Everyone was there once. Fruitful inspiration. Plenty of photos, but no idea on how to create a portfolio. And if you’re just like all the other photographers, you put off this moment for as long as you could. But with no portfolio to present your work, there are no clients interested in hiring you. For a passionate photographer, the thought Continue Reading
The post Photography portfolio 101 – how to create a portfolio that puts your brand on display appeared first on Photodoto.
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A sensor designed to be used in space has gone on general release from cinema camera manufacturer Red. The Gemini 5K S35 was originally created especially to work in very low light conditions, but has been adapted to offer dual native ISO settings so it can also shoot in normal conditions. The sensor uses particularly large pixels and features a resolution of 15.4MP on 30.72 x 18mm dimensions.
Red claims the Gemini has a dynamic range of 16.5 stops when used in Standard mode, which makes it good at recording very bright highlights and deep shadow detail in the same frame. When switched to Low Light mode some dynamic range is sacrificed, but in return users get exceptional noise performance that produces footage at ISO 3200 in LL (Low Light) mode that looks the same as movie recorded at ISO 800 in Standard mode, according to the company.
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It seems the sensor uses different hardware behind the pixels to deal with each of the sensitivity modes, in a similar fashion to the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5s and the EVA1 cameras. The LL and Normal modes are selected in the menu and become active immediately. To maximize the resolution of anamorphic work Red has made the Gemini 5K S35 slightly taller than the standard sensors it uses by adding 300 pixels to the vertical recording area to make a 5120×3000-pixel area.
The Gemini sensor can be bought in the Epic-W body with prices starting at $ 24,000. For more information see the Red website.
Key features of the EPIC-W with GEMINI 5K S35 sensor:
Press release
Today, RED introduced the new GEMINI™ 5K S35 sensor for the RED EPIC-W camera. GEMINI 5K S35 leverages dual sensitivity modes to provide creators with greater flexibility for a variety of shooting environments. Whether capturing with GEMINI’s Standard Mode for well-lit conditions or its Low Light Mode for darker environments, RED EPIC-W 5K S35 delivers incredible dynamic range and produces cinema-quality images.
The GEMINI 5K S35 sensor provides exceptional low-light performance, allowing for cleaner imagery with less noise and better shadow detail. Operators can easily switch between modes through the camera’s on-screen menu with no down time and experience an increased field of view at 2K and 4K resolutions compared to the higher resolution HELIUM sensor. In addition, the sensor’s 30.72 mm x 18 mm dimensions allow for greater anamorphic lens coverage than with the HELIUM or RED DRAGON sensor.
Built on the compact DSMC2 form factor, the RED EPIC-W 5K camera and sensor combination captures 5K full format motion at up to 96 fps, boasts incredibly fast data speeds of up to 275 MB/s, and provides in-camera support of RED’s enhanced image processing pipeline, IPP2. Like all cameras in the DSMC2 line up, EPIC-W 5K is able to shoot simultaneous REDCODE RAW and Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD/HR recording and adheres to RED’s dedication to OBSOLESCENCE OBSOLETE—a core operating principle that allows current RED owners to upgrade their technology as innovations are unveiled without having to purchase all new gear.
“While the GEMINI sensor was developed for low-light conditions in outer space, we quickly saw there was so much more to this sensor,” says Jarred Land, President of RED Digital Cinema. “In fact, we loved the potential of this sensor so much, we wanted to evolve it to make it have a broader appeal. As a result, the EPIC-W GEMINI now sports dual-sensitivity modes. It still has the low-light performance mode, but also has a default, standard mode that allows you to shoot in brighter conditions.”
Beginning at $ 24,500, the new RED EPIC-W with GEMINI 5K S35 sensor is available for purchase online and through select worldwide RED Authorized Dealers. Alternatively, WEAPON Carbon Fiber and RED EPIC-W 8K customers will have the option to upgrade to the GEMINI sensor at a later date.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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Professional360 GmbH, the recently re-named company behind the Panono 360-degree camera and software solutions, has a new CEO. Thomas Escher has previously held a number of top-level management positions in media houses such as Axel Springer and ProSiebenSat.1 Media, and managed the French foreign business of the online toy retailer MyToys, among other roles.
“In Thomas Escher we have found a CEO with expertise both in media and entertainment and in classical e-commerce,” said a spokesperson of Bryanston Group AG, the company who has acquired the assets of Panono and has been running its business operations since July 2017.
