#MissionSamsung Mission 1: 'K Zoom' it's all in the detail

As you all know, I have been participating, along with 9 other bloggers, in Challenge 4 of the #MissionSamsung Blogger Challenge. We participate in a series of "missions" using awesome mission-oriented gadgets and at the end of the challenge, the best blogger wins the cool Samsung products that they worked with. For our missions we get to play with the Samsung K Zoom phone/camera, as well as the Level Over-Ear Headphones. Since the start of the challenge a week ago, I have not been able to put either of the items down.

For Mission 1: 'K Zoom" it's all in the detail, we had to take a series of 7 photographs (including before's and afters) using 3 mandatory functions, as well as 4 functions/features of our choosing. I got one of my friends, Lieschen Harrison, to model for me and I went about a photoshoot as I normally would, except with the Samsung K Zoom instead of my usual DSLR. Right at the outset I would just like to point out already that the phone camera exceeded all expectations. It is quite literally the perfect photography companion.

It was quite an overcast morning, but here and there the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. I had to use what I could get and it all turned out better than expected. We live in a beautiful area in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands called Hilton. In fact our home is surrounded by lush greenery and we often enjoy walks with our dogs just soaking it all in. We seriously could not ask for a better area to live in.

I woke up early and got straight to making a pretty and simple headpiece to place around my model's head. Lieschen arrived around 7 o'clock and we popped in some hair extensions, put a little makeup on, and crowned her with my little floral creation. She brought a couple dresses and we chose a green dress to match the greenery of the flowers and of course, the environment we were going to be photographing in. I would like to add that none of these images have been processed or edited except for the addition of the #MissionSamsung watermark. These are straight out of the camera.

For my mission submission I have decided to speak you through the process of the photoshoot as my "story". I will also go about it discussing the mandatory functions first and then going on to my choices. And believe me when I say there were many.

1. Optical Zoom (Mandatory)

This first image is my "before" optical zoom shot. It was taken from about 10m away from my subject, and I did not zoom in at all.

1. Optical Zoom BEFORE

This next photograph is zoomed into my subject bringing her closer without me having to move in closer as you would with a normal phone camera... At this point I would like to say "Oh My Hat!". I mean I knew playing around with the phone this week that the optical zoom is amazing, but I cannot get over it. It surprises me more and more.

1. Optical Zoom AFTER

2. Xenon Flash (Mandatory)

The next mandatory function assigned to us is the Xenon Flash. It's "tag-line", so to speak, is that it is perfect for any lighting situation. A toughy for people taking photographs in high contrast foreground and background environments is getting the exposure balance right. As you can see in the "before image", the image is quite dull and a bit underexposed.

As a photographer you learn how to use flash to help in this kind of lighting situation: you would expose for the background rather than the subject, using the flash to bring up the exposure on the subject in the foreground. See the "after" photograph below for a comparison.

In the "after" photograph you will notice that the background is also better exposed and the subject is much better lit than in the shadow of the before photograph.

2. Xenon Flash BEFORE

2. Xenon Flash AFTER

3. AF/AE Separation (Mandatory)

So, in discussing the Xenon flash, another cool feature of the Samsung K Zoom is the Auto-Focus/Auto-Exposure Separation. In the situation above I could have opted for this feature as well. The AF/AE Separation feature allows you focus on your subject, and mark a different point for the camera to gather exposure information.

The before photograph was taken without any additional features being used. In this lighting environment she looks slightly under exposed.

3. AF/AE Separation BEFORE

I played around trying to get the perfect exposure. When I exposed for the trees in the background my subject was completely over-exposed so I tried again and this time exposed for the grass in the shade which resulted in a better overall balance of exposure in the photograph.

3. AF/AE Separation AFTER

4. Panorama mode

For my first choice feature on the camera, I thought I'd use the panorama mode. Every photographer loves a wide angle lens and you just can't achieve the same effect by taking three or four separate images and stitching them together afterwards.

The panorama mode is particularly cool as you  take one image, and all that's involved is pushing the capture button once, moving the camera slowly in the direction you want your panorama to go, and pushing it again once you have finished capturing your scene.

4. Panorama BEFORE

4. Panorama AFTER

5. Macro mode

My next function of choice is the macro mode of the Samsung K Zoom's camera. The first image is photographed in auto. I came in up close and the output was good but in macro mode the camera adjusts and boosts colours and shadows to fully optimise the closeness.

You will note that for the after photograph I got right up in there to fully demonstrate the macro mode's fantastic ability.

5. Macro mode BEFORE

5. Macro mode AFTER

6. Pro Suggest

One of the nicest things about the Samsung K Zoom's camera offering is the "Pro Suggest' mode. Selecting this mode allows you to compose your image and focus, and the camera will give you 5 options from which you can choose to capture the image.

I had some fun playing with a few and I chose my favourite. The before photograph was simply captured in Auto, and the after photograph is with the "Cinematic" filter selected.

6. Pro Suggest BEFORE

7. Beauty Face

Okay, okay... I think I have a favourite function on the camera. It's called beauty face and well... if that's not self-explanatory, it makes your face beautiful. Now... Don't get me wrong, Lieschen is stunning - just look at that before photograph.

Beauty mode does something akin to waving a magic wand over the lens. It smooths out skin-tones and brightens up the composition.

I have several photographs taken in this mode, but I can't tell you how hard it was to choose one specifically for this post.

7. Beauty Face BEFORE

7. Beauty Face AFTER

Final Notes

So... as a photographer, the break from my DSLR may have felt somewhat strange to begin with on a photoshoot, but the Samsung K Zoom was such an awesome performer! I am in love with this phone/camera and I would honestly love, love, love to have it as my photography companion full-time... For now I will have to make do with the couple weeks I have left in this #MissionSamsung challenge.

Just for fun, I included one last mode as well... This one is just so that I could capture myself with my friend Lieschen using the "Selfie Alarm" mode. It allows you to use the better lens located on the back of the camera instead of the front, to take an awesome selfie. It let's you choose where in the composition you would like the camera to track for your faces and once your faces have aligned in the allocated area, it will sound a little alarm so that you hold the camera still, and it then captures 3 photographs from which you can choose your favourite and save.

Like the Beauty Face mode, this mode also smooths up skin tones and brightens up the composition so that you really look your best.

Picture taken with "Selfie Alarm' mode.