A group of big name Hollywood directors has nudged studio executives into talks with Kodak, negotiating a deal that would keep the company’s movie film in production. With support from the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, and J.J. Abrams, the deal would see studios commit to buying a certain amount of film from Kodak for the next few years. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
I don’t floss every day. I still use the word “rad” as an adjective and not in the cool retro way, but in the I-don’t-have-another-word-for-it way. The driving speed limit and I have a love/hate relationship. And I have been known, on particularly hard days, to let my kids eat cookies for breakfast and ice cream for dinner. These are all terrible habits that I need to work on. My “bad” photography habits though, the ones that people say you shouldn’t do or should just get over already, those are actually helping me. They might be helping you too. Here are five habits, that most people would say are things we should move past, and why I think you shouldn’t.
By day, I’m a photographer. By night, I’m a psychotherapist. Well, sometimes it’s opposite. Point is: there are a few basic lessons that work in both of my jobs. One of them is not trying to own someone else’s reaction. If I tell you that it’s sunny out and that upsets you, there is nothing I can do about that. I could have told you different, but providing it was actually sunny, I would have been lying. Your reaction is yours. Just like if I try to have a portrait client do something the way I would do it and it doesn’t work, they are not to blame. If I tell them a joke to make them relax and smile that they don’t think it is funny, I can’t force them have to have an authentically positive reaction.
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned as a photographer is to know when to let something go. If you are fussing with a shot, be it portrait, landscape, food, whatever, and it’s just not working out like you want it to, let it go. Chances are if you are struggling that hard to get the shot, even if you do get it, you won’t like it. Patience is one thing, but pestering is another; by grasping so tightly to a specific concept, you are setting your expectations far beyond what is logically possible. In life and in photography.
Ask any one of my clients and they will tell you that I’m fun, but I take a while to return finished images. They will also tell you that I’m flaky about emails, never answer my phone, and happily scream and yell and laugh way more than needed on a photo shoot. There’s not a lot a I can do about being a loud talker and easily excitable, and so long as there is text I’m just not going to answer my phone unless I have to. But I make no apologizes for taking a while to edit shoots. I mean, I do apologize every single time to my clients, but I know it will never get better. I am not able to force editing.
Unlike data entry for example, I am just not able to just sit at my desk and do it nonstop until it’s done. I need to be in the mindset to do it, and once I start I’m really only good for an hour or two before I realize I’m just not producing quality work anymore. Being the extremely flakey artist that I am, this mindset sometimes comes at 10 a.m. in the morning and sometimes at three, in the morning. When my insomnia truly kicks in, and my husband isn’t all that interested in talking about our feelings and hopes and dreams. The flip side of this coin: I have never given a portrait client images that I’m not completely proud of. When I deliver images to a client (extremely later than I said I would), I feel that they are truly the best of my abilities and completely indicative of my style. I feel my photography is worth the wait and I’m proud of that. Don’t push it just to be timely. No one recommends a photographer because they turn-around images really fast – they recommend the photographer that produces the best work.
“Chimping” is the fine art of checking the back of your digital camera after every shot. It’s obnoxious and time-consuming and what it will show you is the difference between a dream shoot and having to redo the whole thing. Don’t check every time, but do check – often. You can’t count on chimping to give you amazingly accurate results – a screen that small is showing you much too sharp of an image than it will actually end up being. But it will show you is if your settings are off. It will show you if you are not in as good of a spot as you think. There is no embarrassment in it and there is nothing wrong with taking a minute to readjust.
I have to assume that when NASA puts astronauts in a space shuttle, they give them a few minutes to get everything adjusted how they want. Most photography situations are in constant motion – the sun is always going up or down, the people are always moving, the food is always – slipping? (I’m not sure. I don’t do food photography. But I would assume there are struggles.) The world moves, and as photographers we have to constantly double check to see that we are moving with it. When you are viewing the world from a lens, it’s a good idea to make sure the lens is seeing it the way your eyeballs are.
The first time I ever photographed a child (for portfolio building), I didn’t have a memory card in. I shot for 30 minutes, thinking I was getting cute stuff and I happened to try and chimp and it said “no CF card” because at that point, I hadn’t learned the setting where my camera doesn’t shoot without a card (learn this setting!). I was mortified but didn’t want the clients to think I had just wasted their time so I just wrapped it up and went home. To this day, they don’t know as I just told them I was unhappy with the shots and gave them a new session. Ten years later and I still check to make sure that I have cards, an extra battery, lollipops and my camera a solid 20 times before I leave my house. I have been known to use the opportunity of a red stoplight to check my bag a 21st time. You know, just in case. I have never forgotten anything I couldn’t shoot without. But I have also never gotten past being nervous before every shoot. It doesn’t matter if I am photographing one of my dearest clients that I have photographed ten times before or if I have been hired by a national publication to shoot a celebrity – I arrive nervous as all get out. Eventually I forget to be nervous and I start being myself and it works out. But being nervous is good. Nerves mean you want to do a good job and you are humble about your talent. Don’t ever stop being nervous.