With the new CEO at its helm, the company is adjusting its strategy, reducing the focus on hardware and towards customized 350-degree software solutions, with real-estate and construction two key target sectors. Escher explains:
108 megapixels make our camera the highest resolution 360 degree one-shot camera in the market. We will strive to uphold and extend this technological leadership in the future. However, today this is no longer enough: especially among professional users, there’s a growing demand for individual software, cloud and web applications. They desire a first-class virtual presence both for web and mobile applications, as well as the most innovative content solutions.
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“At the moment, real estate is still very traditional in its structures and processes, but with digitization moving forward, there are dramatic changes ahead in the next years,” continues Escher. “For one of our customers, we have developed a tool to create virtual tours out of our 360 degree images and to link them to a floor plan. This way, complete houses can be viewed online. Our customers can offer their clients viewings that are independent as to both time and place.”
This is only the latest chapter in Panono’s brief but turbulent history, and a stark move away from the more traditional, consumer focused 360° camera industry Panono started in. We had several occasions to have a closer look and test the Panono camera and were impressed by the technology. Hopefully the new CEO and strategy can help get the company back on track, and push 360-degree imaging technology further.
Press Release
– Thomas Escher new CEO of Panono
– New focus on software solutions and services for 360 degree photos
– Strong customer focus
Berlin, 15 February 2018 – In February 2018, Thomas Escher (36) joined Professional360 GmbH as the new CEO. Under the brand name Panono the company offers professional 360 degree photo solutions for businesses and professional users, including its own award-winning camera hardware and customized software, cloud solutions and web integration.
“In Thomas Escher we have found a CEO with expertise both in media and entertainment and in classical e-commerce,” said a spokesperson of Bryanston Group AG, the company who has acquired the assets of Panono and has been running its business operations since July 2017. Escher has held a number of top-level management positions in media houses such as Axel Springer and ProSiebenSat.1 Media, and, among others, managed the French foreign business of the online toy retailer MyToys. As the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of the Allianz affiliate InstaMotion, an online dealer for second-hand cars, he
was responsible for marketing and sales activities.
Panono aims to continue the expansion of 360 degree solutions. “108 megapixels make our camera the highest resolution 360 degree one-shot camera in the market. We will strive to uphold and extend this technological leadership in the future. However today this is no longer enough: especially among professional users, there’s a growing demand for individual software, cloud and web applications. They desire a first-class virtual presence both for web and mobile applications, as well as the most innovative content solutions”, explained Escher. “With this in mind we will further develop our platform, software
features and services, both independently and via sector-specific strategic partnerships. We have already implemented some exciting features, and there are more on the horizon.”
Panono has been giving special attention to the real estate sector. “At the moment, real estate is still very traditional) in its structures and processes, but with digitization moving forward, there are dramatic changes ahead in the next years,” said Thomas Escher. “For one of our customers, we have developed a tool to create virtual tours out of our 360 degree images and to link them to a floor plan. This way, complete houses can be viewed online. Our customers can offer their clients viewings that are independent as to both time and place.” According to Escher, Panono also offers interesting possibilities
for construction and maintenance companies, for example when it comes to the documentation of building conditions and work progress.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vintage & Retro. ]
Some great institutions are becoming even greater in the digital age — places like museums continue to scan high-quality paintings and photographs for distribution and agencies like NASA put vintage pictures and video footage online for everyone to access.
Joining the cool kids’ club, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) has taken its Art of the Poster collection from the Golden Age of graphic design (late 1800s through the early 1900s) and put it up on the web for anyone to share.
“Featuring over 200 printed works, Art of the Poster 1880-1918 presents a look at lithography’s rise in popularity during La Belle Époque,” reports MyModernMet. “It was during this time that artists like Alphonse Mucha, Jules Chéret, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec popularized the art form, which gained public prominence thanks to new methods of production.”
In the late nineteenth century, lithographers began to use mass-produced zinc plates rather than stones in their printing process. This innovation allowed them to prepare multiple plates, each with a different color ink, and to print these with close registration on the same sheet of paper. Posters in a range of colors and variety of sizes could now be produced quickly, at modest cost.
At the time, many of these masterpieces were essentially commercial in nature, designed to promote products, stores and restaurants. Today, they have made their way into the archives of art history, helping to bridge the gap between popular culture and the closed-door art world of museum exhibits.
[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vintage & Retro. ]
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[ By SA Rogers in Design & Products & Packaging. ]
There’s no missing cyclists – or the zone of space you need to safely pass them – when they’ve got a ring of red light encircling them as they ride down the road. Michelin’s new open-source project, Bikesphere, features a light sensor and proximity detecting sensor that work together to monitor the environment around a cyclist and react accordingly if a car gets too close, pointing a double laser spotlight on the ground to define a safety area.
As it stands, riding a bike in an urban area can be a risky proposition, with more than 5,000 avoidable accidents happening every year due to cars passing cyclists at an unsafe distance.
