In a world of digital keepsakes and endless selfies, there’s a definite pressure to be camera-ready at any moment. Between Youtuber friends and Instagram-addicts, you never know when you’ll next be thrown under the lens, so it never hurts to have a few tricks up your sleeve to help you look as good as you can, and feel happy with Continue Reading
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iOS 11 will launch officially tomorrow—it’s been in beta for months—and one of the most relevant photo-centric features coming to Apple’s new mobile OS is the introduction of a high efficiency image file format (HEIF) called HEIC. This format should, in theory, make images smaller without sacrificing quality, in addition to a bunch of other useful features.
There’s just one problem: Windows users can’t natively view HEIC files on their computers. Enter JPEGmini creator Beamr and their new HEIC to JPEG converter.
Beamr says they created the Web tool in response to user feedback—ever since the new format was announced people have been asking for a way to convert HEIC to JPEG. Well, now they can by simply following this link and uploading up to 30 photos at a time. And since this is made by the same folks behind JPEGmini, HEIC images converted using the tool are then further optimized using the JPEGmini technology to spit out more manageable JPEGs.
We’re not sure for how long this tool will be needed. There are a lot of advantages to the HEIC format—the ability to store single images or sequences, the ability to store audio/text alongside the image, the ability to store image editing operations, and both lossy and lossless compression, to name a few—so it would make sense for the format to gain wide-spread integration quickly.
But until then, if you’re upgrading to iOS 11 tomorrow and need/want a way to convert those images to JPEGs, there’s on option waiting for you.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Lately, I have been feeling very burned out and unmotivated with my photography. Several months ago I was preparing for a summer away from my business. My days were spent photographing editorials, working on client images and writing photography articles to prepare for a three-month sabbatical. I was working non-stop for several weeks as well as managing other aspects of my life. All that hustle to be prepared seemed to have gotten the best of me. I was feeling completely unmotivated and stuck, almost to a point of being irritated to pick up my camera and take a few shots.
I knew this was a phase, and that I just needed to ride it out. But at the same time, I was trying to understand how to effectively manage this so that my craft and my business wouldn’t suffer too much.
This was the scenery outside my bedroom window. I was so out of it that I did not even bother cleaning the window of raindrops before I took this shot (smudges seen in the bottom left of the frame) – I took the shot because I had to not because I wanted to!
As I write this article, I have spent the past 10 days living in a mountain village with incredible views of the Nanda Ghunti mountain range of the Himalayans right outside my bedroom window. My days are spent completely cut-off from most of the outside world, having copious amounts of tea, belly laughs with family, and intimate conversations by the fireplace listening to the frogs and beetles chirping all night long. I have probably lost many followers on social media, and I have several hundred unanswered emails. But I have come to the realization that time away from the outside world is just the thing I needed to recharge and get back my mojo!
So if you are like me and feeling a little deflated with your art, here are a few tips to help you overcome that lull and get back into it with renewed passion.
Let me tell you something – burn out is very real and happens to everyone at some point in their lives, no matter what field of work you are in. For people in the creative arts, burn out tends to happen faster and more often because as a creative, all your senses are heightened and you are aware of everything around you 24/7. For photographers, burn out manifests either as a lack of interest in picking up the camera or disliking everything you create. If this sounds like you, acknowledge it and please give yourself permission to walk away from it all – even if it’s just for a day. If you can afford to take a longer break then do so.
As photographers, we have an incredible opportunity to document life stories – whether it is of people or for landscapes. The wrinkles and toothless smile of an elder speak volumes about his life’s journey. Don’t just take the shot and walk away. Spend a few minutes and listen with both your heart and your head. Then when you do take the shot, it will become so much more meaningful and special – even if it is just for you and your subject.
On the left – A young village girl gave me the sweetest of smiles when I handed her an extra piece of candy that I had purchased for my kids. She pointed to my camera and asked me to take her picture and was giggling with laughter when I showed her the back of the camera! On the right – the local temple priest was going to town and as we were waiting for a ride together he started chatting with us. Everything about him calmed me down and gave me a sense of peace!
These three generation of women were chatting up a storm as I passed them by during a photo walk. When they saw a camera in my hand, they called me back to come take their picture! – I happily obliged and was offered a hot cup of chai in exchange – Before I walked away, I had made a new set of friends!!
A wabi-sabi method requires a slower, quieter approach to life. The concept is very similar to Japanese Zen gardens that promote tranquility and calmness. Slow down and quiet your mind. Stop chasing that next award winning frame for just a few minutes and open your eyes to all that is around you. Stop – Look – Feel and then click. This will make each frame more meaningful and help you convey the story better once you yourself understand what is unfolding around you.
