When it comes down to it, there aren't a ton of things that can go wrong with a speedlight. And if your flash appears to be in working order (i.e., charges, zooms, etc.) but won't fire, it is probably a bad or broken tube.
While you are probably looking at a three-digit repair bill from your OEM manufacturer, you can also DIY the repair for next to nothing.
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Strobist
It’s time again to explore… after a week of wandering I’ll be back to post again.
Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.
– John Muir
Copyright Jim M. Goldstein, All Rights Reserved
Grand Teton Peak in the Clouds
The post Grand Teton Peak in the Clouds appeared first on JMG-Galleries – Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography.
Die viktorianische Fotografie hat ihren Namen von Königin Viktoria. Das Königshaus war begeistert von der neuen Technik und förderte sie stark. Dadurch wurde die Fotografie jedoch auch sehr von den Werten und Prinzipien dieser Epoche Englands geprägt.
Die königliche Familie verkörperte Stabilität und Fortschritt, Sitte und Tugend. Der Mittelschicht im England des 19. Jahrhunderts ging es langsam besser und sie eiferten diesen Werten gern nach.
Die Menschen auf viktorianischen Portraits sehen ernst in die Kamera, sind diszipliniert und auf gute Etikette bedacht. Sie sitzen stets aufrecht, die Kleidung ist hochgeschlossen. Fast ein bisschen unheimlich, aber auf jeden Fall unnahbar wirken die Menschen auf den Fotos.
So einfach ist es natürlich nicht und zum Beweis seht Ihr diese wunderbare Bildreihe hier. Ich finde sie großartig, weil sie zeigt, wie stark die gängigen Fotografien aus der Zeit auch unser Bild der Menschen von damals geformt haben. Dass die Leute nicht viel anders waren als wir, ist natürlich klar, aber so richtig schön zeigt es erst dieses Pärchen, das sichtlich Spaß bei den Aufnahmen hatte.
Wahrscheinlich wurden im Familienalbum nur die oberen beiden Aufnahmen gezeigt, aber umso schöner ist es, dass auch die anderen beiden erhalten geblieben sind.
Die Gründe für die vielen ernsten Bilder sind unter anderem die noch recht langen Belichtungszeiten. Es ist unglaublich schwierig, länger still in die Kamera zu lächeln und der kleinste Wackler führte schnell zu Unschärfen im Bild. Zudem waren Fotografien damals noch sehr teuer. Da war es sehr ärgerlich, wenn das Portrait durch eine unbedachte Bewegung unscharf wurde.
Und gerade, weil Bilder so teuer waren, ließ man sich aus unserer heutigen Sicht sehr skurril wirkende Konzepte für sie einfallen. Die Bilder sollten etwas Besonderes werden. Und so gibt es neben den typisch ernsten Portraits auch diese seltsam humorvollen Fotos.
Aber es gab neben den typisch strengen und selteneren humorvollen Fotos noch eine ganz andere Art von Bildern. Fotos, die auf uns heute sehr unheimlich wirken: Die Post-Mortem-Fotografien. Man fotografierte Verstorbene nach ihrem Tod, oft auch in einem gemeinsamen Familienportrait.
Da die Kindersterblichkeit damals noch sehr hoch war, zeigen diese Aufnahmen meist Babys und Kinder. Oft waren dies die einzigen Fotos für die Familien, die ihnen von ihren Liebsten blieben. Unter diesem Gesichtspunkt versteht man diese etwas gruseligen Bilder auch etwas besser.
Im viktorianischen Zeitalter war man begeistert von Fotografien. Oft hat man heute nur die strengen Portraits im Kopf, aber die Freude an der Fotografie ließ die Menschen damals experimentieren und sie erschufen verschiedenste Aufnahmen. Viktorianische Fotografie ist nicht nur steif und streng, sie ist vor allem eins: Vielfältig.
Quellen:
• Baatz, Willfried: Geschichte der Fotografie. Ein Schnellkurs. Überarbeitete und aktualisierte Neuausgabe. Köln 2008.
