half a second, which translates to several missed frames.

Case in point:

This past summer, I was photographing a whitewater kayak race. I used a 70-300mm zoom lens across its entire range, shooting at F8 in single frame mode. From my vantage point, I was able to follow the racers, set the continuous autofocus, and fire off one or multiple shots in each gate. Except one tricky spot on the river with a fast short drop followed by a haystack. I took a number of shots in that spot, some better than others. When I examined images on my computer screen, I came across the following shot:

I like this image, and it was a sheer luck capturing it. Surely, I wasn’t composing and focusing for the hand with paddle. Most likely, I noticed the racer just coming down the chute, focused on him and pressed the shutter. Let’s assume that in that particular drop the water moves at 15mph (24km/h), kayak moves relatively to the water at 5 mph (8km/h), so the resulting speed is 20mph (33km/h). If the distance from the top of the drop to the bottom is 5 ft (1.5m), moving at that speed, the kayak can cover 9m in a second, or 5 ft (1.5m) in 165 ms. This corresponds roughly with 100 ms required for a transmission of the image from the retina to the visual cortex, plus another 50 ms to press the shutter. And that explains the confluence of kayak being in the hole just with the hand and paddle visible behind the standing wave and click of the shutter in that very fortunate moment.

As the kayaker cleared the haystack, he was slowed down sufficiently, that I could easily focus on him in that position and make another exposure. If his speed in that moment was around 3-4 mph, he would cover in 165 ms only 1 ft (30cm) which didn’t pose any problem for locking the focus or sufficient depth of field at that distance.

 

Back to the grizzlies:

On August 24th, 2012, in Denali National Park, a grizzly attacked and killed a lone backpacker who was photographing the bear from just over 40 yards away. He took 26 pictures of the bear with his camera over a span of 7 1/2 minutes, but the bear seemed to take notice of him only for the last few seconds, according to National Park Service officials who based their assessment on satellite imagery and photo time stamps. The park service said that, based on “initial evidence,” authorities believe a bear attacked the backpacker by the river and dragged his body to a “food cache site” in a bushy area 100 to 150 yards from where the attack occurred.

Picture above taken by yours truly a few years ago in Denali from a safe distance, not too far away from the fatal site.

 

The hiker took the first bear shots with a wide angle. Then he zoomed in. The last five pictures, taken in a span of 13 seconds, show the bear lifting its head up, looking away from the camera, and then turning towards the photographer (did the hiker sneeze or yell at him?). The mauling probably occurred almost immediately after the last image.

“A bear could cover that distance before a person could react,” said the park ranger. The bear was estimated at 600 lbs (270 kg), big for Denali. It was a mature boar, at least 5 years old.

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Canon 50mm lenses

Few months ago, we compared three Nikon 50mm lenses and examined center and corner sharpness. To complete the exercise, this time, we’ll compare three Canon lenses – Canon 50mm/1.4, Canon 50mm/2.5 macro, and a 17-50mm Tamron zoom XR DiII SP. The Tamron zoom is better and faster than the Canon 18-55mm kit zoom that was omitted from the comparison. For my type of shooting, I find also, that the 17-50mm range is more useful than 18-55mm.

All images were obtained on a bright, sunny day, at F8, and 1/1600s, and a APS-C format Canon T2i camera was mounted on a solid tripod. The images were not manipulated nor sharpened.

The first set of images shows the overall uncropped images (reduced to 720×480 size).

1. Canon 50mm/1.4 – ISO 200, F8.0, 1/1600s

2. Canon 50mm/2.5 – ISO 200, F8.0, 1/1600s

3. Tamron 17-50mm – ISO 200, F8.0, 1/1600s

The primes show better contrast and more vibrant colours than the zoom lens (notice the red chimneys and the reflection in the water). On the other hand, Tamron lets more light through at the same aperture. If you are going to print it in small size or use it just for Web, you won’t notice any difference in image quality, regardless of the lens used.

 

Next set of images shows a crop of the middle section (you can click on the images and see it in full 100% size).

1. Canon 50mm/1.4 – ISO 200, F8.0, 1/1600s

2. Canon 50mm/2.5 – ISO 200, F8.0, 1/1600s

3. Tamron 17-50mm – ISO 200, F8.0, 1/1600s

Both Canon primes are very sharp in the middle section (remember, this is output from a RAW, unsharpened image). As expected, the zoom lens is not quite as sharp, but again, printed at small to medium size or reduced to a web size, it is quite acceptable (you’ll need to view the samples at 100% to see the difference).

 

The last set of images shows the leftmost section in 100% crop

1. Canon 50mm/1.4 – ISO 200, F8.0, 1/1600s

2. Canon 50mm/2.5 – ISO 200, F8.0, 1/1600s

3. Tamron 17-50mm – ISO 200, F8.0, 1/1600s

Both Canon primes show excellent corner sharpness and some moire on the metal netting of the deck balcony. The 50mm/2.5 macro shows slight amount of green fringing along the vertical edges (noticeable on the two white beams under the roof), but that can be easily corrected in Lightroom). The Tamron zoom, as expected, is not quite as sharp, but due to the loss of knife-edge sharpness, it indirectly gets rid of the fringing, and moire on the balcony is also less pronounced.