The fog was so thick that it covered the whole valley and only the tops of some of the trees were visible – this scene was so soothing and almost like a painting. It was the perfect zen for my troubled mind!
Try and step away from rules and conformity. Resist the urge to put everything in the dead center of the frame. Instead embrace negative space, the rule of thirds and/or focus on singular elements in your frame. Not only will you create work that is different from the rest but you’ll also learn to approach life in a very different way – more relaxed and free flowing as opposed to stressful and rigid.
The best thing I can do for myself based on my personality is to practice free-range photography. For me, this means breaking free from my norm (leaving the status-quo and photographing something completely out of character). Not only does this clear your mind of preconceived photography habits and notions but also gives you a fresh perspective in the art of photography.
Do not approach this exercise with the idea of perfecting it and getting award winning shots. Instead, approach it with the idea of doing something different, making mistakes, and yet having fun with it.
I am fascinated with the old doors, windows, and archways found in India. To me, their textures, colors and characteristics speak volumes about their history.
So if you are feeling stuck and burned out in your photography, know that it is absolutely normal and expected. Don’t fight that feeling. Instead, accept it and embrace it with open arms. Once you accept it, you will figure out a way to work around it and create a meaningful body of work because you have given yourself permission to recharge, renew and get reenergized with your craft.
The post How to Find Your Photographic Zen – Tips to Recharge When You’re Feeling Stuck by Karthika Gupta appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Artists are funny creatures and many of us struggle with creativity. Working out what we want to do, how to stand apart from others. What is really needed is to find your muse, or in other words, finding inspiration.
It is a rare artist that doesn’t need inspiration to work. For the rest of us, we need help and we need to find what will inspire us to create our work.
One of my very first responses to the environment, the idea of cities becoming unlivable and animals taking them over.
Movies are just moving images and they can provide a lot of inspiration. Think about the locations where they are shot. You can find new places in the world to take photos. Through films like Lord of the Rings, I have decided that I want to travel to other places and see them.
Look at the way they are filmed and processed. The angles they use can give you great ideas, but sometimes the processing is even better. Pay attention to what they do in the films and how color is used, and what special effects are done.
The Matrix has been a great inspiration to me and how they used color in the films. When they are in the Matrix it is different than when they are out of it. You can see that there is a lot of yellow in the highlights, while they have put blue and green into the shadows. In the other parts, there is almost no color at all. With a film like this, you don’t have to like the story to find inspiration, it is about the special effects. See what you can learn, and use in your own work.
Television shows can be just as inspirational and often it will be the least likely place that helps you. Recently I was watching, don’t judge me, Project Runway. My mind was racing after watching several series. The way they had to come up with a concept, work out how to do it, design and construct it, then finally present it. It was amazing, and throughout watching it, I started thinking about my own work. For the first time in ages, I find myself feeling incredibly inspired to do new work.
Dark lanes, creepy shadows, almost no color, were all inspiration from movies that have shown up in my photography.
Painters from the past really were early image manipulators and we can learn a lot from looking at what they did. Look at the colors in their paintings and how they used them to emphasise what they saw in the scene. Find out what methods they used to add drama to their images, along with the lighting.
It doesn’t have to be just painters from the past, you can also look at modern ones as well. But also look at what other artists are doing, printmakers, drawers, and sculptors. They are potentially good sources of inspiration. It may not be specifically the work they are doing, but their motivations for doing what they do. If you find out why they work it may give you clarification for your own.
It is so important to find artists whose work you love and read about them. Make it your mission to find out where they get inspiration, why they do what they do. You don’t want to copy them, but you can get something from them. Often if there is an artist that I love I will look at their work, decide what aspect of it I like, then go away and start my own.
Painter Edward Hopper has been a big influence on my work. I think what he paints is incredible and while my work is nothing like his, what I get from his work is the sense of drama. It is like he is creating scenes everywhere. He puts people in his paintings, which I never do, but I do like to imitate that sense of drama.
Like movies, paintings can control the light and create moody images.
There is a wealth of information available on what has happened in the past and is occurring now. Watching what is happening in the present can give you a lot of inspiration. You will find many artists who have used politics and world events to get ideas for expressing themselves. It is often their way of responding to what is going on around them. They will use their art to lend their voice to what is happening.
