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Archive for June, 2011

Little Krishna 01 The Darling Of Vrindavan

29 Jun

Little Krishna 01 The Darling Of Vrindavan very beautiful 3D animation about Lord Sri Krishna Lila. Enjoy Krishna’s pastimes from the vol 1 of “Little Krishna: The Darling Of Vrindavan”.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

 

Cool Visual Art images

29 Jun

Check out these visual art images:

PAINTINGS FROM THE MET’s ART COLLECTION 2011 – Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan NYC
visual art
Image by asterix611
PAINTINGS FROM THE MET’s ART COLLECTION 2011 – Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan NYC

PAINTINGS FROM THE MET’s ART COLLECTION 2011 – Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan NYC
visual art
Image by asterix611
PAINTINGS FROM THE MET’s ART COLLECTION 2011 – Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan NYC

PAINTINGS FROM THE MET’s ART COLLECTION 2011 – Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan NYC
visual art
Image by asterix611
PAINTINGS FROM THE MET’s ART COLLECTION 2011 – Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan NYC

 
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Posted in Photographs

 

Home Soaring simulator

29 Jun

My home soaring sim setup with 2 projectors, 3D stereoscopic, Trackir4 headtracked, simmeters instruments. Running on Condor soaring simulator and Alpi3 scenery
Video Rating: 4 / 5

 
 

Saad Couture 2009

28 Jun

Photography & Art Direction by: N-Studio (Nada & Najwa Marafie) Designer: Sa’ad Al.Dawas Makeup and Hairstyle: Noura Al.Sayed Video Producer: Najwa Marfie Gear: Nikon D3X Lens: 24-70 mm f/2.8 N-Studio Official website: www.n-studio.com.kw © all rights Reserved 2010

Awesome!
Video Rating: 4 / 5

 
 

Free Software Utilities

28 Jun

Instant organization: Instead of clicking around in Windows Ex­­plorer to find where Windows hid your newly downloaded MP3 file, try DropIt. This open-source utility lets you set up folder associations for specific file types. Just drop files on the big target icon on your desktop, and DropIt will automatically whisk them away to their appropriate (and easy-to-find) destinations.

Cleaner desktop: Stardock’s Fences lets you create separate areas on your desktop to organize unruly desktop icons into a manageable system. Keep programs in one fence and Word documents in another, for instance, or group them any way you like.

Complete removal: No list of great free tools would be complete without Revo Uninstaller. Windows’ built-in Programs control panel simply isn’t as good at removing the bits and pieces of programs that you want to banish from your hard drive.

Smart dock: The Windows 7 taskbar isn’t bad, but Stardock’s ObjectDock replicates the slick Mac OS X dock interface, complete with snazzy magnification animations, for Windows users.

Virtual machine: Oracle’s VirtualBox lets you run multiple virtual machines on your PC, so you can have multiple instances of Windows, Linux, or any other OS installed. It keeps a working image of a machine as a backup. Then, if things go horribly awry, you can delete the damaged image in favor of the backup.

All-in-one uncompressor: If you’ve ever asked “What’s a .rar file?” you need 7-Zip. It supports all of the essential file compression formats-and more than a few obscure ones, too-so it can unpack anything you download. The utility adds file management tools to Windows’ context menus, too, enabling you to zip files, unzip files, and convert file formats on the fly.

FTP essential: People who transfer lots of files still rely on the old File Transfer Protocol to move their bits around. FileZilla re­­mains one of the best FTP clients on the market, and it’s still free.

Display manager: DisplayFusion gives you multiple-monitor management powers that Windows doesn’t, such as the ability to display different background images on each screen or to span an image across two monitors. It also packs hotkey combos for automatically ar­­ranging your desktop, and it lets you set custom behaviors for your apps.

Easy-launch Web apps: If you spend most of your working life in Web-based apps such as Google Docs and Gmail, Mozilla’s Prism browser plug-in for Firefox can restore your sanity. By turning your favorite Web apps into separate applications that launch from Windows’ Start menu, the utility enables you to cut down on the number of mouse clicks required to get to the tools you need, while at the same time eliminating browser-tab clutter.

