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The Secret to Perfect Portraits with Alexander Vinogradov

Our guest photographer, Alexander Vinogradov, gives us his advice on important aspects of portrait photography; from finding the perfect face to editing after the shoot. Read on to get inspired and learn about Alexander’s top tips and tricks that helped earn him the prestigious Sony World Photography Award this year.
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My name is Alexander Vinogradov. I’m a portrait photographer from Russia. I like to photograph people with interesting and unique features. This gives me inspiration and a burst of energy before every shot.

This is a shot of beautiful Lera. A lace blouse with a collar neck was a perfect fit. The only thing missing was a diadem in the hair and the image of the young princess would be complete. Tip: Choose soft and discreet clothes. Bright colors and prints will only distract the attention from your model. The same goes for jewelry and make up. I prefer a natural and very feminine look.Photo: Alexander Vinogradov Model: Lera Equipment: Sony A99, Sony 85/2.8

The formula for my portraits is very simple: an interesting face, soft light, and delicate retouching.

One can easily argue that today is the heyday for photography. With so many people able to take pictures, there is a lot of visual information on the Internet for every taste, so one must try hard to differ from the millions of other photographers.

Therefore, I highly recommend to approach and look for a model very carefully. It should be interesting, unusual, catching. Don’t go for ordinary faces, but look for that muse that will resonate in your heart, and in the soul of the audience.

Pure Russian beauty Dasha is one of my favorite models. Red hair and freckles are the perfect combination, which I emphasized with this vintage dress. Tip: The background color for such a portrait is easy to change with the help of a mask in Capture One Pro. Choose harmonious colors. Green background and red hair is a perfect combination. Photo: Alexander Vinogradov Model: Daria Milky Equipment: Sony A99, Sony 85/2.8

People often ask where I find my beautiful models and most of them I meet on social media e.g. Instagram and Facebook. Searching by hashtag is very helpful. Street casting is also a good idea – you can also approach interesting looking people on the street. For the most part, these are ordinary girls who do not work in modeling agencies and almost without shooting experience.

The light for my portraits is the simplest – this is a normal window and sometimes a reflector for highlighting shadows. A couple of years ago I started shooting in the studio. There, as a source, I use a soft box and a reflector. A soft box is similar in shape to a window, so the light from it is so similar to natural light. It’s quite easy to shoot with natural light, you do not need to know how to install studio light, and you do not have to pay for renting a studio. Such portraits are possible to achieve at home.

I like to look straight to the model’s eyes. So I often shoot large-scale portraits. I like to get close and look at every detail of those beautiful eyes. Capture One helps to show the right skin tone and makes it very natural. Tip: Remember to include the neck in the frame when shooting headshots. A long neck helps to make it more elegant and graceful. Photo: Alexander Vinogradov Model: Katya Equipment: Sony SLT-A99, Sigma 50 / 1.4, 1/160 c, f / 5.6, ISO 160

The background is important in portrait photography. It emphasizes and highlights your model. Therefore, the selection of the background should be as important as your choice of the model. I like to use the darker background color to emphasize the skin of my model. I also use a smooth or slightly textured background.

One of the significant features of my portraits is light – natural retouching. I believe that retouching should not be a dominant factor in the final picture, but simply emphasize the individuality of your model, hiding everything unnecessary. I do not “smear” the texture of the skin, but only remove some of its flaws: pimples, specks, some wrinkles. The most difficult is a sense of proportion, you need to stop in time, without turning the face into plastic.

Capture One Pro allows you to get excellent skin tone without additional manipulation. It is important to get the correct exposure and white balance, so take pictures in RAW format. To eliminate color reflexes on the skin of the model, do not place your model next to the colored surfaces. Photo: Alexander Vinogradov Model: Daria Milky Equipment: Sony SLT A99, Sony 135/1.8

I began using Capture One six or seven years ago because I liked the correct and beautiful skin tone you can obtain without the need for adjustments. By default, the picture from the camera looks very good. I just correct the exposure, contrast and white balance. Capture One is an excellent tool for working with color: you can carefully choose any color shade and change it if necessary. One of the latest innovations, Luma Curve, is very helpful in correcting contrast and adding volume to the portrait. It allows you to change the contrast of the image, almost without affecting the color, which is not possible with a standard RGB Curve. I almost never add sharpness to Capture One – if the camera is focused correctly – then this is absolutely not required, the editor himself chooses the optimal sharpness.

