Recently in Photography

  Page 311 of 385 in Photography  

Our own Stephanie Scheetz attended the CHA Summer Convention and Tradeshow in Orlando, Florida, and sits down with Derrick to report on interesting things there for photographers and creatives looking for new opportunities. We talk about trends, specific products, and business endeavors that you might be interested in.

Listen to the Podcast

You can also download the podcast here (25 minutes). Or better yet, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Transport is the August 2009 Photo Assignment. Think both literally (car, bike, bus, etc) and figuratively. You can read more about how to submit on our Member Participation page. Deadline for entry is August 31, 2009.

More Ways to Participate

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. It's a blast!


twitter.jpg Follow me on Twitter

-


Podcast Sponsors

SiteGrinder lets you take ownership of your websites. Effortlessly output pages right from Photoshop.

Red River Paper -- Try the $7.99 Sample Kit.

Add Magic to Your Slideshows -- FotoMagico presentations are so amazing that your audience will be asking how you did it.


Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

Backing up your pictures is much easier when you know where they all are. But as I've discovered over the years of teaching photography, students aren't always sure about the locations of their images. Verbatim might be able to help. Their PhotoSave DVDs are preloaded with Windows software that scours your hard drive, finds all of the pictures on it, then gives you the option of burning the entire collection on to one or more DVDs -- depending on how many photos we're talking about. This could be particularly handy if you're about to wipe Mom's PC hard drive and want to make sure you don't lose any stray pictures in the process.

Since PhotoSave is Windows only, Mac users have to run VMware Fusion or a comparable virtual machine to use PhotoSave. But you can do that. I tried it on a MacBook running Vista, and it worked.

After you insert the PhotoSave disc, its built-in software launches and you have the option of automatically scanning your hard drive for photos, reading images off an attached memory card, or manually picking the folders you want backed up. Since you can manually burn images with any writable DVD (that costs less than $3 each), that doesn't seem like the best use for this product, so I imagine most folks with choose to have PhotoSave autoscan their computer or a large directory.

If you have more pictures than will fit on a single disc, PhotoSave will burn to multiple discs for you. Once you put it in motion, it seems to work fairly quickly gathering the images and placing them on the disc in their originally named folders.

Once the disc is burned, it is recognizable by both Windows and Mac computers (running Leopard) -- although very slow on a Mac. On my MacBook, it shows up with the burn date as the name of the disc, and inside are my file folders full of pictures. I was able to browse the DVD using Adobe Bridge 5. But this requires patience since DVDs read much slower than hard drives. And it seemed to me there was extra work involved creating the thumbnails than with a standard DVD full of photos. Nontheless, it did work. On Windows, the experience was more pleasant.

I could see using Verbatim PhotoSave DVDs for special situations, such as backing up images from an unorganized amateur photographer who had hundreds of photos, but not thousands. But impatient photographers who have lots of big images should stick to hard drives and other speedier backup systems. And even though you can use a Mac, I would say that PhotoSave DVDs are best left to Windows computers (unless you have *a lot* of time on your hands). Verbatim PhotoSave DVDs are available on Amazon.com for $15.64 for a five pack.


twitter.jpg Follow me on Twitter

-


It's official -- the iPhone is now my compact camera. This dawned on me yesterday while I was documenting my garage clean-up project with my iPhone 3GS, then actually uploading a picture of the completed work to my Flickr and Facebook pages. It's the image capture device that's always in my pocket.

A few things have led to this change:

  • Tap Focus: This has been the single biggest improvement for me with the iPhone camera. Being able to control the area of the composition where the camera focuses -- and sets the exposure -- is huge. I now feel like I have the essential control that was lacking in previous versions.
  • Improved Low Light Performance: Let's face it, most of the shots we take on the fly are not in full sunlight. I've found that if I steady the iPhone and use my "hold the finger on the shutter button then softly release it" method for shooting, I can work in low light environments surprisingly well.
  • Video: I was just showing a movie to a friend that would have been far less illustrative as a still photograph. The video feature is huge for telling a story.

And then you have all of the connectivity options that you don't have with most cameras. Using an application such as Pixelpipe or Flickr Mobile, I can post images for others almost immediately. Add the variety of image editing tools available on the iPhone itself, and the options grow even more.

