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Posts Tagged ‘Legacy’

US Navy shares photos, video from the Blue Angels’ farewell flight for its Legacy Hornet jets

06 Nov

The United States Navy Blue Angels have flown their last flight with their F/A-18A/B/C/D ‘Legacy’ Hornet aircrafts, which are being fazed out for the new F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. To commemorate the farewell flight of the 34-year-old planes, the U.S. Navy has released cockpit video and an array of images.

The final flight occurred yesterday, November 4, over the Hornet’s hometown of Pensacola, Florida, just as the sun was setting on the Florida coastline. Over the winter, the U.S. Navy flight demonstration team will enter its training period with 18 new F/A-18E/F jets that have been specifically modified for use by the Blue Angels, before showing off the new, larger ‘Super Hornets’ next year at its first show in Pensacola. The Drive has a fantastic deep dive into the modifications the U.S. Navy is making to the new Super Hornets for those of you interested in learning more.

An illustration showing the flight path of the Blue Angels’ final flight in the Legacy Hornet jets.

Below is a gallery of images from the final demonstration with the Legacy Hornet squadron, provided by the U.S. Navy:

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The Blue Angels demonstration team is a popular attraction for photographers at airshows around the world, with their incredible coordination, dizzying moves and near-flawless execution. You can read more about the U.S. Navy’s shift to the Super Hornet on Navy Times.


Image credits: Photos courtesy of the United States Navy.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Your Photographic Legacy: Realizing Your Power as a Photo Maker

28 Apr

The post Your Photographic Legacy: Realizing Your Power as a Photo Maker appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Adam Welch.

I’ve struggled with how to approach the topic at hand and I remain unsure even as I type. How can I begin to talk about such far echoing ideas? I already know that you and I share a common thread: photography.

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I’ll further assume that if you’re reading this, you are a person who makes photographs regularly. Perhaps that’s the perfect way to start; by knowing that you’re a camera person, just like me.

Being that we’re the same, I hope you understand the scope of what it means to “be a photographer” in an age when cameras are everywhere. Do you understand the power you hold in your hands? It’s the magnitude of this power that we will discuss.

With any luck, these simple truths about our craft will be nothing new. If anything, hopefully, these ideas will be a gentle reminder of the role you play in the photographic legacy.

On the other hand, if you have forgotten these facts or if you’ve never thought about them before, today is an especially important day for you.

Respect for the work…respect for yourself

It’s oddly paradoxical that photography can be so incredibly personal yet at the same time so impersonal. This is especially true of digital photography when often times the work we produce remains essentially intangible and often untouchable.

Where other creators physically intersect with their craft by either drawing, painting, sculpting or carving, we stand alone in a shared uniqueness. We use a machine to bring our expressions to life. We cannot touch what we capture with any sense of immediacy, and yet photography has become one of the most effective methods for bridging what we see with what we feel.

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As photographers, we must grasp the sheer weirdness and complexity of what we do at a basic level. Our work is part science, part soul, part philosophy and as such should be respected for the beautiful oddball of the visual arts that it truly is.

Furthermore, you should have immense respect for yourself and your fellow practitioners of photography. Not through any sense of superiority but rather a feeling of camaraderie.

We compete on occasion, sure. We envy or criticize each other at times. With the internet being the internet, it’s quite easy to pick apart the work of others instead of building it up. We’re only human. Still, the fact remains that we will advance more by positive attitudes and tasteful critique than through thoughtless criticism and negativity.

I can assure you that we’re all in this madness together.

Photography is the servant of history

Imagine for a minute a couple of historic images in your mind. Ali standing over Frazier. That child running from a napalm strike in Vietnam. The aftermath at Kent State. A lone man staring down a tank in Beijing. Einstein sticking his tongue out for the camera.

All these moments, for better or worse, are solidified in history through photographs. Photography carries monumental weight for bringing awareness to the beauty and horrors present in the human condition.

Arguably, photography is the greatest asset for documenting history that the world has ever known.

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Every photograph is made by a man or woman who was present at the exact moment these events took place. For better or worse, the presence of a camera has been the catalyst for social, political and environmental change for nearly two centuries.

Where would we be without the photographs which move us to action and change the way we think about the world?

Photographers can strike fire anywhere with a single photograph.

Possessing the ability to potentially impact the entire course of civilization by what we do should fill us with a measure of pride, wonderment and ultimately a sense of apprehension. Think about that the next time you go out with your camera.

You can make a difference through your photography at any time and in any place.