Download a free 30-day trial of Capture One Pro or Capture One Pro (for Sony).

“Simplicity, truth and naturalness – these are the three great principles of beauty in all works of art” – said the Austrian composer, Gluck. So, I advise not to complicate the picture with pretentious poses, ridiculous images, or spoil with bizarre skin tones and excessive retouching. Instead, try to shoot classic portraits, which in my opinion will always remain timeless and will be relevant in many years.

As an example, my picture ‘Matilda’, was the best in the Open category of the largest international competition: Sony World Photography Awards 2017. I did not use complicated light, scenery, and make-up.

The best picture in the Open category of the largest international competition:
Sony World Photography Awards 2017. I’m not a cosplayer, but when I first saw Nastya Marinina, she reminded me of Mathilda from the movie Léon so much! We decided to find a choker necklace and a wig to achieve this Mathilda look.
Tip: Anastasia has a very childish attitude. It can instantly change from cheerfully laughing to seriously looking at you with her piercing dark eyes. To capture the perfect moment it’s crucial to just communicate on an equal level and to press the trigger at the right time. Model: Nastya Marinina Equipment: Sony SLT-A99, Samyang 85 / 1.4, 1/160 c, f / 2, ISO 1600

I hope you found this useful and I wish everyone lots of inspiration! Below you’ll find more photos.

Best regards,

Alexander

PSD Workflow Advantages

NOTE: This article discusses an outdated version of Capture One. To learn more about our latest version, click here.

Capture One Pro is a funny thing.

Not in the comical sense, but in the sense that it seems to get better and better with time, anticipating the needs of its intended audience. That may seem like the obvious evolution of a software, incrementally improving the experience for its users, but I’m sure many of you feel that often it doesn’t seem to be the case with all technologies. It’s rather difficult to tell Microsoft after the fact, no thank you I don’t need a new default web browser, or to kindly point out to Apple that, indeed the removal of a USB port is rather inconvenient and I’m not particularly fond of carrying around a backpack of “dongles”.

The changes in Capture One Pro from the outside may seem small, but it’s the impact they have on my daily use that becomes monumental in terms of saving time. In the interest of full disclosure, it’s important to point out that the software team here at Phase One is, in fact, not clairvoyant. They had not anticipated or somehow sensed that the changes they were making would be so beneficial. The trigger for change was actually more rudimentary than that… they listened to the users!

In that sense, what I find funny about Capture One Pro and all its future versions, is that it’s comforting. Finding solace and comfort in a software is both embarrassing to admit and certainly a funny thought to express. But there it is.

Although Phase One does pay my rent (and I am without a doubt biased) I find comfort in the fact that the tools I depend on when not in the office, the tools that are essential to fulfill my love of photography, are created by a team that listens to the photographers who use their software and are certain to make a difference. Although I do not work for the software department, I do know that the team is dedicated to ensuring that any improvements they make are fully vetted with those that use Capture One Pro. That vetting process certainly occurs here, across the lunch table on a daily basis, but the lengths they go to outside of this office, working directly with full-time professional photographers, certainly makes a difference.

Efficient Workflow

To anyone reading this, I’m sure I don’t need to preach the importance of a well-choreographed and tirelessly executed workflow. It’s been said many times over, by anyone speaking about Capture One Pro, that it’s one of the few photographic tools that puts the power of customizing that workflow directly in the hands of the user.

Creating a customized workflow, tailored to your exact needs and wants, is one of its many strengths.

Stressing the importance of an efficient workflow is one thing, but following one personally is quite another. The old adage, “Those that can’t do, teach” comes to mind. I am far from a professional photographer and working with so many photographers, suggesting, adapting to and embracing their workflows as a matter of diligence becomes problematic when I put my own workflow into practice. Adapting to different workflows certainly affords me the opportunity to explore, but it does hinder my consistency.

The one thing that has remained consistent in my workflow for more than 15 years is the transition from RAW to PSD, and from PSD to TIFF/JPEG. I suspect that will never change.

Sessions or Catalogs come and go depending on the job. New Tools provide new editing opportunities. New layouts streamline the steps one can take to achieve a final image… but the transition of capturing a RAW, editing that RAW, processing to a PSD, editing that PSD, and then delivering a TIFF or JPEG is always a constant.

And when would that ever change? Well, it didn’t change with the release of Capture One Pro 10.1. But it did get a whole lot better.

