Category: Photography
These are my notes, tips and howtos about photography and processing of pictures and video clips on open source systems. If you have any feedback, feel free to contact me.
Pictures from my bike cycling round-trip on the fast Canyon gravel bike of daily life in suburbs of Nørrebro, Copenhagen city centre and Frederiksberg here in Denmark.
Here are some pictures from a night time bike cycling round-trip through the streets of Copenhagen. The pictures are taken with a handheld digital camera. The pictures are straight-out-of-camera (SOOC). No filters. No editing. No AI.
My requirements for a compact camera for fun and creative point-and-shoot photography in 2025.
The Purpose
- Point-and-shoot daytime and nighttime street photography of people, buildings and city atmosphere for social media or print.
- Low key creative portraits and self-portraits outside at interesting places and scenery for social media.
- Snapshot documentation photography.
The Challenges
These requirements are really not that much to ask for, when thinking of the amount of optical and computing technology, that have been put into modern cameras. However, despite of this, the engineers of many cameras, even very expensive ones, still fail to meet basic requirements.
- The vast amount of settings in modern cameras can take too much time to dial in, if the menu system is not intuitive and well organized.
- Modern cameras can have a combination of sensor and processor, that surpricingly create less sharp and color accurate pictures.
- Modern self-portrait features with automatic re-focus and interval shooting is surprincly not a feature in any camera. Canon is known to cripple users by removing fundamental features like this.
- Operating in low light conditions, such as here in Scandinavia, where users struggle with horrible contrast, blurry images and low image quality, because of poor performance from modern sensors and processors, that is so bad, that not even a professional lens can compensate for it. Hello, Canon!
- Looking through impressive mega-pixel specifications and viral marketing for modern and expensive cameras, that actually perform worse than decades old cameras, such as the Canon IXUS 65 from 2006 and the Canon EOS D30 from 2001 with a nifty-fifty 50mm f/1.8.
Handling Requirements
- The camera must be compact and light-weight, so it can be stored in a pocket, small bag or polstered bike frame cycle bag and used for fun and in-the-moment creative or documenting snapshots.
- The compact size and design should make it appear non-intrusive, so people will not notice it and act naturally. Its design might even make people want to act and have fun while shooting.
- Quick start-up and shooting with automatic settings to ensure, that one-time scenes are captured.
Release Requirements
- The camera must have a self-timer, that can release the shutter automatically after at least 10 seconds, while the subject walks from behind the camera to the front of the camera.
- The camera should have interval shooting, so it can shoot a series of images automatically, while the subject is given at least 5 seconds to re-compose, before each shot. This is different from burst shooting.
Focus Requirements
- When using the self-timer and interval shooting, the camera must be able to re-focus on eyes or subject at the time of shutter release. Not when the button is pressed.
- The camera should support fixed focus to operate fast in low light scenes.
Optical Requirements
- The images should retain a natural and pleasing look of face, body and background. If the lens is too wide, and thus the distance too short, the nose might appear overly large in relation to the head and body. If the lens is too narrow, and thus the distance too long, the nose and face might appear too small in relation to the head and body. This means, that the focal length should be around the 35 mm full frame equivalent. It can be lower for a more modern and creative street photography look.
- The camera might have built-in filters, or support external filters, such as diffusion and polarization filters.
Sensor Requirements
- The performance of the sensor must be so good, that it can operate in low light scenes and conditions, such as classic cloudy and grey days in Scandinavia without the user struggling with low quality images. This is actually a problem with many cameras, including very expensive cameras, such as Canon DSLR cameras with L-series lenses.
Processor Requirements
- The camera must support creative custom color profile recipes, that can be installed or entered manually. Not just monochrome or color tints, but fun, expressive and creative charactistic looks, such as filmic color profiles.
- The user should be able to take and review an image in-camera and apply different recipes, before transferring it to a smartphone and sharing it on social media.
Privacy Requirements
- The camera should be able to optionally clear traceable metadata, such as body serial number, geographic location and owner name, from images, that are shared on social media.
- The camera should have some kind of theft prevention, that either helps the user get the camera back or at least clear the pictures and render the camera useless.
Candidates?
- Ricoh GR IIIX. 26,3mm (40mm) f/2.8. 11,3 x 6,4 x 3,3 cm. 262 g. Does not have privacy features. 8.250 DKK.
- Ricoh GR IIIX HDF. 26,3mm (40mm) f/2.8. 11,3 x 6,4 x 3,3 cm. 262 g. Does not have privacy features. 8.995 DKK.
- Fujifilm X100VI. 23mm (35mm) f/2. 12,8 x 7,4 x 5,5 cm. 521 g. Does not have privacy features. 13.790 DKK.
