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Posts Tagged ‘Lead’

Lead engineer for computational imaging on Pixel devices leaves Google

14 May

According to a report by industry publication The Information, two key executives in Google’s Pixel team left the company earlier this year. One of them is the former General Manager of the Pixel Smartphones Business Unit, Mario Queiroz. According to his Linkedin profile, he left Google at the end of January to take on the role of Executive Vice President at data security company Palo Alto Networks.

A few months earlier, and two months before the launch of the Pixel 4 devices in October 2019, he had already moved internally from the Pixel team into a role that directly reported to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

From an imaging point of view, the second executive leaving the Pixel team and company is more interesting, though: Marc Levoy has been a Computer Science professor at Stanford University since 1990 and since 2014, in his role as Distinguished Engineer at Google, had been leading the Pixel team that developed computational photography technologies for Pixel smartphones, including HDR+, Portrait Mode, and Night Sight.

Since its inception the Pixel smartphones series had excelled in the camera department, receiving positive camera reviews across the board. With the Pixel phones using very similar camera hardware to its direct rivals, a lot of the Pixel’s camera success could likely be attributed to the innovative imaging software features mentioned above.

However, things look slightly different for the latest Pixel 4 generation that was launched in October 2019. While many of the software features and functions were updated and improved, the camera hardware looks a little old next to the top-end competition. Companies like Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi offer larger sensors with higher resolutions and longer tele lenses, and combine those hardware features with computational imaging methods, achieving excellent results. The Pixel 4 is also one of very few high-end phones to not feature a dedicated ultra-wide camera.

The Pixel 4 camera is still excellent in many situations but it’s hard to argue that Google has, at least do a degree, lost the leadership role in mobile imaging that it had established with previous Pixel phone generations.

It looks like internally there has been some discontent with other aspects of the Pixel 4 hardware, too. The report from The Information also details some criticism from Google hardware lead Rick Osterloh on the Pixel 4 battery:

At a hardware team all-hands meeting in the fall, ahead of the October launch in New York, Osterloh informed staff about his own misgivings. He told them he did not agree with some of the decisions made about the phone, according to two people who were present at the meeting. In particular, he was disappointed in its battery power.

Battery and camera performance are likely only two out of a range of factors that caused Pixel 4 sales figures to decrease when compared to its predecessors. IDC estimates that Google shipped around 2 million Pixel 4 units in the first two quarters the phone was on sale, compared to 3.5 million Pixel 3 units and almost 3 million Pixel 3A devices.

These figures are also relatively small when compared to the largest competitors. According to IDC Apple sold a whopping 73.8 million iPhones in the fourth quarter of 2019, for example.

It’s not entirely clear, but likely, that the departures of Queiroz and Levoy are linked to the Pixel 4’s performance in the marketplace. What will it mean for future Pixel phones and their cameras? We will only know once we hold the Pixel 5 in our hands but we hope Google will continue to surprise us with new and innovative technologies that get the most out of smartphone cameras.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Adobe informs users that using old versions of CC apps could lead to lawsuits from third parties

15 May

Last week, Adobe informed Creative Cloud subscribers that programs older than the two most recent version releases would no longer be available to download. Now, Adobe has sent out an email warning subscribers that continuing to use older software could put them at risk of getting sued by third parties.

Below is a transcription of the text sent to a number of Creative Cloud subscribers:

Dear Valued Creative Cloud Customer,

We have an update to share with you regarding Creative Cloud version download availability. For customers who have not yet updated to the latest version of Creative Cloud, please note that you are no longer licensed to use certain older versions of the applications or deploy packages containing these older versions. We ask that your organization discontinues all usage of the unauthorized products listed in the table below, and instead update to the authorized versions provided. You will continue to receive all the value that Creative Cloud has to offer, but with more advanced features, capabilities and security. Please be aware that if you continue to use or deploy the older, unauthorized versions of Creative Cloud, you will not have third-party claim coverage pursuant to your contract with Adobe. Should you continue to use or deploy these unauthorized versions, you may be at risk of potential claims of infringement by third parties.

Here’s what to do next:

• If your users have self-service access to Creative Cloud via the CC Desktop App, you should encourage them to upgrade their software.
• If you package and deploy products to your users, then you should go to the Adobe Admin Console and create new packages from the versions available
• If you are still licensing with a serial number, you should continue to create packages using Creative Cloud Packager
• Finally, we advise that you un-install unauthorized versions and delete pre-existing packages to prevent future accidental deployments.