There are many artists that do this and one that I thought of first was an Australian artist, George Gittoes. His work is really raw and quite confronting, but he has created it in response to what he had seen in many war torn countries. That may not be what you are interested in doing, but he is inspirational in that he isn’t afraid to show the devastation that has happened in the places he has visited.
This website showcases The 50 Most Political Art Pieces of the Past 15 Years.
II created this image was in response to the world changing and how they want to put a freeway through this area.
It can sound a little weird, but what you do every day can be very important in finding your muse. The trick is to be observant. Look to see what you can observe and what you could use in your work. It could be the area you live in, the architecture, you just never know until you look around.
I was going over a bridge once and one of the people I was with looked at me and said, “You’re trying to work out how to photograph that aren’t you?” She was right, that is exactly what I was thinking about. For me Melbourne is most definitely my muse. It is the base, my blank canvas for everything I want to do.
The bridge where I was trying to work out how to do a shot in my head. This is what I ended up creating.
The environment can be more than just what you see around you. As many in the world become more concerned with what is happening environmentally, it can be political, but it doesn’t always have to be. You can help highlight what is happening in various places by photographing them.
You see a lot of photographers that photograph abandoned places. The images can show you how much a place deteriorates once no one is using them, or they can be a reflection on our society and how everything is changing.
The environment and the impact of coal on it is a big reason to photograph power stations. They look amazing, but they are destroying the world we live in.
There are so many platforms for social media and they are all flooded with images. One in particular that shows a lot is Instagram. You can find images there that cover so many topics. You can pick the ones you are interested in and follow them. They will give you ideas and fill your head with inspiring images. There are many other sites that will do that, but being able to just flick or scroll through them quickly on Instagram is amazing.
You can look for images that have certain appeal by searching certain hashtags. For example, you could look for #moody, #environment, or even #inspiration.
I find it really inspiring, perhaps not for my fine art work, but as a location finder it can be brilliant. I’ve discovered a lot of places in Melbourne while scrolling through hashtags in Instagram.
A few months back someone had an amazing shot of Flinders Street Station at sunset, and I was inspired to see if I could do something similar. Mine isn’t the same, but I still got something interesting.
There is nothing more satisfying than having a group of like-minded peers that you can talk to and go out and take photos with. Having people in your circle who have the same passion and understand what you are trying to achieve is really important. People think that artists have to work on their own, and perhaps for the most part they do, but peers are essential.
When I was studying I was surrounded by people that I could discuss ideas with and get inspiration. When I left school it was hard to get that same interaction and is something that I have really missed. Slowly over the years, I’ve found new people to hang out with. We go out and take photos together, discuss our plans and ideas, and help one another.
Another aspect of hanging out with peers is watching how they create their own work and what drives them. While you shouldn’t copy them (if you do you may find you are no longer one of their peers) you can watch and learn. See if there is anything they do that could help you with your own work.
I went to Craig’s Hut with a friend and we both got a very similar shot. I saw her processed image and it inspired me to do mine. In the end mine looked completely different, but that’s okay.
These are all tips that have helped me to get to where I am in my art practice. There is no reason why they can’t help you as well. Opening yourself up to finding inspiration around you can help you create some amazing images.
Where do you find your inspiration? Has something inspired you so much that you went on to do some amazing work? Please share with us what your inspirations are, from this list or from your own.
The post 7 Tips for Finding Inspiration When You’re Stuck by Leanne Cole appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Travel has the capacity to take you to any number of amazing destinations to photograph. It also means you are often on the move, setting up in your new location of choice, only then to pack up and move to the next, often soon after. Staying organized while traveling can have some major benefits to the enjoyment of your trip as well as your photography.
Ultimately, the more organized you are, the less time you need to spend on the logistics of travel, and the more you can dedicate your time to taking photos when opportunity knocks and enjoying the journey. The list below covers both travel and photographic logistics to help in the process.
While reading this article, keep in mind that all points suggested for staying organized can be implemented into your workflow before you go traveling. Getting organized and developing an efficient workflow is best established before you hit the road where time can be of the essence and photo opportunities plentiful.
The points raised below could definitely be considered common sense. But, there are also very real practical benefits to each of them that may result in the difference between coming home with a special, image or missing out.
There’s nothing worse than realizing you are about to visit an amazing location and you do not enough memory to photograph it comprehensively.
If you are traveling with your own computer and hard drives, then you will have greater flexibility to download and backup your precious files. Assume for a moment, you are relying on other people’s computers. This is where it is important to take advantage and download and backup when you can.
