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Posts Tagged ‘living’

Win a $1500 Bag and Lens Prize Pack with Living Lanscapes

31 Jul

Landscapes_cover.jpgLast week we, with great excitement, let you know about our anticipated new Landscape Photography eBook with a 33% discount for early birds.

We just love everything about this eBook. The cover, the subject, and the engaging and easy to follow writing style of Todd.

It’s seems as though you do too …

Here’s some feedback we received 24 hours after it went on sale!

“I got this eBook first thing this morning and have spent the rest of the day reading, dreaming and then taking an impromptu short road trip into the mountains outside of the town where I live to practice my landscape photography. I can’t thank you enough for the motivation and teaching to improve my work!” – Brenda Mason

“I love this eBook. It is so cool to learn from people like Todd. I can’t wait to use what I have learned today by reading it. I have so many new ideas!” – Gavin Banyard

Given the fantastic response to this eBook, we’re going to celebrate by giving you the chance to win a Landscape Photography Pack worth $ 1500!

You’ll win an awesome rotation180° Professional Deluxe backpack (worth $ 500)  from MindShiftGear, plus $ 1000USD worth of lenses you can use for your landscape photography.  (Todd includes some great information on this in the eBook)

To enter all you need to do is pick up a copy of Living Landscapes.

If you’re already a proud owner of a copy then congrats, you’re already entered.

The Prize

The winner will receive a rotation180° Professional Deluxe backpack (worth $ 500) from MindShiftGear. You can say thanks on their Facebook page here. Plus you can choose either a single or combination of lenses to suit your needs up to the value of $ 1000 USD.

So, Canon owners can choose Canon mount lenses. Nikon owners can choose Nikon mount lenses. Micro 4/3 camera owners can choose lenses to suit their cameras.

prize

FAQ

Based upon previous competitions I know we’ll get a number of questions so here are some FAQs:

  • What if I already purchased Living Landscapes? You’re in the draw and don’t need to do anything else.
  • Is this open to all international readers? Yes. We’ll ship the prizes to you anywhere at our cost. Our preference for the lenses is to use B&H Photo and Video but if you live outside of their delivery area we’ll work with a local supplier to get your prize to you.
  • Can I enter more than once? No, there is only one entry per person. Multiple purchases of the eBook only get you one entry.
  • Are there any conditions of entry? Yes, just one. The only condition of entry is that you allow us to publish your name on the blog when you’re drawn as a winner (we’ll keep any other details private). This way everyone will know who has won (we’ve previously had winners ask not to be named which has been difficult to be transparent about winner announcements).

Here’s the deal in a Nutshell

Buy Living Landscapes before Thursday 15th August and you get:

  • 33% off the eBook – worth $ 29.99, you get it for $ 19.99
  • An entry into the $ 1500 USD Landscape Photography Prize Pack Prize Draw
  • Plus (and most importantly) you’ll come away from reading the eBook with some inspired landscape photography skills!

We’ll draw and notify the winner on the 16th August and then publish their name here on the dPS blog. If the winner doesn’t respond within 7 days we’ll draw another winner and publish their name on the blog.

Pick up a copy of Living Landscapes today.

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

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

Win a $ 1500 Bag and Lens Prize Pack with Living Lanscapes


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Living Landscapes: A Guide to Stunning Landscape Photography

24 Jul

Landscapes coverToday I’m very excited to announce the launch of an eBook that we’ve been working on all year at dPS HQ. It is called Living Landscapes: A Guide to Stunning Landscape Photography – an eBook authored by New Zealand Landscape Photographers Todd and Sarah Sisson.

The eBook We Just Had to Release

Before this release we’ve built up a library of 12 dPS eBooks but the one request we keep getting from readers has been for a Landscape Photography guide.

I’ve long wanted to publish one as Landscape Photography was my own first love but have been waiting for just the right photographer to author the eBook.

I’m glad I waited because at the beginning of last year I stumbled on a Google Hangout with Trey Ratcliff which Todd Sisson. I was impressed with Todd for a couple of reasons.

Firstly his photos were gorgeous – I got lost for a good hour or so looking through his portfolio.

Secondly Todd was a great communicator. He was funny, personal and even on that short Google Hangout I learned a thing or two about shooting landscapes.

Todd and I began to talk about a potential collaboration on this eBook last year and as a result of that initial conversation he guest posted here on dPS with a post called Composing Dynamic Landscape Images. That post was our 3rd most popular post on the site in 2012 and helped hundreds of thousands of people improve their Landscape photography.

This showed us the need for a more comprehensive guide to shooting landscapes and so Todd – and his wife Sarah who is also an accomplished landscape photographer – began to work on creating this guide.

Informative and Inspiring – You’ll Love It!