Adobe’s Customer Support organization is available to answer any questions about upgrading your Creative Cloud software. Please contact them directly should you have any questions. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause and thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Sincerely,
The Adobe Team

Below is a list of the unauthorized versions of software addressed in the message:

Photoshop: CC 18.1.6 and prior, CC 17, CC 16, CC 15, CC 14, 13
InDesign: CC 9, 8
Premiere Pro: CC 11, CC 10, CC 9, CC 8, CC 7, 6
Media Encoder: CC 11, CC 10, CC 9, CC 8, CC 7, 6
After Effects: CC 14, CC 13, CC 12, CC 11
Animate: CC 16, CC 15, CC 14, CC 13, 12
Audition: CC 6, CC 5, CC 4
Lightroom Classic: CC 6, CC 5, CC 4
Bridge: CC 7, CC 6
Prelude: CC 6, CC 5, CC4, CC 3, CC 2, 1
SpeedGrade (has been discontinued): CC 9, CC 8, CC 7, 6
Captivate: Captivate 2017 (10.0.0)

Based on the information provided in the email, as well as previous complaints filed by third parties, it sounds as though the licensing agreement Adobe had for technologies inside select Creative Cloud programs has run out with whatever entities it was licensing it from.

It’s unknown at this time what specific technologies were licensed and who they were licensed from, but as Apple Insider has noted, Dolby may very well be one of the companies, as it sued Adobe last year for copyright infringement. Specifically, Dolby’s complaint claimed Adobe was under-reporting how many Creative Cloud subscribers it had, which affected revenue from the licensing fee it negotiated and agreed upon with Adobe for its audio encoders and other software technologies.

DPReview contacted Adobe for comment on the message that was sent out as well as more details on the matter and below is the response we received:

Adobe recently discontinued certain older versions of Creative Cloud applications. Customers using those versions have been notified that they are no longer licensed to use them and were provided guidance on how to upgrade to the latest authorized versions. Unfortunately, customers who continue to use or deploy older, unauthorized versions of Creative Cloud may face potential claims of infringement by third parties.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Nikon restructuring and strong D850 sales lead to 8x increase in annual profit

15 May

All of the camera manufacturers have been reporting their annual profits over the last month or two, and while we don’t typically cover individual company financial results, Nikon’s report stands out. That’s because, despite a modest 4% drop in revenue, the company reported a whopping 776% increase in overall profit year-over-year.

The report—which compares the fiscal year ending March 31st 2018 with the year ending March 31st 2017—shows that Nikon’s attempts to “improve profitability through restructuring” and the release of the ultra-popular Nikon D850 in July of 2017 have led to an impressive year. How impressive? Despite revenue dropping by approximately 3.2 billion yen (~$ 29 million USD), Nikon’s profits managed to jump by more than 34 billion yen (~$ 318 million USD). This translates into an 8x increase over last year’s results, which showed a profit of just 3.9 billion yen (~$ 35 million USD).

Of course, this reflects Nikon Corporation as a whole, but the news out of the Imaging division was also positive. While overall unit sales fell—due to the continued demise of the compact camera segment—strong demand for the D850 is said to have increased the sales of “high-class” cameras “significantly,” leading to a 76.2% year-on-year increase in operating profit. Restructuring helped here, too.

Here’s a relevant excerpt from the report:

As a result, revenue for the Imaging Products Business decreased by 5.8% year on year to 360,703 million yen. Operating profit, however, rose by 76.2% year on year to 30,222 million yen due to the efforts to improve profitability through the restructuring, such as the shift to a business strategy of selection and concentration and the discontinuation of operations of Nikon Imaging (China) Co., Ltd., a manufacturing consolidated subsidiary.

You can read the full report at this link, but the short version of the news seems positive, and may even push Nikon to continue focusing on the high-end market that responded so positively to the release of the D850. Does that mean a full-frame mirrorless is that much more likely? We can only speculate… and hope.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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RAW Power: An iOS raw editor designed by the former Apple Aperture lead

17 Nov

Apple’s mobile operating system has been able to shoot RAW images for a while now, but iOS 11 added broad support for raw formats from other cameras, opening up the door for new apps to leverage this ability and let you edit your professional camera’s RAW photos on your phone or tablet. Enter RAW Power, an iOS app designed by Nik Bhatt, founder of Gentlemen Coders, who was a lead developer for Apple’s Aperture and iPhoto.

With RAW Power, iPhone and iPad owners can use their devices to edit any raw file supported by iOS 11… and that list is long and comprehensive.

As Apple details on its support site, iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra both support raw image formats from dozens of cameras from multiple makers including Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Fujifilm, Hasselblad, and others. RAW Power presents a way to edit those images via iOS 11, offering features like white balance, sharpen, curves, and others that can’t be found in Apple’s own Photos app.

Plus, since it’s hooked up to iCloud, edits can be synced across devices so you can start editing on mobile and pick that up later on your desktop, or visa versa—as long as you have iCloud photo library enabled, that is.

