A William Manning Photography Publication
March / April 2020
Vol 7
Nature and Outdoor
• Travel
• Architecture
• Photo Illustrations
P h o t o g r a p h y
solutions Perfect Enlargement Tool for Your Photography Topaz Gigapixel AI
Add Film Grain for Creative Effect 2020 Photography Tours with Destination Photography Mentorship Programs
Spring is Approaching Quickly Warmer temps are on the horizon, flowers are beginning to bloom, trees are starting to bud, and photographers are re-processing last season’s photos. It is understandable the precautions we are all taking during the Coronavirus Pandemic. I agree, we need to be prudent in the decisions we make in our daily lives and with our travel plans.
My Guarantee to You I am hopeful, as are so many others, this pandemic ends sooner than later. I want to reassure photographers who are already signed up for a Destination Photography Mentorship Tour that any tour that needs to be cancelled due to the Coronvirus outbreak I will refund 100% of your money already paid. Photographers who are considering signing up for a tour with me, go ahead and sign up with a deposit. I will not ask for the balance until we know all travel bans have been lifted and it is safe to congregate in groups and enjoy the outdoors. If you do sign up and a tour has to be cancelled because of the Coronavirus you will recieve 100% of any monies paid. I want you to join me in 2020. The travel season is just beginning with many months ahead of great weather, great places to photograph and good companionship to enjoy. It’s just a matter of time, go ahead and make plans and I promise you won’t lose any money paid to William Manning Photography if we have to cancel due to the coronavirus. See you in the coming months. William Manning Have a question? email: william@williammanning.com website: williammanning.com
Destination Photography Mentorship
Go ahead and sign up for a photography tour. I guarantee 100% refund if a tour ha Simply register for the photo tour of your choice, pay the deposit and no balance will be required until we are certain travel can resume safely.
2020 Locations:
Great Smoky Mountains Palouse Iceland Mt Rainier Bulgaria Arches and Canyonlands
More than a Photography Tour
Every participant receives 3 one hour sessions on editing and p 2 critiques after they return home from a Destination Photogra Each session begins with a scheduled time for one on one learn participants a live view of my computer screen to demonstrate techniques.
Learn more at www.williamm
p Programs
as to be cancelled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
More than a Workshop
processing their work and aphy Mentorship Program. ning via Skype. This gives work flow and processing
manning.com
I Need Your Help.
Do you have a couple minu tips and techniques you can destinations that are most d
utes to take a quick survey? This survey will help me better deliver creative n use to take your photography to the next level. It will provide information on desirable. Your help is greatly appreciated.
Spring Buds on trees along the Blue Ridge Parkway Click Here to take Survey
The Great Smoky Mountains
May 4 - 9, 2020
Beautiful Mountain Streams, Verdant Stunning Appala
Join William on this Beautiful Springtime Photography Mentorship Photography Tour Every Destination Photography Mentorship Program is filled with photography on location. Each day begins early to capture the beautiful morning light as it rises from the distant horizon and illuminates the land and ends with the glow of the evening sun. Every participant receives an abundance of hands on instruction in the field. William has photographed and lead many tours in the Great Smoky Mountains. As with all tours, regardless of the number of times we photograph a location, our Great Smoky Mountains tour has been carefully planned to give participants a variety of opportunities to truly enjoy and photograph the beauty of the Appalachain Mountains. After returning home your mentoring continues with 3 one hour sessions of one on one learning focused on editing and processing plus 2 critiques sessions. Each session takes place via Skype. This gives participants the opportunity to ask questions and learn through live conferencing.
