The Sony Cyber-shot RX10 II offers some impressive video capture capabilities including the option to record in 4K. And like the RX100 IV, the RX10 II can capture slow motion video at 240, 480 or 960fps, the latter of which gives the equivalent of 40x super slow motion. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Das Bild des Tages von: Carsten Frenzl
Im Ausblick: Underground Skateparks, märchenhafte Archivbilder und syrische Flüchtlinge.
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity
Please note that some housekeeping posts are omitted from this view. As always, you can search by month and year on the Monthly Archives drop-down on the sidebar at right.
Reader Christopher Wharton has a flash-camera combo that will not work in TTL mode, so how he can shoot run-and-gun events?
Long forgotten in the age of TTL, this post explains hot to use your flash’s “automatic” mode.
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See that? That’s the high water mark to date for my dual-purpose creativity with a speedlight case. Being padded, I use it as a thermos for my station-purchased beverage when home-bound from New York City on the train.
(Works totally ace, BTW.)
But that bar just got seriously upped today by the LumoPro LP742 “LightSwitch” speedlight case.
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This photo is 100% flash, 0% ambient. But it almost looks like the reverse. And for this portrait of soprano Robin Steitz, a timeless available-light look was what we were going for.
But when you are working with flash (a single speedlight) and controlling your light (a scrounged “fill blanket” from the couch) you can keep the best of both worlds of strobe and ambient.
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Several folks have asked for more specifics on the Seattle GPP Pop-Up. So here’s the long version.
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I seldom review gadgets these days, but sometimes something is so useful that it’s worth telling people about. Such is the case with the SD card-enabled Western Digital My Passport Wireless hard drive.
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So the UPS guy just dropped your very first lighting kit at your front door. WHAT DO YOU DO NOW?
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A cool little trick that forever changed the way I photograph dancers.
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In which we travel to London to serve as a lighting tech for a documentary. Our goal? Lighting for a photographic reproduction of the Mona Lisa.
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Such a simple idea, and not so difficult to do—unless you count all of the self-inspection it will require. Iranian-born (now in Dubai) photographer Atbin Eslami’s video-bio of herself first made me think, “that’s really cool.”
And second, “Why haven’t I done that?”
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Who needs a studio when you have a bridge abutment? Today, we’ll explore a few of its facades while making an actor’s portrait.
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Little? Big? Aluminum? Carbon fiber? New? Used?
Three legs, many choices.
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For older posts, please see the Monthly Archives dropdown menu on the right sidebar.
[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]
Produced from over 200 laser scans, this remarkable 3D representation covers surface features as well as subterranean spaces of it’s London subject, captured and stored as a series of over 10 billion points. This data-rich compositing process has been called everything from spatial scanning to volumetric photography, but the goal is simple: capturing all dimensions of the subject matter in digital space. And as the cost of the requisite technologies continues to drop, it may not be long before lidar (laser + radar) scanners become commercial household products or even smartphone features.
The duo behind ScanLabs has done remarkable projects around the world, both artistic and documentary in nature, but their work with Mail Rail illustrates the near limitless potential of the technologies they employ. Using scanner that sent out millions of laser light bursts per second, they have generated a ground-piercing, interactive rendering that is ahead of its time. Static views and videos do not do their captures justice, which may someday be best experience via virtual reality or in some other format yet unimagined.
Matthew Shaw and William Trossell were commissioned to help document The London Post Office Railway by the British Postal Museum & Archive before a section is converted into an underground ride. The nearly 100-year-old and 23-mile-long LPOR, or ‘Mail Rail’ for short, transported millions of pieces of daily mail beneath the city at its peak. Before a massive revamp changes this subterranean landscape forever, stakeholders wanted a method for preserving all elements of the existing spaces.
As Geoff Manaugh summarizes this novel approach to spatialization, “Their 3D point clouds afford a whole new form of representation, a kind of volumetric photography that cuts through streets and walls to reveal the full spatial nature of the places on display.”
ScanLab has engaged in many other projects as well, including augmented archeology at concentration camps and digital preservation of D-Day landing sites. Some, however, are simply experimental, designed to push the limits and explore ways to hack the technologies they use. The company has done everything from generating surrealistic renderings of forests to scanning clouds and mist simply to see what will come out the other side of the process. They have even snuck into famous works of architecture and surreptitiously scanned buildings, then recreating them in perfect detail with 3D printers or CNC routers. Regardless of the short-term applications, the key is the long-term data storage – the information being preserved today may be redeployed in the future in ways not yet envisioned.
