Thursday, February 3, 2011

“Photographer’s Survival Manual” plus 1 more: Digital Photography School

“Photographer’s Survival Manual” plus 1 more: Digital Photography School

Link to Digital Photography School

Photographer’s Survival Manual

Posted: 02 Feb 2011 10:55 AM PST

Photographer's Survival Manual.jpgThis book won't help you set the right exposure for a shot, nor will it help you compose, add filtration or do a later digital clean up when all has gone wrong.

Authors Greenberg and Reznicki deal with the legal side of picture-making in its 126 pages: copyright, model releases, asserting your rights, pricing your work, chasing defaulting clients etc.

The manual is published in the USA, so the info within its pages applies to the situation in that country; many of the topics may have different legal shades and interpretations in your own country, however the over-riding message within its pages are the same the world over: be careful, know your rights, know the boundaries, know the ropes.

If they were not of such importance, the examples given in the book carry much caution.

Like this one: A bank asks its employees to stay back after closing so that some shots can be taken for promotional purposes; there is no obligation to stay back and no releases are signed.

Some workers remain and end up in the shots made by a photographer, assistant, makeup etc. The staff members pose and the shoot takes several hours. Ads and promos come out. Some employees, having never signed releases, claim violations of NY law. They win!

And on copyright in times past. Well before copyright law came into being some 'artists' used drastic methods to state their rights: Shah Jihan who commissioned the Taj Mahal used one extreme method to deter anyone from making a reproduction of his amazing creation: as the workmen finished their tasks, the Shah ordered one of their hands to be cut off. Have you seen a second Taj Mahal? Drastic but it worked.

Author: E Greenberg & J Reznicki.
Publisher: Lark Books.
Distributor: Capricorn Link.
Length: 126 pages.
ISBN: 978 1 906672 420 5.
Price: Get a price on the Photographer’s Survival Manual on Amazon (currently 28% off).

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips. Check out our resources on Portrait Photography Tips, Travel Photography Tips and Understanding Digital Cameras.

Photographer's Survival Manual


A visual tour of Canon’s 24-70mm f/2.8

Posted: 02 Feb 2011 05:08 AM PST

A Guest Post by Dave Powell from www.shoottokyo.com.

Useful technical information on the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8

filter diameter: 77mm
minimum focusing distance: .38m/1.25 ft.
minimum aperture: f/22
Cost: ~$1,100USD

I use this lens for about 50% of my shooting.   I have 8 Canon L series lenses and I reach for this one out of two times.

It tells me I need to spend more time with my other lenses but it also tells me how great this lens really is.
I love the look and feel of this lens but most of all I love it’s versatility and range of photos I can take with it.   I also love the weight of it as it gives a good strong feel to the camera.

Often I don’t want to carry a camera bag with me.  This is especially true for me when I am out with my family or just running an errand.    Sometimes I just want to throw a camera strap over my shoulder on my way out the door.   I do however want to be able to capture all of the subjects I will be encountering or moments we will be having.

Often my son Kai will be across the table from me and I will just want to snap a quick photo without having to move to setup the shot.   My ultra wide angle might capture too much of the scene.   One of my prime lenses like my 85mm might crop too tightly or be too close to focus.    My 24-70mm is perfect for zooming to the right focal length and capturing the moment in front of me.   It is wide enough to capture more of the scene but is also able to zoom in for a tight crop when I want it.    A minimum focusing distance of .38m or 1.25 feet makes it perfect for shooting across the table or even someone sitting next to you.

Kai_across_the_table.jpg

Dave.jpg

It is also a great lens for family photos as it is wide enough to get the whole family in but without some of the feature distortion you can get with an ultra wide angle lens.

Family_Photo.jpg

Living in a city I tend to be at train stations a lot which are full of action and require a versatile lens to capture all that is going on.  I couldn’t have captured this photo of Shibuya Station’s Toyoko Line and the highway under it if I wasn’t able to zoom out to 24mm.    I also needed to zoom out so I can capture this on coming train (just before it hit me) as well as the platforms on each side.   On my way out of Shinjuku Station I wanted to capture this business man as he passed the Shinjuku Eye and needed to zoom in isolating just him and ‘the eye’ and leaving out the rest of the madness of Shinjuku Station.

Shibuya_Train.jpg

Shinjuku_Eye.jpg

One of the things I love about my 16-35mm is the landscapes that I can capture.  When I am without it, my 24-70mm allows me to get wide enough to capture the landscape as you can see in these photos; monks at a temple on the edge of Ankor Wat in Cambodia, guards surrounding Changdeok-kung Temple in Seoul South Korea, Tokyo Tower at dusk and the International Forum in Tokyo.

