RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘Officials’

Officials warn Yosemite’s lack of water may spoil annual ‘Firefall’ waterfall event

16 Feb

Photographers hoping to attend this year’s ‘Firefall’ waterfall event at Yosemite may be disappointed. The National Park Service has published an advisory warning that Horsetail Fall, the site of the Firefall event, has ‘little to no water.’

The Firefall event takes place in late February every year, giving photographers the opportunity to capture the Horsetail Fall illuminated with sunlight. During this time, the water turns bright orange and resembles fire or molten rock pouring over the edge of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.

The lack of water, however, threatens to ruin this event; without water, obviously, there will not be a stream of ‘fire’ to photograph. Assuming the Firefall does happen, it will be visible from February 13 to 27 this year. In order to prevent issues from heavy traffic during this event, Horsetail Fall will have daily restrictions from noon to 7 PM during the aforementioned dates.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Officials warn Yosemite’s lack of water may spoil annual ‘Firefall’ waterfall event

Posted in Uncategorized

 

European officials expected to announce first image of black hole on April 10

03 Apr

European officials are expected to announce the first ever image of a black hole at a press event scheduled for 15:00 CEST on April 10. The conference will be held by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project, European Commission, and European Research Council, according to an announcement by the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), and it will involve the presentation of ‘a groundbreaking result from the EHT.’

The Event Horizon Telescope project has been operating with the goal of capturing an image of a black hole. Until now, all videos and images of black holes are simulations based on what scientists know about them. As explained on the EHT website, the project involves radio dishes around the world that are linked together to form ‘a fundamentally new instrument’ for observing a black hole.

The EHT project has focused on Sagittarius A* (aka, SgrA*), the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, and M87, the black hole at the center of the Virgo A galaxy. ESO’s press conference invite didn’t specify whether the EHT announcement will concern SgrA* or M87, however. Given EHT’s goal, it’s reasonable to guess that the team will unveil humanity’s first image of a black hole.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on European officials expected to announce first image of black hole on April 10

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Officials say Apple’s claim of ‘studio quality’ portraits on iPhone X, Xs isn’t misleading

05 Dec

Two challenges to Apple’s claim that its iPhone X can shoot studio quality portraits have been turned down by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The complainants took issue with Apple’s advertising line that the phone could deliver ‘Studio-quality portraits […] Without the studio’ and believed consumers would misled, but after an investigation the ASA found that the statement was fair.

The basis of the findings is that there isn’t clear definition of what ‘studio quality’ means, and that there is a wide variety of talent in the studio photography industry that meant that the term didn’t necessarily indicate that a ‘studio quality’ portrait was a good one. Rather, the ASA agreed with Apple that the Portrait Lighting effects, the depth-of-field mimicking software and the inclusion of a standard, instead of a wide, focal length meant that the characteristics of a ‘studio’ portrait could be achieved. The investigation also found that the effects shown in the Apple adverts could indeed be produced with the phone at the time of shooting or post capture.

The ruling might seem a smack in the face to the portrait business and to undermine respect for the profession, but photographers are perhaps becoming victims of our own well-worn stock phrases such as ‘the best camera is the one you have with you’. While there is no clear measure of what ‘studio quality’ means, skill and vison are required to create a good portrait and as we all know ‘it’s the archer not the arrow’ – though Apple forgot to mention that bit.

The fact is that smart phones are genuinely becoming better and better at taking pictures, and their developers are devising features and functions well ahead of those traditional camera makers offer. These features often exist to compensate for the physical limitations of the tiny camera units, but they also put incredible flexibility into the hands of the user. At every turn in history the advances of smaller formats have been opposed by ‘proper’ photographers, but that has done nothing to prevent the inevitable progress of the convenience and popularisation of photography. You would be mad to buy an iPhone X to start your portrait business however, as a decent interchangeable lens camera can be had for less than the same price – with change to use a pay phone.

For more information on the complaint, the investigation and the ruling see the Advertising Standards Authority website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Officials say Apple’s claim of ‘studio quality’ portraits on iPhone X, Xs isn’t misleading

Posted in Uncategorized