• Lomography.de
• the-gaiety-girl.blogspot.de
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin
[ By WebUrbanist in Global & Urbex & Parkour. ]
Housing over 2,500 people in 28 of its 45 floors, the Tower of David is a half-finished structure in Caracas, Venezuela, populated with displaced people. Like the now-vanished Kowloon Walled City or a huge vertical tent city, it is feared by officials and runs by its own rules. Its residents pool resources, including skills and money, to create and maintain independent and communal water supplies, plumbing and power grids.
Even the police are afraid to enter this effectively lawless structure, but through friends one video journalist was given permission to tour and film the facility – you can follow his adventure via the video above.
What may be most remarkable is how much like a normal building it is, with new couples coming in and renovating dwellings, and established businesses (including a hair salon) and community spaces (at least one church).
That is, of course, ‘normal’ once you get past architectural surprises like the absence of windows along some faces and the dizzying drops of dozens of stories off of unmarked edges lacking railings. The authorities also claim the structure is a hotbed for crime and violence, home to gang activity and drug cartels, but this one brief documentary, at least, suggests things are a bit more complicated than that.
As we described in previous coverage and with other images, the structure was being built into business skyscraper when construction halted during the 1990s financial crisis. It was then effectively abandoned and has since become a haven for a squatters who started moving in during the subsequent crisis 2007/2008. Now, these residents ride up the first ten stories taken by moped taxis or, if sufficiently poor, walk the distance. With no elevators, some skyscraper dwellers have to walk dozens of stories to get home. As in pre-elevator days, the top floors are thus the least desirable and many remain unoccupied – from outside, you can see the light dwindling up toward the upper stories at night.
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Google+ has introduced improved Raw-to-JPEG conversion for a number of cameras with some help from Nik Photography. As before, Raw files may be uploaded to Google+ for storage, and are automatically converted to JPEGs for previewing. The conversion from Raw has been fine-tuned for about 70 cameras, including high-end models like the Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Nikon D800 and D800E. Click through for the full list of cameras and see how it handles a Raw file from the Sony RX100.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]
Science meets luxury in this levitating coffee table composed of hovering blocks that seem to magically shift back into formation when applied pressure is removed.
Like an over-sized Rubik’s Cube, the basic design is composed of a three-by-three grid of smaller wooden cubes, inexplicably (at least at a glance) separated in space. Also like its little cousin, the object is … puzzling.
The solution to the puzzle hides partly in the voids – thin wires keep each cube from flying away from the others, while powerful magnets hold the constituent pieces apart. Effectively, The Float Table, is a matrix of “magnetized” wooden cubes that levitate with respect to one another. The repelling cubes are held in equilibrium by a system of tensile steel cables.”
The co-founders of Rocket Paper Robot, creators of The Float Table, have backgrounds in robotics, electrical engineering and artificial intelligence, on the one hand, and design, film and advertising on the other. The company itself “is an engineering boutique specializing in the innovation and fabrication of high-end kinetic furniture, lighting, and installations.”
Of their work, RPR writes: ”It’s classical physics applied to modern design. Each handcrafted table is precisely tuned to seem rigid and stable, yet a touch reveals the secret to Float’s dynamic character.”
And about their firm: “We relish in defying expectations through artful execution with a staunch allegiance to utility,(apparent) simplicity and technical excellence. We also work with clients to customize aesthetic yet functional products that enhance the versatility of residential/commercial spaces and celebrate the expression of unabashed style.”
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Tablets may be used as versatile tools in your photographic workflow, providing instant feedback as you shoot on a much larger format screen than your camera’s tiny LCD and helping you experiment with a final look while you still have the opportunity to make major changes on set. We’re looking at tools and tips for integrating a tablet into a live shoot with a DSLR, whether you’re shooting tethered or wirelessly. Learn more on connect.dpreview.com.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Canon’s PowerShot G16 might not be a massive upgrade compared to its predecessor, but it is a a solid camera that evolves the G-series in some interesting ways. In this article, we take a look at the G16’s real-world performance and dig into its new Wi-Fi feature as well as taking a critical look at its improved video mode. We’ve also added many more images to our previously-published gallery of real-world samples. Click through for a link to our first-impressions review.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
In the following post I’m not going to remind you again that you need to bring your tripod with you. I’m not here to warn you that weather is unpredictable and you should check the latest forecast before heading out the door.
