Volumetric images. The volume of the frame in the photo. Photography technique and compositional techniques Volume enhancement using the "Relief" filter

Perfect panoramas and 360-degree volumetric shots can be taken even with a regular smartphone. It is enough to install a special application and follow our advice.

Google Street View: 3D photo app

Free for Android and iOS, Google Street View lets you create true 360-degree photo panoramas.

After installing the application, click on the orange camera icon in the lower right corner. Here you can choose whether you want to connect the app to a professional 360-degree panoramic camera, import a 360-degree photo, or use your phone camera.
To take a 3D shot, you will have to rotate around your axis several times, holding the phone at different angles. The main thing is to be careful not to get dizzy.
During panoramic shooting, the application displays orange points at which you need to orient the camera.
After taking a photo, wait a little while the application records it.

Android and iOS Secrets: What the Camera App Can Do

If you don't want to install the Google Street View app, use the standard Camera app that is available on any Android or IOS smartphone. The standard application will not allow you to make a real 360-degree, since such a shooting does not include areas of the earth and sky in the frame, but the result can still turn out to be quite decent:

Open the Camera app and select Panorama mode. After the start of shooting, a line appears on the smartphone screen along which you need to move the device.
Rotate slowly around your axis to take a photo with subtle transitions.

How to create the perfect panorama?

To ensure you always get the perfect panoramic photo, there are two important factors to keep in mind:

Shoot in a relaxed environment; it is best if you do not get into the frame of moving people or cars.
Create panoramic shots in uniform lighting conditions to avoid harsh transitions in the finished photo.

Photography techniques to convey the depth of space in photography

Depth of field control

All the same, our lenses have one property similar to the device of vision. This is DOF - depth of field. Do you think this is not so due to the fact that basically we see everything around us sharp? And bring your finger to your nose and focus on it. The background will be blurred. Using a small depth of field, we select the main subject, focusing on it. At the same time, minor characters and the background are blurred, imitating our mechanism of vision.
Of course, this method is not used in landscape photography, where all the shots must be in the field of focus.

How to get shallow depth of field and beautiful bokeh:

The more open, the more blur.
Use fast lenses. For example, I most often photograph at aperture values in the range 1.8-2.2;
The longer the focal length, the greater the blur, the more beautiful the bokeh, the more flexible the picture;
The closer to the model (the larger the portrait), the greater the blur;
A full sensor camera produces more blur than crop;
To have something to blur, you do not need to place the model close to the background (near the wall, fence, tree). It's always best to split them into shots with different focus zones. This advice applies to studio photography as well.

Very often in the studio, it is difficult to distinguish the model with bright walls in the background and a lot of props. And if you move it away from the background and shoot with an open aperture - and the photos look much more skillful, with an emphasis on the main thing. You also need to know how to work with the interior!

Dividing the entire scene to front and back

Surely everyone who has at least a little understanding of the composition knows that you need to try to use several plans in the photo. When shooting landscapes, everyone remembers this, but when shooting portraits, they often forget. But no one has canceled the effect of planning as a way to convey depth.

Background - background. It must be chosen so that nothing sticks out, as if from the model, beautifully blurred in the bokeh (of course, if it is not a landscape). Use the rules of linear, aerial and color perspective (more details below). Medium shot - this is our model, the main subject of shooting. It would be nice to place something else in the same plane with the model that will be in the sharpness zone (a bush, twigs with leaves or flowers on a tree). This will give an additional sense of depth and planning.

Foreground is often overlooked in portraits. It helps to convey depth even better. From the foreground, you can create a kind of frame, framing the plot - a spectacular move in building a composition. In addition, in this way, the feeling of peeping is conveyed, when you want to convey the ease and naturalness of the scene.
As a foreground, you can use the branches of bushes, flowers, low tree branches. If there are no such nearby, ask the assistant to hold the prepared branches in front of the camera. In the studio, you can use suitable props, flowers, peek out from behind ajar doors.