Conclusion:
If you need the best quality, the 50mm/2.5 macro is hard to beat (it is also the least expensive of three tested lenses). In image quality almost indistinguishable from 50mm/1.4, and you get also the macro capability. Of course, if you need a fast lens in low-light situation or better isolation of the main subject, the 1.4 aperture will be the better choice. Tamron zoom is the longest and heaviest of the three, and not quite as sharp as the 50mm primes, but in good light and exposed at its sweet spot, it delivers good image quality and a useful range of focal lengths.

One more difference:

If you look carefully at the rightmost window in the cropped version in the last set of pictures, you’ll notice a startling difference. In the first two images, photographed with Canon prime lenses, the test subject sits straight and appears interested in his surroundings, whereas in the last photo he stopped cooperating and fell asleep.

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Print Mounting Tutorial

Mounting A Photograph In A Reverse Shadow Box

This article was inspired and made possible by Jim Camelford, the past president of Richmond Hill Camera Club who graciously offered to mount my print and allowed me to document the entire process.

 

So you captured and processed your masterpiece, and now, how do you transform it into a displayable artwork?

 

You can take it to a framing shop and pay their price or you can mount it and frame it yourself. Here is a complete tutorial how to make an attractive contemporary reverse shadow-box-frame.

You’ll need some space, a table or two, and the following tools and supplies:
– Foam Core board (black-on-black or white-on-white), 3/16″, 32×40″ or 40×60″
– Exacto knife (ideally OLFA Cutter, Model A Precision cutter)
– self-healing cutting mats (two large ones, butted togther)
– roller
– gift wrap (somewhat shiny)
– some weights
– Glue spray can (3M Super-77 Spray Adhesive recommended)
– Adhesive for gluing the wood
– Metal ruler
– Isopropyl Alcohol for cleaning your hands, tools and work surface
– Newspaper to cover a table for applying the adhesive

You can buy most of these items in Arts Supply or hardware store

First, we need the actual print. When it comes to selection of print paper, you can choose glossy or mat paper. The glossy paper shows the colors and fine details better, but it is much more sensitive even to smallest creases, bumps and other defects on the foamboard. Personally, for this type of mounting, I would recommend a mat stock. If you are printing it yourself, size it so that you’ll have a sufficient white border around the print. This is important for later handling and trimming the print.

Decide if you are going to mount it onto a white or black foamboard. If you use a black foamboard, it is a good idea to add a black border edge around the picture, ideally about 2-3mm in width. This ensures that when you trim the picture, the edges stay black.

Examine the print in detail and make sure that the colours and sharpening are to your liking. Make sure that the print will fit onto the foamboard.

Finally, inspect the foamboard for any dust and specks of dirt, and wipe it meticulously with a soft tissue paper or a cotton rag.

Somewhere else, preferrably outdoors or in ventilated room, set up another table or stand that will be used for applying the glue to the back side of the photograph. On the table, lay down some old newspaper. I happen to like Globe and Mail or Financial Post, but in pinch you can use also Toronto Star. Main thing, the paper is clean, lays flat and it won’t curl.

To make sure that the paper stays in place, you can weigh the corners with some heavy objects, such as rocks, bricks or old hard disk drives.

Lay the print face down on the newspaper, press down the sides with a thin board (old strips of foam-core work well) and some weights, and start spraying the back side systematically from one end to another. Spray from 8-12″ above the print; coating lightly in one direction then over-spray in the opposite (ie: 1st pass is leftright; 2nd is top-bottom). You should not see any sputter droplets on your print – if so you are spraying too close or too thickly. Allow to dry (cure) about 5 minutes. The print should be tacky – not wet – this will give you some limited re-positioning capability when you start to drop it onto the foam board.

After you finished spraying, remove the side boards which held the print in place and carry the print carefully to your main working table with the foamboard. Make sure not to tranfer any adhesive to your working area and place the print with the sticky side onto the foamboard.

Use a sheet of paper to press the print over its entire length onto the foamboard.

Then cover the print with a soft paper sheet (your wife’s Christmas wrapping will do just fine), and use a roller to press the print firmly onto the foamboard.

The next step is trimming. Use a long metal ruler and a sharp trimming knife. This is where an assistant comes handy by holding one end of the ruler.

If you are working alone or don’t trust your assistant, you can use a clamp to hold your ruler in place.

This completes the mounting part.

To make a reverse shadow box frame, we need light-weight, wooden boards, preferrably already painted – we used 1 1/2″ x 1/2″ size (about 4 x 1.25 cm). First we trim the edge of the board, and then we cut two side panels.

Apply sparringly a light layer of adhesive to the piece of wood (use rather less than more of the glue, and squirt the glue towards to the inside edge where it won’t matter if it spills underneath the board to the backing)

Now, press the side board to the foam board and position it exactly along the edge.

To hold the side board securely in place, place a heavy brick on the side board and another piece of scrap wood beside it.

Repeat the process for the second side board.
Then measure the distance between the two side boards, and cut the boards for the top and bottom. Apply the glue as in above steps and install the top and bottom boards. Ideally, all four pieces should fit tightly together, but it is better to err on shorter side and have a small gap between the end of the long piece and the side panel than to cut it too long and push the boards apart.

If you have any scrap wood left, you can glue a couple of pieces inside the frame to reinforce it.

Completed frame viewed from the back

And the final look from the side:

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