This doesn't mean that I'm shooting less with the Olympus E-P1, Canon 5D Mark II, or Canon T1i. What the iPhone means to me is that I'm capturing more of my life, images that I would have missed otherwise. And I'm just thrilled about that.

More on the iPhone 3GS

DIY Copy Stand for the iPhone 3GS

iPhone 3GS Movie Making Basics - Video for All

"iPhone 3G S from Photographer's POV" - Digital Photography Podcast 180

Flickr and iPhone 3GS are Great Companions


twitter.jpg Follow me on Twitter

-


"I was walking through Chicago's Millennium Park during the early evening," wrote Rick Brandt, "and noticed that just about everyone had a camera (or camera phone) taking photos at the Cloud Gate -- a 110-ton elliptical sculpture that reflects the Chicago skyline and clouds above.

"One photographer in particular caught my eye since her subject was a bride and groom. As the trio wrapped their photo session and headed away from the sculpture, I thought there was an interesting photo in the making -- I just had to get to the spot where I could frame up the subjects with the Cloud Gate behind them. So I took off on my 20-yard dash. With their emotions getting the best of them, the photographer and bride didn't take much notice of me. However, the groom seems to be wondering -- 'Who is this guy running at us?' -- just as I slammed on the brakes and made the exposure. Post-processing done in Aperture with the help of Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software."

Rick captured the image with his Canon G9 set to ISO 80 and f/2.8.

Photo by Rick Brandt. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.


twitter.jpg Follow me on Twitter

-


Technorati Tags: , , ,

This must be the week for unusual camera announcements. First, we had the Nikon Coolpix S1000pj, a compact camera with a built-in projector so you can display your images on the wall. Now we have the Sony Party Shot DS1, a robotic mount that you place the camera in, then it uses Face Detection to scan the room, look for shots, and take them.

The mount pans a full 360 degrees horizontally, and it tilts up and down. When the camera (either a new TX1 and WX1 Sony compact) detects a face, it focuses, sets exposure, and grabs the shot. In theory, you can place the Party Shot in the center of the room, turn it on, and enjoy the festivities. After the last glass has been cleared away, upload the images to your computer and relive the experience all over again.

If you were a wedding photographer, imagine setting a couple of these up at the reception and letting them do their thing while you focus on your shot list. You may get some wonderful surprises, especially when curious guests eye the device and get their picture taken while doing so.

The only thing you'd have to figure out is how to lock it down. It appears that there's a security slot on the back of the device, but what about the camera itself? You'd hate for a guest to snatch your Sony while you were off elsewhere.

Pre-orders should be available now at www.sonystyle.com/retail and at selected retailers nationwide. The Party-shot camera accessory will be available for about $150 in September.


twitter.jpg Follow me on Twitter

-


Well, SLRGear.com has confirmed what many of us had already experienced firsthand: the Olympus 14-42 mm micro zoom is a sharp lens. In their comprehensive test they write:

"Optically, the Olympus 14-42mm Æ’/3.5-5.6 tested quite well, showing sharp results wide open, and even better when stopped down slightly. CA [chromatic aberration] is a bit higher than we'd like at wide-angle, but happily the worst of it manifests only when the lens is significantly stopped down. At 25mm, the lens offers excellent performance, tack-sharp at f/5.6. Results for Distortion and Corner shading were both excellent. As kit lenses go, the 14-42mm is quite nice, and its compact design is quite welcome when handling the E-P1."

The only real concern with this lens is the chromatic aberration at wider focal lengths. I too had seen this in some of my high contrast pictures. In my case, I didn't notice any at longer focal lengths, and only sometimes at the wider angles. But it is something to be aware of with this zoom.

Overall, I think most of us agree that this is a heck of a good kit lens for the Olympus PEN E-P1


twitter.jpg Follow me on Twitter

-


In my latest Macworld article, Recover from digital photo disasters, I show you how to protect your digital images -- from memory card to computer. For example, here's a simple tip that many people overlook.

Photographers tend to overlook the most obvious booby trap: losing the memory card itself. Memory cards are misplaced all of the time. Often they're found by honest people, but if you don't have your cell phone number or e-mail address written on each card, how is someone going to return it to you?