I’ve written before about my various attempts at real estate photography, product photography, and landscape photography. I’m terrible at all of them. Not only do I not have the right equipment for any of those, I don’t have the right eyeballs, the right personality, or the right style. A few years ago I decided to only photograph people, no matter what money I was offered to shoot something else, or what friend needed a favor. Earlier this year, I specified even more that I don’t do weddings, though those generally involve people, they just aren’t for me at this time in my life (I’m still holding on to the dream that a dog wedding job is in my future though). I am a portrait photographer. It’s where I shine and it’s how my clients know me. It’s my one trick.
There is nothing to be ashamed about when not being the jack of all trades. If you love shooting landscape and that is your true passion, you are a landscape photographer. You may moonlight, by taking the occasional family portrait for a friend, and that’s fine. However sticking with your passion will keep photography interesting, fun, and your spirits high. There is no worse feeling than having done a poor job and when you take on jobs that are out of your wheelhouse, you bash your own confidence. Challenge yourself, but stay true to your passion as well.
A photograph is more art and intuition than process and procedure. Above all else, make the images you take your own. You can read a thousand different articles offering ideas and information, but take those only as suggestions in the hope of beginning and strengthening your own creative process. Photography is a form of expression and as such, is only interesting when you are exploring your own personal style and challenging yourself with your natural skills and ability. If your bad habits are working for you, don’t give them up.
The post 5 Bad Photography Habits You Need To Keep Doing by Lynsey Mattingly appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Whether you’re just getting into photography, or if you’ve been at it for years; you can keep yourself rejuvenated, and keep the creative juices flowing by always trying new things.
If you’re feeling uninspired photographically, that’s a sign that you need to shake things up by trying something completely different, or at least something that isn’t your usual style. You might be surprised at how small exercises can boost your creativity while teaching you new techniques and solidifying old principles in your mind.
Who knows, you might even discover a new passion!
To give your brain a little kick in the butt, challenge yourself to try some of these photography exercises. Even if they aren’t new to you, going out shooting with a new purpose feels refreshing and may lead to something completely new.
Fire Wave at The Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, taken from a high perspective on an opposite hilltop
Photographers often get in the habit of shooting at eye-level which tends to make photos repetitive and somewhat common. We know this, and so we take the odd shot on our knees or even occasionally lying on the ground.
But is this really enough? Aren’t there other vantage points?
Challenge yourself to go out shooting and never shoot from eye-level for a whole day. Instead, find a new vantage point any time you take a picture. Get yourself up high above your subject, and crouch and shoot from a low angle. But that’s just the beginning. Ideally, you should try shooting your subject from a variety of angles.
Take one shot from below and one from above. Then, take one even lower, and one even higher, if possible. Then, step back a bit. Then step forward. Move to your right, and move to your left. Taking the same picture from many positions adds variety and will help you understand it better. Plus, you may discover a way of seeing something that you didn’t expect.
If you resolve to do this with every picture you take, you’ll begin to really understand the subtle effect that perspective has on an image, which points of view work for which subjects, and how this can inform your shooting style from here on out.
Another perspective on Fire Wave, this time taken up close, from a low angle.
Rather than trying to capture your subject in one single image, try doing a series instead. Create what LIFE Magazine coined a “photo essay” – a series of images surrounding a single subject or group of subjects, each of which pinpoints a different aspect of its nature. This can be as simple as zooming in on its finer details, or photographing it in different contexts. This method of doing things defines the subject not only by how it appears in a single moment, but also by the way it changes (and the way it stays the same) over several moments. It also helps to craft your visual storytelling abilities.
Choose one subject and cover it completely, the way a journalist would. Do this either by photographing every aspect of it you can think of, photographing it through the course of a day, or by revisiting it over and over throughout a week. Include shots at different distances and using different focal lengths – include some close-up details and some wide compositions – and whittle all the shots down to around ten final images, making sure that no two photos are alike. When you have your picks, try to organize them in an order that tells a coherent story, whether it’s narrated or implied.