Grass blurred in bokeh can also appear in the foreground: just lower the shooting point and shoot while sitting or lying down. If flying objects are used in the shooting (flower petals, autumn leaves, feathers, paper pages, confetti, etc.), ask the assistant to scatter them in different planes from the model so that they are both in focus and blurred on the front and back plans. Such details effectively "introduce" the viewer into the picture, when they seem to fly out of real life into photography.
Sometimes, it is not possible to put something in the foreground immediately during shooting (for example, it does not fit into the frame). Then you can photograph a suitable twig separately and then add it using Photoshop, or use the same program to create a foreground from the blanks on a transparent background found on the Internet. Do not forget to blur them to varying degrees in different planes.

In landscape photography, a wide-angle lens is often used to effectively capture the foreground. The objects in front (stones, logs, bridge, etc.) seem to draw us into the picture. Geometric distortion of a wide angle in this case is only on hand. The same technique can be applied to portraits as well, enhancing the foreground and pulling effect.

Linear perspective

This is a natural change in the scale of the image of diverse objects located on a plane. The closer the subject is to the camera, the larger it is.

The first sign of linear perspective is a decrease in the scale of receding objects, the second is the tendency of parallel ones to converge at one point on the horizon line.
What to do to convey this very linear perspective in the frame:

choose a good background. A path receding into the distance (straight or winding), a road, rails, a row of houses, a long corridor, pillars or columns - all this helps in conveying perspective and creating the effect of the viewer's presence in the frame;
try to place the model and the convergence of the perspective lines in the power points, but not in the same;
do not place the lines so that they take your eyes out of the frame. The gaze should follow the inside of the frame and wander around it;
sometimes you can use the wide-angle lens by getting closer to the model. It enhances the transmission of perspective, since in life we also look at the world from a wide angle. At the same time, place the model in the middle, as geometric distortion increases towards the edges of the frame.
Tonal perspective

This is a physical phenomenon, the essence of which is that light passing through a transparent medium - air, is refracted, scattered and reflected. Depending on the state of the atmosphere, its pollution and humidity, light is scattered in the air layer to a greater or lesser extent. Then we see an air haze (highlighted distances). Now you understand why such aerial landscapes are obtained in the early morning or in fog, when the air is clean and humid?
To convey an aerial perspective, remember that the further away the object:
the less saturated tones;
less clear outlines of shooting objects (haze);
softer contrast;
lighter in detail.

If you are lucky and you photographed early in the morning at dawn, then, perhaps, the camera will transmit all these nuances. Otherwise, it can simply be taken into account when processing:

reduce the saturation of the background;
sharpen and sharpen the model (and foreground in the landscape);
increase the contrast of nearby objects, leaving the background not contrasting;
add light spots to the background or paint fog, haze (with a white brush with low transparency in the "Screen" blending mode);
darken the foreground, make a vignette.

Colour

Color and volume are also closely related. The protruding (warm) colors are perceived closer, the receding (cold) colors are perceived further than their present position. This phenomenon is called chromatic stereoscopy. This effect is successfully used by artists to convey three-dimensional forms. Its effectiveness has been tested in the practice of painting and when working with the interior and wardrobe. Retreating and protruding colors are capable of visually distorting a three-dimensional space or making a plane three-dimensional, embossed.
Nearby warm and cold colors help each other to sound brighter, louder. A warm one gets even warmer, and a cold one gets even colder.

Using the contrast of warm and cold, you can highlight the main thing in the photo. The spatial properties are also influenced by the difference in lightness and the contrast of the color spots of the object. With greater contrast, the smaller color spot becomes catchy and stands out as a figure, and the larger one is perceived as the background. Crisp and contrasting colors stand out and protrude. Low to medium contrast removes grays.

How to use color rendition to enhance the effect of volume in your photography:

thoughtfully approach in terms of color to the choice of model (hair color), background, clothing, interior items and props;

you can use light sources of different temperatures for photography. In the studio, this can be cold window light combined with constant warm artificial light, and constant sources of different color temperatures are also suitable. In the interior, you can combine natural light from a window or reflected light from a flash in conjunction with the warm light of lamps, candles, garlands in the background or foreground;

tint the photo in post-processing. There are many options: from separate toning (split toning) of highlights and shadows in warm or cold in "semi-automatic" mode using Photoshop functions to painting with a brush of the desired objects (in the "Soft Light" mode);

Pay attention not only to harmonious color schemes, but also to the amount of each color in the photo. Highlight with color the main objects and details on which you want to emphasize;

work correctly with saturation: saturated and pure colors are perceived closer, and less saturated - farther.