The critical role of a PSD

A PSD is critical because, well, we’re photographers. And for photographers, Photoshop is critical. It’s a simple truth that Photoshop is an essential tool for every photographer. There have been attempts to replace it, clone it or avoid it, but at the end of the day there’s always something in an image that needs a tweak here or a touch there, and Photoshop is often the answer. It does some things better than anyone can, and likely ever will, but that list of advantages is shrinking.

The role of Photoshop in my workflow has certainly been reduced. At one time, my entire digital process revolved around it (with a brief and embarrassing stint in Lightroom), but now it acts almost like a Plug-in for Capture One Pro and not the other way around.

So, what is a PSD? To put it simply, it’s a TIFF file with some pizzazz. That’s of course not what the P stands for, but it’s close. It’s a file format of your image that is streamlined for Photoshop, compressed in a lossless format (like a RAW file) and puts quality, security and speed, above all else. So, it’s not exactly a TIFF, it’s so much more.

The number one enemy of image editing quality is compression. Bear with me here…

Compression is like packing a rucksack for a month of backpacking. The first time you pack it, it’s perfect. Everything is where it should be, and everything fits safe and snug… until the next time you re-pack it, and the next, and then the next. In the end, your backpack looks like it’s filled with empty beer cans and you’ve lost a tent pole. In digital editing, that type of compression is JPEG compression. By constantly packing and repacking, editing and saving, that JPEG eventually fails to resemble its original form. It may be small, but eventually it’s corrupted and you’ve lost a tent pole. A JPEG is perfect for a one-time, tight, snug, and small pack job, but not for constantly adjusting and resaving. So, for continuous editing, it’s a no-no.

A JPEG ready to deliver

The same JPEG after 25 Open/Save Cycles.. CORRUPT!

This is where a TIFF comes in. A TIFF has no compression and therefore there’s no fear of losing that tent pole. Keeping with the travel analogies, it’s a steamer trunk. It holds all your belongings in an organized way, safely and securely. But… it’s huge, heavy and no one can really afford to travel like it’s the 1920s on a first-class transatlantic voyage.

This is where a PSD comes in. It’s a hard-shell Samsonite suitcase with wheels. All the benefits of a TIFF in that it’s safe, secure and organized, and with some of the benefits of a JPEG in that it’s compressed – but in a good way. The file is quick in Photoshop, takes up slightly less space than a TIFF, and is secure for the foreseeable future. Your tent pole is exactly where you left it.

A PSD is the best of both worlds. In an industry constantly pressured by time, threatened by the unspeakable file corruption, it is without a doubt a vital format for a professional workflow. If you use Photoshop anyway.

Streamlining the Streamlined

So back to how great Capture One Pro is…

With the release of Capture One Pro 10.1 came a seemingly insignificant, but monumental benefit in that it improved PSD support. What is this improvement you ask? Layers! The pizzazz of the PSD.

Previously, Capture One Pro could see a PSD. It could recognize one in a collection of images (Session or Catalog) and it could see what the original file (or background layer) consisted of. However, if you were a diligent retoucher, you would of course have layers within that PSD that made significant, or subtle, changes to that background layer. So, in previous versions of the software, what you saw in Photoshop was not always what you got in Capture One Pro.

The improvements made it so Capture One Pro will not only see, honor and update the adjustments you make to the PSD in Photoshop, but it will allow you to process that PSD as if it were a normal RAW file. This seems small, but trust me, it’s huge.

For example, say you edit a RAW in Capture One Pro to near perfection and process that RAW to a PSD, and that PSD needs a bit of work via Photoshop to replace the model’s bad hair day with a silly hat. The work is done quickly and effortlessly in Photoshop and saved, still as a PSD. Opening that PSD in Capture One Pro now shows the PSD, silly hat and all.

Or, as a more practical example, you can have several RAW that you shot as a stitch, processed to PSD and stitched in Photoshop, then continue editing that stitched file in Capture One Pro. In hindsight I should have led with that example but the idea of a silly hat made me laugh.

RAW’s in Capture One

Files Stitched PSD in Photoshop

Edited PSD-Before

Edited PSD-After

PSD imported to Capture One and ready to edit or process further

With this file, you can now edit it slightly (if need be) just as if it were a RAW. Just as if it were originally shot as a Panorama! Then, when the art director asks for 5 different image samples of this particular image, including multiple formats at multiples sizes and resolutions, a simply click in Capture One Pro exports the PSD to the desired formats referencing all of the Process Recipe’s you’ve applied.