According to the app’s devs, RAW Power also offers a Depth Effect feature designed specifically for photos taken with a dual-camera iPhone model. And Apple users who also have a Mac can edit the same image between both platforms via the RAW Power macOS extension.

RAW Power is currently available through iTunes for free, though users who want access to the depth, advanced curves and white balance tools will need to unlock them with a $ 10 payment. To find out more about the RAW Power app, head over to the Gentlemen Coders website or download it from the iTunes App Store.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Face ID sensor slowdown could lead to iPhone X shortages and shipment delays

29 Sep
Photo: Apple

Most iPhone launches involve some sort of shortage because demand frequently outstrips supply, but if you’re excited about Apple’s new flagship iPhone X and the impressive camera equipment inside, the news is worse than usual. According to both the Wall Street Journal and Fast Company, manufacturing difficulties surrounding the phone’s Face ID hardware could lead to serious shortages and shipment delays come November 3rd.

Many photographers and photo enthusiasts are very excited about Apple’s newest smartphones. According to Apple’s keynote, both the iPhone 8/Plus and iPhone X boast bigger image sensors, and the iPhone X in particular features OIS on both the wide angle and telephoto lenses built into the back of the phone.

Add to that some image processor advances and a seriously powerful new video encoder that Apple built into the A11 chip, and there’s good reason to be impressed by the performance of the iPhone 8 Plus so far, and expect even better performance out of the iPhone X.

But even if you pre-order your iPhone X on October 27th, the day the phone goes up on Apple’s website, this Face ID manufacturing snafu could mean availability is severely limited for months. Similar manufacturing issues with the iPhone 7 Plus dual camera module kept that phone in short supply well into December.

Bottom line: if you’re holding out on buying the iPhone 8/Plus in favor of the iPhone X, don’t be surprised if your wait extends well past November 3rd.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Flashing a peace sign in a photo could lead to identity theft

18 Jan

The National Institute of Informatics (NII) in Japan claims that taking and publishing photos of subjects who are flashing the popular two-fingered ‘V’ or peace sign could lead to identify theft. It warns that fingerprint recognition technology is now so advanced that even casual snapshots can be used to retrieve fingerprint information. The report also says the technology is widely available and easy to use.

According to the NII, the danger lies in a combination of widely available smartphones with high-resolution cameras and the rising popularity of posting images on social websites. In an experiment the researchers were able to copy fingerprints from photos that were captured 3 meters (9 feet) away from the subject. That said, the fingers in question have to be in focus and the scene has to be well illuminated as presumably noise reduction at higher ISOs would destroy the fine low-contrast fingerprint lines. We would also assume that the experiment only works with high-resolution out-of-camera images. Many social media websites reduce the size and increase compression of posted images which should, with current technology, make it pretty much impossible to extract any fingerprint information. 

However, if you frequently flash a peace sign in photos and are worried about the possibility of identity theft, the NII also has a solution to the problem: it has developed a transparent film that can be attached to your fingers. It contains titanium oxide and makes it impossible to scan your fingerprints from a photo but doesn’t interfere with identity verification. Unfortunately, the technology won’t be ready for another two years. For now, think twice about showing your fingertips in a photograph.

(Photo: ‘Comic Fiesta 2014’ by Vernon Chan / Wikimedia Commons. Used under CC license)

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Greatest hits: Behind the scenes with Ben Liebenberg, lead photographer for the NFL

24 Dec

Behind the scenes at the NFL with Ben Liebenberg

NFL Senior Photo Editor and Lead Photographer Ben Liebenberg and Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman ©Ric Tapia/NFL

You may see Ben Liebenberg running down the field trying to out pace the Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman after a game to grab a shot (above photo) or photo bombing the annual NFL draft ceremony from backstage. As Senior Photo Editor and lead photographer for the NFL, Liebenberg’s responsibilities range from coordinating all aspects of the photo department, curating images for the NFL Network and NFL.com, as well as photographing games, events and capturing portraits of players throughout the year.

What started as a hobby in high school evolved into a degree in photojournalism once Liebenberg realized he could turn his interest in photography into a career. While in college, Liebenberg worked as an assistant to Sports Illustrator photographers. ‘SI didn’t have staffers in the Bay Area,’ Liebenberg explains, ‘so they would fly people in and I did a lot of assisting for them. That’s where my sports background came from.’

After graduating college, Liebenberg interned for a number of small newspapers, but in the early 2000’s nobody was hiring. By chance, he made some connections in the music world and began traveling internationally and in the U.S. to photograph various artists and tours. In 2005, he began working at Wire Image, handling the NFL archives, and continued there for several years until Getty—which had its own sports department—purchased Wire Image.