During the day, the Bikesphere works like a normal light-detecting bike lamp, turning on when you go through dark areas as needed. By night, it’s ready to defend you, projecting a single-lined sphere for the entirety of your ride. When it can tell a car is coming, the light turns into a double line and starts to spin faster to alert both the cyclist and the driver.
Bikesphere is the first crowd-sourced idea to come to fruition through Michelin’s #TrendyDrivers movement, which aims to change the habits of drivers to make the roads safer. When an idea is approved, they fund the project to get it off the ground. Ultimately, the Bikesphere will be made public, so anyone who wants one can purchase the common components and download the plans to print the rest using standard 3D printers.
[ By SA Rogers in Design & Products & Packaging. ]
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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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| Earth, photographed from 1.4 billion kilometers / 870 million miles away. Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute |
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will soon meet its demise in Saturn’s atmosphere, but one of its last photos of Earth is making for a heck of a swan song. The image, dated April 12, 2017, shows Earth as a bright white dot framed by the planet’s rings. For comparison, it’s about the same size as your standard speck of dust. Our entire planet.
Cassini has been orbiting Saturn since 2004 and has spent the last decade and then some beaming back information about the ringed planet and its moons. But all good things must come to an end, and as the spacecraft’s fuel supply runs low, NASA will begin the process of safely putting it out to pasture.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]
Architectural drawings have long used geometrical tricks to convey scale, depth, distance and other three-dimensional aspects of realities on two-dimensional surfaces. In a two-vanishing-point drawing, the artist aligns their ruler with a point on one side or the other and draws a line along the edge (or employs another modular straight-edging tool).
The same came be accomplished much more quickly, however, using this simple technique: pin a flexible string to both points along the horizon line and slide a hook along the center. The results will naturally be a bit less than precisely linear, but for many architectural artists a wavy line is typical or even desired (it gives the piece a less rigorously complete look).
Of course, it will only work for a traditional two-point perspective – in cases where the artist wants to include a third vanishing point (for instance, to emphasize verticals in looking up at a skyscraper or create a fish-eye effect) a straight-edge is still required. That, or a free-handed approach based on a picture, presumably the basis of the drawing above.
[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]
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Polaroid licensee C&A Marketing is showing an upgraded version of its original Polaroid Snap digital instant camera. The Polaroid Snap Touch adds a 3.5″ LCD touchscreen on the back of the camera for easier framing and control of the menus and settings. Images are captured on a new and improved 13 MP CMOS sensor and the new model is capable of recording 1080p Full-HD video. Images and video footage are saved on a microSD card up to 128GB in size.
Remote connectivity through Bluetooth to the Polaroid Print app for iOS or Android allows for printing from other devices, such as smartphones or tablets, and the app also offers editing functions including a range of filters and digital stickers.
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As before, at the heart of the camera there is an integrated printer that uses using ZINK Zero Ink Printing Technology, allowing for 2×3” prints in under a minute. Up to ten images can be queued, so that you can keep shooting while printing is still in progress. Selfie shooters will appreciate the self-timer and a pop-up selfie mirror for easy framing. The Polaroid Snap Touch is available in several colors and can now be preordered for $ 179.99.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By WebUrbanist in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]
Walkers preoccupied with their mobile devices as they traverse Augsburg, Germany, are starting to notice something new in their peripheral vision: sidewalk-embedded traffic lights designed to let them know when to stop and when to go.
The city, concerned about people looking down and ignoring traffic signals, decided to step in with this new invention. The design addresses both people who are at risk of walking out into active lanes, but also lets those standing and staring into their phones when they can safely walk again.
Currently, the city is testing these out in two prime trial locations where railroad tracks run roughly at the same level as sidewalks, making it easy for people to miss physical cues (like a change in pavement elevation) and where a vehicle is less likely to be able to stop in time (train versus car).
A survey conducted in Berlin and several other European countries revealed that nearly 20% of pedestrians (mostly younger people) missed the signal change because they were distracted by their phones. Whether the city should accommodate such behavior is, of course, another question entirely.
According to Stadtwerke Augsburg (translated), “The stubborn look at the smartphone can lead on the road to dangerous situations,” hence the decision “to enhance security for smartphone users.”
If you feel like it’s a little rude to yell “Watch out!” when you’re running down the sidewalk and approaching a slow group of people, …
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You might not be too concerned about how many light cycles go by before you actually get to cross the street if you’re too busy playing pong with the …
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‘Hell is Other People’ is a smartphone app that will show you where all your friends are in a map based on social media check-ins – so you can avoid them.
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[ By WebUrbanist in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]
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