You represent every photographer

If you bear with me, I find it’s necessary to share a quick story about a woodworker friend of mine; a story, which as it turns out, became the reason for me penning this article.

A few weeks ago I witnessed a rather nasty situation play out on social media between my friend and another woodworker. Without injecting my own opinion, it was obvious that the attitude shown towards my friend was met with universal disapproval by most of the commenters.

I was fascinated (and comforted) by the fact that what seemed to trouble people the most was the blatant disrespect which was being exhibited by one craftsperson to another.

My mind immediately jumped to the manner we as photographers conduct ourselves, both on and offline, and how that conduct impacts the public perception of photographers.

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As cameras become more and more available to the masses, it’s important to comprehend that we are all practitioners of an art form that dates back to the early 19th century. That’s quite the legacy. What I mean by this is that the way we interact with our subjects and our environment while we practice our craft can be just as important as the photographs we produce.

I have witnessed photographers moving “flying stones” at Racetrack Playa in Death Valley just so their shots couldn’t be replicated. On countless occasions, I’ve watched as cars back up behind a person who parked in the highway to make photos bears.

Perhaps most alarming of all, I have observed shockingly pretentious attitudes exhibited by professional photographers upon those deemed “beneath” their perceived level of skill.

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Be courteous and respectful to others, especially fellow photographers. Always be willing to pass on what knowledge you have about the craft. Keep in mind that we are stewards of our art and tend its flame for many generations of photo makers to come.

Never fall victim to the kind of indifferent behavior that would belittle the legacy of photography.

Final thoughts….

So, what’s the endgame here?

The keyword is “realization.”

Realize that the role photography plays in the world cannot be overstated, and your part in that story is just as important.

The way we approach photography is very much a reflection of how we approach life and each share similar outcomes.

Be mindful that you always remember the impact of the photos you make and how far the manner by which you make those photos truly reaches. Photographs carry a unique duality which occupies a cloudy space among other art forms.

Our cameras have the power to make, record and even change history, but without you, a camera is just a camera.

Remember the power you have as a photographer and wield it accordingly.

The post Your Photographic Legacy: Realizing Your Power as a Photo Maker appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Adam Welch.


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Epson adds textured paper to Legacy photo inkjet lineup

27 Oct

A new textured paper has been introduced to the Epson Legacy range of premium inkjet media that the company claims allows dense blacks, vibrant colors and ‘outstanding’ print permanence. Epson Legacy Textured Paper promises to ‘simulate old-world handcrafted watercolor papers’ with a heavily textured surface, according to Epson, and is aimed at photographers who exhibit and sell their work as art pieces.

No optical brighteners have been used in the paper, and Epson says that it will have excellent lightfast properties. Permanence figures are not quoted, as the paper is still being evaluated by Wilhelm Imaging Research.

The matte finish paper is 100% cotton, using randomly layered fibres to prevent curling in sheets as well as in long rolls, and will weigh 310 GSM. The paper is due to ship in December this year. For more information see the Epson website.

Size Sheet/roll Price
8.5” x 11” Cut Sheet (25 pack) $ 45
13” x 19” Cut Sheet (25 pack) $ 119
17” x 22” Cut Sheet (25 pack) $ 179
17” x 50′ Roll $ 189
24” x 50′ Roll $ 249
44” x 50′ Roll $ 499
60” x 50′ Roll $ 679

Press release:

Epson Launches New Legacy Textured Paper

New Paper Provides Textured Surface and Matte Finish in Epson’s Distinguished Legacy Paper Line

Epson today introduced Legacy Textured, the latest addition to its sophisticated Legacy Paper line, offering the ultimate in quality and longevity for artists selling their work. Legacy Textured is comprised of a mould-made paper base that lays cotton fibers down randomly to virtually eliminate curl, and a heavily textured surface that simulates old-world handcrafted watercolor papers. In addition, Epson today announced that its popular Metallic Photo Paper in Luster and Glossy are now Signature Worthy® papers, moving into Epson’s line of paper designed for photography, art illustration and fine art prints. Both the Legacy Textured and the Metallic Photo Papers will be on display at PhotoPlus Expo in New York City from Oct. 25-27, 2018 at Epson’s booth, #707.

“A heavy, textured paper is what helps my images blur the line between photography and painting,” said Brooke Shaden, fine art photographer, author and motivational speaker. “Though my work is all photographic, having a painterly style has always been important to my aesthetic, and Legacy Textured provides that feeling of mixed media.”