As Liebenberg was winding down his time a Wire Image, the NFL called him about working for the new NFL.com. He interviewed and got the job the same day in 2007. Almost ten years later, the NFL.com’s team has grown from a handful of people to a staff of hundreds in Los Angles, with additional offices in New York and, for NFL films, New Jersey.

For a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes preparing for and shooting the Super Bowl, as well as what keeps Liebenberg busy shooting and planning between games, read on.

Behind the scenes at the NFL with Ben Liebenberg

Super Bowl LI football at the famous La Carafe Bar in Houston; © Ben Liebenberg

The Super Bowl is coming up in February. How far in advance do you start preparing for the game?

The location of the Super Bowl is decided several years in advance, so we have a lot of lead time. I took the first photos for Super Bowl LI, which will be played on February 5 at NRG Stadium in Houston, back in August 2015.

This is the third year we’ve done a style guide, where I’ll photograph a football with the Super Bowl logo for that year on location in the host city. Last year, I photographed the Super Bowl 50 ball in some of San Francisco’s iconic locations like the Golden Gate Bridge. One of the locations for the Super Bowl LI style guide shoot was La Carafe—believed to be the oldest bar in Houston. The building’s on the National Register of Historic Places and has a wooden bar that’s rich with history from the carvings made by patrons. I really liked the texture the carvings provided as a background for the shot.

Behind the scenes at the NFL with Ben Liebenberg

Liebenberg scoped out the NRG Stadium in Houston to make plans for the Super Bowl months ahead of the big game. ©Ben Liebenberg

You traveled to Houston again this past September/October to make preparations for your team at the game. How did you spend your time?

I went out there to shoot a game because I’ve never been to the stadium. I looked at the lighting, the sidelines, etc.

This was the first meeting I went to, although there were several other meetings earlier in the year. But now that we know where things are happening, we can plan around it. We went to all the venues for opening night, NFL Honors, the game.

We went through a lot of logistics like where is the photo workroom going to be in the stadium, where is the media center during the week, what’s backstage like for the NFL Honors ceremony so we can plan to do a series of portraits there. We had three packed days of meetings, site surveys and walkthroughs.

Behind the scenes at the NFL with Ben Liebenberg

Shooting with a 70-200mm lens, Liebenberg captured Kevin Benjamin’s game winning touchdown against the background of a crowded stadium. ©Ben Liebenberg

What gear do you shoot with?

I have a pretty standard set of equipment that I bring. Usually three cameras (Canon EOS-1D X Mark II), 400mm, 70-200mm, 24-70mm, 50mm, 16-35mm and 15mm lenses. That’s my standard setup that I take to almost every football game—it’s what I know and what I’m comfortable with. The upcoming Super Bowl is inside and it’s going to be at night but if it was a day game, I would consider bringing a 600mm but with a little less light, I’ll probably leave that at home. I shot the Rams earlier this year in LA—it was 1:00 and sunny, so I took a 300mm and 600mm instead of the 400mm.

Canon Professional Services (CPS) will be on site and Canon’s very helpful if we need something—an extra camera or lens. They’ll also send us long lenses and extra cameras if we need them.

Behind the scenes at the NFL with Ben Liebenberg

Liebenberg captured this image of Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton throwing the ball at last year’s Super Bowl 50.

How many people will you have shooting at the Super Bowl? Where will they be positioned?

My team will consist of eight photographers: six on the field and two overhead. I’ll be on the field. We have four positions on the field that are stationary—one in each corner of the end zone. Two of the field positions are roaming, one on each sideline.

We have two photographers shooting overhead for a different perspective. We generally have one in the end zone and one at the 40-50 yard line. They usually have a seat so they can get up and roam around a bit but are always sensitive to not block the fans’ view.

During the game last year, I was on the Panthers sideline. I would move back and forth along the sideline shooting action. A lot of times I was behind the line of scrimmage, which is good for capturing the quarterback throwing. Then when the team gets ready to score, I’ll go down to the goal line. We’ll have two people in the end zone at either end, so if there’s an interception and the action moves back to the other side, we’ll have people there for the touchdowns.

Before we get to game day, we’ll have a photographers’ meeting and everyone will get their game assignments. Everybody has a specific role, especially for post game. We may have the photographers shooting overhead change position, especially for half time or post game.

Behind the scenes at the NFL with Ben Liebenberg

Beyonce performs at halftime of Super Bowl XLVII between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers. © Ben Liebenberg

What’s it like shooting the half-time show? Has your experience shooting music helped when covering the half-time show?

My experience was shooting in small venues and having access backstage, so shooting halftime is really different. It’s tricky since it’s a kind of a free for all and we never know where we’ll get to shoot. We always ask the artist if we can get backstage and whether we can be with them when they come out but a lot of times we get shut down. We do the best that we can to get into the best positions.