One keyboard, many PCs: I have three computers on my desk, running any of three operating systems: Windows, OS X, and Linux. But the free Synergy utility lets me use a single keyboard and mouse to control all three PCs, regardless of their OS. When my mouse pointer reaches the edge of a screen, Synergy uses the Wi-Fi network to take over the next machine. It’s the closest thing to magic that your PC is likely to encounter.

Any suggestions, ideas? Feel free to comment on this article!

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Digital Photography Tricks, Advice, Tips, Tutorials And Ideas

28 Jun

Anyone can learn a few digital photography tricks with the right tips. Whether you just want to have better holiday snaps or create stunning landscape shots, we help you master digital photography. Great advice and tutorials from many expert photographers. Find out more at: www.digital-photography-tricks.com

 
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Shooting Through the Ups and Downs

28 Jun

It’s a fact: I haven’t been blogging much since I moved to New York City this past January. I can blame it on a all kinds of things but the real truth is is that I just haven’t really felt much like writing. My blog is a personal insight into my career which has always been very closely intertwined with my life. Of course. My career IS my life. Or a huge part of it, any way. And a lot has been going on since moving to NYC in my personal life, some things that have been very difficult to share. The biggest thing probably has been the loss of my 13 year old pit bull, Lulu. Lulu was my rock, she was my road dog, she was my friend and my companion. Last August she was diagnosed with cancer and given a death sentence of about 3 months. This was in the middle of us packing up our house in LA and planning our move to NYC. I nearly lost it. I didn’t know if Lulu was even going to make the move with us or not. But I dismissed the chemo and started her on acupuncture and chinese herbs, spoiling her rotten, giving her all the love I could give. She made it on our road trip and landed in NYC with us on January 3rd. She witnessed snow for the first time in her life and even got to visit a few dog bars in Brooklyn. She also was able to go to a few photo shoots in New York, as she was always present on as many shoots she was allowed to be on in her 13 years. My teams would often joke that Lulu was a bigger Diva than any of us!

Lulu passed away May 19th. One of the saddest days of my life. I spent as much time with her as I could and silently, quietly said good bye to her as she started declining the last two months of her life. It was painful as hell.

But life goes on. And you keep shooting through it all, through the painful moments and even the happy moments. The jobs don’t stop because you lose someone close to you. Your bills don’t stop just because you’re experiencing a difficult time in your life. But my voice stopped and my desire to teach or share or even be close to anyone, that stopped too. And I’m still shut down. It’s only been 10 days since she’s left my life. It’s going to be hard, letting her go. But I’ll get through it. And what I usually do to “get through it” is I throw myself into my work for comfort. For distraction. For salvation.  I SHOOT through it. And sometimes I produce some amazing shit. Sometimes. Here’s a little story on how chaos can become alchemy in art, turning metal into gold. Sometimes.

I went through a difficult period at the end of 2003. I lost someone who I loved very much. He took his life and we were all devastated by his sudden and abrupt departure from our lives. I slept on the floor for two weeks, with Lulu by my side, because I was so numb, so torn apart. So utterly depleted. When I went to Holland to see his family (he lived in Holland), I had a chance to get to know his 17 year old nephew, Jordi. Jordi was very comforting to me when I was there. He talked to me about my ex, he got his mother and I to go out one night to a nightclub where we ended up dancing and laughing and having a good time. Through the pain, Jordi was there, smiling and happy and taking our minds off this horrible event that left most of us a bit crippled for some time. Jordi also happened to be very good looking. And from what I could tell, had a tremendous potential to pursue modeling. I told him so, and we decided to do his very first test. Right there, while grieving my ex, Jordi and I got together at a friend’s studio in Holland and shot a test. The last thing I wanted to do was pick a camera and shoot. But it was a life changing event. Because from that first shoot, I could Jordi was photogenic and definitely had the potential to go for it. So I convinced him to keep pursuing modeling and to keep me updated through the process. And you know something? He did just that. He has gone on to embrace a successful modeling career, being signed to every top modeling agency in Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Hamburg, Athens, Tokyo and now finally, New York. He has traveled the world modeling. And it was I who convinced him he had potential from that very first test where I was literally reeling from pain.