These three photos are from Terlingua, a ghost town in Texas.
For a whole day, turn your camera to Black and White mode and don’t take it off. Of course, you can convert your RAW images to black and white after-the-fact in post-processing, but as an exercise, try shooting them in Black and White.
At first the limitation may seem frustrating, but Black and White photography requires a completely different way of seeing the world in terms of shape, form, and contrast, rather than through the common visual cues that you’re used to. Composing your photos in this way will invariably improve your compositions in colour photography, too. You can play with contrast settings in-camera or in post-processing to perfect the highlight to shadow ratio which defines a good monochrome image.
Bandon Beach, Oregon.
For this exercise, you’re going to take full advantage of digital photography’s instant feedback, and use it to play with making manual long exposures.
With your DSLR mounted firmly on a tripod, set the ISO to 100, set the aperture to the smallest opening (the largest f number like f/22 for example), and set the shutter speed to Bulb mode. When the camera is to Bulb mode, the shutter will stay open for as long as the shutter button is held down, but it’s a better idea to attach a wired remote shutter release to prevent camera shake.
Once you have your composition and your focus set, press and hold the button on the remote to hold the shutter open for a few counted seconds. Just guess how many seconds will be required based on the light level. Then, check your results. If the image is too bright, try again, but count half as many seconds. If the image is too dark, count twice as many seconds – or more, if necessary. Do this over and over again, in different scenarios and lighting situations. This practice will hone your ability to read the levels of light present at any given time.
You’ll get the most interesting results if there is a certain amount of movement in your frame, such as drifting clouds in the sky, crowds of people, or running water. The longer your exposure is, the more blurred that movement will appear to the point where water may seem like nothing more than mist, and people will disappear from the image altogether. If you have a solid neutral density filter your exposures can be even longer, creating more extreme effects.
Folly Beach Pier, Charleston, South Carolina – 2 second exposure.
Folly Beach Pier, Charleston, South Carolina – 30 second exposure.
Don’t wait until you start feeling uninspired to try these exercises! Keep your photography energized and creative by trying something new on a regular basis. Even if it doesn’t turn out to be your “thing”, it’s fun and you’re bound to learn something.
The post Don’t Know What to Shoot? These 4 Photography Exercises Will Keep You Motivated by Anne McKinnell appeared first on Digital Photography School.
The next time you’re in a thrift shop or antique store, keep a lookout for photographic treasures. While old cameras are always eye-catching, the images captured with those cameras are often more intriguing as Mike Ames and Derek Wong discovered. Ames came across some tins of developed Kodak Panatomic film and Wong bought a roll of developed Kodak Super XX film. They both discovered an unexpected look back at history. Learn more
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]
Like socks, or any other paired object of everyday use, it seems the eternal curse of chopsticks to become separated and mismatched over time, at least until now.
Japanese design firm Nendo, well known for classy solutions to classic design problems, turned their attention to the chopstick and came up with a pair of ingenious solutions.
One design, the Rassen, is strictly mechanical – the ends are carefully corkscrewed so they can intertwine with one another like tightly-interlocked strands of double-helical DNA.
The other design employs inconspicuous magnets that keep points and backs from sticking while helping them stay together (and appear part of a whole) when flipped and nestled.
Few everyday objects have remained so consistent in their shape and function for so long as the Chinese chopstick, but as these designs show: a few thousand years of history is no reason not to look at a product anew. Each of these easy-to-re-pair designs (as well as a few other clever variations) is set to go on sale soon via manufacturer Hashikura Matsukan.
It is worth seeing that sometimes pieces of the process itself is as creative, compelling and eye-catching as the final product.
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It takes a powerful book to survive decades or even centuries and stay prominently in the public eye – but times change, and covers, too, regardless of the …
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The instantly-recognizable traffic light has been a standard sight on streets around the world for generations, but these designs aim to improve on a classic.
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[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]
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We’re at the CP+ show in Yokohama, Japan where Japanese camera and lens manufacturers show off their latest products to a domestic and international audience. Today, Toshihisa Iida, senior sales and marketing manager at Fujifilm found time to sit down with editor Barnaby Britton to discuss a range of topics including the reception of the new X-T1, firmware updates to older and existing models and the possibility of larger-format X-Trans cameras in the future… click through to read the full interview.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
By Helen Bradley
If you’re moving from Photoshop CS5 or CS6 to Photoshop CC you may be tempted to clean up your computer and remove the older Photoshop version from it. After all there’s no point leaving it there if you’re not using it is there? Well I, for one, won’t be removing Photoshop CS5 anytime soon and I suggest you think twice about removing your older version too. Here are my reasons:
Adobe axed Picture Package quite a long time ago but it could be easily made to work with Photoshop CS5. For a time there I also had it running with Photoshop CS6 until an update to CS6 permanently knocked it out. So, because I like to use Picture Package for assembling images and because it works just fine with Photoshop CS5, I’ll be keeping that version. Anytime I need to assemble multiple images into a layout I only need choose File > Automate > Picture Package and I’m off and running.