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t Green Forests and achain Landscapes
Palouse: The Photographers Palette June 15 - 20, 2020
Beautiful Rural American Landscapes, Rolling Hills of Vibrant Colors
Join William in the incredible Palouse to photograph a true American landscape. Every Destination Photography Mentorship Program is filled with photography on location. Each day begins early to capture the beautiful morning light as it rises from the distant horizon and illuminates the land and ends with the glow of the evening sun. Every participant receives an abundance of hands on instruction in the field. The Palouse is a unique area, it is America’s wheat belt and a major agricultural region. The annual rotation of crops, rolling hills and vibrant colors make this tour both unique and rewarding. William has lead several tours into the beautiful rolling hills of the Palouse. As with all tours, regardless of the number of times we photograph a location, our Palouse tour has been carefully planned to give participants a variety of opportunities to truly enjoy and photograph the beauty of this incredible region.
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and Endless Patterns
After returning home your mentoring continues with 3 one hour sessions of one on one learning focused on editing and processing plus 2 critiques sessions. Each session takes place via Skype. This gives participants the opportunity to ask questions and learn through live conferencing.
William’s Comments
Athabasca Falls, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada This is a photo I passed up for processing several years ago after returning from Jasper National Park. At the time it didn’t move me and felt it had little impact. I
Have a question or comment? email: william@williammanning.com
keep all my raw photos regardless if I process them or not. The reason is, I have found over time after I have been removed from the experience I find something interesting in them later down the road. It’s amazing the number of times I comment to myself, why did I pass this up the first time. Only regret is I didn’t use a neutral density filter.
Here we are at the brink of spring with so many unknowns. Not sure when we can travel, not sure when we can congregate with friends, not sure when we can return to work, not sure when we can return to school, restaurants, movies, concerts and for us photographers not sure when we can spread the legs of our tripods out in our favorite national park or wilderness area. The Coronavirus Pandemic may seem like all doom and gloom at the moment but we all know deep down these days will be behind in a few weeks. I have found myself a little down as winter in the midwest is not my favorite season. Midwest winters are overcast with chilly wet air. As we come closer to April my spirits rise and my craving to get out of the office is at the highest. Re-processing photos like this of Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park, Canada help get me through these last days of winter and the pandemic. I encourage you to dig into your library of past travels and re-process some photos and see what new looks you can bring into the photo. I unfortunately had to cancel a couple early spring tours due to the Coronavirus outbreak. This is something we all have had to do but for good reason. But, it is no reason to cancel all your travel plans for the year. This will all come to an end and life will carry on. Keep your enthusiasm high and make plans.
100% Refund Guarantee Photographers who want to book a photography tour with Destination Photography Mentorship tours can go ahead and book. I will guarantee a 100% refund of all money paid if we have to cancel a trip because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. I ask photographers to go ahaead and pay the deposit and wait on the balance until we all know with certainty that all travel bans have been lifted and we can move about safely.
Survey Please take a few minutes and take a brief survey on my website. I need this feedback. It will provide me with information on what my followers want to learn and where they want to travel for workshops and tours. I am also trying to decide if I should be producing instruction videos on creative and processing tips. I am hearing many people tell me photographers don’t want to read, they prefer watching a how-to video. Take survey here.
Featured Articles The feature article on Topaz Gigapixel will be helpful to photographers who do a lot of printing and those who crop photos. Take a few minutes and read the article, I think it will be helpful. The second article is a creative tip that might be useful from time to time, Adding Film Grain to your photography. This is a technique I use on occasion when I come across a photo that lacks impact. I use it to obtain an artsy look.
Topaz Gigapixel AI Text and Photography by William Manning ©
Topaz AI Technology Topaz Labs has been getting a lot of attention lately with their new developments in AI technology and implementing it into their software. As with most photography software and/or plug-ins, I’m always excited when something new is introduced. When I get something new from Topaz or any developer, I play with their new product and experiment with it in my workflow. At first, I’m thrilled with the new possibilties but as with most new gadgits and creative tools the excitment fades and it becomes something in my tool box I use on occasion. Topaz Gigapixel AI is one of those tools that has turned heads and one I am happy to have at my disposal when I need to enlarge an photo. There are three uses I see myself using Gigapixel AI. The first, for enlarging a photo to produce a large print. The second, for enlarging a photo after cropping an image. The third, for enlarging photos created with a phone camera, or any camera with a tiny sensor. For my Gigapixel AI use, it is mostly used for enlarging photos created with my drone camera. I use the DJI Mavic Pro with a 1/2.3 sensor, typically the smallest of sensors manufactured. What this small sensor typically means is the high probability of producing images with a grainy or noisy texture.