Ideally, you want to use several of the above techniques in your photo. Then your photos will come to life and play, just like in three-dimensional reality.

Given the increased interest in 3D photography, making these products can be very lucrative. However, in order for the business to develop, it is necessary to master the technology of making such photos.

One of the most important components of any business is a product or service that can interest consumers. In our time, people are offered so many interesting things that it is very difficult to surprise them. But still, there are unusual novelties for attracting customers. An entrepreneur should choose a suitable option for himself and beat it correctly, because everything new rather quickly becomes commonplace.

Sometimes it is not at all necessary to take the latest technology for work. In some cases, you can use modern advances, but in a new format. This will allow you to use already proven and successful options, but earn more on them. 3D photography is a prime example of this type of business. Three-dimensional images in a new and interesting form will be in demand, since nowadays such technologies are popular and have many fans.

How do three-dimensional photos differ from ordinary ones?

Modern technologies and special equipment make it possible to create interesting and high-quality photographs, which, with special devices, come to life and become three-dimensional.

Such products will be in demand, since so far there are few offers in this niche, but customers are interested in similar technologies. Three-dimensional photos are ordered for themselves either as a gift, they will be a good surprise for the holiday or just a decoration.

The first creation of live photos was started by the specialists of the Dance heads company several years ago. The project began working not so long ago and its followers are currently quite small. Therefore, entrepreneurs who plan to profitably invest in an interesting business have every chance to firmly gain a foothold in this niche.

There will be many clients, because everyone is tired of ordinary two-dimensional images, and three-dimensional is something new and interesting.

3D photography technology

As for 3D photographs, the production of these products will require the master to master a certain technology. To do this, you need to be at least a confident PC user, and it is better if the businessman has a special technical education. And yet, even in the absence of special skills, they can be acquired if the entrepreneur is really interested in this process.

The procedure for creating a 3D photo begins with the fact that a client contacts the salon. The master offers him various backgrounds, which will then be used in the image. The photographer takes a picture of the customer himself or uses a ready-made one if the customer plans to make a surprise for a gift.

There can be a lot of options for designing a photo. For children, a cartoon image can be used, men prefer cars and yachts, and women like to feel like queens. It all depends on the wishes of the client. The photo should correspond to the chosen background and the general idea. It should be done after the client has decided on the background image.

Next, you need to connect 2 images as it was originally intended. For this, the master must have creative potential and certain skills in working with computer programs. After that, the finished image is printed on a printer with high quality printing.

We get a picture with a slightly blurry image. A similar procedure can be carried out independently by any person at home, if he has a special program and a good printer. But here the main secret will be a special frame. It is she who allows you to see the image in three-dimensional format. That is, it will act like 3D glasses in a movie theater. Frames are made using a special technology.

The finished product is handed over to the client, and the master receives money for this. The effect of such a photo is difficult to convey. Even on a phone or computer screen, it is impossible to understand how interesting three-dimensional photos actually look.

Moreover, if you look at the image through a special application on your smartphone, the picture will come to life. This is a unique technology, but it exists and works well. Therefore, 3D photos are in great demand.

Additional services

In addition to making three-dimensional images, you can offer customers other interesting services and products. For example, you can make a three-dimensional image from photographs.

It is printed out on a special printer. In a few hours, you can get a finished figurine 20 centimeters high, which will be an accurate, but only three-dimensional copy of the photograph. That is, the client can get his own figurine, which will be created on the printer.

This technology is new, but very interesting. However, it is designed only for wealthy customers. The thing is that the equipment and materials for the work are very expensive, so the price of one figure will be about $ 300. But now they are in demand among a certain category of the population, as this is something original and impressive.

