The Colourclass continues: This class tackles the basics of panoramic photography, astrophotography, and wildlife photography. It also deals with time-lapse photography, video storytelling, and video post production since everyone with a digital photography camera now also has a powerful video camera at their fingertips. Of course, we won't forget talk about color in the Colourclass. We explain the basic color settings of a camera and those in image processing programs, the choice of adjustment targets and the softproofing workflow for printing with external photo labs.
The equipment
We take an Air Namibia flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Windhoek, Namibia. From there we drive to our first port of call for accommodation, the Sossus Dune Lodge in the Namib-Naukluft National Park. High time to get our equipment ready for action: The photos and videos in this Colourclass are taken using cameras and lenses from the Sony α series. The tripods and panorama heads from Novoflex give our cameras the necessary stability for panoramic photography, astrophotography, and time-lapse photography, for which we have the LRT PRO Timer from Gunther Wegner. We use the EIZO ColorEdge CS2740 monitor, meaning that ideal, color-accurate production conditions onsite are guaranteed. Our insert filters are now even easier to handle since we are using the M10 filter holder from Haida, and with Ricoh's Theta Z1, we have a powerful panoramic camera at our fingertips.
The basics of panoramic photography
The Deadvlei is one of the most famous places in Namibia. Nearly everyone has seen images of the ancient desiccated trees before the red dune backdrop. An impressive display of nature, which can hardly be captured with a single photo. For this reason, photographer Alexander Heinrichs explains the basics of panoramic photography in this episode. We are able to change the perspective and take stunning photos of the Namib desert from a hot-air balloon.
The basics of astrophotography
We charter a helicopter so we can take pictures of the unique sights of the Deadvlei from the air. Namibia is a country with very low light pollution, which provides ideal conditions for Alexander Heinrichs to explain the basics of astrophotography.
The basics of time-lapse photography
Our journey takes us to the Delight Hotel in Swakopmund. From here we drive south back into the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The Namib nuzzles up to the Atlantic Ocean here. We explore the dunes of the Namib desert, which are bright yellow here, on a safari in an all-terrain vehicle. We photograph countless seals, flamingos, and pelicans at Pelican Point near Walvis Bay. Time-lapse photography is the first stage when transitioning from still photography to shooting video. These video clips are composed of 25 individual frames per second. Our filmmaker Stephan Klein from hunderteins, explains how it works in this episode. To do so, we use the LRT PRO Timer and LRTimelapse, a software programme by Gunther Wegner. The "Living Desert" tour has shown us that even the sandy desert, which for all intents and purposes appears to be dead, is teeming with life.
The most important tips of wildlife photography
We continue into Damaraland and set up our base at Camp Kipwe. It is from here that we embark on our search for Namibia’s desert elephants. It’s one thing to take photos of animals in a zoo or even on a photo expedition, but it’s an entirely different experience photographing them in the wild while on a safari. In this episode Alexander Heinrichs explains how best to photograph wild animals on a game drive.
Tips for a photographic safari
Our journey takes us further north to the Etosha Safari Lodge. From here, we head into the Etosha National Park where we can take pictures of its wild animals. We explore the gigantic national park, like everyone else does, in an open-air jeep. We can take pictures of rhinos, elephants, lions, and zebras in the wilderness from the safety of our vehicle. Christian Ohlig from EIZO gives useful tips on how to get the best possible photos under these typical safari conditions.
Auto-focus for fast-moving animals
We drive south back to Okonjima, where we spend the night at the Okonjima Plains Camp. Okonjima is a 200-square kilometre nature reserve, especially for big cats, and it is the headquarters of the AfriCat Foundation. Too tame for a life in the wild, several cheetahs live here in a spacious enclosure, in addition to numerous African big cats. The rangers regularly set up training tracks to exercise the mental and physical agility of these fast-moving big cats. It not only challenges the reaction times of the world’s fastest land creatures, it also puts the autofocus of our Sony cameras to the test. That’s why Alexander Heinrichs offers tips for the best autofocus settings for photographing fast-moving objects.
Video storytelling
We set out in search of the wild leopards of Okonjima, a nature reserve for big cats and other wildlife, in this episode. Our modern digital photography cameras give us easy access to very powerful video cameras. But capturing video is different from photography. That’s why our hunderteins filmmaker Stephan Klein shows us his approach to capturing video in the Colourclass. He also gives us important tips on what to watch out for when filming using our search for leopards as an example.
Camera, software, and adjustment targets
Unfortunately the Waterberg Plateau Lodge is already our last stop on our round trip of Namibia. We pay a visit to the nearby white rhinos and take an initial look at what the past two weeks have yielded. The weather is variable and we delve into the technical aspects of photography. EIZO color management workflow expert Christian Ohlig explains which range should be set in the camera and how programs such as Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop handle colors and how to set them. Once back in Germany he uses the EIZO ColorEdge CS2740 monitor to explain why you need to create an adjustment target during the calibration that should correspond to the ambient conditions of the image processing workstation and how you can do it.
Tips for video post production
Once back in Germany, filmmaker Stephan Klein from Hunderteins explains how he approaches the Colourclass post production and gives useful tips on data management with our G-SPEED Shuttle SSD from G-Technology. He pays special attention to the subject of music. We get our music from Epidemic Sound, a music database specialized for the needs of filmmakers and YouTubers.
Softproofing workflow for printing with photo labs
Printing process, ink and, in particular, the printing material used has a great influence on the finished product. EIZO color management workflow expert Christian Ohlig explains in the last episode of Colourclass Namibia how the finished image can be viewed on the monitor already using the softproofing mode of the image editing software. To do so, he visits White Wall, a professional lab, and takes a close look at the production of Namibia pictures on different materials. He then demonstrates, using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop as examples, on the EIZO ColorEdge CS2740 how the influence of the next production step can be simulated on the monitor and how the image can then be optimized for the special properties of the selected product.
The Mission
Photographer Alexander Heinrichs explains the basics of panoramic photography, astrophotography and wildlife photography in this Colourclass. Filmmaker Stephan Klein provides tips on time-lapse photography, video storytelling and post production since people are increasingly using digital photography cameras to capture videos, as well. And, of course, we won’t forget to talk about colors in the Colourclass: color management workflow expert Christian Ohlig explains color settings in the camera, in the image processing program, adjustment targets, and the softproofing workflow for printing with external photo labs.
The Location: Namibia, Africa
Namibia has much to offer for photographers. Its variety of desert landscapes with colors ranging from deep red to light yellow, barren steppes, lush grasslands, and red stone formations reminiscent of a sci-fi movie setting stand in dramatic contrast to the generally deep blue sky. What’s more, minimal light pollution in Namibia elevates it into an ideal place for photographers of astronomical objects and events. No less fascinating is the fauna of Namibia, which can be admired in numerous national parks and wildlife reserves.
The Teachers
Photographer and photography coach Alexander Heinrichs, photographer and EIZO color management workflow expert Christian Ohlig, and hunderteins filmmaker Stephan Klein traveled to Namibia for the video series. They traveled through this fascinating country in southwest Africa for two exciting weeks. They had high expectations and the country did not disappoint.
Alexander Heinrichs is a member of EIZO's ColorEdge Ambassador Program. The program showcases creatives who are committed to inspiring and educating artist around the world of all levels. To view his profile, click here.
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