Bing. Bang. Boom.

No more cumbersome resizing the original in Photoshop over and over. No more hunting for the PSD that matches the RAW, reprocessing and retouching again. Just once and done. Your previously excellent workflow has just become excellenter.

Small Feature, Substantial Change

What this new feature affords me is speed, consistency and peace of mind. My workflow, though not perfect, is quite efficient (#humblebrag). The introduction of this small change however, makes it effortless.

The time switching between Capture One Pro and Photoshop is nearly zero and the manual organization, locating and verifying that I have the most recent file, is a thing of the past. I can see my chosen and edited RAW file alongside my edited and final PSD. If I choose to further edit that PSD in Photoshop, everything remains consistent in Capture One Pro. And when it comes time to process that PSD to one or multiple formats (for Instagram, Photoshop, 500px, personal website, print house, moms refrigerator) it’s one click of the process button and all the files are quickly created, neat and tidy, done and done.

Processed files from the PSD

I know I said this was a seemingly small improvement – and it is – but the effect it has on my workflow is incredible.

So, just to summarize…

I can edit a RAW in Capture One Pro. I can then right click that RAW, when it’s ready to move to Photoshop, and choose Edit With… from the Right Click menu.

I edit the PSD in Photoshop, stitching, stacking, retouching, etc, and then save the PSD in the same folder as the RAW files.

I now have a PSD alongside my RAW’s that reflects my edits. I can choose to continue editing in Capture One Pro if I wish, but when I’m ready I simply process the PSD to the final formats I need (TIFF/JPEG) and I’m done. Simple and clean.

Edit With

Final Capture One Pro structure after editing the PSD

Final image after editing the PSD in Capture One Pro

The Importance of Professional Tools

In a way, Phase One is paying me to say this, but you’ll have to trust me when I tell you that they didn’t come to me to write about this change. I volunteered. I jumped at the opportunity to tell as many people as possible about the potential this small change has on a bigger, and common, workflow.

Capture One Pro is, without a doubt, a professional piece of software. Though it’s not for everybody, I firmly believe it should be. With the ability to customize a workflow to suite your exact needs, and the underlying features to make seemingly anything possible, it’s a software that has everything to offer a photographer and asks for nothing in return (aside from $299 USD).

It is designed and delivered by dedicated individuals who listen to the needs of photographers and it is built to help propel professional photographers the world over.

Ultimately… this is pretty great and I highly suggest you check it out.

Download a 30-day trial and see for yourself what Capture One can do for your workflow.

Using the Wacom Mobile Studio Pro in the Field

Recently, I was lucky enough to borrow a new Wacom Mobile Studio Pro for a few weeks, as I was keen to try this as a tethering solution in the field.

This product basically combines all the elements of a Wacom Graphics Tablet, 4k Display and a pretty powerful tablet computer to boot. As a self confessed Mac fan and Windows-phobe it was also going to be a good test if I could cope with Windows 10 as an OS as well.

The model I had on loan was the larger of the two, at 16 inches with an i7 processor. More info on the Wacom Mobile Studio Pro here

I was keen to try this in conjunction with my 2016 MacBook Pro as the Mobile Studio Pro can also act as a secondary display to this, with just a simple USB-C to USB-C connection. No adapters required!

Therefore, I thought I could a) capture in the field with the Wacom and b) transfer the data to my MacBook Pro back at home and use the Wacom’s graphics tablet abilities there.

This eventually worked out really well, when I discovered a pretty useful additional feature. More on that later!

Working in the Field

I was lucky enough to be invited on a recent workshop run by one of our American partners, Capture Integration. This workshop was based in Bluff, Utah, which is an ideal base for exploring such sites as Monument Valley and the Valley of the Gods. So I decided this would be a good excuse to test the Wacom, as I figured there would be lots of standing around waiting for the sun to come up… or go down.

As you can see in this image, I have my Sony A7 connected directly to the Mobile Studio Pro, running (at this time) a beta release Capture One 10.1.

By the way, the hat is optional, but its the full desert look.

The Wacom only has USB-C connections, so to tether a camera, you simply need a USB-C to USB cable or a simple adapter. I already have an adapter I use for my MacBook Pro and that worked just fine on the Wacom too.

I used a Tether Tools cable as you can see as well, in their distinctive orange!

