If you have been doing photography for many years, you may have seen a lot of trends come and go. You may have seen and witnessed all the new advancements that came with the technology of cameras and all the accessories for photography.
As the process of digital photography emerged, it opened countless doors that enabled photographers, videographers, and other forms of visual artists to expand their methods in creating images and even videos.
In the simplest sense, digital photography turned a long process of capturing and developing an image into something that is instantaneous and can only take a split second to create. It allowed for photographers to instantly see the result of their exposure which in turn allowed for us to fix and revise any unwanted mistakes. The digital process not only made it faster but also in a way, made the process more amenable to refinement.
Second to that of course is that it made cameras, in general, more compact. We’re not yet even talking about the great advances in image resolution but now, we can see that almost anything can come with a camera.
Professional DSLR cameras have gotten significantly slower in their respective formats, but also, cameras can be found in smaller devices to the point wherein smartphones nowadays have at least 2 to 4 cameras on them. But as we know, the evolution of photography did not stop there.
Resolution, Speed, and Perspective
In recent years, we’ve seen cameras produce even larger and clearer images. From the standard 24-megapixel full-frame cameras, there emerged highly specialized cameras that produce 42 megapixels, 50 megapixels, and 62 megapixels.
Medium format cameras also resolutions beyond 100 megapixels. This evolution in image quality allowed for more expansive workflows that would create images with sharper details, and larger print sizes. Another consequence of this is better file handling for more advanced post-processing methods to create masterfully done images.
Lenses also evolved quite a bit in the past few years. Lenses now focus much faster with barely any sound and external movement and that has done wonders for high-speed photography and video. With a good camera paired to it, they can even detect both human and animal eyes to track for focusing.
We’ve also seen lenses with extremely wide apertures allowing for better low light shooting and a more striking background blur. On top of that, lenses have gone to the extremes with ultra-wide-angle lenses with zero distortion, more affordable shift lenses, and extreme close-up and macro lenses.
With the evolution of photography, the technology around it has evolved greatly as well. Aside from tools that aid in the process of capturing images, computers designed specifically for photographers, videographers, and other digital creatives have been gaining popularity as well. From very powerful processors that shorten what used to be very heavy computing processes, to added efficiency tools like built-in graphic tablets and secondary screens for editing.
With all that has evolved in the craft, the possibilities are proving more and more to be endless, and here are some examples of some advanced photography methods.
Special Effects
The tools surrounding the craft have taken quite a leap in the past years and this has lead to the emergence of a multitude of new methods and photographic styles. With higher magnification lenses and faster cameras, special effects photography has come a long way in creating stunning and impactful visual effects. From the ability to capture very small subjects in great detail to capturing and freezing very fast motion to create interesting patterns.
The MIOPS New Splash Water Drop Kit is an amazingly calibrated tool for capturing splashes of liquid to achieve stunning special effects. This smartphone-controlled fluid release system allows you to control the speed at which the fluid drops, the intervals between drops, and ultimately when the camera fires.
This tool is can be integrated into your high-speed lighting system to autonomously set off the flash for virtually no missed shots. This system can also be integrated into the array of MIOPS camera triggers. Through the various options for connectivity, you can virtually create and control an ecosystem of shooting special effects droplets with the tap of a button.
HDR
The leaps that image quality has taken have also allowed for the evolution of post-processing. Limitations and challenges in terms of lighting and dynamic range have been torn down by the development of more advanced methods.
Nowadays cameras have outstanding dynamic range performance that came along with their ability to shoot better in low light, there are also processes done to create high dynamic range images with striking contrast and vivid colors even in harsh lighting conditions.
From an automated HDR shooting to a manual exposure bracketing process, there is a multitude of ways that now allow you to create more stunning images. With the combination of multiple images to create a striking image, there is also more control and refinement in the hands of a skilled photographer.
HDR and automated exposure bracketing is another trick off the sleeves of the MIOPS camera triggers. The MIOPS Smart+ and Remote+ triggers offer easy operation to bring out the best details from any scene. The Remote Plus offers a tool that is entirely controlled with your smartphone and gives you options on the number of bracketed shots, luminosity intervals, and base exposure.