For half-time there are about 150 photographers, some of them are only credentialed to shoot half-time—you may have entertainment photographers from Getty and other agencies. It’s not a little pit—you have the whole sideline behind the bench and while it’s 100 yards long, obviously the center is going to be more crowded.

I usually shoot with a 400mm or a 70-200mm lens. I’ll always use a wide angle to get a general stadium shot to photograph what’s going on. It’s a real spectacle with things going on in the stands and the light shows, so I try to capture a bit of everything.

I carry three cameras at all times but usually have an assistant. At half-time, for example, the assistant might be holding a camera with a 400mm lens attached; the other two cameras are always attached to me with F2.8 lenses or faster. We might bring step stools to shoot the half-time show to get a better angle.

Fortunately, there are no restrictions at half-time. You can shoot as much as you want and none of the artists make you sign a contract that they own the images or anything like that.

Behind the scenes at the NFL with Ben Liebenberg

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning after the Broncos won the NFL Super Bowl 50. ©Ben Liebenberg

What kinds of images are you looking for post-game?

Everybody has specific assignments—to shoot the quarterbacks post game or shoot the coaches shaking hands. We’ll also have photographers assigned to shoot the losing team, others to photograph the general celebration. We generally have a couple of people on the winning quarterback and someone to photograph the losing quarterback. I’m usually roaming but will break off and get into position to shoot the trophy presentation.

Behind the scenes at the NFL with Ben Liebenberg

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is under pressure from the Denver Broncos defense during Super Bowl 50. ©Ben Liebenberg

Obviously you want to get images published as quickly as possible throughout the game. Tell us a little about how image files are transmitted and edited.

I don’t do any of the photo editing at the Super Bowl. We have five editors on site and probably four editors back at the office. We try to do as much editing on site as possible and try to assign no more than two photographers to each on site editor. Even then, you could be looking at close to 10,000 photographs per editor.

We hardwire Cat 5 and fiber optics to the four stationary positions on the field (one in each corner of the end zone), so we can have two cameras connected at once. If the photographer likes the image, they press a button and the image goes to the editor in seconds. From the field to NFL.com takes about a minute or two. The only lag time is how fast the photo can be cropped and uploaded into the system. There are times when you can have something on the website before they’re done showing the replay.

The two positions on the sidelines have runners but we’re looking into ways to wirelessly transfer those photos. But when you’re talking Wi-Fi , that’s a little more difficult to work out because there’s a limited amount of bandwidth. We’re not using Wi-Fi at the Super Bowl but have been testing the technology to work towards sending images wirelessly. It’s okay but not as foolproof as being hardwired since a lot of things can go wrong.

We tested it earlier this year at several stadiums around the league and found a couple of dead zones. About 25% of the time we got no signal, which isn’t surprising if you figure there were about 50,000 people on their cell phones. We’d like to get technology that’s foolproof because you don’t want those issues at the Super Bowl.

Behind the scenes at the NFL with Ben Liebenberg

Headshot of Alabama running back Derrick Henry at the 2016 NFL Combine ©Ben Liebenberg

What are the other major events on your calendar?

Of course, the Super Bowl is our marquee event but there are plenty of other events that we cover including the Hall of Fame, the kickoff game for each season and the Draft Combine. For the Combine, I’ll shoot about 20-25 portraits in two days, along with about 350 headshots over the course of 5 days.

Last year for the portraits, we used a specially designed metallic background and varied the lighting set up a little—we’d turn one of the lights on or off. We used strip banks and Chimera collapsible beauty dishes and switched up the diffusers for variation.

For the headshots, we use a four-foot wide seamless and two softboxes to keep the images fairly consistent. The headshots are particularly important and are used for the scouting Combine app that coaches and scouts reference as sort of a fact book for all the players. They’ll also be posted on NFL.com and included in the Madden video game. It’s not a huge setup but we try to keep it simple.

Behind the scenes at the NFL with Ben Liebenberg

Denver Broncos defensive end DeMarcus Ware poses for a portrait in the NFL Studio in Culver City, California. ©Ben Liebenberg

Do you ever get any downtime?

Very little. We don’t slow down until the middle of June to the middle of July when the teams shut down until training camp. That’s when everybody takes a vacation.

Even when I’m not traveling, I’ll work in the office planning—a lot of work goes into getting ready for the season. And I do a lot of portrait work. I can do 2-3 portraits a day here [at the office] if players are coming into town. Although we don’t have a dedicated photo studio, we have two very large sound stages with various open spaces for shoots. I’ve taken portraits against a cement wall, in green rooms and we have built different flat backgrounds that we can use. I’ve shot in pretty much anyplace on the property that you can imagine. We’ve gotten pretty creative!