To work on the manufacture of three-dimensional products, including photos, you will need high-quality equipment and software. All this is not cheap, so the business of making 3D photos will require a lot of investment. However, all this will quickly pay off, since such products are in demand, especially among families with children who are ready to spend decent amounts on memorabilia.

3D photography technology

3D photography technology is based on binocular vision and the ability to see the world around us with two eyes, that is, from two angles. In this case, the obtained images and objects on them are displaced relative to each other, and the brain processes them and a three-dimensional picture comes out.

Stereo shooting involves shooting an object from two points, the distance between which is called a stereo base, and its value depends on the distance to the subject. For photography from two points, you can use two cameras installed in the desired positions, or use only one that is available, moving it to the desired distance for repeated photography. It is recommended to use a tripod, which will help prevent skewing and simplify further processing of photographs. One camera is enough for the process of shooting high-quality 3D photos. It is impossible to shoot only those subjects that are in motion.

After receiving two photographs of the same object from different angles, you need to align and combine them into a single 3D photo. Two formats of stereo photography are used: stereo pair and anaglyph. You can align photos in different graphic editors, and to merge the angles, you need to acquire special software that will allow you to make a high-quality image with a minimum of distortion and smooth viewing angles.

Begin

So, imagine that you are artists. You paint with light for real, lifelike paintings. Painters know how to convey depth, volume and texture in their masterpieces. What's the secret? What kind of effects create the illusion of volume?

The basics: volume and shape in photography

It is known that we have binocular vision, and therefore we normally perceive the shape and volume of objects in space, regardless of lighting. In photography, everything is different: it is two-dimensional, flat and completely dependent on light, which can distort both the shape and volume of individual elements.

Elementary example: use your imagination and imagine a ball. An ordinary ordinary ball. Orange. Now imagine that in the photo it is illuminated by a frontal light, and therefore the shadow is completely absent. And what happens if you look at a ball without a shadow? That's right, you will see only an orange circle, just like in children's educational books. Yes, it is possible that this very "circle" will actually have an unrealistic volume, but without a shadow you will never see it. But if the light source is slightly displaced upward and slightly to the side, this is a completely different matter. A shadow will appear in front of you, and your brain will "understand" that there is a three-dimensional object in front of you.

And here is our orange circle ball with frontal lighting:

For now, let's darken the circle a little bit with a darker shade than the circle itself:

Having darkened a little, we gave our flat friend some volume, and he became a ball. A shade that is darker in color than the object itself is the shadow of that object. It is nothing more than a shadow that adds volume to the elements depicted in a flat photograph or drawing.

What if we need to add textures? How do you make the ball appear smooth and shiny? We just need to add a tone that is lighter than the base color of the ball:

By adding a highlight (light tone) in the right place, we were able to reveal the texture of the ball. Now let's try to change the texture to a more matte texture. So what will you do? Thinking? In fact, everything is simple - there is no need for another highlight or shadow. It is enough to slightly shade the borders of the flare and here it is magic - the texture of the ball has changed!

"Well, what does the volume in photography have to do with it?" - you ask. And despite the fact that the right combination of shadow and light in your photos will not only add volume and three-dimensionality to the space, reveal the texture, but, among other things, will give the photos the right mood and emotions. Take a close look at each of the photos below and try to spot differences in volume, texture, and overall mood.

How to add volume to a photo

It's the same story with volume in portrait photography. Applying front lighting (or using flash) with the subject in the center of the frame creates the effect of a flat shot. Such a picture is superficial, reality will be distorted due to the lack of depth. Not very good, right? But if you competently shoot a portrait, smash your head and build the correct lighting scheme, then the frame will take on a completely different mood and texture. Your portrait will receive the much needed depth, volume, and the shape of the subject will not be distorted. And this will clearly add professionalism to your photos and improve your work many times over.

This is the secret of adding volume to a photo.

In order to convey volume and shape in your shot, you need to avoid frontal light, and set the lighting in such a way that the light source is slightly off to the side and slightly higher from your subject.