Compact DSLR Alternatives?
There are smaller and light-weight compact DSLR cameras, that could be an alternative to a compact camera. Benefits of these are more control of exposure, lens options, flash options and wider applications. The camera might be performing better in more different situations, but can be more expensive, less convenient and more intrusive.
- Canon EOS 250D with Canon EF-S 24mm F/2.8 STM (39mm f/4.5) and Canon EF-S 50mm F/1.8 STM (81mm f/2.8). 622 g. Does not fit into a bike frame bag nor a pocket, but does fit into a sling bag. Does not have interval shooting, but does have remote control. Does not have privacy features. 7.995 DKK.
- Sony A7C II with Sony FE 40mm F2.5 G. 12,4 x 7,1 x 11,5 cm. 634 g. Does not fit into a bike frame bag nor a pocket, but does fit into a sling bag. Does not have privacy features? 20.645 DKK.
More
What is TTL flash?
TTL is short for through the lens. TTL is a mode, that a flash can operate in. When the flash in in TTL mode, the flash will fire a pre-flash and the flash power will then be automatically set in a fraction of a second, based on a light metering through the lens by the camera.
When is TTL flash used?
If the the eyes, face or other important features of the subject is unevenly lit and the subject is too dark with high contrast, then TTL flash can lift the shadows and light the subject to match the natural ambient light in the background. If the sun is warm and setting, then an orange gel or filter can make the flash warm as well.
Find a good spot for portrait photography.
Consider a place with some trees or some shade. Face should be in neutral even light. Not in harsh uneven light. This will make it possible to control the light.
Dial in the exposure on the camera.
Set camera to manual mode. Set light metering to an averaging mode. Dial in the exposure to 1/160-200s, f/1.2-5.6 and ISO 100-400. Keep ISO as low as possible to avoid noise. Make sure, that the flash is turned off, and take a test image and review the image and the histogram. A correct exposure will not have peaks up against the left side nor the right side. Adjust as necessary.
Dial in the exposure on the flash.
If it is sunset and the light is yellow, then use an orange gel or filter on the flash. This will make the flash light become warmer and the image will become more natural. There are usually a half tone and a full tone.
If the flash can not be bounced off a light wall, then point it directly at the subject.
Set flash to TTL mode.
If direct flash is used, then adjust the shutter, so the meter is zero or slight over-exposed. The flash will become more soft. The reason is, that a dark background wil make the flash too bright. Is it better to just use FEC and reduce flash power?
Use a flash transmitter and a softbox to make the light source bigger and softer. Place the softbox as close as possible to make the light as big as possible for softer light. Use a diffuser and un umbrella to make the light source bigger and software.
Adjust flash exposure compensation (FEC) as necessary to make the light soft and natural. Remember, that the camera will by default measure the brightness of the average scene and light it towards grey. Dark scenes will become too bright. Bright scenes will become too dark.
Shoot.
More about TTL flash portrait photography.
- Pro Tip by Beyond Photography.
- Easy Outdoor by David Bergman.
- Get Your Flash by Mik Milman.
- Flash Photography by Miguel.
- Balance Background by David Bergman.
- On-camera fill flash by Neil.
- On-camera TTL by Neil.
- Fill-flash or not by Neil.
Pictures from Vordingborg Festuge 2024
This is some of the pictures, I shoot of bands and guests, from the annual music festival Vordingborg Festuge 2024. Conditions were challenging heavy clouds and rain. This did not leave much light for capturing pictures. I used a handheld digital camera with a 70-200mm zoom lens. I used an optimal balance between high speed exposure and narrow depth of field. I used my own custom in-camera picture profile settings for capturing true colors as seen on site. I did not not apply any editing, filters nor generative artificial intelligence to the pictures.
Importing and renaming raw video clips with creating time on FreeBSD.
Import or copy the raw video clips from the camera and store them on a temporary local fast file system. Rename the raw video clips, so the filename contains the time stamp. This will become convenient later, when listing and loading them. The following csh script uses the stat utility to get the file creation time stamp and then renames the video clips accordingly.
$ cat rename-mp4
#!/bin/csh
foreach file (*.MP4)
set newname = `stat -f '%SB' -t '%y%m%d-%H%M%S' "$file"`
mv "$file" "${newname}-${file}"
end
An example of the manual approach, for the same result, would be the following commands.
$ mv MGR103.MP4 240314-213544-MGR103.MP4 $ mv MGP101.MP4 240314-213535-MGP101.MP4
Creating a new project and profile preset in KDEnlive.