The Escalante Photographed by Drone The examples on the right are cutouts from the lead photo from the previous page. These enlargements illustrate how I employ the use of Topaz Gigapixel for my drone photography. As you look closely at the results keep in mind as the image increases in size so does the noise. It is especially noticable at a 100% enlargement. The good news is the detail in the photo maintains sharpness and doesn’t fall apart as one might expect. This is pretty impressive. There is still more good news. The noise is certainly distracting but fortunately Topaz has the solution with another AI product, Topaz Denoise AI.
The noise (grain) in the original image right out of the I don’t make many prints and I seldom crop photos, camera is noticable, but once you enlarge 50% and estherefore Topaz Gigapixel is used primarily for photos pecially 100% the photo is practically unusable. When created with my DJI Mavic Pro. Drone photography applying Topaz DeNoise AI you render a usable photo. provides a unique view of a landscape otherwise expensive to get or would never make it into my photo library. I am also noticing more requests for drone photography from my architectural clients. These clients need high end photography for many of their uses. This is where Gigapixel AI saves the day. The image size that comes out of the DJI Mavic Pro Camera only has a 3992 x 2992 pixel dimension or 13.3 x 9.9 inches. This is not good enough for many purposes other than the web.
Original Dimension: 3992 x 2992 pixels, (13.3 x 9.97
50% Enlargement with Gigapixel AI Dimension: 6000 x 4497 pixels, (20 x 15 inches)
50% Enlargement with Gigapixel AI and DeNoise AI
100% Enlargement with Gigapixel AI Dimension: 8000 x 6000 pixels, (26.6 x 20 inches)
100% Enlargement with Gigapixel AI and DeNoise AI
Original Photo with no enlargements
City Skyline photographed by Drone The above city skyline was photographed with the DJI Mavic Pro in late afternoon with the sun still fairly high in the sky. The lighting conditions were nearly perfect and the camera was purposely positioned as not to get stray light from the sun into the frame. Even
with great light and good camera position the sky still rendered noise. At the original size the photo looks really good but noise in the sky still noticable. The two sky cutouts to the right illustrate what the noise situation was after enlarging the photo at 100% with Gigapixel AI. The noise isn’t terrible but still pres-
This section of sky represents the white box to the left at a 100% enlargement with Gigapixel AI.
This section of sky represents the white box above at a 100% enlargement with Gigapixel AI and applying DeNoise AI.
ent and likely not acceptable for some uses. The second sky cutout shows the same area of sky with Topaz DeNoise AI applied. Give these products a try and let me know your thoughts.
Created with the DJI Mavic Pro f/2.2, 1/50 sec, 100 iso
The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge Cincinnati, Ohio
Northern Romania
Haystacks like these are unique to Romania
Photograph created with the DJI Mavic Pro Shot at f2.2, 1/60 sec, ISO 100
Summer Landscapes and Wildflowers on Mt Rainier August 1 - 7, 2020
Wildflowers, Waterfalls, Old Growth Forests, Stunning Landscapes a
Join William in Colorful Mt Rainier for an Awesome Photo Journey Every Destination Photography Mentorship Program is filled with photography on location. Each day begins early to capture the beautiful morning light as it rises from the distant horizon and illuminates the land and ends with the glow of the evening sun. Every participant receives an abundance of hands on instruction in the field.
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and Majestic Mt Rainier
Mt Rainier is known for its summer wildflower bloom. Our journey takes place during the peak bloom. William has lead several tours into beautiful Mt Rainier. As with all tours, regardless of the number of times we photograph a location, our Mt Rainier tour has been carefully planned to give participants a variety of opportunities to truly enjoy and photograph the beauty of this incredible region. After returning home your mentoring continues with 3 one hour sessions of one on one learning focused on editing and processing plus 2 critiques sessions. Each session takes place via Skype. This gives participants the opportunity to ask questions and learn through live conferencing.