Capturing tethered was simple and fast. No break downs in connection and its nice to be able to connect quickly with the universal USB-C connection.

The Mobile Studio Pro really showed its power and did not struggle with tethered capture, or working with images in Capture One (more on that later).

We also connected a Phase One XF100MP camera to really push it, and it didn’t complain at that either.

For longer periods of use, it would make sense to have some kind of mount so you could attach it to your tripod. Again Tether Tools (for example) have solutions for this. I had a rather skinny tripod with me, so didn’t trust the weight of the Wacom (it is well built and solid) on one of the spindly legs.

When I was waiting for sun-up, I simply sat on my camping chair, or a nearby rock and waited! The nice thing about having a tablet on your lap, is that you can shoot regularly as the light changes, and have a very high quality instant preview of the scene in front of you.

I also have full remote camera control, so I don’t have to move off my perch.

If you don’t want to carry a Wacom pen with you in the field (I didn’t as was pretty sure it was an easy thing to lose for me) then the screen can simply be enabled as a touch interface. Capture One worked well with this for all the basic operations. If you intended to do a lot of editing whilst out in the field, then having the pen would make sense for certain adjustments, like Local Adjustments.

Here’s one of the images I shot tethered.

Optimising the Workspace

One very small change I made to the workspace can really help working with the Wacom, both out in the field and back at base. This does depend if you are right or left handed though, so this comes from a right hander.

Traditionally Capture One tools are placed on the left, like this…

But this presents a problem if you are using a pen as a right-hander, as your arm will be covering up the image as you try and adjust it!

So a simple solution is to simply go to View>Place Tools Right, and then your image will be unobstructed as you adjust. Furthermore, you can use your left hand to scroll up and down the thumbnails and select too. Yes, touch input and pen input can be combined.

I showed this to a workshop participant who was using Capture One on a Dell computer / tablet. “ohhhhhhh – well that helps”. Often is the simple things that have the most gains.

Back at Base

So the real test, was to see if I could get the Windows 10 and OSX chatting happily to each other to get the images I shot from the Wacom over to the Mac. Of course, I could simply have left the Mac at home and used nothing but the Wacom for the workshop duration, but knowing that this was a loaner, I didn’t want to get too deep into customising it.

I thought of the following options for file transfer…

Network them together
Use a cloud storage service like dropbox
Format a hard drive that can be read by the MacBook Pro and the Wacom

I figured as the internet service was next to nothing at our location, and I didn’t feel like researching the intricacies of networking Windows 10 and OSX together, the simplest solution was option 3, which is what I did.

But…. I did discover a really neat feature for the Mac User once I had connected to my MacBook Pro to use as a secondary display and tablet….

Graphics Tablet / Display Use

Fortunately, to use the Mobile Studio Pro as a graphics tablet on a 2016 MacBook Pro, you just need a USB-C to USB-C cable. For non, USB-C enabled hosts, then Wacom sell a converter that splits the signal from USB-C to a standard USB port and an HDMI port.

There is a couple of things to bare in mind :

You must use the middle port on the Mobile Studio Pro
The USB-C cable must be capable of supporting video. For example, your white Mac charger cable will not work! I know a few people who have been tripped up by this.
To trigger the connection, flick the On/Off switch on the left hand side of the Mobile Studio Pro.

After a couple of seconds, the mode changes, and it is now acting as a secondary display, and tablet! Great!

All the usual rules apply then for working with any Wacom tablet, except (if you wish) you can be working directly on the image. This can be great for intense Photoshop work or Local Adjustments in Capture One.

Personally, I am so used to working with a ‘normal’ Wacom that I am mostly happy to just see the Image on my MacBook Pro and not take advantage of the display properties of the Wacom. But for reasons mentioned above, it can be nice to use this mode from time to time.

If you don’t want to use the display on the Mobile Studio Pro, then its important to set in the Wacom preferences to just ‘map’ the tablet to the one display, not divide it between both.

So what’s the neat feature I found that I mentioned above? Well, the Mobile Studio Pro has a built in SD card reader, which also makes it handy for use in the field. But, when connected in the manner described above, as well as acting as a secondary display, additionally you have the worlds largest SD reader attached to your Mac! Now, I use a blank SD card to act as the go-between for file transfer.

Even a windows-phobe can cope with that.

Conclusion

I very much enjoyed my short time with the Mobile Studio Pro. I didn’t have a stand for it, which I think would be essential for stand alone desk work, otherwise you will end up simply hunching over it. Also I would add a small bluetooth keyboard.