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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How Making Horrible Photos Will Lead to More Keepers

19 May

I make a lot of really, really, horrible photos. It’s an odd thing to say isn’t it? But I do. Thousands of them every year, and that is totally okay with me.

I know that most (even all) of those really terrible, poorly composed, exposed, or focused shots, are just practice. They are practice for the next image, and the next, and the next, each building until I find that one keeper in a long string of wasted pixels, and more keepers overall at the end of the day.

As I scrolled through my Lightroom catalog looking for images to accompany this piece, I found in my unedited photos many near-lookalikes. As I edit, I scroll through them one at time. Some get deleted right away because they are soft (out of focus), or the exposure is too far off the mark. Others get deleted because the composition was clearly wrong, unbalanced, or awkward. I often wonder, “What was I thinking?”

Chiloesketch

Sometimes, it takes a lot of shots to find the one you are looking for. I was shooting the sunset on Chiloe Island, Chile, and eventually I found two that made the final cut (below).

Chile-Chiloe-Pinihuil-103085-57

Chile-Chiloe-Pinihuil-103085-61

Most of the time the answer to that question, is that I wasn’t thinking at all. I had found a subject that intrigued me, and I started making photos, and thought had not yet worked its way into the equation. Scroll a few images further into the series, and things start to come together. The distracting elements, one at a time, disappear from the image. The exposure and focus are corrected, and by the time the last shot in the series appears, it’s technically decent, and maybe even a good photograph.

aerial sketch

AK-KatmaiCoast-AW-1075-660

Shooting out of the window of a small airplane flying low over the coastal mudflats of Cook Inlet, Alaska made exploring a single view difficult. But as I shot the first few images, I got a sense for what I was looking for, and when it appeared a few moments later in my viewfinder, I was ready for it.

Those first shots are sketches, and they happen when my mind is still at play, too immature to recognize the scene for what it should be. Eventually, as I settle into the moment, the scene evolves and matures, as I begin to recognize what should and should not belong in the image.

The Freedom of Digital

With digital cameras, there is no harm in playing with a scene this way. Pixels are free, and we can shoot and shoot until our fingers are sore, or we get the right photo. When I’m shooting film however, (which believe it or not, I still do occasionally), there is no such luxury. Every time I release the shutter it’s a few bucks in film, processing, and scanning fees. If I shot with my film camera the way I do with digital, I’d be broke inside of a month.

brookswintersketch

AK-Wiseman-Sukukpak-104025-23

This contrasty Brooks Range scene, made finding both the proper exposure and composition a challenge. Many images later, I settled on this one. I still think I could have done better.

Instead, when shooting film, I’m forced to make those sketch images in my head, and in my viewfinder. I adjust tripod heights, I inch forward and backward, I focus and refocus, and I watch my light meter like a hawk. Then, once I’m sure I’ve got what I need, I click the shutter, and cross my fingers that I’ve got it right.

antlersketch

AK-ANWR-Kongakut-108094-1065

Above are just a small number of the preliminary images this final shot required. At one point I even hiked off from the scene, thinking that I’d captured it. When I realized 10 minutes later that it could still be improved, I ran back, found the spot again, and made the image I should have made the first time around. My clients were less than pleased. (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska).

Whether you make the sketch images as a digital file, or as a mental one, the result is the same. Those preliminary frames, are just that, preparatory. Embrace them, but most importantly don’t stop at the first, or second, or even third shot. Keep exploring your subject, and you may find something you weren’t expecting.

Patagoniasketch

Chile-Patagonia-landscape-103125-7

I often find myself playing with both vertical and horizontal compositions as I sketch my way to a final composition. In this case, a horizontal one. (Chilean Patagonia).

Exploring

A few years ago, I was approaching the end of a ten day wilderness canoe trip in Gates of the Arctic National Park in the Brooks Range of northern Alaska. I was guiding, and so I was mostly concerned about keeping my clients safe, warm, well fed, and helping them make their own photos. My photography took a back seat. But after dinner, as my clients were heading off to their own tents on the tundra, I would often wander off with my camera and tripod. On that evening, as the trip was coming to its end, I ambled up the gravel bar away from camp. It was mid-August, and for the first time in months, the sun, for an hour or two each night, was actually dropping below the mountains that surrounded us.

The river flowed past in a gentle riffle, washing over the stones with a shushing sound, that hushed my thoughts as quickly as librarian with a finger to her lips. As the sun made its long low dive toward the mountains, the light grew sweeter, illuminating the tundra and mountains in light so beautiful I could hardly bear to look at it.

noataksketches

Though several of the images I made as the evening progressed are good, they more importantly allowed me to get comfortable with, and involved in the changing scenery.