In February, Jordi and I saw each other again after 7 years, after that first test in Holland, during the time I was there to grieve with his family, collect some of my ex’s things and ashes. There we were, facing each other after 7 long years. And he’s a star! Gorgeous, fit, tall, and just the loveliest of personalities! Warm and gentle and kind. Just an all around great guy!!

Of course, we wanted to shoot again. I thought of taking him out to my friends place in Long Island on a cold March day. We brought Lulu with us and it would be her last photo shoot. We shot all over Montauk and Amagansett, in the gorgeous, natural early spring light, on a bright but cold day. The pictures weren’t for any assignment. I won’t submit them. There wasn’t a client. We just wanted to shoot with each other again. And following are the results. There’s no magical lighting set up, just the sun. I didn’t use any filters or tricks. Just my camera, the sun and an awesome model. I used my Nikon and switched between the 85mm and the 24mm lenses. There’s really not much more to write about the technical side. I thought this post could be about continuing to shoot through pain, through life events that are out of our control. Or maybe about continuing to explore models, or people or ideas, even after sitting with the ideas for years. I don’t know what this post is really about but I was ready to share a little of what’s been going on with me so the twitter and FB comments about “why aren’t you posting anymore” could stop a little and you can all recognize that even I go through shit sometimes and I have hard times. I have days where I feel like throwing it all away and opening up a Rum Bar in The Keys, Florida. Some times I want a break, hey….teach ME something! Sometimes I want to be left alone and just sit quietly with myself.

I went to Miami after Lulu died and I’m still here, writing this post. I leave back to NYC tomorrow morning with a bunch of work coming up. I have a bunch of editorial coming out in June, so I can blog about that soon. I just found out my Nike campaign is going comes out this week, so I’ll blog about that too.  I’m shooting a 12 page editorial in the next two weeks, so…..yeah……Going to blog about it!  Hey, you can look forward to lots of new posts coming your way. In the meantime, here’s your post now. This one’s for you. And for Lulu, most of all. R.I.P.

Photography ©2011 Melissa Rodwell Photography


Fashion Photography Blog – A Resource for Fashion Photographers, Created by One.

 
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Kenko-Tokina launches Tokina SD 17-35mm F4 AT-X PRO FX

28 Jun

Newly merged Kenko-Tokina has quietly launched the Tokina SD 17-35mm F4 AT-X PRO FX, a semi-fast wideangle zoom for full frame cameras. The company says the F4 maximum aperture makes it easier to produce a smaller lens with fewer aberrations, to sit alongside its 16-28mm F2.8 PRO. The lens features ‘SD’ glass that the company says offers similar properties to fluorite elements as well as its ‘silent drive module’ AF motor and high-precision AF position sensor for fast, accurate focusing. No details of pricing or availability are yet available from the company’s distributors outside Japan.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Das Entscheidende ist der Blick: Über das Fotografieren auf der Straße

28 Jun
Alexander PiniDies ist ein Artikel von Alexander Pini (fotocommunity). Er ist IT-Projektleiter und fotografiert seit vier Jahren. Sein fotografisches Interesse gilt fast ausnahmslos der Straßenfotografie.

Ich habe in den letzten Jahren viele Erfahrungen „auf der Straße“ gemacht und möchte hier mal die aus meiner Sicht wichtigsten Erkenntnisse weitergeben.

Zunächst habe ich mich nur mit größeren Brennweiten getraut loszuziehen, deutlich über 50mm. Dadurch konnte ich mich meistens schön im Hintergrund halten und hatte dennoch die gewünschten Motive auf dem Bild.