I label the back of all my memory cards with my contact info.Start by writing your contact information on every memory card you have. (I affix a small label to my cards.) And don't stop with memory cards. Every hard drive you own, laptop computer, digital camera, and memory card reader (which could have a card in it) should be labeled with your name and contact information This is your first line of protection against losing valuable data. And I've seen this work. A friend of mine got a call from a rental car company informing her that three CF cards full of pictures from Iceland were found in the auto she had just turned in.

But what about SD cards you might ask? There isn't enough room for writing. That's why I use a labeler for them. In the article I show an illustration with my SD cards labeled.


twitter.jpg Follow me on Twitter

-


Reflectors and diffusers are perfect light modifiers for natural light portraiture. In this podcast, I talk about these accessories in general, and recommend the Photoflex Multidisc 32" that gives you five reflector surfaces and a diffuser.

photoflex_multidisc.png

Listen to the Podcast

You can also download the podcast here (31 minutes). Or better yet, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Transport is the August 2009 Photo Assignment. Think both literally (car, bike, bus, etc) and figuratively. You can read more about how to submit on our Member Participation page. Deadline for entry is August 31, 2009.

More Ways to Participate

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. It's a blast!


twitter.jpg Follow me on Twitter

-


Podcast Sponsors

SiteGrinder lets you take ownership of your websites. Effortlessly output pages right from Photoshop.

Red River Paper -- Try the $7.99 Sample Kit.

Add Magic to Your Slideshows -- FotoMagico presentations are so amazing that your audience will be asking how you did it.


Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

During last week's assignment in Southern California, I photographed some beautiful people. But the star of the week was an after-hours self-assignment: The all electric Mini E Cooper car. There are only 500 of these in the US right now, and I could not pass up the opportunity to photograph, then drive one.

This event was made possible by one of the 500 who have a 1-year lease on the all-electric wonder car: Mark and Amy Swain. I met them while Mark and I were teaching on a cruise to Mexico, and we've been friends since. When Mark and Amy invited me to dinner and my first Mini E experience after work one night, I packed my camera and headed to their home.

When shooting cars, I recommend that you get a good mix of detail shots and overviews. I like to take car shots late in the day when the sun is low. This helps me control contrast and get good detail. I've published a dozen images on the TDS Flickr site. Car lovers should enjoy this gallery.

Driving the Mini E was a thrilling experience. The car handles like a sports car (as Mini Cooper drivers already know), but now you have the added punch of instant acceleration. If you're cruising along at 40 mph, and you punch the "gas," the car rockets forward. It's really amazing to drive a vehicle that doesn't require a multi-gear transmission. The engine is always engaged.


Photos by Derrick Story using a Canon 5D Mark II with a Canon 24-105mm zoom lens. For more photos, visit the TDS Flickr site.


Braking is much different too. You just ease off the gas. Since the car is still in gear, it brakes itself. In fact, it even regenerates a little electricity during the process. Once you've slowed to a stop, you hold down the brake peddle to keep you in place. You can use the brake petal while driving too, but it isn't usually necessary except for quick stops. None of us knows the future of all electric cars. But based on my experience with the Mini E Cooper, I hope this trend is here to stay. I had a blast.


twitter.jpg Follow me on Twitter

-


There are so many ways to make a splash. Entrants in the June 09 Photo Assignment provide us with a few excellent examples.

The August 2009 assignment is "Transport." Start working on your contribution now. Details can be found on the Member Participation page. You can submit photo assignment pictures up to 600 pixels in the widest direction.

Please follow the instructions carefully for labeling the subject line of the email for your submission. It's easy to lose these in the pile of mail if not labeled correctly. For example, the subject line for next month's assignment should be: "Photo Assignment: August 2009." Also, if you can, please don't strip out the metadata. And feel free to add any IPTC data you wish (These fields in particular: Caption, Credit, Copyright, Byline), I use that for the caption info.

Photo by Ruth Cooper.

Good luck with your August assignment, and congratulations to all of the fine contributors for June. It's a great collection of images.


twitter.jpg Follow me on Twitter

-


Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion. The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

  • 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
  • Metadata listings for every photo in the book
  • Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
  • Photo management software guide.
  • Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
  • Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: , ,