Slowly, and it took a long time, I started making images. For a while, I let my myself play with the landscape, making photos here and there, pointing this way and that. I made images of a tributary river flowing over the rocks, the winding cut gravel banks, bear tracks, and sedges growing along quiet shores. Some of those images are decent, even good, but they were still leading me somewhere. Eventually I found myself by the main stem of the river when the sun was about to disappear behind the silhouetted mountains. There, after an hour or more of play, I found the image that I had ventured away from camp to make.

AK-GAAR-Alatna-Noatak-1083-890

Be There-There

I got it right, because I was there-there. I wasn’t just existing with a camera in my hand, worried about f-stops and ISOs. I was present, because all those previous images over the past hours allowed me to put aside the technical worries, and permitted me to focus on the scene at hand – the way it felt, the way the breeze moved the surface of a quiet backwater, the sound of the water hushing over stone, and the way the river’s edge wandered away toward the setting sun.

All those sketch images not only gave me permission to focus on the scene the way it needed to be, they gave me access to the moment when I needed it.

As you can see, perfecting exposure and focus is just one part of what it means to work through your practice photos. These preliminary images allow your mind to get away from all that other stuff, and concentrate on what matters. Like me, you’ll end up with lot of really horrible photos, but occasionally, they will lead up to something meaningful. 

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Flexible sheet camera concept could lead to bendable capture devices

14 Apr

Researchers at Columbia University are working to produce a flexible sheet camera with stretchable lenses. The program aims to create very thin, high resolution cameras that can be wrapped around surfaces like car panels. Currently in concept form, the sheet lens array that such a camera might use has been developed to produce a seamless image on a flexible sensor when it is bent or wrapped around a physical object.

The focus of the research is in creating flexible lenses that are capable of changing shape (and hence the effective focal length) as they are stretched and compressed so that the imaging sensor can record a detailed image whatever the field of view.

With fixed lenses, gaps appear between the coverage of the lenses as the substrate is bent (left), but in the researcher’s flexible lens example (right) the lenses bend with the substrate and offer continuous coverage of the subject.

In previous attempts at flexible lens arrays only the substrate has been flexible, and as the sheet of lenses has been bent gaps have appeared in the subject coverage as the angle between the lenses increased beyond their individual field of view. These gaps lead to aliasing artifacts in the final image that can’t be corrected in post-processing software. In this new concept the lenses are also flexible and they stretch as the sheet bends, altering their focal length and providing better sampling of the subject.

So far the research has successfully produced a sheet of silicone with lenses molded on one side and a diffuser behind a sheet of apertures on the other. The apertures act as a low pass filter ensuring light from each molded lens reaches only one point on the viewing diffuser.

Images created with the substrate bend by different degrees, showing how the field of view changes

The system hasn’t actually been used with a sensor yet, but the study did use it to project images on to the diffuser screen to determine how effective it would be. Bending the sheet increased and decreased its field of view, or effective focal length, and the images were displayed without missing areas. All that is required now is a flexible sensor to go with it.

An array of lenses was formed by pouring silicone into a metal mold

The intention of the project is to work towards finding a way of making sheets of lenses to work with photosensitive materials that will record images when wrapped around real-world objects. The researchers want ultimately be able to produce these sheet cameras in roll format at a low cost so that the sheets can be cut to size to suit specific uses.

The released information suggests a sheet camera could be wrapped around the panels of a car to give the driver a view from all angles. Alternatively sheet cameras could be used by consumers to take normal pictures but with the user bending the sheet to alter the field of view, or zoom effect, of the system.

For more information see the project’s page on the University of Columbia website.


Press release:

Flexible Sheet Cameras With Elastic Optics

In this project, we pursue a radically different approach to imaging. Rather than seeking to capture the world from a single point in space, our goal is to explore the idea of imaging using a thin, large, flexible sheet. If such cameras can be made at a low cost (ideally, like a roll of plastic sheet), they can be used to image the world in ways that would be difficult to achieve using one or more conventional cameras. In the most general sense, such an imaging system would enable any surface in the real world to capture visual information. While there is significant ongoing work on the development of flexible image sensors, our interest here is in the design of the optics needed to form images on such sensors.

At first glance one might imagine that a simple lens array aligned with a flexible detector array would suffice – its field of view (FOV) can be varied by simply bending it. What is perhaps less apparent is the fact that, in a curved state, the FOV can end up being severely under-sampled. This under-sampling leads to a captured image that is not bandlimited. Thus, the Nyquist sampling criterion is violated and the image will suffer from aliasing artifacts when reconstructed. It is important to note that these artifacts cannot be removed via post-processing since scene information is lost during image formation.