If you want to know how to add Picture Package back into Photoshop CS4 there’s a DPS blog post that I wrote explaining all about it here in Multiple Image Printing in Photoshop CS4.
For Photoshop CS4 and CS5 I also created some training for Mediabistro.com which you will find here.
And for Photoshop CS6, I wrote a post on my blog about how to add it to Photoshop CS6. While many readers are finding it still works, sadly while I can tell you how to do it the actual solution no longer works for me.
Yep, in Photoshop CS6 Adobe took the Oil Paint Filter from Pixel Bender, built it into Photoshop and promptly dumped everything else. I found that disappointing – I kind of like Pixel Bender – in particular some of the fractal effects that you can create with it. I also have a Droste filter for it that is awesome and that I use from time to time.
Since I plan to keep Photoshop CS5 I’ll still have access to Pixel Bender – thank you very much Adobe!
Just in case you’re interested – the Pixel Bender extension won’t work with versions of Photoshop later than Photoshop CS5. Again, I wrote a DPS blog post on Pixel Bender, how to install it and what you’ll find when you get it here.
And a post on Tom Beddard’s awesome Droste Filter here.
And I have a YouTube video that shows you how to use the Droste Effect filter here:
If you’re reliant on Photoshop for your day to day work – if you’re a Photoshop teacher, for example, then problems with the new licensing model might cause you unexpected grief. In this scenario you will start your computer one day and Photoshop will lock you out citing some issue with your license. Of course you have a paid up license, but the software won’t recognize this and it will go into lock down mode.
Until you can call Adobe Support and get them to fix the issue you won’t be able to get into your software – one more reason why I suggest you keep an earlier version of Photoshop on your computer just in case.
Now I haven’t had problems with Photoshop CC but I have had issues with a subscription license for Adobe Captive – on two separate occasions both within the last 12 months and both without warning. If I had been teaching a class, it would have meant that I simply couldn’t do what I was being paid to do. The problem with the subscription licensing is that it’s not full proof and if it fails you may be locked out of your software until you can get support to fix the issue and that’s going to take time.
While I wholeheartedly encourage you to enjoy the new features of Photoshop CC I do recommend that you keep an earlier version of Photoshop on your computer. Then, you’ll have access to Picture Package and the Pixel Bender feature (once you install them) and a fallback position if you get locked out of your software unexpectedly.
So now it’s over to you – if you’ve installed Photoshop CC do you still have an older version of Photoshop installed? If so, what is your reason for not removing the earlier version?
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
3 Reasons To Keep Your Old Photoshop Version
[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Guerilla Ads & Marketing. ]
No amount of insulation can hope to keep your beverage quite as cold as a bottle made entirely out of ice, as found in this limited-edition container design from a marketing firm working for Coca Cola.
Ogilvy & Mather of Bogota developed this entirely-iced bottle concept as a summer-worthy marketing method for Coke, currently released in Columbia and coming soon to Argentina, both places where hot summer weather packs a particularly hard punch.
A simple label is wrapped around the frozen containers as the drink is poured and delivered. The bottle can then be left on the beach, thrown in the ocean or remain anywhere the remaining water (and sugar) can safely drain, keeping the process as mess-free as possible.
Since these icey vessels dissipate on their own when you are done, leaving only a rubber-band bracelet behind, which means not having to worry as much about where and how to recycle your glassless bottles.
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The cautious photographer is always conscious of what’s happening to their images when they’re being shared online – whether they’re being resized, re-compressed or otherwise modified from the original. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter all treat images differently, but a new cheat sheet can help you keep your pictures sharp by detailing the pixel dimensions of just about every component on the major social networking sites. Click through for more details on connect.dpreview.com
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
A common question that we hear from readers about using Lightroom is how can it be used on two computers while keeping your catalog synchronised?
In this video Phil Steele shares 3 great strategies for doing just this.
For more great Lightroom tips from Phil Steele check out his Lightroom Made Easy Course which many dPS readers have enrolled in and found helpful.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
How to Use Lightroom on 2 Computers and Keep the Catalogue Synchronised
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