Cambodia_Temple.jpg

South_Korea_Temple.jpg

Tokyo.jpg

Tokyo_International_Forum.jpg

With a maximum aperture of f/2.8 it also allows for great night photography without needing to raise your ISO too high that you introduce a lot of noise into the photographs as you can see in these pictures of the Cherry Blossoms along Meguro River in Nakameguro.   This was the reason I choose this lens over the 24-105 f/4.0.   The lost of focal length was easily made up for with a stop of light.

Sakura.jpg

Sakura_2.jpg

Sometimes portrait opportunities present themselves and it’s nice to be able to react quickly.

Mayumi_and_Kai_on_bench.jpg

Last_ride.jpg

Sometimes you want the ability to get more creative with the depth of field and the f/2.8 aperture allows for that nicely.

Bee_in_Flower.jpg

Korean_Writing.jpg

…and sometimes you are just out for a walk and want to capture whatever it is you come across such as; this leaf a found at a temple near my house after a rain, Domo-kun protecting the NHK building in Seiiku, or this attack dog in Dalat Vietnam.

Attack_Dog.jpg

As you can see, the 24-70mm f/2.8 allows you to capture a wide range of subjects.   It’s a great walk around and travel lens.  I often get asked “I want to get one nice lens, what do you recommend?”.   My answer is this one every time.

Dave Powell is a photographer based in Tokyo, Japan.   He writes Shoot Tokyo photography blog.   You can see more of his work at www.shoottokyo.com or follow him on Twitter.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips. Check out our resources on Portrait Photography Tips, Travel Photography Tips and Understanding Digital Cameras.

A visual tour of Canon’s 24-70mm f/2.8


Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Digital Photography Review Newsletter: Wed, 2 Feb 2011

Digital Photography Review Newsletter

Wed, 2 Feb 2011

Welcome to the 438th Digital Photography Review newsletter

The most popular weekly photography newsletter with over 140,000 subscribers

Off into the sunset?

We're readying the Champagne to smash across the bows of our soon-to-be published review of Olympus' flagship E-5. Assumed by many to represent the end of the conventional Four Thirds DSLR family, the range-topping E-5 could well represent something of a high water-mark. It inherits the battleship-like build and famously water-sealed body of the E-3 but featuring a newer 12MP sensor and the latest iteration of the company's impressive image processing. So there's a slightly elegiac feeling as the review rests on the slipway, ready to be launched into the unknowable swell and surge of the Internet.

Richard


Ricoh unveils CX5 compact superzoom with Hybrid AF

Wed, 26 Jan

Ricoh has unveiled the CX5 compact superzoom with Hybrid AF. It represents the re-introduction of an AF system that combines a distance sensor with more conventional contrast detection method to offer focus times of as little as 0.2sec regardless of focal length. Beyond this, it offers the same 10MP back-illuminated CMOS sensor, 10.7x (28-300mm equiv.) zoom lens, 920k dot 3 inch LCD and 720p HD video recording as the CX4. It's not clear how the AF system differs from the one used by the company up until 2007, but it is claimed to almost double the speed of the CX4. Other new features include 'Super-Resolution' context-sensitive image processing and three additional scene modes. (more)

Just posted: Olympus XZ-1 review

Wed, 26 Jan

Just Posted: Our review of the Olympus XZ-1. The company's latest enthusiast compact represents its return to the top end of the compact camera market. The impressive set of features builds around a 28-122mm equiv. F1.8-2.5 lens and includes a 3.0" VGA-equivalent OLED screen, high-sensitivity 10MP CCD sensor and dual control dials. The XZ-1 enters a competitive segment of the market but its specifications suggest it can hold its own. Does use in the real-world support that impression? (more)

Topaz Labs updates ReMask 3 plug-in

Thu, 27 Jan

Topaz Labs has updated its ReMask 3 masking plug-in for Adobe Photoshop a month after its release. Version 3.1 enhances processing speeds and adds new menu items amongst other improvements and bug fixes. Compatible with Windows and Intel-based Mac OS, it is still available at an introductory price of $49.99 till February 18. (more)

Phase One releases Capture One 6.1

Thu, 27 Jan

Phase One has updated its Capture One PRO 6 and Express 6 Raw workflow software. Version 6.1 brings additional features and extends RAW support to cameras including the Canon PowerShot G12, Pentax K-5, Nikon D3100, and the latest Panasonic Micro Four Thirds cameras. The update is available for immediate download from the company's website. (more)