Legacy Textured offers a heavily textured surface with a matte finish and is 100 percent cotton on a mould-made base. The 310 GSM textured paper is free of OBAs (optical brightening agents), delivers a high Dmax for deep blacks, an expanded color gamut volume, and accepts a high ink load. The cotton fibers are laid randomly to dramatically minimize curl in large rolls.

“Realizing the need for a heavily textured fine art paper, we collaborated with industry-leading photographers and artists to help develop a media that blends qualities of old-world handcrafted paper with the latest digital imaging enhancements,” said Jeff Smith, product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America, Inc. “Designed to produce rich blacks and vibrant colors, Legacy Textured exhibits unparalleled qualities for artists looking to create and sell exhibition quality prints without compromising print quality.”

The Epson Legacy Textured paper is currently undergoing comprehensive eight-factor print permanence testing at Wilhelm Imaging Research (WIR), the world’s leading independent permanence testing laboratory. Testing includes color and black and white prints made with the current generation of improved-stability Epson UltraChrome® HD, Epson UltraChrome HDX, and Epson UltraChrome PRO pigment inks featured on Epson’s SureColor® P-Series printers. WIR is also testing Legacy Textured paper with high CRI (Color Rendering Index) museum-quality LED illumination. While final results are not yet available – the greater the lightfastness, the longer the test times – Epson is confident the new paper will exhibit outstanding print permanence.

Epson Professional Paper Line
Epson offers a complete line of professional papers to meet varying photography and fine art needs, no matter the finish or price point:

Standard Photo Paper: Available in multiple finishes, including glossy, semigloss, matte, semimatte, and velvet, Epson’s standard photo papers offer a solution for any photographer. Delivering high-performance output quality and color performance with extreme sharpness and clarity, these papers are offered in a range of cut-sheet and roll sizes for producing vivid, lifelike images.

Signature Worthy Paper: Epson Signature Worthy Papers represent the finest in color fidelity, smoothest tonal transitions, and exceptional Black density and longevity, each paper has been developed and tested at the highest levels to work collectively with Epson’s industry-leading professional printers and inks. The most demanding creative professionals use Signature Worthy papers because their reputations are on the line with every print.

Legacy Papers: As Epson’s most advanced line of photographic papers, Legacy Papers were designed in collaboration with many of the world’s greatest artists. The unique papers were developed for those who intend to exhibit and sell their prints, both to art collectors and investors. Working closely with revered European papermakers, galleries and chemical engineers to develop the finest papers available, the Epson Legacy Paper line produces outstanding black density and color fidelity, along with exceptional archival properties required for collectible works of fine art.

Availability and Pricing
The new Legacy Textured will be available in Dec. 2018 through authorized Epson Professional Imaging resellers.

For additional information, visit www.epson.com/legacypapers, www.epson.com/signatureworthy or www.proimaging.epson.com.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Maintaining a legacy or building for mirrorless, who benefits?

23 May
If Canon makes a full-frame mirrorless camera, should they forego some of the potential size benefits to maintain full EF-mount compatibility? And just how compatible would it be?

More than ever, rumors are circulating that Canon and Nikon are finally going to take mirrorless seriously by building full-frame mirrorless cameras. These rumors, which may well turn out to be nonsense, all seem to suggest that these cameras will be built around the companies’ respective DSLR mounts.

It’s an interesting quandary: develop a new, space-efficient mount or stick with your existing system?

I’m going to argue that the right answer is much clearer for a manufacturer than for the end consumer. And I think I can guess which option we’re likely to see.

Supporting your legacy

The benefits of supporting your legacy mount seem obvious: the manufacturer gets to keep selling their existing lenses and the consumer ends up with a huge range of lenses to choose from. Surely there’s no conflict there?

The advantage of all (or most) of an existing system’s lenses being compatible from day one seem overwhelming. Plenty of choice, the ability to sell mirrorless cameras to existing lens owners and no reputational damage. Everybody wins, right?

“There’s a risk of building a system that prioritizes backward compatibility over maximizing performance”

The problem with building a mirrorless camera with a full-depth mount goes deeper (pun intended) than all of your mirrorless models being bigger than necessary. That said, even people who prefer larger cameras are usually referring to grip depth and spacing of controls, rather than demanding their camera has a big box of fresh air in the middle of it, for no functional reason.

A question of focus

No, the bigger issue is that most DSLR lenses aren’t designed for mirrorless. I’m not just talking about some designs being larger than necessary, I’m talking about the use of focus motors that are great for DSLR phase detection but that are woefully clunky when driven using contrast detection AF. Secondary sensor AF, as used and painstakingly optimized for DSLRs is very effective at telling the lens where it needs to move its focus elements to. The ring-type ultrasonic motors used in most high-end DSLR lenses are great at responding to such a command.