Slices of wood take the place of traditional vinyl in these beautiful hand-crafted, laser-cut records by designer Amanda Ghassaei.
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Photographer Carlos Aires experiments with racy laser-cut vinyl art in a series called “Love is in the Air”.
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Laser engraving wraps all the way around these clever and customizable pins, creating anything from robots and dinosaurs to mazes and words to liven up your …
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[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]
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Korean lens brand Samyang has announced a new series of video lenses under the Xeen name. They feature wide apertures and resolution that the company says is aimed at users who shoot 4K and above footage. There will be 24mm, 50mm and 85mm focal lengths initially, and three more to follow next year. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Finding the perfect camera bag is a challenge in today’s world where every bag style is possible. From messenger bags to belt packs to purses, there are many different camera bags out there to tickle your fancy. While the trend recently may be minimalist and compact, I’d like you to consider for a moment the exact opposite – a large, yet highly versatile, camera backpack known as the Think Tank Shape Shifter.
In general, many bags suffer from giving off the feeling and appearance of too much bulk, while at the same time not having nearly enough space for all of one’s camera gear. The Think Tank Shape Shifter is ingenious in that it is designed specifically to go from thin and skinny, to large and expansive, whenever you need it to. Top that flexibility off with fantastic padding and back support, as well as lots of pockets to hold all sorts of gear, and you have what I deem to be the perfect camera bag.
The Shape Shifter’s key feature is its flexibility in sizing, thanks to its rather simple zipper system. Similar to how luggage works, you simply unzip a section of the bag when you need it to expand, or zip it up to minimize the size. At its most compressed, the Shape Shifter measures 3 inches in diameter, and 7 inches at its maximum expansion.
As you can expect from all Think Tank bags, the Shape Shifter is built tough, despite having a minimalist profile. Featuring a black water-resistant exterior fabric, it also comes with a seam-sealed removable rain cover, just in case of a sudden downpour. The straps and back padding are made of 3D air mesh with a breathable air flow system, making the bag extremely comfortable to wear for long periods of time. There are also strong waist and chest straps to help equally distribute the bag’s weight across your upper body. The ergonomic value here is especially high, since backpacks already do a better job of equalizing the weight of heavy gear, as opposed to a one-sided messenger bag.
There are several main pockets in the Shape Shifter including a compartment for a laptop, up to 17″, and a huge compartment full of stretchable neoprene pouches for holding lenses and camera bodies. Alternatively, you could also stuff about four size small t-shirts in the pouches if you wanted to use the bag as a makeshift suitcase. There are also smaller zippered pockets on the bag’s exterior, where smaller items such as batteries and memory cards can be stored. Larger items such as tripods and lighting stands can also be strapped to the backpack if needed, using two sturdy straps that come with the bag.
I took the Shape Shifter on a trial run while photographing the USGA U.S. Open at Chambers Bay recently. Needing to take along a majority of my photography equipment, I managed to fit all of the following into the backpack:
The resulting bag was admittedly pretty heavy, but the comfortable back padding and straps made the bag much easier to carry despite the added weight.
One of the biggest challenges that the Shape Shifter has is in its ability to carry your whole photo studio. You can indeed do just that, but the bag gets extremely heavy, and some gear is difficult to reach without stopping to unzip and lay out the entire bag. Additionally, the structure of the bag makes it hard to carry preassembled cameras (lens attached) in it, meaning it is meant to have the lens and bodies in separate pouches rather than attached as one unit. The best way around this is to simply wear your cameras while shooting, and keep items you don’t need regular access to in the Shape Shifter.
Alternatively, you could also convert the Shape Shifter into a more functional daypack or suitcase, since its pockets and design don’t restrict it from being used as solely a camera bag. Say you’re travelling by air and trying to meet the two bag carry-on limit. You could put the majority of your camera gear that you need to be readily accessible in a smaller bag such as the Think Tank ChangeUp, and use the Shape Shifter to carry your overnight travel items and excess gear. Again, the big benefit of the Shape Shifter is its ability to shrink or enlarge depending on your needs.
Have you tried out the Think Tank Shape Shifter? Did it meet your expectations? Let me know in the comments below!
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The post Think Tank Shape Shifter Backpack Review by Suzi Pratt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Technology is great. But it can also make us its slave.
For instance, TTL flash is pretty good at solving lighting problems on the run. (See, McNally? I'm open-minded…) But those problems existed long before we had TTL flash—or TTL exposure metering, for that matter.
And yet, we solved them on a regular basis. Even without feedback on the backs of our cameras. Or autofocus. While walking five miles to school barefoot in the snow. Uphill. Both ways.