Pentax releases service notice for K-5 DSLR

Thu, 27 Jan

Pentax is offering a free service to users of K-5 DSLRs that have been affected by the widely reported 'stained image sensor' issue. The company believes the problem occurred during the manufacturing process of the first batch of K-5's and cannot be resolved by ordinary sensor cleaning methods. Affected camera owners can contact the company's customer service center to send their cameras for the repair. (more)

Sigma drops price for 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM lens

Mon, 31 Jan

Sigma has announced a price drop for its 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM lens to $1,399, down from $1,699. The company says 'the reason the price went down is to remain competitive in this category and incent sales for this very popular lens.' The lens was amongst the first to incorporate Sigma's FLD glass element. It is currently available for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony Alpha and Sigma DSLRs. (more)

Sony unveils Cyber-shot DSC-HX100V and DSC-HX9V

Tue, 1 Feb

Sony has announced another two Cyber-shot compacts using its latest 16.2MP back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor. Both the GPS-enabled DSC-HX100V and DSC-HX9 are capable of recording full 1080p60 HD videos and offer 10fps continuous shooting. The HX100V superzoom with 30x (27-810mm equiv.) zoom lens and the DSC-HX9 compact superzoom with 16x (24-384mm equiv.) zoom both offer 921k dot 3.0" LCDs, can shoot high resolution panoramic images and generate 3D images. (more)

Ricoh developing M-mount module for GXR system

Tue, 1 Feb

Ricoh has announced it is developing a lens mount module for its GXR interchangeable camera system. The module will combine a 12.9MP APS-C CMOS sensor with a Leica 'M' mount, allowing the use of a large variety of classic rangefinder manual-focus lenses. Details are limited at present but a mock-up is to be shown at the CP+ trade show in Yokohama on Feb 9-12. The company has also reasserted its plans to make non-camera modules for the system. (more)


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“Creating A Sunrise/Sunset Calendar” plus 1 more: Digital Photography School

“Creating A Sunrise/Sunset Calendar” plus 1 more: Digital Photography School

Link to Digital Photography School

Creating A Sunrise/Sunset Calendar

Posted: 01 Feb 2011 10:56 AM PST

This time of year, besides trying to figure out how to take pictures on gray days, I also like to start planning for when the sun will come out. Beyond the Vitamin D benefits, I enjoy sunset photos from a few local beaches spread around the Puget Sound. This year I’m creating a sunrise/sunset calendar, something that I’ve kept in my mind but never put down on paper (or the internet, where my copy will reside).

The concept is simple and works well for those further from the equator. Sorry everyone in the lower latitudes, the sun doesn’t move that far North to South for you to worry about this too much. For those of us from about the 10th parallel all the way to either Pole, this trick should be handy for making the most of your sunset photo time.

You will need a calendar. If you like the online version, here’s one for you for 2011 in ICS version. The idea is to number all the dates on both sides of the Summer Solstice or Winter Solstice equally. I start at the 21st of June and make that zero. From there, each day forward and back, is given a sequential number. Because of the number of days in a year, the calendar will have to be redrawn, slightly, each year except leap year.

The idea is to note where the sun sets on a given day, say the Vernal Equinox, to make life easy. Where I live, up by the 48th parallel, there is a mountain range across from Seattle known as the Olympics. All year long the sun marches left to right in its sunsets. When I mark on the calendar where the sun sets that day (maybe over Mt. Jefferson, for example) and check the calendar number, in this case 93, then I know that on the corresponding date in the Fall, the sun will be in the same position. This just happens to be a few hours before the day of the Autumnal Equinox, again, making life easy.

Armed with this calendar or a simple printed version, it is easy to plan ahead. This is handy if you are not able to shoot a sunrise or sunset on a given day or know of a better angle than the one you currently occupy. My first memory of this calendar idea was seeing a photo of the sun beaming down a street in New York City. The caption noted the photographer had seen that same view the year before and made a note to bring their camera to work in a highrise on the same day the next year. Maybe you notice the sun rising from under a bridge on your way to work or setting perfectly over a lake but can’t stop to take a shot.  Make a note to revisit the missed photo on the other side of the Solstice.

I hope this simple trick helps you record, and enjoy, more great days outdoors with your camera. It can certainly have many uses beyond sunrises and sunsets and I’d love to hear of unique applications of the idea.