Learn more about the workflows used in this blog post by visiting our User Guide:

Tethered Capture
Customized Workspaces

The IQ3 100MP Achromatic

The new IQ3 100MP Achromatic Digital Back is built upon the IQ3 platform and is a project I had looked forward to for quite some time. Built with a newly designed, dedicated sensor that removes the Bayer Color Filter, while retaining all the versatility and functionality of the IQ3 100MP, its promise had me anxiously awaiting the day when I could put the detail and quality to the test.

That day finally came in mid-April and I’m happy to be able to share the results with you now.

The IQ3 100MP Achromatic in use

Designing a back that focuses only on Black and White photography can be challenging and to say I was impressed with the final results is an understatement.

Black and white photography is something unique. With all the work and testing I do with our color systems, the specialized applications and benefits of an Achromatic back were a welcome challenge. By focusing on the detail render and functionality features, we are able to produce images that speak to what is at the heart of photography; composition and creative expression, while expanding on the digital properties we always deliver; image quality and detail.

Given my long career focusing on photography, I enjoyed putting this system through the paces while applying my in-depth knowledge and approach to the technical side of photography. This gave me the best of both worlds, I could challenge myself with the creative element of Black and White photography while exploring the technical flexibility of an Achromatic back… all while having the same tools available to me that I have in the IQ3 100MP Color CMOS system.

Seeing the detail

The first and most obvious benefit of this system is the detail that’s possible. Though it is still a 101-megapixel system, it’s built without a Bayer Color Filter. This means that there is no interpolation in the digital capture process. Each and every pixel is therefore much more genuine in what it generates.

Knowing that we work so hard to do the most with the color sensors and the Bayer interpolation, I knew before we even had the new system that we would see detail beyond imagination with the IQ3 100MP Achromatic.

The detail that you can see with the Achromatic sensor is truly exceptional. The IQ3 100MP color back is certainly impressive, and knowing all the hard work that goes into making the color sensor shine says a lot about what we can do with the new Achromatic!

What you can’t see is what you get!

Understanding the detail that’s possible with the IQ3 100MP Achromatic, it’s important to have the tools to ensure you’re getting the most out of the system. As the new sensor is a CMOS design, Live View is an excellent tool to ensure everything is captured exactly as expected.

Not only does Live View serve as a way to check focus and framing, but it also sheds light on what your eyes can’t see!

Capturing the full spectrum of light (infrared) with the IQ3 100MP Achromatic

Capturing the full spectrum of light with the IQ3 100MP Achromatic – with the visible spectrum to the right and infrared capture to the left

The IQ3 100MP Achromatic, in addition to having no Bayer Color Filter, is also designed to capture the full spectrum of light. The design is such that if removing IR light is needed, a filter can be placed in front of the lens to only capture light in the visible spectrum. But by not using this filter, you’re able to see infrared light in Live View which opens a whole new world of light displayed. Having this preview in Live View makes for less guesswork and ensures that what you see is what you get. With infrared photography, Live View focus is an absolute must due to the shift of the light and the filtering effects.

The versatility of artistic expression

In testing this back I primarily used the XF Camera System, but as the IQ3 100MP Achromatic has the same features as the IQ3 100MP color sensor, I was eager to test the back on technical cameras and use the Electronic Shutter.

This, along with the option of Infrared capture, makes this back incredibly diverse in in its applications. A precision system like the ALPA TC with the 35mm offers seamless integration with Electronic Shutter and has less need for control with an LCC calibration. This is of course fantastic, but I couldn’t resist the temptation of using the new Achromatic sensor on something a bit less precise.

Here is just one example of the IQ3 100MP Achromatic on a simple pinhole camera of my own design. The results, though certainly less controlled and quantitative, are still eloquently artistic. Something simply not practical without the Electronic Shutter and Live View tools at my disposal. (Perhaps next time I’ll remember to clean the sensor!)

ISO performance and flexibility

One of the side benefits of removing the Bayer Color Filter is the advantage of light sensitivity. As the Bayer Color Filter is actually a microscopic filter, it ends up blocking wavelengths of light from the pixel well. Without this filter, however, the pixel performance goes above its native sensitivity. As the Achromatic sensor doesn’t read color, it can use the additional light that a Bayer Color Filter would typically remove, to its advantage.