Der Nachteil einer großen Brennweite ist jedoch, dass man neben dem eigentlichen Motiv von der Atmosphäre der Straße häufig wenig darstellen kann. So habe ich mich nach und nach an kleinere Brennweiten gewagt und musste dadurch selbst direkt ins Getümmel.

Dies kostet anfangs zwar ein wenig Überwindung, macht mir jetzt aber auch viel mehr Spaß. Inzwischen nutze ich nur noch (Fest-)Brennweiten zwischen 30mm und 50mm, Crop-Faktor der Kamera schon einbezogen.

Wichtig für ein gutes Straßenfoto ist, dass man sich die Gegend zunächst einmal anschaut, ohne gleich die Kamera im Anschlag zu haben. So erkennt man schnell, welche Ecken für Fotos gut geeignet sind.

Jetzt kommt natürlich noch der Mensch ins Spiel, der sich nicht immer genau dort entlang bewegt, wo man es gerne hätte. Straßenfotografie bedeutet deshalb auch, Geduld zu haben. Ich kann nur empfehlen, sich an einer gut geeigneten Stelle mit der Kamera in Bereitschaft zu postieren und darauf zu warten, dass zur Umgebung passende Menschen in den Bildausschnitt hinein laufen.

Man hat dadurch sehr schön die Möglichkeit, die vermeintlich schnell und eher zufällig entstandenen Bilder zu komponieren. Ein weiterer Vorteil des längeren Ausharrens vor einem Motiv ist, dass die Menschen sich durch die Kamera nicht bedroht fühlen, da sie ja diejenigen sind, die dem Fotografen ins Bild laufen.

Dieses Vorgehen ist aus meiner Erfahrung wesentlich zielführender, als einfach durch die Stadt zu laufen und die Kamera schnell auf alle scheinbar interessanten Motive zu richten.

~

Da es in der Straßenfotografie in der Regel darum geht, auch die Umgebung der Menschen zu zeigen, sollte die Blende nicht zu klein gewählt werden. Ich nutze meistens einen Blendenwert von 8 oder höher. Natürlich kann man auch mit einer ganz offenen Blende schöne Fotos machen, aber der typische Street-Charakter geht dabei durch die geringe Tiefenschärfe häufig verloren.

Ausserdem gilt: Je unauffälliger, desto besser. Dies gilt sowohl für den Fotografen (Kleidung etc.), als auch für die Kamera. Ich fotografiere mit einer Canon EOS 400D und träume von einer kleinen Leica M9. Allerdings bin ich der Meinung, dass in der Straßenfotografie, anders als z.B. in der Modefotografie, die Kamera nicht so entscheidend ist.

Das Entscheidende ist der Blick für eine gute Szene und somit ein gutes Bild.

Über eine bessere und meistens auch teurere Kamera sollte man erst nachdenken, wenn einem die Grenzen seiner jetzigen Ausrüstung bewusst werden.

Ich fotografiere nur in schwarzweiß, denn dadurch wird das Bild auf das Wesentliche konzentriert und nicht durch Farben abgelenkt.

Für die Nachbearbeitung verwende ich fast auschließlich Lightroom. Da mir starke Kontraste sehr gefallen, gehört die Kontrastanpassung für mich immer dazu – auch unter Zuhilfenahme vieler selbstdefinierter Lightroom-Presets.

Natürlich muss ich viele Bilder auch noch leicht zurechtschneiden. Das sind dann aber auch schon alle meine Bearbeitungsschritte. Für mich ist es wichtiger, mehr Zeit zum Fotografieren zur Verfügung zu haben als diese für die Nachbearbeitung aufzuwenden. Gerade bei der Straßenfotografie kann man auf aufwändiges Nachbearbeiten aus meiner Sicht auch gut verzichten.

Sehr wichtig bei der Straßenfotografie ist auch noch die rechtliche Seite. In Deutschland gilt, dass man von Menschen, die man in der Öffentlichkeit fotografieren will, immer eine Erlaubnis benötigt. Ausgenommen davon sind (im Wesentlichen) Menschenmengen und Versammlungen.