Contrast detection asks very different things of its lenses. Instead of racing to a particular point, they need to smoothly scan through their focus range then perform a series of back-and-forth movements to find perfect focus. The result tends to be more accurate but requires a lightweight focus element and a very differently type of focus motor.

The K-01 used a full depth Pentax K mount which gave instant access to lots of lenses. Unfortunately, none of them had really been designed with contrast detection in mind…

The alternative approach: on-sensor phase detection, is in its relative infancy. It may be able to make better use of existing lenses with ring-type motors, but it’s still not clear how well it can interpret significantly defocused scenes.

Also, at present, most on-sensor phase detection information is fed into what are more precisely described as ‘Hybrid’ AF systems: they get very close to focus using phase detection then perform a CDAF hunt to confirm the optimal position. Perhaps this will change, hopefully without the loss of the precision that mirrorless AF tends to excel at, leaving us just with the size disadvantage.

It’s notable that, when it’s trying to build fast-focusing lenses for its mirrorless E-mount, Sony doesn’t tend to use ring-type focus motors. In the case of the 16-35mm F2.8 GM, it uses twin piezoelectric actuators.

Alternatively, of course, there’s a risk of building a system that prioritizes backward compatibility over maximizing performance. It’s noticeable, for instance, that Sony makes very little use of ring-type focus motors in the lenses its developing for the E-mount, despite having experience of using them for its DSLR A-mount.

‘It fits’ isn’t the same as ‘it’s good’

Either way, there’s a risk that we’ll be offered something that fits but doesn’t necessarily work as well as it could.

As an enthusiast photographer with limited lens-buying resources, one of the things that has always irritated me is seeing camera companies produce high-end lenses for their full-frame customers and carefully marketing the idea that this benefits all their users, so they need not develop anything good for their APS-C users. It’s a situation that leaves APS-C users with poor choices and the arguably false impression that by buying these poorly-suited lenses, they’re making progress along an upgrade path (a fallacy that benefits the camera makers more than the photographers).

The decision to adopt a new mount or continue with a legacy one risks the same thing: the appearance of lots of choice when what you’re actually being offered is compromise, and a situation with limited incentive for the manufacturers to dedicate their efforts towards the needs of their mirrorless users. Instead they can produce a lovely picture of their mirrorless camera flanked with 30 years’ worth of lens development and watch as brand loyalists insist that ‘their’ system has the most lenses, regardless of performance.

And this wouldn’t necessarily only apply to existing lenses. Let’s say Manufacturer X needs to develop a new fast 70-200mm F2.8 and the focusing design that would work best for mirrorless turns out to be slower than the one that suits the company’s flagship sports DSLR, which version of the lens do you think we’d see?

Precedent

There is something of a precedent for this. Canon got its reputation badly burned by abandoning its FD mount – something it took some photographers a long time to forgive –whereas Nikon and Pentax pressed on with progressively trying to modernize their 1950s film mounts.

Taking the hard decision arguably left Canon in the better position: the long-term benefit was a wide-throated, all-electronic mount. With the introduction of its latest ‘E’ lenses, Nikon’s venerable F-mount has finally caught up: with autofocus and aperture operated by the lens, but with a complex series of compatibility issues cropping up along the way. And, while they are still using a somewhat restrictively narrow mount at the end of it, they’ve benefited from not having to burn their users on the way (though they arguably handed-off responsibility for understanding the complexities of the F-mount’s development to every user looking to buy lenses).

So what’s the alternative?

Olympus expressly made the E-M1 to provide continued support for its legacy system but also developed the ‘PRO’ range of high-end lenses to make full use of the capabilities of Micro Four Thirds cameras.

The other way of doing things it to develop a dedicated mount and dedicatedly support it. This is the approach that Olympus took with the development of Micro Four Thirds and, to an extent, which Canon has with its EF-M mount. Olympus, along with Panasonic, took the brave step of designing a mirrorless-optimized mount when they developed Micro Four Thirds, rather than trying to press on with Four Thirds. They then offered an adapter to use the older lenses and, with the E-M1 and E-M1 II, developed cameras expressly with the intention of maintaining support for the older, outgoing system. This meant existing customers didn’t get too badly burned and new Micro Four Thirds customers got an increasingly impressive range of native lenses designed for them.

It’ll be interesting to see if Sony takes any pointers from this, as they decide how to support both E and A mounts.