The result is a gorgeous eBook filled with some amazing photography – it is going to inspire you – but also some really practical tips from Todd and Sarah.

They write this guide in a very down to earth and personal way which will be accessible to those just starting out but also helpful to those who’ve been shooting landscapes for years.

What You’ll Discover in this 130+ page eBook

Here’s some of what you’ll find in Living Landscapes:

  • How to simplify the process of making engaging and technically proficient landscape images.
  • How to overcome the unique challenges that landscape photography presents.
  • The 4 landscape fundamentals that turn bland into beautiful.
  • Workshops and guided tours of some amazing landscape images.
  • A straight forward explanation of the gear you need.
  • Landscape specific post-processing techniques.
  • Advanced tips and techniques specific to the following landscape photography topics: mountains, water, bush and forest, black and white and panoramic stitching.

Grab Your Copy Today and Save 33%

I LOVE this eBook and am so excited to practice what I picked up in it in an upcoming family trip. I’m also looking forward to seeing the images that our readers take as a result of reading this eBook.

Living Landscapes is available for you to purchase and download right now at the special Early Bird Price of $ 19.99 – a 33% discount on it’s regular price.

Want more information about this eBook? Get the Full Lowdown Here. Or grab your copy by hitting the ‘download it now’ button below.

download_it_now_landscapes

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Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

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

Living Landscapes: A Guide to Stunning Landscape Photography


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Fold-Out Room: 12 Ultra-Compact Living Pods & Systems

10 Jul

[ By Steph in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

Fold Out Rooms Main
When you live in a small space, every square inch counts, and furniture that can expand and contract on demand makes it a lot easier to fit all the functions you need into your home without feeling overwhelmed with clutter. Modular furniture sets and rooms-within-rooms containing fold-out and slide-out components make clever use of the space available, and the ability to hide things away when they’re not in use will please minimalists, too.

Sleepbox: Tiny Bedroom for Public Spaces

Fold Out Room Sleepbox

Sleepy travelers can catch a night’s sleep in private surroundings with the Sleepbox, a compact lodging pod meant for public spaces like airports and train stations. For those with layovers or unexpected delays, a room-in-the-box right inside the transit station could definitely be an affordable and convenient option.

Cocoon 1 Room Pod

Fold Out Room Cocoon 1

This unusual room-within-a-room is almost as much an art piece as it is a functional living space. Cocoon 1 by Micasa Lab is a plastic pod offering a separated space that provides a sense of privacy and solitude while maintaining a connection to the outside world. It contains built-in furniture, a kitchen and a power pack that can provide either 40 hours of light, or 20 hours of light plus 30 minutes of cooking.

Boxetti: 3 All-in-One Fold-Out Living Spaces

Fold Out Room Boxetti 1

Fold Out Rooms Boxetti 3

Fold Out Room Boxetti 2

Minimalists, rejoice – options that hide virtually everything from view when not in use are not only becoming easier to procure, they’re more stylish than ever, too. The Boxetti Collection by Rolands Landsbergs is a series of fold-out, slide-out living spaces contained within simple white modules. It includes a bedroom box, a living room box, an office and a kitchen.

Sleek and Simple Fold-Out Bedroom Box

Fold Out Rooms Bedroom Oda 1
Fold Out Rooms Bedroom Oda 2

For those in temporary living spaces, or who just don’t care about personalizing their homes, all-in-one box systems like the Room by ODA offer a modular dwelling system that collapses and expands. It comes with three elements – the pod, a media station and a satellite. Colors and materials can be customized.

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Fold Out Room 12 Ultra Compact Living Pods Systems

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Elastic Living: Sliding Shelves Hide Modular Rooms

11 Jun

[ By Steph in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

Modular Shelf Compact Living Rooms 1
Does maintaining a sizable amount of your living space for a single purpose that’s only required for a short period each day really make sense? What if you could simply switch out the function? ‘Elastic Living’ by Italian furniture maker CLEI makes it possible to do just that with sliding shelving units for different purposes that can be moved out of the way when you don’t need them.

Modular Shelf Compact Living Rooms 2
Modular Shelf Compact Living Rooms 4

The modular spaces all fit together into one big rectangular box when not in use. Need the kitchen? Slide it out, cook, and then put it back up when you’re done. The same goes for the living room, bedroom, bathroom, home office, gym and closets.
Modular Shelf Compact Living Rooms 5

Inspired by library wall racks, the series contains seven different room functions that can easily be ‘filed away.’ It’s meant for a large, open space, like a loft or warehouse, and would be less practical for a home that’s already divided into different rooms.

Modular Shelf Compact Living Rooms 3

CLEI is known for transformable furniture that fits lots of function into tight spaces. See more compact, modular furniture including 10 pieces of clever transforming furniture and mini, mobile kitchens.