I have seen many memory cards corrupt or simply stop working during expeditions for many different reasons. If you only have a couple of free cards left and one of them stops working, you will definitely be limited until you are able to download and make room for more content. This is especially true if a situation presents itself and you have a once in a lifetime opportunity to capture something special.
While working in Antarctica, I had several days where I shot over 1000 images before lunchtime because the subject matter was so good. It is this type of situation it is imperative to efficiently download when possible.
For much the same reason as downloading your content, when there is the opportunity to charge your batteries, be sure to do it. It is often the most obvious, day to day tasks that we forget about, yet they can be responsible for the worst possible situations to present themselves.
While it is imperative to have multiple batteries (as well as multiple memory cards), it is also critical to be sure to recharge them when there is time. It is all too easy to think the pile of batteries in your bag are mostly fully charged, when in fact they may be mostly empty. Keeping empty ones separate can help keep yourself organized, however, your best practice should include charging when there is time.
This is an old saying that I have heard many times. If there is time to get organized today, then do it. I have been reminded of this many times when having an early start to photograph sunrise, only to arrive five minutes after the light was at its best.
If there is the opportunity to make sure your bag is packed and ready to go, then take it. Be sure to have memory cards and charged batteries in your cameras before you leave for a shoot. If time is of the essence, you will only regret not being more organized.
If you need specific gear for the next day’s location, be sure your bag is packed with the gear you need all in the one place. It will lessen the pressure to get everything ready when you’re running out of time.
Once you have figured out the best places to keep all your gear within your bag, always put each item back in the same spot.
I learned this photographing weddings when I was always working quickly and needed quick access to accessories like flash triggers, camera remotes, batteries, memory, etc. There is nothing better when you are under pressure for time than knowing exactly where the item you need is within your bag. It also means that if you send a friend to get something for you when time is not plentiful, you can not only describe the item clearly, but also tell them exactly where to find it.
Learning the best way to pack your gear is something that comes from time and experience. Before you travel, be sure to head out on day trips taking photos as much as possible. This will help cement the best way to pack your bag to allow for efficient packing and quick access to your gear.
Keeping your gear clean and well-maintained will also help to keep it functioning properly. If you are working near the ocean or in a dusty environment, be sure to wipe down your cameras and lenses on a regular basis so nothing foreign finds its way into the internal parts of your cameras. Be sure to also clean where possible, the inside of your camera bag. I have always found it to be a place where dust can build up over time, especially when working in challenging environments.
If you are confident to do so, also consider cleaning your sensor. Avoiding dust spots on your images can help reduce the amount of editing time your images need at a later time.
Often while travelling, we have more personal items on us than normal. Be sure to keep these safe and packed well within your camera bag, preferably separate to your gear so it does not interfere with daily activities. This is particularly important when working in challenging environments.
It’s also important to be sure to have them organized and easily accessible, especially if you have flights or other forms of transport that require paperwork and/or tickets that need to be accessed regularly.
This more organized your content is while travelling, the quicker you can begin choosing images, begin keywording and captioning them, as well as editing once you are home or even while still on the road. This is an important factor whether you are shooting for a client or just for your own enjoyment.
The enormity of starting the editing process can sometimes turn you off making a start, as the task can seem too big to comprehend. This feeling changes the more experienced you become, however, breaking your editing process down into steps will always help. Speed in handling your files and the editing process comes with time, and is usually achieved by increasing efficiency across the many steps in the process.
Staying organized across all the stages of editing will only help to reduce the amount of time it takes to organize, and choose and edit your images. This in turn gives you a completed portfolio sooner to enjoy and share.
The bottom line for staying organized while you’re traveling is it will help reduce your stress level. Travel can be hard at the best of times, make it easier for yourself by planning and staying organized. You’ll be ready for anything.
Do you have any other tips to add? Please do so in the comments section below.
The post 7 Ways to Stay Organized While You’re Traveling by Damian Caniglia appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Photography as a career is extremely challenging and rewarding at the same time. On the one hand, photographers seem to be blessed people, because they do what they love. On the other hand, it sometimes gets very hard to make money on doing what you love – especially when you’re a freelance photographer. Luckily, there are some ways to effortlessly Continue Reading
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Photography as a career is extremely challenging and rewarding at the same time. On the one hand, photographers seem to be blessed people, because they do what they love. On the other hand, it sometimes gets very hard to make money on doing what you love – especially when you’re a freelance photographer. Luckily, there are some ways to effortlessly Continue Reading
The post Where to Get Income When You’re New to Photography appeared first on Photodoto.