I hope to be proven wrong

Perhaps I’ll be proved wrong in the end. Maybe Canon’s EF-M/EF cross-compatibility will end up reducing the incentives to develop interesting lenses for M series owners, in the same way that I worry sharing a mount would. Equally, perhaps Canon’s Dual Pixel AF (and Nikon’s on-sensor PDAF experience gleaned from its 1-Series cameras) will mean that there ends up being no AF compromise to sharing a mount. It may partly be overcoming this challenge that has led to its camera taking so long to arrive. At which point, using the existing mount would just mean carrying around a camera that’s a little lumpier than it needs to be.

Time, I’m sure, will tell. But, in the meantime, don’t necessarily take at face-value any promises that backwards compatibility is an unalloyed user benefit.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Zaha Hadid’s Legacy: Proposal for London by the Architect’s Final Students

11 Oct

[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

bishopsgate-proposal-2

The legacy of famed architect Zaha Hadid continues to unfold months after her death at age 65 as a long list of her final projects continue in various stages of development, from those currently under construction to concepts that may forever remain unbuilt. But even putting aside the many outstanding and unrealized designs remaining on her firm’s docket, Hadid’s influence on modern architecture lives on through the work of her students at the Yale School of Architecture.

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During their semester-long project at Zaha Hadid’s final studio course, a group of students envisioned a striking new development for London’s Bishopsgate Goodsyard, a flowing white complex in the architect’s signature biomimetic style. Consisting of a high-density residential tower, a mid-rise block and a train station acting as a bridge between the two, the proposal adds some height and visual interest to the largest undeveloped piece of land remaining in central London.

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Lisa Albaugh, Benjamin Bourgoin, Jamie Edindjiklian, Roberto Jenkins and Justin Oh present a futuristic network of  gleaming white structures with a skeletal appearance, as if someone took the carcass of some extinct megabeast and reassembled it into a deconstructed approximation of a Gothic cathedral. The spaces between the rib-like columns are filled in with wavy walls of glass decorated with veinous ribbons of gold.

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Viaducts at the base act as access points to a series of public spaces, including a park landscape, connecting the various functions within the complex. All of the different elements that would normally be contained within a traditional tower core are instead spread into individual ‘strands,’ like the elevators, stairs and mechanical systems, freeing up the tower’s center for unusual cross-views out of all that glass.

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It would seem that the proposal is pure fantasy, given that the developers of the site, Hammerson and Ballymore, have already produced their own proposal. But Londoners have made it clear that they aren’t too keen on that design, with over 11,000 residents signing a petition against it. Critics argue that the developers’ proposal “would result in unacceptable and avoidable significant negative impacts” to the neighborhood.

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[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Tips for Using Legacy Lenses and Shooting in Full Manual

19 Jan

Shooting Manually

Full manual. Two words. Ten letters. Yet those words can be some of the most discouraging for new photographers to ingest. There has long been a perceived over complication concerning shooting in Manual Mode. Personally, I always leave my camera set to manual. Granted, I dont shoot many fast-paced sporting events that require speedy autofocus, or many situations where there is constantly fluctuating light. Still, the idea of controlling the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and focus, all independently of your camera’s computer, unsettles even experienced photographers at times. Happily though, not only is there a swelling community of photographerss who are embracing the somewhat challenging, but highly organic and rewarding, benefits of shooting manually…but also upping the ante by adapting completely analog legacy lenses for use with their cameras.

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In this article, you will learn how to enjoy what might be considered a devolved methodology of making photographs using legacy lenses, and shooting in full manual mode. Full manual lenses, are generally built to exacting quality standards, but are relatively low-priced, which makes them great for beginners, and those shooting on a budget. Furthermore, adapters are available for virtually all mirrorless and digital SLR camera systems, so that you can start making great photographs using these low-tech lenses. Let’s jump right in.

What are Legacy Lenses?

Lenses that were geared for use with older film camera (35mm or medium/large format) systems are called legacy lenses. Glass of this type are non-motor driven, and operate autonomously of your camera. This means that the focus and aperture selection are all accomplished inside of the lens, which is controlled by you. There is no electronic communication between the lens and the camera. You must use the lens’s aperture, and focusing ring, to produce the desired depth of field and focus. Legacy lenses are generally made of metal, making them relatively heavy, but heartily constructed.

Which lenses are fully manual?

Full manual lenses does certainly not include all legacy lenses. Many manufacturers still make completely manual lenses, engineered specifically for the digital camera market. A lens is designated as being fully manual when there is no control being provided by the camera. However, there are quite a few fully manual lenses which have incorporated focus indicator chips into their design. While remaining fully manual, these types of lenses will communicate with your camera when focus has been achieved.