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Living Architecture: Evolving Pavilion Made by Silk Worms

06 Jun

[ By Steph in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

Silk Worm Pavilion 1

Growing and transforming like a living organism, the Silk Pavilion created by the MIT Media Lab is a collaboration between digital and biological fabrication. The basis of the pavilion is a network of silk threads made by a CNC machine, which has become a cloud-like structure with the addition of natural netting from the dozens of silk worms that squirm all over its surfaces.

Silk Worm Pavilion 2

Twenty-six polygonal panels with silk thread stretched between them form a sort of scaffolding that enables the silk worms to work their magic of naturally produced architecture. The geometry of the base structure was created using an algorithm that routes a single continuous thread across the open sections to provide varying degrees of density.

Silk Worm Pavilion 3

The silkworms were deployed as a biological ‘printer’ to create the secondary structure. If the sculpture, which is installed at MIT, were allowed to remain in place indefinitely, the moths could produce 1.5 million eggs with the potential of constructing up to 250 additional pavilions.

Silk Worm Pavilion 4

“Affected by spatial and environmental conditions including geometrical density as well as variation in natural light and heat, the silkworms were found to migrate to darker and denser areas. Desired light effects informed variations in material organization across the surface area of the structure. A season-specific sun path diagram mapping solar trajectories in space dictated the location, size and density of apertures within the structure in order to lock-in rays of natural light entering the pavilion from South and East elevations.”

Silk Worm Pavilion 5

“The central oculus is located against the East elevation and may be used as a sun-clock. Parallel basic research explored the use of silkworms as entities that can “compute” material organization based on external performance criteria. Specifically, we explored the formation of non-woven fiber structures generated by the silkworms as a computational schema for determining shape and material optimization of fiber-based surface structures.”

via design boom

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The Year of Living Dangerously

30 Dec

Young Australian journalist Mel Gibson takes his first assignment in Indonesia during the 1965 coup. As the violence escalates, he has an intense affair with British journalist Sigourney Weaver. Linda Hunt (“Kindergarten Cop,” “Pocohantas”) won a well-deserved Oscar as Gibson’s male photographer friend and jealous rival. A powerfully evocative political thriller with fascinating scenes of Asian culture. Academy Award-winner Gibson (“Lethal Weapon,” “Braveheart,” “Ransom”), Oscar and Golden Globe-nominee Weaver (“Alien ,” “Ghostbusters,” “Copycat”), and Hunt are joined by Michael Murphy (“Batman Returns,” TV’s “Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster”). Oscar-nominee Peter Weir (“Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” “Dead Poets Society”) wrote and directed. MPAA Rating: PG (c) 1983 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Dystopian Dumpster Living: Trash Bins Turned Tiny Houses

18 Dec

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

Giant receptacles for trash have been transformed into the most unexpected things – swimming pools, bars, giant pinhole cameras, and now tiny ‘living containers’ on wheels. German designer Philipp Stingl envisions a future in which the growing elderly population requires cheap and portable housing, and these lockable rolling dumpsters would certainly fit the bill.

The set of ‘housing containers’ includes a larger yellow dumpster with a door, window and a drinking canister; the top opens like a normal dumpster and has a net in the lid for storage. The second unit is smaller, meant to be used as a bath tub.

The designer created these containers for a rather bleak future in which social systems collapse and “from the ashes an aging society will rise, marked by crime, sickness and poverty.”

One can only imagine that Stingl is being satirical when he states, “Essentially, these ‘living containers’ testify to an active and creative lifestyle for the old age without compromises.” It’s hard to ignore the implications of placing the homeless and elderly in trash containers. However, this concept isn’t much different from many other economical ideas for homeless housing, which can also be used as emergency shelters in the event of a disaster.

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Expression Over Perfection – Living With Limits

16 Nov

Subject First, Technique Second

I have been taking pictures on a serious basis for approximately three years now, and I would say that about two years of this have been consumed with learning about gear and technique.  So much of the material you will read and be exposed to revolves around the need to get the right equipment and learn the right techniques. This is certainly a great place to start and pretty fundamental in being able to take decent pictures.   There is however a point at which it comes time to put away the camera catalogs and start thinking about the mental tools and techniques needed to really take things to the next level.

“Pixel Peepers” will utterly hate the whole concept of a quality photo being dependent on something which cannot be assessed in terms of its physical performance, but I guarantee that an image which perfectly captures the moment will out shine a technically perfect shot which doesn’t.  In essence a great image is not absolutely dependent on gear and to illustrate I’d like to share with you a picture and a story.

Taking the Shot

This is a photo from a friends wedding which I took of the bride and groom as they left at the end of the night.  In truth I wasn’t planning on taking any pictures that day, however the father of the bride asked if I would, how could I possibly say no?  Having left all the ‘right’ gear at home and having no idea as to what would be happening or when, I have to say I was slightly stressed as I didn’t want to disappoint but was pretty sure I would struggle.