Nope this post won’t cover the fact that you should bring a flashlight and a few other miscellaneous tools just in case something goes wrong. And of course I won’t be telling you that you should tell someone where you’re going and when you’ll be back incase you do get lost, hurt or otherwise incapacitated and need help getting home.
Instead of rehashing the basics or providing some motivational tips to get you off the couch I’m going to show you three ‘behind the camera’ photographs that I took with my iPhone, share the final shot, and talk a bit about how I made each image.
Sound good? Okay let’s start!
As you can see the camera was positioned as close to the water as I could comfortably get it – one wrong move and it’s all over for me and my love of photography.
So does the fear of putting my camera in the drink stop me from attempting to grab a photograph? Not in the least!
This shot was something I saw from 100 yards up the bank of the river. I noticed the cascade and knew that it’d be the perfect place to set up my D7000 and Tokina 11-16mm, but how was I going to get into the middle of the river?
As I got closer to the scene I noticed that there were a few wet stones no larger than an iPad leading out into the middle of the river – right where I wanted to be. All I needed was a little balance and some luck and both my camera and I would make it back to the shore dry and one ‘keeper’ richer.
Standing on a rock in the middle of the river the size of an iPad is no easy task and trying to fiddle with camera settings and frame a shot doesn’t make it any easier. I used the Manfrotto’s center-column design, which allows you to swing the center column out so that it is parallel to the ground, to get as close to the water as I could, and I used the live view feature on my DSLR to frame the shot and achieve perfect focus.
After taking a few test shots and fine tuning my exposure I settled on the following settings for the shot: ISO 100, 11mm, f/14, 13.0 seconds. (Note: There is also an ND filter in play here which allows for the longer exposure time).
Okay so this photograph probably isn’t even close to as dramatic as the one above, but it is still able to show you a bit about my thought process when capturing photographs. I could have photographed this scene further back from a nice easily accessible lookout, but I clambered over rocks and got as close to the shore as I could.
By positioning the camera on the tripod I was freely able to adjust the settings and fine tune the exposure and composition of the shot. The settings I used here were: ISO 100, 36mm, f/10, 1/160.
Here in south eastern New England we don’t get all that many storms and due to the tall trees and densely populated urban areas it’s not easy to get a clear view of the sky when they do occur.
After hearing my phone alert me to a sever thunderstorm watch that was in effect until well after dark and a quick look at the radar confirmed that it looked like it would pan out. I quickly decided to get a plan together to capture my first lightning bolts as a photographer.
With a couple hours of notice I was able to get really creative with my set up. I found a piece of cardboard and some duct tape to make a makeshift shelter for my room and the rest of my camera. I knew I wanted to open the window and the screen to get as clear a sight line as possible, but I didn’t want the rain or mosquitos to get into the house. (If you’re curious I finished sealing the cardboard after I took this photo).
I made sure to set my focus while I still had daylight to work with as it would get difficult to do so when darkness hit. I used my ND filter to lengthen the shutter speed which would hopefully allow me better chances to capture bolts of lightning and locked down my settings as follows: ISO 100, 13mm, f/9.0, 20.0 seconds.
Once everything was set up all that was left to do was wait for the storm to get close. As soon as I heard the first crack of thunder I set the Nikon’s intervolometer to capture an image every 25 seconds for about an hour or so, turned out all the lights in my house, and went to bed.
A few hours later, after the storm had long passed, I woke up curious to see if my trap had worked. The end result was a handful of lightning bolts frozen in time – this is one of my favorites.
Tell us about how you captured one of your favorite shots in the comments below!
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Behind The Scenes of Three of My Most Popular Landscape Photos
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