Launch KDEnlive and create a new project. KDEnlive will ask you to select a profile preset. In the settings, select or create a profile preset, that matches the raw video clips from the camera and the main format, you will be targetting. If you will be creating a new profile preset, find a general profile preset and I recommend using a naming convention, that reflects the resolution and frame rate.
- Action cameras, such as the legendary GoPro Hero 3 Black, produces high resolution frames in more narrow aspect ratio and high frame rate, such as 1920×1080@60 (16:9).
- Cam corders, such as the legendary Sony FDR AX43, produces high resolution frames in traditional film aspect ratio and frame rate, such as 3840×2160@25 (16:9) or 1920×1080@25 (19:6).
- Mobile phoes, such as Samsung Galaxy A series, produces moderate resolution frames, such as 1920×1080@25 (16:9) or 1080×1920@25 (9:16).
Editing video and audio on the timeline i KDEnlive.
Adding effects i KDEnlive.
If you want to add a watermark, also known as an overlay, you will need an image with your logo or watermark. If the watermark is transparent, it will most likely be in PNG format. Add a track on top of the video in the timeline and place the watermark in it. Stretch it, so it matches the full length of the video. You can now place the watermark, where you want it to be, by opening the effects window, finding the transformation effects and selecting the Crop, Scale and Tilt effect. Adjust the scale and tilt values as necessary. If the video is 1080 pixels wide and the watermark is 200 pixels wide, you might want to scale to 20 and 20 and tilt to 953 and 1779.
Exporting video clips for other use.
If you will be exporting video clips for other use, then use the input and output markers to export those at this point and before any formatting and watermarking. Use a naming convention, that keeps the clips in chronological order, such as a time based prefix and a descriptive tekst. Such clips can later be formatted and watermarked with KDEnlive or FFmpeg for sharing or use on social media.
What is night time indoor snapshot flash photography?
The purpose of night time indoor snapshot flash photography is to have a light weight hand-held camera gear, that can quickly be switched on and framed to capture snapshots of individuals, groups and even take selfies, while also capturing colorful background ambient light in the club or private party. This type of photography is also known as event photography.
This can be achieved with a digital camera, a wide angle lens and an external speedlight flash. The shooting proces should be swift and automatic, so natural, creative expressions are captured, while also having fun with it. There will not be time for fumbling aound with settings and cumbersome gear.
Configure camera and flash for capturing low light snapshots.
- Use a lens, that spans a wider viewing angle around 50°, such as the well known Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM lens.
- Set the camera mode to manual and dial in the camera exposure to 1/8s, f/2.8 and ISO 100. This will be the default go-to exposure setting. This should give you a good captura of the ambient background. If this is too bright or too dark for your application, or you have a much different lens, you will want to adjust the aperture, shutter speed and ISO in that order until the best ambient background is achieved.
- Set image review to hold. Subjects will almost always want to see the image, so it might as well be ready for them. Set white balance to daylight. The flash, changing lighting and and mixed light sources will not work well for the automatic white balance. Set light meter to evaluative mode.
- Attach the white diffuser to the flash for a slight more soft lighting. Attach the flash to the camera and point it directly at subject. It will usually not be possible to bounce light off walls and there will usually not be time to experiment with bounced light neither. Set flash mode to TTL mode.
- If your camera has live preview, your might want to use this. This will usually enable automatic eye tracking and make it easier to compose some shoots. The downside of this is decreased battery life.
Photograph individuals, groups and even selfies, while also capturing colorful background lights.
You can now grab your camera and walk around and do night time indoor snapshot flash photography. You can quickly capture and photograph individuals, groups and even selfies, while also capturing colorful background lights. The camera immediately holds the image, so you can show it. Just press the shutter to continue shooting.
You might want to adjust flash exposure and aperture as necessary.
- Adjust flash exposure compensation as necessary. If people are much brigher than grey, the flash might need more power. If people are much darker than grey, the flash might need less power. The reason is, that the camera will try to power each scene grey, so this should be compensated for. You might also prefer a lighter or darker appearance for effect. You will usually want to adjust flash exposure compensation in 1/3 stops, such as 0.3, 0.7 and 1.0.
- Adjust aperture as necessary. If you will be photographing groups, you might want more depth of field. This is done by adjusting the aperture and ISO in the same amount of stops, so the camera exposure remains the same. If you want 1 stop from f/2.8, then change to f/4.0 and ISO 200. If you want 2 stops from f/2.8, then change to f/5.6 and ISO 400. The aperture dial usually moves in 1/3 stops, but remember to turn the ISO dial the same amount, so the camera exposure remains the same.
Examples of how to add text before file names, add text after file names, rename part of file names and rename to incrementing numbers by batch processing on the command line in bash shell.
Continue reading “How to rename batch of images or files in sh or bash shell.”