Post from: Digital Photography School


5 ways to stop being a luck photographer {and start taking pictures on purpose}

Posted: 01 Feb 2011 05:06 AM PST

We’ve all been guilty of taking pictures with our eyes closed. Just go crazy, go on a shooting spree and see what happens. See what happy mistakes you can pawn off as well-thought out, purposefully captured portraits. Here are 6 ways you can identify yourself as a luck photographer:

  1. You take way too many pictures. A one hour session results in 500 shots to sort in your computer
  2. Your sessions take hours longer than they need to
  3. You feel panicky, nervous and out of control while you’re shooting
  4. You can’t explain to someone later on how you made a portrait or the settings you chose
  5. You either shy away from manual all together or you ‘wing it’ and take the same shot over and over with different settings ‘just in case’
  6. Your clients are confused as to why they spent hours with you, witnessed you taking a bajillion photos but they only ended up seeing 20 of them (note: clients will ask this anyway, but the less you rely on luck, the less they will ask)

I have been guilty of all of the above, and not even that long ago. Believe it or not, I’ve been a very good fake at times. In the beginning, I posted images that had rave reviews from readers inspite of the fact that they were just lucky shots that I couldn’t recreate if I wanted to. There are a few reasons why this can be dangerous to a photographer who is charging for their sessions:

  1. Your clients have gone to your website for a product but when they come to you for their session, you won’t be able to produce the same product for them.
  2. Following on from the above, some of you might know of the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree. He was enticed by the leaves of the tree, but when he approached it, there was no fruit. He cursed it and it died. Being a haphazard photographer is like a tree of leaves enticing clients who later find that there isn’t actually any fruit. A business built on these principles can’t last.
  3. You will smash your own confidence if you rely on luck. You will feel out of control and deep down inside, you’ll know that it wasn’t really YOU creating the images.

When I look back, I can see that I have learned many things from my lucky shooting days. I learned about composition. I learned about self restraint and, most importantly, I learned how to stop shooting for luck and how to start taking pictures on purpose. Here are the things I wish I knew back then to get started sooner:

  1. Learn Light – I can’t just call myself an ‘available light photographer’ and claim to only shoot in natural light to get around learning about lighting. When I wanted to stop being at the mercy of the sun, the location, the time of day, I buckled down and learned the (surprisingly basic) things you need to know to take control of the light. Someone once said, “I’m an available light photographer. My Speedlite is available.”
  2. Learn Your Camera - This is an obvious one, but needs to be said: learn how your camera sets exposure and why. Aperture, ISO, shutter speed and white balance. Force yourself to shoot in manual (or one of the in-between modes likeaperture or shutter priority modes.) and see what the different dials actually do.
  3. Learn Posing – I had to stop taking pride in being the anti-posed photographer and start actually learning about the art of posing subjects (particularly children) so that I could stop shooting like a maniac, chasing them for a square mile and just waiting for them to stop and look at me, all the while filling up a 16gb memory card and giving myself a helluva lot of sorting to do later on. I bought and utilized posing guides from Skye Hardwick to take control and make portraits rather than just take pictures.
  4. Try Bracketing – When you’re just starting out and you want to make sure to nail your exposure, bracketing can be a super useful tool. Before discovering it, I would take three different photos all while quickly moving the dials with my thumb to alter the shutter speed or aperture to get three exposures for one image. With bracketing, you can take three photos at once, all of different exposures and then choose later on which one is right for your image.
  5. Have Restraint – When I shoot now, I probably trash only 10-15% of my images (in contrast to 80% in the beginning) and only for reasons like blinking or a cat running in the way. I don’t click click click the shutter. I set up the shot, take control of the light, capture the image and when I’ve got it, I move on to another. I think there must be such a thing as shutter addiction. It’s so satisfying to hear the shutter clamp down and know that you have actually captured something: that you have harnessed the light and made it yours.

No photographer just woke up great. It’s been a long haul to get where I am and I recognize that I’ve got a long way to go. You never get to a point where you know 100% of everything there is to know about photography and that’s what makes it such an exciting hobby or career.

Post from: Digital Photography School


Tuesday, February 1, 2011

“London PhotoWalk Feb 19th, 2011” plus 1 more: Digital Photography School

“London PhotoWalk Feb 19th, 2011” plus 1 more: Digital Photography School

Link to Digital Photography School

London PhotoWalk Feb 19th, 2011

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 10:01 AM PST

Sprayin'Digital Photography School and Think Tank Photo are holding a joint photowalk in London City on the 19th of February, 2011. It will start at Liverpool Street Station, walking out at 3pm (on the dot) following a route down and across the city for some large steel structures and glass, then taking in Brick Lane for some grit and interest, circling around and about and ending back at Liverpool Street tube station (or close to it) at a public house for a drink and to crown the competition winners.