Autumn in Arches and Cany
Nove
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Vibrant Color Palettes, Glowing Red Rocks, Canyons and Ma
yonlands National Park
ember 8 - 13, 2020
ajestic Arches
Join William In the American Southwest Every Destination Photography Mentorship Program is filled with photography on location. Each day begins early to capture the beautiful morning light as it rises from the distant horizon and illuminates the land and ends with the glow of the evening sun. Every participant receives an abundance of hands on instruction in the field. The Moab Region of Utah is an exciting location for photographers. There are so many iconic places but also many hidden gems throughout the region. Moab is home to two of America’s Great National Parks, Arches and Canyonlands. We’ll spend lots of time in these parks photographing the iconic landmarks but also outside of the parks in several of my favorite places where we’ll be rewarded with exceptional photo opportunties as well as away from more populated areas. After returning home your mentoring continues with 3 one hour sessions of one on one learning focused on editing and processing plus 2 critiques sessions. Each session takes place via Skype. This gives participants the opportunity to ask questions and learn through live conferencing.
Film Grain
for Creative Effect
Text and Photography by William Manning ©
I have been around photography for a long time. I’ve seen revolutionary changes in the photo industry from twin reflex cameras to bulky SLR film cameras to the new State of the Art 50.6 megapixel cameras. Photographic styles have come and gone, but one element that sticks with me goes back to the days of negatives and transparency films, Film Grain. Grain was inherit when artists made prints from their negatives, especially the faster films such as an iso 400 or higher film. The introduction of digital photography, improvements in censor technology and noise reduction software eliminated this element from their work. Before moving on, many photographers often mention grain in their digital work but likely their talking about digital noise which is different and not nearly as attractive as film grain. Noise is typically found in the darker shadow areas of a photo and can be seen as color artifacts, not very pretty. Other areas where noise is commonly found are areas with large areas of a single tonality such as a sky. Photographers today do everything they can to make the smoothest, grainless (noiseless) photos they can get from their digital output. A good sharp photo absent of noise does indeed look beautiful. But, grain from the film days added something special to a print, an artsy look, texture and depth especially if it were a fine grain. I personally find grain to add a special feel, a unique look to photography. When used with the right photograph adding film grain can be a nice creative touch to finish off your processing. It is not a look every photographer will embrace but one that will allow some to seperate their work from the crowd.
Adding Film Grain I add film grain after I have completed all other processing steps. I run the photo through a noise reduction and sharpening software when needed. Adding grain is always the last creative step before I call my work complete. There are numerious software plug-ins to add film grain. You can do it directly in Adobe Photoshop and/ or Lightroom. One of my favorites, because of the con-
trol I have, is with Nik Color Effects software. I have Nik Color Effects set up as a keyboard shortcut giving me quick access to the plug-in, otherwise it can be reached via the Filters dropdown menu in Photoshop. The photographs featured in this article have film grain added. I try this method on all genres of work to see if it adds something special to the photo. I recommend
not over using this creative technique but its worth knowing about when that one photo needs a little help. Once you see the difference and how effective it can be you’ll know what photos will benefit with film grain. Simply think of film grain as another tool in your creative toolbox.
Give it a try and let me know your thoughts. I’m always open to hearing how photographers are using the creative tips I share.
Canon 1D, 100-400 L, 1/2000th f-5.6 Converted to Black and White with Nik Silver Effects Film Grain added with Nik Color Effects
Canon 1D, 300mm, 1/20th, f5.6, iso 100 Processed in Adobe Photoshop Film Grain added with Nik Color Effects
Floating Market
Bangkok, Thailand
The Last Frame: Merchant paddling through the canal at the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. Floating markets were common at one time in the history of Bangkok but today only a few remain. Bangkok was called Venice of the east at one point in its long history because of the many canals throughout the city.