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Adapting lenses to your camera

In a previous article on dPS we discussed how easy it really is to use legacy lenses (and other non-native glass) with your digital camera. The same holds true. All that is needed to enable the use of fully manual legacy lenses to be used with your modern digital camera body is a simple adapter.

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These adapters vary in capability from simple adapter rings, to advanced electronic contraptions, with focus indicator chips of their own. Keep in mind though, there are a few things to consider before adapting any non-native lens to your camera. More on that shortly.

Using your camera in full manual mode with manual lenses

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You’ve found an elegant legacy lens and located the appropriate adapter for your particular camera system. You’re excited and ready begin shooting completely manually, so now what? Well, take a breath and exhale a well deserved sigh of relief, because all of that was the hard part. Now all that’s left are a few quick steps. The first of those steps is to switch your camera into Manual Mode. This is almost always done by moving your selector wheel to M for manual mode. This will give you, the courageous photographer, complete control over all aspects of the shot. If you are using a completely manual lens, or a legacy lens, everything except the shutter speed will now be manipulated using the lens. The aperture will be controlled using the aperture selector ring, and so too will be the focusing.

This is a breakdown of the essential features found on an adapted, full manual legacy lens (in this case a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8).

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Here are a few tips for using your camera in full manual mode, in conjunction with a fully manual or legacy lens:

Focus Peaking Function

Some cameras now incorporate a technology called focus peaking which visually outlines the edges of the most in-focus area of a scene,, before the shutter is ever released. The technology detects the area of the most contrast between pixels, thus determining what region is most in focus. Though not perfect, this a great option to aid with manual focusing.

Focus Magnifier

Not all camera bodies come equipped with the focus peaking feature, but most modern digital cameras are capable of focus magnification. This lets you digitally magnify the scene, and inspect areas for proper focus. I use focus magnification in all of my landscape work. It is a great way to achieve pin point focus on the areas where precision is a necessity. (Note: this is usually available in LiveView mode).

Shoot RAW

Yes, the old shoot RAW lecture again. Even though focus correction can’t be achieved, even in RAW format files, it will however give you much more room to work on contrast and clarity. This will sometimes help to salvage an image that may otherwise be culled.

Things to consider before using legacy lenses

Along with all the benefits of shooting manually with legacy and full manual lenses, there are also some things to remember before, and during shooting times.

Complete Autonomy of the Camera

There is of course no electronic communication between the lens and the camera, unless you have chosen an adapter or lens equipped with focus indicator technology. So there will be no way to use your shutter priority or aperture priority modes.

Physical Considerations

Some lenses will obstruct the mirror function of digital SLRs. This is one of those things that carries a little bit of buyer beware baggage. Make absolutely sure that the lens you are adapting to your camera does not physically occlude the operation of the mirror, this will damage your camera, possibly beyond repair. This becomes less of an issue with mirrorless camera systems.

Crop Factor

The crop factor of any lens is dependant on the size of the image sensor (or film) being used. Always be mindful of the interactions between your lens, and whatever size sensor you are using, be it full frame of APS-C (cropped). Most legacy lenses were intended for use with 35mm film. This will play a major role in your practical focal length, when shopping for lenses of the prime variety.

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Fully manual and legacy lenses have a firm grasp on today’s digital world. Though viewed as antiquated by some, the essential elements of this type of photography can produce exceptional images. Shooting in Manual Mode gives you ultimate generalship over your work, and allows you to take every aspect of photo making into your own hands. Not only is the use of legacy and manual lenses a cost efficient way to make photographs, but it is also a reflection of a time when the buck stopped with the photographer, not the camera.

Newer isn’t always better. And even though manual shooting might not be the most effective course in some situations, there is no reason why it should be discounted in today’s modern era. Full manual shooting allows you to use lenses of extremely high quality to fully realize your creative vision, in ways you may not have otherwise been able to accommodate. Take your photography back to the future, and go beyond the realm of the automatic.

Do you have a favorite manual setup that you use regularly? Share it in the comments below!