To address the above aliasing problem over an entire range of sheet curvatures, we propose the design of a deformable (elastic) lens array. We show that, if designed carefully, the deformable lenses of the array will change shape (and hence focal length) under bending forces in a way that mitigates aliasing. A remarkable feature of our design is that the lens array can achieve aliasing compensation passively, without the use of any per-pixel actuation or control. Our optics can be combined with a flexible sensor array to obtain a complete sheet camera. This project was supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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GoPro’s poor holiday sales lead to staff layoff

17 Jan

In its preliminary Q4 financial report this week, GoPro revealed it expects the last quarter’s revenue to be about $ 435 million, a figure significantly lower than the $ 512 million analysts had estimated. Due to poor sales over the holidays, GoPro states it will layoff 7% of its workforce as part of a restructuring effort.

The company announced its fourth quarter financial estimates on Wednesday, saying the quarter’s ‘revenue reflects lower than anticipated sales… due to slower than expected sell through at retailers.’ The company’s workforce had increased more than 50% annually over the last two years, eventually growing to 1500+ workers. With revenue down, GoPro will restructure its workforce to focus on ‘key growth initiatives,’ letting about 105 workers go in the process.

The company’s final Q4 financial numbers will be reported on February 3.

GoPro Announces Q4 and Calendar Year 2015 Preliminary Results

16% Annual Revenue Growth to $ 1.6 Billion for 2015

SAN MATEO, Calif., Jan. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — GoPro, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) today reported certain preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2015.

GoPro expects revenue to be approximately $ 435 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 and $ 1.6 billion for the calendar year. Fourth quarter revenue reflects lower than anticipated sales of its capture devices due to slower than expected sell through at retailers, particularly in the first half of the quarter. Fourth quarter revenue includes a $ 21 million reduction for price protection related charges resulting from the HERO4 Session repricing in December. Non-GAAP gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2015, excluding the impact of price protection and a charge of between $ 30 million and $ 35 million to cost of revenue for excess purchase order commitments, excess inventory, and obsolete tooling is anticipated to be between 44.5% and 45.5%. Non-GAAP gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2015 is anticipated to be between 34.5% and 35.5%. Non-GAAP operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2015 are estimated to be between $ 150.0 million and $ 152.5 million.  Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at December 31, 2015 totaled approximately $ 475 million.  

These preliminary, unaudited results are based on management’s initial review of operations for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2015 and remain subject to the completion of the Company’s customary annual closing and review procedures. Final adjustments and other material developments may arise between the date of this press release and the dates GoPro announces fourth quarter 2015 results and the filing of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K with the SEC.

Zander Lurie Appointed to GoPro Board
Zander has resigned from his role as Senior Vice President of GoPro Entertainment and has been appointed to serve on GoPro’s board of directors. Mr. Lurie has deep experience working with Internet-based business models across digital and traditional media. At GoPro Entertainment, he built a team dedicated to pursuing new formats and revenue streams from user-generated content and the Company’s large cache of digital entertainment. Prior to GoPro, he served as an executive at CBS Corp. which he joined with the acquisition of CNET Networks where he served as CFO and head of Corporate Development. Mr. Lurie began his career in the technology investment banking group at J. P. Morgan where he led equity transactions and mergers and acquisitions in the Internet sector.

Reallocation of Resources
Over the past two years, GoPro’s headcount has grown by more than 50% annually, to more than 1,500 employees at the end of 2015. To better align resources to key growth initiatives, GoPro has implemented a reduction in its workforce of approximately 7 percent. The Company estimates it will incur approximately $ 5 million to $ 10 million of restructuring expenses in the first quarter of 2016, substantially all of which will be severance costs.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Earnings Conference Call
GoPro will release its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2015 after the market closes on February 3, 2016.

GoPro management will host a conference call and live webcast for analysts and investors on February 3, 2016 at 2 p.m. Pacific Time (5 p.m. Eastern Time) to discuss the Company’s financial results.

To listen to the live conference call, please dial toll free (888) 806-6221 or (913) 981-5588, access code 4243159, approximately 15 minutes prior to the start of the call. A live webcast of the conference call will be accessible on the “Events & Presentations” section of the Company’s website at http://investor.gopro.com. To access the live webcast, please log in 15 minutes prior to the start of the call to download and install any necessary audio software. The webcast will be recorded and the recording will be available on GoPro’s website, http://investor.gopro.com, approximately two hours after the call and for six months thereafter.

GoPro reports gross margin and operating expenses, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and on a non-GAAP basis. Non-GAAP gross margin and non-GAAP operating expenses exclude, where applicable, the effects of stock-based compensation and acquisition-related costs. A reconciliation to the comparable GAAP guidance has not been provided because certain factors that are materially significant to the Company’s ability to estimate the excluded items are not accessible or practically estimable at this time.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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