Volume illusion

1. Divide the shot into plans, placing objects both in the foreground and in the background.

2. Create aerial perspective by making distant objects less clear.

3. Tint with cool tones and warm tones.

4. Create a geometric perspective.

5. Use diagonals in the composition, they make the eye move along the lines.

6. You can also add vignetting to highlight foreground objects.

7. Don't forget about shadows and highlights.

Summing up

The ability to see light and shadows, to play with them, will give you the opportunity to get absolutely different in mood pictures of the same object! But this is a topic for a completely different article.

And finally, we repeat the important rule of shadow and highlight:

The shadow always adds volume to a "flat" image.
The surface texture of an object can be conveyed using the size of the flare and the degree of blurring of its boundaries.

And by the way, volume is best seen in product photography, especially in food photography.

If you are interested in subject photography, and you want to learn how to convey the texture, volume and "weight" of the object - we are waiting for you for courses in our Photo School.

Photoplasticon or Imperial Panorama

Greek stereos means "corporeal", "volumetric". Surround sound is the accepted standard these days, but stereo photography (or 3D photography) remains an outlandish fun for many. But in vain, because it allows you to capture reality in about the same way as a person sees it.

Traditional photography has developed a serious arsenal of technical and artistic means of conveying volume: depth of field, focal length of optics, perspective, shadow drawing and composition. The human brain can obtain information about space from the content of a flat picture. But ordinary photography is unable to convey volume directly as a person perceives it.

The volume, depth of the image is a subjective thing, since we are limited by our senses. The axes of the human eyes intersect at a certain angle at the point to which our vision is directed. A pair of flat images is obtained, in which there is a displacement of the visible space (parallax). As a result of the fusion of these images, a three-dimensional picture appears in the mind. The perception of volume is made possible by the distance between two points (for example, the eyes), called the stereo base. The distance can be changed using technical means (for example, stereo binoculars or an artillery rangefinder). With an increase in the stereo base, the depth of field decreases and the visual acuity increases.

Stereo photography is a shooting method that assumes that the camera has two "eyes" instead of one. These are not necessarily lenses. The result is important - the frames on the film with the necessary offset of the base. Stereo photography does not create a three-dimensional image in reality, but it allows you to make a clever substitution of real space for a photograph, shot and prepared in a special way.

The ability of 3D photographs to convey the complex structure of the depicted object is especially valuable in "technical" genres, such as photography of architecture, natural and urban landscapes, macro. Using stereo photography for artistic purposes provides entirely new creative tools.

History of stereo photography

In 280 BC. NS. Euclid first discovered that depth perception is achieved precisely because each eye sees slightly different pictures of the same object. Following him, Leonardo da Vinci described these abilities in 1584, who devoted several of his works to the peculiarities of visual perception. The theory of stereoscopic perception was presented in a scientific form by the German optician and geometer Johannes Kepler in the work "Dioptrica" (1611). Two years later, the Jesuit Francois d'Aguillion first used the term "stereoscopy".

Around 1600, the Italian artist Giovanni Battista della Porta painted the first stereo picture. At the beginning of the 17th century, his experience was repeated by Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli, who used the technique of paired images. A century and a half later, the Frenchman G. A. Bois-Clair created volumetric images using the raster method. The Russian writer Leo Tolstoy managed to try his hand at stereoscopic drawings. In the 20th century, the Spaniard Salvador Dali painted three-dimensional paintings using the needle screen method proposed by the inventor of three-dimensional cinema, the Russian emigrant Alekseev. Viewing images obtained using raster and needle methods did not require any special tools.

The discovery of stereo photography is associated with the name of Charles Wheatstone, a professor at King's College London. In 1833, Wheatstone created a mirror stereoscope - a device that allows you to see a three-dimensional image using a pair of original pictures with an offset. At first, the scientist used his drawings as objects. In accordance with the experiments, a scientific base was created. In 1838 Wheatstone gave a historic lecture on the subject of volumetric imaging to the Royal Society in London. The report was titled On Some Remarkable and Hitherto Unobserved Phenomena of Binocular Vision.