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Strobist
In our latest Field Test we put Olympus’s new M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye Pro and M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm F2.8 Pro in the hands of DPReview writer Dan Bracaglia. Dan put them to the test in some of his natural environments: a rock concert, skate park, and a beach landscape at sunset. See video
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Today, in this digital age, your job isn’t done once you’ve taken the photos, you’re really only halfway there. You need to edit your photos. Luckily, using Adobe Lightroom, combined with some really high-quality presets, you can instantly start getting amazing results, rather than spin your wheels being frustrated trying to edit your photos.
A Lightroom preset is simply a collection of photo edit settings inside of Lightroom that are bundled into a single click allowing you to edit photos far more efficiently than you would otherwise by repeating those same settings and editing steps one by one.
Here are 7 reasons why you’d be crazy not to use Lightroom presets:
When using Lightroom presets, with only one click you’ll be able to instantly get your photos to an 85-90% edited state, and sometimes you’ll even be completely done with one click! Rather than edit each photo from start to finish, you can spend your time on the fine-tuning part of the editing process.
Learning any new software can be intimidating, and take time to master. While it’s certainly important to always take strides at truly learning the program, using presets will let you instantly get started in Lightroom, and edit your photos simpler than ever before.
Does the photo look best in black and white or a sepia edit? Or maybe a vibrant color edit or a subdued vintage look? Using Lightroom presets will give you a ton of creative variety right at your fingertips so you can effectively try different edits and see which style is most fitting for a particular photo, or even full photo session. Quick tip – when you hover over a different preset, Lightroom will show you a preview of how that photo will look with that preset applied (in the Navigator box, at the top of the left panel in the Develop Module, see screenshot above).
When you are editing an entire photo session, using the same presets across the whole photo shoot will give your images a more uniform and consistent look, as opposed to editing each and every photo one-by-one, which can yield varying settings and a disjointed look to your image set.
Have a preset you love, but you always have to slightly adjust the color or contrast? Or maybe your very own style has changed over time? No problem at all. Any develop preset you use inside Lightroom is completely customizable and it’s as easy as a couple mouse clicks.
Presets work inside Lightroom and actions work inside Photoshop. Both programs have their place in a professional photographer’s editing workflow. However, Lightroom is the primary editing software of choice for both professionals and hobbyists alike. Not only is it far easier to use and learn compared to Photoshop, but within Lightroom all of your edits are non-destructive. That means that your original unedited photo is always stored in Lightroom so you can experiment as much or as little as you want, without ever degrading the quality of your original image.
Example from the dPS 101 Lightroom Presets Pack
One of the greatest benefits of using Lightroom is its ability to edit a lot of photos very quickly by batch editing, or syncing, your settings from one photo to many at once. When you combine high-quality presets with batch editing in Lightroom you will be able to drastically cut down your complete photo editing time per session.
Now that you have a better understanding of how using Lightroom presets can dramatically reduce the amount of time you spend editing your photos, while getting you better results and increasing your creativity – it’s time to grab some presets for you to use inside of Lightroom.
You can scour the web to research and find different Lightroom presets, you can choose to create your own, or you can make your life really easy and purchase the official Digital Photography School – 101 Lightroom Presets Pack that I’ve created.
Example using the Summer Sun preset from the dPS 101 Lightroom Presets Pack
This ultimate preset bundle includes seven different themes, so you can easily find and use a preset that is the most fitting for your specific photo, without having to waste any time. You’ll find presets dedicated for portraits, stunning black and white & sepia presets, presets for landscape photography, street photography, vintage presets and much more.
It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or professional, you’ll love these presets and the amazing results you’ll get from them. Click here to learn more and save big by getting them during this limited time introductory special promotion price.
Example from the dPS 101 Lightroom Presets Pack
dPS 101 Lightroom Presets PackCole’s handcrafted a brand new set of presets, exclusive to dPS.
For a limited time only get them at the introductory price of $ 20.
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The post 7 Reasons Why You’d be Crazy Not to use Lightroom Presets by Cole Joseph appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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Landscapes are some of the easiest shots to take – no arranging meetups with others, no double chins, and that fresh air is super invigorating!
If you’re just getting the hang of creating gorgeous landscape shots, you’ll benefit from understanding how to add a sense of depth with composition. Think of your photo as having three parts: foreground, middle-ground and background. Try to make sure there something of interest in all three sections.
Check out this article for a perfectly simple visual example of great landscape composition.
Photo by Scott Bourne
© Erin for Photojojo, 2015. |
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