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The post Tips for Using Legacy Lenses and Shooting in Full Manual by Adam Welch appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Countdown to PIX 2015: Getty Images Legacy Collection

04 Oct

It’s hard to believe that PIX 2015 is just over a week away. As we get closer to the show, we’re highlighting some of our amazing speaking and content partners. In the slideshow above you’ll find a preview of some of the iconic photos Getty Images will have on display in our gallery space. Find out more about the Legacy Collection from Getty Images Co-Founder Jonathan Klein. Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Hasselblad launches 50MP CFV-50c back for legacy V system

26 Jul

Hasselblad has launched a new digital back for its V System camera bodies that it claims brings modern digital image quality to users of vintage film-era Hasselblad camera bodies. The Hasselblad CFV-50c back features a 43.8 x 32.9mm CMOS sensor that outputs images at a resolution of up to 8272 x 6200 pixels, and operates within an ISO range of 100-6400. Click through for more details.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Temporary Legacy: Large-Scale Ice Typography Installations

25 Mar

[ By Steph in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

Ice Typography 1

Ephemeral messages ranging from eight inches to eight feet in height stand in public settings for just hours before they begin to disappear, melting into the snow or concrete beneath them. Artist Nicole Dextras makes social and environmental statements that are present just long enough to incite questions in passersby, making the meaning of the words themselves seem vulnerable and transient.

Ice Typography 3

Ice Typography 2

The letters are made using wooden molds and sometimes, in the case of the larger installations, must be propped up as they start to melt – adding to the message of the word, as in the case of ‘LEGACY.’ Many of the pieces question human ownership of natural resources, and the way in which we take over and consume the world around us.

Ice Typography 5

“The use of text in the landscape relates to concrete and visual poetry but with the added twist of having the word’s meaning alter with the melting process,” says Dextras. “Sometimes the words relate directly to the landscape such as “silence” where the bucolic idealism of nature is transformed by the sound of the crashing waves behind it.”

Ice Typography 4

“Typography absorbs light, melts and eventually leave son trace; these words have more in common with dreams and oral stories than linear language. Words cast in ice interrupt our literal narratives, allowing a more integrated reading of the land we inhabit, as opposed to the past and current commodification of land as limitless resource. I therefore choose to create within an ephemeral vernacular to accentuate the collective physical and psychological experience of flux and change.”

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[ By Steph in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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Documentary Photography – Six Tips for Creating a Legacy

21 Sep

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We’ve all gone through times in our lives where we’ve lost loved ones. As a portrait photographer I would get calls all the time for “Urgent” family photos where one family member was terminally ill, and yet others that have photos done after the loss of a loved one.

Why do we wait until it’s too late, or almost too late to capture the lives of those most important to us?

As photographers (and before you argue that you aren’t a “professional” or you aren’t a photographer, I’m here to tell you that you are! If you take photographs you are a photographer, and this applies to you!) it is almost our duty to record the lives and times of those closest to us, family and friends. I’m not just talking about birthday parties and weddings, which are both important, but how about everyday life?

Last fall/winter my husband and I lost our two cats who were 18 and 19. He had them for 18 years, they lived with me for five. It hit me hard and I wrote this: “Do What’s Important Photograph Your Loved Ones”.  I vowed to go and photograph my grandmother who is now 92. I finally did that and I have some tips for you on how to go and photograph, and document the lives of your loves ones both young and old.

So this article comes with both tips AND a challenge, for you to go do the same.

  1. Documentary means as it happens naturally, in their environment.
  2. Capture the person’s essence, their real personality
  3. Remember to capture the details and scene setters
  4. Think big picture, take shots for the background of a collage or potential photobook or album
  5. Not every photo needs to show their face. Facing away from camera, hands and body are important too.
  6. Create a story with images, leave a legacy
Unfortunately Uncle Ward has now passed on, but his legacy does live on in these images, now treasured by family.

Unfortunately Uncle Ward has now passed on, but his legacy does live on in these images, now treasured by family. They sure did love their instant coffee. He even took a spoonful of the grounds and ate it!

#1 DOCUMENTARY MEANS IT OCCURS NATURALLY

Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle significant and historical events. It is typically covered in professional photojournalism, or real life reportage, but it may also be an amateur, artistic, or academic pursuit. The photographer attempts to produce truthful, objective, and usually candid photography of a particular subject, most often pictures of people. – Wikipedia

Get into their day to day life. Plan to go spend a few hours chatting with the person, listen to their stories, capture what comes naturally and what just happens. Don’t create something that isn’t part of them, just be there to grab moments in time that will mean so much down the road.

The afternoon "soaps"

The afternoon “soaps” among all her family photos that plaster the walls.