The Smart+ camera trigger offers the same functionality but allows you the option of whether to control it from a smartphone or through its built-in LCD menu. The all-new MIOPS Flex takes the same functions and gives you a real-time preview of the resulting HDR image, as well as acts as extra storage as well.
Star Trails
The evolution of photography methods has also allowed us to illustrate amazing things that happen in the sky that no other method can create. Long exposure with low-light enhanced cameras now shows us vividly the vibrant northern lights and other atmospheric phenomena that most of the world has never seen in real life.
With patience and proper execution, star trails have been made possible to illustrate the rotatory movement of the earth on its axis. Altogether, they can be illustrated very dynamically in an intricately created night sky time-lapse.
Time-lapse
Another well-loved innovation in photography is the process of time-lapse. Time-lapse creates video clips from hundreds of still images taken over a long period. This way, a dynamic but slow phenomenon can be captured and summarize over a few seconds or minutes. Time-lapse videos create an amazing effect that is perfect to show transitions and progress.
The effects generated by this process suggest development, change, and illustrate events that are usually too slow to be appreciated in real-time. In line with this, an entire array of tools have also been developed to aid in creating not just seamless time-lapse videos but also make them more dynamic by introducing the motion. Motion happens in minute adjustments in time-lapse to make the clips seamless and an exquisitely done process results in a very compelling result.
The MIOPS camera triggers very easily offer everything you need to automate your time-lapse photography workflow. The 3 variants allow you to control intervals, the number of shots in a sequence, and even exposure time. The MIOPS Flex offers an added perk of being able to see a preview of your resulting time-lapse video right after the shooting sequence ends.
For still time-lapse sequences and shooting star trails, the workflow is pretty much the same. The camera is still for the duration of the shooting sequence and the camera trigger does all the work. The resulting images for a start trail sequence can either be stacked together to create a star trail photograph or be assembled into a time-lapse clip as well.
To help you with precise motion, the MIOPS Capsule360 and Capsule Slider+ offer a wide variety of motion effects to help you create seamless and dynamic motion time-lapse and hyper-lapse videos. The Capsule360 gives the ability to pan 360 degrees with precision and seamlessness. The Capsule Slider+ allows for automated movement for panning and forward/backward motion.
Lightning
With the added capacities of cameras nowadays, they are now able to capture phenomena that happen for just a fraction of a second. With more reactive camera systems in terms of focusing and metering, it’s now more possible to catch the split-second lightning strikes and infuse them into dynamically captured landscape images. What used to be such an almost impossible task has now become something easily attainable with technology.
The MIOPS Smart+ features an ultra-sensitive light sensor that watches for fluctuations in luminosity. Once lightning strikes, it triggers the camera to start an exposure. When shooting time-lapses during a storm, the Stormlapse mode uses the light sensor to trigger the camera to shoot every time there is a lightning flash. Once set up, you can even leave your camera to shoot, and rest assured that it will capture as many lightning flashes as possible without wasting exposures.
Slow Motion
With the development of even more capable camera features for video, technology has allowed for videos to be created with very fast frame rates that make it possible to achieve very crisp and detailed videos with files that are very flexible for speed adjustments.
Today resolutions of 4K and beyond are possible to be shot at 120 frames per second, which means that they can be slowed down extensively to illustrate movements in impeccable detail, even those that are usually easy to miss.
The future of technology for photography and videography is very promising and ultimately exciting. It is safe to say that progress and advancements in these aspects are certain and quite inevitable.
While the basics of photography and videography will always remain to be what they are, technology will always be giving us more options to create more striking and dynamic images and allow us to do so much more efficiently. Technology has allowed the craft to evolve exponentially. The question is, have you or will you evolve with it?
Blog Credit: Nicco Valenzuela
Nicco started his photographic journey in 2007 practicing the craft as a hobby. Currently, he shoots for various local and international architectural firms and construction companies. Out of his love for sharing his knowledge, Nicco began writing about photography and various pieces of gear.
Image Credit: Unsplash