[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]
Best known for biting political commentary and poignant artistic critiques, mysterious artist Banksy showed a somewhat friendlier side of his personality in gifting a mural to elementary students who named a building after him.
Students at the Bridge Farm Primary School in Bristol, thought to be the anonymous street artist’s hometown, renamed several campus structures in a contest. Among the winners were Blackbeard, Cabot and Banksy.
The work itself features a child playing with a hoop, but because it’s Banksy … the hoop was turned into a tire, and the tire was set on fire. Banksy stopping by to make a mural was surprise, but he also left a note, which is even more out of character (though the work has been confirmed authentic):
“Dear Bridge Farm School,” the letter reads. “Thanks for your letter and naming a house after me. Please have a picture, and if you don’t like it, feel free to add stuff. I’m sure the teachers won’t mind. Remember, it’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission. Much love, Banksy.”
In a somewhat ironic twist, the school is forbidding children from painting over or around the mural, perhaps out of respect or because if its doubtless high monetary value – either way, one can be sure Banksy would approve should one of those students break the rules (images by Jon Kay via Colossal).
[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]
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[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]
No need to get too concerned about a robot uprising just yet, if the finalists at last year’s DARPA Robotics Challenge are any indication, but that doesn’t mean the field hasn’t made some impressive advances. Typically developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, most recent robotic creations were created to someday take the place of humans in dangerous scenarios like disaster response and war. We may still be a long way away from robot soldiers (which are, frankly, kind of terrifying), but DARPA and the teams that participated in the challenge have still produced some impressive results.
Held from 2012 to 2015, the DARPA Robotics Challenge was a bit underwhelming for robot fans, resulting in more funny GIFs of robots falling than amazing feats of robotic technological prowess. The entrants used the tall and gangly ‘ATLAS’ humanoid robot technology developed by Boston Dynamics as a base, and then made their own improvements. The goal was to develop semiautonomous ground robots that can complete “complex tasks in dangerous, degraded, human-engineered environments.” South Korea’s Team KAIST won with its DRC-HUBO, beating 23 other teams from around the world. The robots were tasked with opening doors, operating valves, driving cars and climbing flights of stairs. By the final challenge, where the robots had to take more risks, there was a lot more toppling, including one that fell so hard it lost its head.
Crowd favorite Running Man, by Team IHMC, was particularly adept at walking and balancing “in a complete whole-body control algorithm,’ hence its name. This guy took the lead early on and was only edged out by DRC-Hubo during the final challenge. Running Man successfully drove a Polaris off-road vehicle all the way down a dirt track, got out, walked to a door and opened it before successfully completing several more drills, but then fell and couldn’t right itself twice in a row. While the bots were being remotely controlled by their human operators for part of the time, they generally had to figure things out on their own.
Looking significantly less humanoid than the other challengers, Carnegie Mellon’s CHIMP dominated the challenges early in the competition, completing all eight tasks and picking itself up after falling. Designed to go virtually anywhere, the all-terrain bot moves on all four of its limbs, which is pretty cool to watch when it’s scaling vertical surfaces on ladders or working itself up to a full run. None of these robots move at lightning speed (one DARPA official likened the pace of observing the competition to watching a round of golf) but they’re doing some pretty cool things nonetheless.
Lockheed Martin’s Team Trooper produced the ‘Leo’ robot, named for Leonardo da Vinci. This bot stumbled when it started to close an open valve but then stopped midway through, requiring human intervention. Lockheed focused on the ability for a human operator to assist Leo at varying levels of autonomy, from sending commands to pick up tools to planning arm and finger trajectories manually if the robot was required to use an entirely new type of tool. It’s easy to see how this ability could translate into real life, helping robots carry out life-saving tasks like shutting valves at a malfunctioning nuclear power plant.
How would you react if you were chased down the street by a sprinting android wearing head-to-toe camouflage and a gas mask? Probably about the same way …
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In this edition of ‘Androids Are After Our Jobs,’ a Japanese hotel replaces all of its front desk clerks, porters and other employees with robots, …
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The field of robotics is moving forward at a rapid pace. These 10 amazing robots were only science fiction until recently – now they’re reality.
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[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]
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8 Things to Do in Autumn When You’re a Photographer Autumn is a great time for relaxing at home under warm blanket, with hot tea and a nice book to read or a movie to watch. But not for a photographer. If you still consider autumn not the best time for outdoor shooting… well, any kind of shooting and Continue Reading
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