Neil going to feed the cattle

Neil going to feed the cattle

#2 CAPTURE THEIR TRUE ESSENCE

This is not too far off from #1 but let’s take it a bit deeper. Just being in their home, using their environment doesn’t guarantee you’re getting into their heart and soul. If this is someone close to you, as in my grandmother, what is it about them you want to capture? What part of their personality do you want to shine through in the photos:  wisdom,  a gentleness; intelligence, caring, a sense of fun, or all of the above? Is there something quirky about them that makes them unique, how can you show that in your images?documenting-dps-14

For my grandmother she is a social butterfly so I photographed her with some friends and playing cards (see above).  My husband’s uncles are farmers and storytellers. We got out the old family photo albums and listened to them for hours while they showed us old photos from the 1940′s. They came alive as they recounted tales of their younger days and when they had a TV delivered “a couple years ago” which we later learned to be around 1975!

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We found out my husband’s grandmother was a hobby photographer during the 20′s and she had some really great images and albums!

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The key here is to get emotional. I don’t want to see a studio portrait, or even a lovely window light portrait for this type of project, I go for real, raw, emotion.

#3 REMEMBER TO CAPTURE THE DETAILS

When photographing a person with the intent of documenting, make sure you think in terms of these three views: overall, medium range, and close-up or details. What that means is don’t forget to get in close on some things, and not just have the whole face or person in every image. Details like how they hold their spoon as they stir their tea (so get in close on the hands or maybe even just the tea cup) can add a lot of impact.

Tea and cookies at Grammy's. For as long as I can remember she's been feeding us. "Do you want a cookie dear?"

Tea and cookies at Grammy’s. For as long as I can remember she’s been feeding us. “Do you want a cookie dear?”

She does love her Bingo

She does love her Bingo

Tea at the Uncles'

Tea at the Uncles’

#4 THINK BIG PICTURE AND SET THE SCENE

Things around them in their daily life set the scene, so remember to capture some of those things too. If they live in a house make sure to get an exterior shot, some of the garden, and maybe even a close-up of the wall you can use later as a textured background. Does she has a favorite dress, one you always think of when you think of her – if so they photograph it, or a section of the material. Is he a craftsman, then by all means photograph his tools.

The most important thing in my grandmother’s life is her family and in her small living room the walls are literally plastered corner to corner with family photos. Weddings, graduations, new great grandchildren, and even the pets are all there. Every shelf and horizontal surface has photos on it. You can bet I captured that (even though I’d taken make of those photos over the years, seeing them all up in one places speaks volumes to anyone that enters that room and you instantly know what she’s all about. She also collects angels and always has one pinned on her blouse. She has hundreds of them in her house everywhere.

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For the uncles that all consuming thing for them was farming and their animals. So I got lots of images of the barn, farm buildings and old retired machinery. Do all that without their assistance, let them go about their day while you just shoot background stuff. Think about how those images may work together making a photo album or even a digital book.

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The Cooper Homestead farmhouse

The Cooper Homestead farmhouse

#5 NOT EVERY SHOT NEEDS TO SHOW THE FACE

Similar to get in and show the details, think outside the box. Not every image needs to show the face or even hands. How about feet? Use a slower shutter speed and add some motion if applicable. Shoot for something different here that the “norm”. Think about how to represent them, and their life without showing their face.

documenting-dps-16

With her youngest great grandchild, young and old.

Unfortunately Uncle Ward has now passed on, but his legacy does live on in these images, now treasured by family.

#6 CREATE A STORY WITH IMAGES

Every other point in this article leads directly into this one, telling a story. By following all the tips above you pretty much can’t help but create images that do just that so the only thing I will add here is to do it consciously. Go in knowing you’rl./e creating a story. Intention is a powerful thing. When you show up planning to create a story, your subconscious will naturally kick in and go to work for you, if you aren’t aware (hint:  that’s why it’s your subconscious).

documenting-dps-12 documenting-dps-08 documenting-dps-09

One other thing you can do it go look at other photo stories, specifically some of the great photographers, masters of the photo essay. W. Eugene Smith comes to my mind, go study some of his stories for LIFE magazine. Anything by Cartier-Bresson but especially The Decisive Moment. Or some of my favorites Dorothea Lange, Margaret-Bourke White and Walkers Evans who all documented the Great Depression. Find out what draws you in to their images. How do they use scene setters and detail shots? Learn from the masters.

ACTION PLAN

If you read my articles regularly you’ll know what I’m going to say – get out there and go photograph someone important to you. That’s the first step! Then DO something with the images that will create a family heirloom. A book is ideal as you can make copies for the whole family.

To see the full book I made of The Uncles for an example of how to put it all together. Blurb.com is a great way to make books that are high quality that don’t break the bank. I’ve made several copies of this one for family and have done other volumes for special occasions and family events as well as clients. 

Cheers, Darlene

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.

Documentary Photography – Six Tips for Creating a Legacy


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