This benefits greatly as it means the base ISO 200 quality is equivalent to a low base ISO of 50 on a color sensor. If you need longer exposures, you can use an ND and not worry about introducing a loss of quality typically associated with such dense filtering. With a gain in sensitivity but a preservation of quality, the back becomes much more versatile.

And, of course, because of the higher base ISO, you can shoot faster shutter speeds while retaining seamless quality. This means the practical opportunities of a 101-megapixel camera becomes much more common. For example, here’s an image of the night sky at 1/4th of a second at ISO 6,400.

Although the image isn’t groundbreaking, I was happy to have it illustrate versatility. A quick exposure was more than enough to capture the stars in brilliantly sharp detail and nearly noiseless at such a high ISO!

What the eye can’t see

As mentioned previously, the IQ3 100MP Achromatic is designed without the Infrared Cutoff filter. Instead, the back is designed to have this filter in front of the lens. This adds the option to easily capture infrared images without having to recalibrate the system.

Infrared exists outside the visible spectrum. That’s what makes the Live View feature of the IQ3 100MP Achromatic so essential. The ability to see light and specifically infrared light in real time makes it easy to compose and create.

These are some of the first Infrared images I captured. Organic material like the bushes and plants by the water reflect a high degree of infrared light. This is why they are rendered in brilliant whites rather than the green and yellow that they would be in color, or the deep blacks and mid-tones they would be in a non-IR black and white conversion.

Below 1:1 crops, with and without Infrared filter

IQ3 100MP Achromatic - 1:1 Crop No Infra Red

IQ3 100MP Achromatic - 1:1 Crop with Infra Red

Exploring the black & white heritage

The new era of digital black and white photography reflects the traditional methods, before color photography was possible. There is a wealth of practices, methods and options that exist in black and white photography thanks to the nearly 100 years of practice before color photography (and methods that yielded color photographs) became commonplace.

The IQ3 100MP Achromatic is no exception in revisiting and implementing these methods. While digital photography makes it possible to “fake” these methods with post editing; with the Achromatic you’re able to apply the same techniques as you can with black and white film, and get better, truer results than when recreating them in post.

B+W has an extensive range of filters designed for black and white photography, which we used when designing this back. Below is just one example of light filtering that can alter your results with a simple bit of filtering.

Portraits with the IQ3 100MP Achromatic, Infrared only

Portraits with the IQ3 100MP Achromatic, Infrared and Red Filter

You can see in the left image above that the detail in the subjects face is much more prominent when using only the IR Filter. This is because all the visible spectrum is captured in tremendous detail. By comparison, the image on the right is shot with the addition of a Red Filter. This has the desirable effect of smoothing the skin and hiding freckles by way of reflecting all the red of the subject. When you combine these traditional methods and practices with the tremendous detail that’s possible with the IQ3 100MP Achromatic, the results are unparalleled.

The beauty of black & white

Working with a black and white camera is very different from working with a color camera. With black and white, most of the creative work is done once you take the photo. With external filters and Live View, you can create, compose and alter the image right there with the camera and not later in, for instance, Capture One Pro. It just makes the process of creating images a more creative and enjoyable process.

When you look at a color image processed to black and white in Capture One, you can get good results. And if you zoom into details you believe everything is perfect… and it is impressive. But once you see a true black and white capture, you realize that there is an extra level of fidelity to what defines “perfect” details. Not a single pixel appears out of place. Everywhere you look the image has this extreme fidelity down to every detail.

Personally, the availability of such a precision, high-quality digital back, dedicated to black and white photography, is a milestone of endless possibilities. As my profession is fully engrossed in the technical applications and advantages of photography, it was a joy to be able to use and experiment with this digital back.

In conclusion…

I think black and white photography has a unique ability to actually accentuate the elements of an image rather than the lack of color detracting from the capture. That coupled with the technical abilities, IR Images, Black and White filtering, higher ISO’s with cleaner capture, and the tools that make it possible, Live View, Electronic Shutter; all this opens a whole new door to artistic expression and photographic possibilities.

Phase One has always been a company that focuses on the technology and pushing what is possible in image quality further. Our close relationship with Sony enables us to think ahead and imagine the possibilities well before a product is produced.

Although our focus has been, and always will be on technology and image quality, it’s a pleasure to see the excitement and enthusiasm in the office when we produce a product with such traditional photographic foundations.

See more about the IQ3 100MP Achromatic and request your demo.