Für mich bleiben also die Möglichkeiten, entweder vor dem Fotografieren zu fragen oder nachdem das Foto gemacht wurde. Im ersten Fall ist fast immer die Spontanität der Szene verloren, das kommt für mich deshalb gar nicht in Frage.

Im zweiten Fall ist die Person oft schon weiter weg, ich müsste also hinterher laufen und evtl. sogar wieder ein Bild löschen, das ist für mich auch nicht wirklich eine Lösung. Allerdings spielt für mich weniger die rechtliche Seite als die Ethik die entscheidende Rolle, wieso ich auf nicht explizit freigegebene Personenaufnahmen verzichte.

Solange man mit seinen Bildern keine kommerziellen Zwecke verfolgt (so wie ich), ist das Schlimmste, was rechtlich passieren kann, dass ich ein ins Netz gestelltes Bild herausnehmen muss. Ich halte es aus ethischen Gründen aber durchaus für problematisch, Menschen für meine (wenn auch künstlerischen) Zwecke ohne deren Wissen zu verwenden.

Bei mir hat das dazu geführt, dass ich mich vor allem auf Szenen konzentriere, in denen Menschen eher als grafisches Element beteiligt und nicht klar zu identifizieren sind. Auch sehr interessant – und juristisch völlig unkritisch – ist das Fotografieren von menschlichen Schatten, von Personen im Gegenlicht oder vor sehr hellen Hintergründen, die dazu führen, dass auf dem Bild fast nur noch ein Schatten zu erkennen ist. Ich bin eher durch Zufall auf diese Technik gestoßen, mache aber immer wieder gerne solche Bilder.

Und noch ein Tipp zum Schluss: Schaut euch viele unterschiedliche Bilder an – in Fotocommunities, Blogs, Büchern. Dadurch bekommt ihr Anregungen, die ihr selbst in abgewandelter Form umsetzen könnt.


KWERFELDEIN | Fotografie Magazin

 
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Yosemite Falls Moonbow

28 Jun

Photographing Yosemite in the Spring is an amazing sight, particularly this year, with waterfalls flowing in full force. This year I’ve seen more waterfalls in Yosemite than ever before. Seasonal waterfalls were visible no matter where you looked. Even more amazing in these conditions is photographing what you cannot see namely a moonbow or lunar rainbow. Anatomically our eyes cannot see color at night, but our camera sensors can. It’s a bit magical to photograph something you cannot see.

Photographing lower Yosemite Falls for moonbows (aka lunar rainbows) is both easy and difficult. Accessing the lower falls lookout it the easy part, while the difficult part is braving the non-stop mist shower. Dressed in a rainproof jacket with hood, rain proof pants and wearing gloves I needed a bath towel to dry off after. My camera was protected with a ThinkTank Hydrophobia 70-200 keeping it far dryer than me. Of course the big challenge is keeping your front lens element free of water. It took a few tries and a lot of lens clothes before I got all the compositional variations of this scene that I wanted less any distracting water droplets clouding the image. My personal favorite being this vertical that highlights the stars in the sky, the falls, the rapids and the moonbow.

Yosemite Falls Moonbow

Yosemite Falls Moonbow

Technical information:
Canon 5D Mark II, 16-35mm f/2.8 Mark II at 16mm,  f/4,  9 seconds at ISO 1600
f/4 was chosen as opening up your lens allows more light in making for a shorter exposure time, but the added benefit is that the wider open your lens the less apparent water droplets appear on your front lens element. A handy trick to know. Here are a couple posts to prove the concept in real world scenarios one with a cracked lens and another with a pencil infront of the lens.

Technorati Tags: photography, Yosemite, National Park, moonbow, lunar rainbow, travel, stock photo, stock pictures

Copyright Jim M. Goldstein, All Rights Reserved

Yosemite Falls Moonbow

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JMG-Galleries – Jim M. Goldstein Photography

 
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