The end of the party came and the happy couple started to make their way out of the venue.  It was hopelessly dark and I knew that a decent exposure would be difficult.  The only light available was from the sparklers and to make matters worse the lack of direct lighting meant that the autofocus was hit or miss.  I quickly decided to shoot to the limits of the situation by shooting in aperture priority and dialing in a F stop which I knew would give me a reasonably forgiving depth of field without being too restrictive.  I cranked up the ISO to 2000 (as high as I dared go) and flicked on the high-speed continuous shooting mode.  The result was a shutter speed of about 1/30 which I know from experience I can just about hand hold.

I knew that I needed to shoot low as I wanted to frame the couple against the reception venue.  I also needed time to get focused whilst doing all I could to ensure sure I had a clear shot.  The action lasted less than a minute and I have to say I was fairly pushy with anyone straying into my line of sight.  I would completely believe it if more than a few people wondered who the guy with the camera thought he was.  Never the less I clicked away taking as many shots as I possibly could.

Straight out of the camera the images were grainy because of the high ISO and slightly out of focus because of the poor light.  I have to say that when I first got the files off the camera my heart sank but on closer inspection, the bride has a fantastic expression and looks fabulous in her dress.  The fact that groom is not completely in focus doesn’t detract from the story of the image and in fact adds to the sense of drama.  With a little effort in post I thought it might be possible to get something decent.  I won’t go into the full details but processing mainly consisted of correcting the basics (white balance, exposure and cropping) plus conversion to mono using Lightroom before using Photoshop to apply some curve corrections before finally adding a blurry vignette for additional focus.  The image below shows the RAW image plus the major steps.

Crappy Shot, Beautiful Photo

Expression Trumps Perfection

I’ll leave it to you to decide if this is successful shot or not.  When I showed this to the bride, she loved it but that said maybe she was being polite.

Personally I think that the mono conversion helps to compliment the noise and grittiness of the exposure and that the story combined with the beautiful expression on the brides face overcomes the technical shortcomings of the final image.  The experience of taking this picture underlines the importance of “Expression over Perfection”, by shooting to the limits of the situation I was able to concentrate on the other more important aspects of composition, timing and telling the story of the moment.

Next time you are struggling with the technical aspects of a shoot or if you find yourself in a situation which is less than ideal, remember this saying, set your camera to the best possible settings and if it all goes really wrong .. there’s always Photoshop!

Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.

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

Expression Over Perfection – Living With Limits



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Lytro adds ‘perspecitive shift’ and ‘living filters’ to light field captures

16 Nov

lytro_lfc16gb.png

Lytro has announced two extra features for users of its Light Field Cameras – perspective shift and living filters. Perspective shift allows the viewer to re-render the light field as if captured from a slightly different position – moving this viewing position around shows off the depth information captured by the camera. Meanwhile the ‘living filters’ are depth-aware versions of the processing filter modes that have become near-ubiquitous in cameras in recent years. And, because the Light Field Cameras download all the light field data to your computer, these effects will be available with all existing captures.

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Jean Michel Jarre – Oxygene – Live In Your Living Room 1/4

14 Nov

Next part: www.youtube.com Whole concert: www.youtube.com Oxygène: New Master Recording, also known as Oxygène New Master Recording 2007 and Oxygène (New Master Recording), is a new recording of an album by Jean Michel Jarre released in 2007, on the 30th anniversary of the worldwide release of his album Oxygène, and is Jarre’s fourteenth studio album. The album was released in three different editions: a 5.1 Music Disc edition featuring the new digital master recording of Oxygène, a CD and 2D DVD special edition featuring Oxygène — Live In Your Living Room DVD (an exclusive private live performance of Oxygène, filmed in Lint, Belgium), and a limited edition CD + 3D DVD featuring Oxygène — Live in Your Living Room DVD in stereoscopic 3D High-Definition, which also includes two pairs of 3D glasses. To promote this major release, Jean Michel Jarre performed a series of 10 Oxygène Live concerts in Paris, inside the Theatre Marigny, from December 12 to December 26, 2007. Jarre performed new 90 minute live performances of Oxygène, complete with new tracks, using only vintage synthesizers and assisted on stage by French musicians Francis Rimbert, Claude Samard and Dominique Perrier. Live In Your Living Room 2D DVD Special edition only 1. Prelude (New Track) 2. Oxygène Part I 3. Oxygène Part II 4. Oxygène Part III 5. Variation Part I (New Track) 6. Oxygène Part IV 7. Variation Part II (New Track) 8. Oxygène Part V 9. Variation Part III (New Track) 10. Oxygène Part VI
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