Why did Wheatstone use drawings rather than photographic images in his stereoscope? The answer is simple: photography was invented by the Frenchman Daguerre only six years after Wheatstone was discovered, in 1839. Wheatstone presented the first stereoscopic photographs to the public only in 1851 at the World Exhibition in London.

The first camera with two lenses, designed for creating stereo pairs, was created in 1849 by Scottish scientist David Brewster. Brewster is also the creator of a simple stereoscope without mirrors. In 1855, the Frenchman Bernard created the first SLR attachment for conventional single-lens cameras, allowing you to shoot stereo pairs. A little later, the Englishman Barun improved this design.

One of the first to appreciate the potential of 3D photography was the English reporter Roger Fenton, who traveled across Russia in the 1860s and is the author of a series of photographs dedicated to the Russian-Turkish war. In the same years, the famous French photographer Antoine Claude became interested in three-dimensional photography, who opened the London "Temple of Photography" in 1851. According to Claude, a stereoscope, in a cheap and compact form, is a model of everything that exists in different parts of the world. Interestingly, it was Claude who patented the method of obtaining stereo photographs in 1853.

In 1858, the Frenchman Joseph d'Almeida discovered the anaglyph method of creating three-dimensional images, which allowed viewing three-dimensional pictures using glasses with red and green lenses. This method was used to create books, postcards, comics, maps. In the 1920s, the first anaglyph films appeared, which were called plastograms.

At the beginning of the 20th century, French physicist Jonas Lippmann discovered a method of creating images that did not require special viewing devices. Images should have a special surface based on a lens array (raster). The surface consists of microlenses, under which there are image fragments for the right and left eyes. Looking at the image at a certain angle, you can see the volumetric image. Photographer Maurice Bonnet first used the raster method in the 1930s to create three-dimensional portraits.

Nowadays, the method of creating raster images involves preparing a paper substrate on a computer, which is then printed by conventional means and equipped with a plastic screen with a lenticular raster. This method is used when creating pocket calendars with three-dimensional pictures or changing images (vario effect).

Stereo photography appeared almost simultaneously with conventional photography. However, it took almost a hundred years for it to gain massive popularity. At the beginning of the 20th century, stereo photography was perceived as mass entertainment, not an art form. Amusement rides based on the stereoscopic effect were popular. Boxes with stereographic images, which captured views of distant countries made by travelers, village sketches and nude models, became widespread.

In the first half of the 20th century, interest in stereo photography was very high. The first cameras produced by Franke & Heideke were designed specifically for stereo photography: Heidoskop (1920), which shoots on sheet film, and Rolleidoskop (1922), which used roll film (stereo pair format 6 x 13 cm). Soon the Stereoflektoscop from Voigtlander (6 x 13 cm format) and the Verascope of the Frenchman Julius Richard (format 45 x 107 cm, film type 127) appeared on the market.

In 1939, American William Gruber founded View-Master, which a year later produces a narrow-film stereo camera. View-Master has produced many innovative tools for shooting and viewing 3D photos and movies.

The appearance in the late 1930s of Kodachrome color slide film with high detail, as well as the growing popularity of compact narrow-film cameras, contributed to the emergence in the 1940s and 50s of a large number of stereo cameras with an aspect ratio of 24 x 23 mm (Edixa, Iloca, Kodak Stereo, Stereo- Realist) and 24 x 29 mm (Belplasca, Verascope F40). German firms Zeiss (Contax) and Leica offer SLR adapters that allow you to get volumetric photos on conventional rangefinder cameras. Note that the design with the third sighting lens or rangefinder has not undergone any fundamental changes until today.

In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a surge of mass interest in stereo photography. Special cameras and stereo attachments, stereoscopes for viewing images are produced. Souvenir sets are sold, consisting of paired slides depicting world landmarks. Stereo cameras have been used to photograph the surface of the Moon, Mars and the Sun in American space programs.

In the future, 3D photography is likely to get a lot more attention than it does now. Of course, this depends on the technical base, which is constantly being improved. In the meantime, there are two easy ways to create 3D photographs.