Think Tank Photo have kindly provided us with three camera bags from their belt pack range, the SpeedDemon, SpeedFreak and SpeedRacer These will be given to the winners on the day! (details to follow!) captions, please?

The Map isn’t totally 100% finalised, but I wanted to get a notification up to let people know this was happening and to clear their calendar! The plan will be to meet from 14:30 on Saturday Feb 19th at Liverpool Street Station with a view to leaving at 15:00hrs on our walk, we’ll be walking, chatting and taking photos for about two and a half hours, so not tooo long! Then we’ll all head back to a venue (I’ve yet to 100% confirm this, but working on it) to have a refreshing beverage and a yarn about all things photo.

There is a thread in the dPS Flickr Group where you can also post your images and we would love for you to post one in the photowalk thread that will be in the forums after the walk!

The walk is open to all levels, from people with point and shoots to dSLR cameras to iPhones or a dusty polaroid that your grandpa gave you (I’ll be bringing my iNstax!) there’s only one requirement, and that’s that you come along and have fun!

A few simple house keeping rules for you. Please, no unattended children as I can’t watch them all 100% of the time. Please ask me any questions you have now, via email below. Please do note that dPS nor Think Tank Photo can be held responsible for you or your gear whilst on this walk, so whilst we take every precaution not to lose anyone or their camera (I’ve not lost one yet!) that if this does happen, we’re *very* sorry.

If you have any questions, please comment below or contact me directly via this email address —> simon@digital-photography-school.com

Who is your walk leader? Me! –Simon Pollock. I’m the dPS community manager, a music photographer based in London. I’ve led photowalks previous to this one (Scott Kelby’s World Wide Photo Walk) and will be on hand the whole time to answer any questions you have.

Please fill in the form below to confirm your attendance! This is going to be fun!

–Sime



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Some photos from other photo walks!

On the line

Made your point

So very closed

Post from: Digital Photography School


6 Ways to Enhance Your Creativity

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 05:01 AM PST

No matter what your artistic interests, whether photography, drawing, painting, sculpture, etc., the underlying force behind your work is creativity. It’s much easier to talk about technical aspects of photography as it’s a tangible skill, unlike the more mysterious intangible skill of creative thought.  While every art form is unique unto its own, harnessing one’s creativity is a universal skill.

There are some that might say you either have it or you don’t in relation to creativity, but the truth is we’re all creative. Every child makes believe at some point and lets their imagination run wild, and if I’m correct you were once a child. Creativity is a thought process and one that can be strengthened with practice and exercise. Below are 6 ways I like to get my creative mind working. If you have techniques that work for you be sure to add them in the comments.

1. Never Stop Thinking About Photos
Whether your camera is in hand or not conduct mental exercises to find subjects, mentally frame images and think through how you would capture the subject. Keeping photography constantly in mind is important in training yourself to think creatively. If your mind is primed for creative thought, creativity will have an easier time striking you.

2. Embrace Your Mistakes & Chance
It’s OK for chance or mistakes to bring something new to your attention. Always take a second look at your mistakes and see if it presents something new to the scene that perhaps you hadn’t thought to try. Not every mistake is a creative epiphany, but you’ll never have one if you never look.

3. Find inspiration
Whether viewing artwork at museums, in photo books or immersing yourself in nature, embrace the work of others including Mother Nature to help you see or think in new ways. When our minds are introduced to new techniques or ways of seeing our mindseye begins to expand its view fostering creative thought.

4. Break the Rules
Rules are great as they provide a roadmap of how things can be done or explain why we find something visually appealing. Once you know or have mastered the rules its time to break them. Creativity knows no bounds.  A great creative exercise is to intentionally break a rule to see how you can find a new way of viewing something in a manner that is otherwise “taboo”.

5. Have No Fear
Free yourself from the fear of what others might say if critical of your creative experiments. People by nature almost always have adverse reactions to new things particularly when they’re entrenched in thinking a more common practice is the “right way” or “norm”.  Creativity is the antithesis of a “norm”. Creativity brings a new way to present and see things. Never let norms and the attachment others have to them sway you from your creative exploration of the world before you with your camera.

6. Extract Yourself
Remove yourself from familiar routine and locations. Taking time to be away from the things that normally fill your day is a great way to obtain freedom for your mind to wander. Distraction free time allows for new thoughts and ideas to surface and most importantly it allows you to shape them into actionable projects.

Post from: Digital Photography School