Ja, es stimmt. Zum Ende 2015 werde ich das Magazin, das ich vor zehn Jahren als kleines Blog gründete, verlassen. Über meine Beweggründe, die Zukunft von kwerfeldein und wie es in meinem Leben weitergeht, möchte ich hier nun etwas schreiben.
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity
It’s time for our 8th deal in our 12 Deals of Christas and today we have a fun one for you today – and cheap too!
Today we have two great deals on our must read Snapn guides.
Capturing motion is no easy feat. With this never before released guide, you’ll learn all the techniques for snapping away with a memory card full of keepers, not blurry “what was that?” images.
Get SnapnMotion here.
Snapn Motion (our brand new guide to photographing ‘Motion’), along with Snapn Food (how to photograph Food), Snapn Paws (how to photograph Pets) and Snapn Travel (a guide to Travel Photography). This super Snapn bundle is just $ 10 today only.
That’s just $ 2.50 per guide and a real bargain at 73% off their normal retail price.
If it’s just one snapn, or a snapn frenzy, these handy mini-guides are worth every penny.
Grab them for a bargain whilst you can
Lastly – we’ve extended yesterdays deal because we had some real server issues and many of you missed out.
It seems more of you wanted the deal than the servers could handle so we’ve extended the $ 10 deal on Mike Newton’s 104 Lightroom Presets.
You can grab them here for the next 24 hours only. Our sincere apologies for those of you who had issues accessing the deal yesterday.
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The post Today Only: Get 4 Great Snapn Guides for just $ 10 (Save 73%) by Darren Rowse appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Photoshop is a massive program, with many ways to do things. To help you learn Photoshop it’s great to just pick one thing, one new tip, and try it out.
In this video from Phlearn Aaron Nace will show you how to add text with a reflection to an image, but with a neat little twist that allows you to edit the text any time and have it update your finished image automatically using Smart Objects. Have a look:
He even goes over the steps as a summary at the end of the video.
This is a fun project to try on a rainy day – give it a go.
If you want more Photoshop tutorials check out these:
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The post Using Smart Objects to Add Text With a Reflection in Photoshop by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Das Bild des Tages von: Maria Louceiro
Heute im Ausblick: Seelandschaft in blau-rosa Zuckerwatte.
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity
If you are a busy parent, you likely rely on your smart phone or pocket camera to capture the events of your daily life, especially at holiday times. But sometimes you want a little bit more than just the usual snaps, without the hassle of your bulky DSLR.
There are some days when you often wish you had the time and ability to take meaningful photos of your family and capture special, magical times. Not the phone snaps that mostly end up as blurry images, but the ones that evoke emotion and feeling, and make new memories. There may be times when you wish you had a handful of quality photos as opposed to a hundred unrecognizable snaps on your phone or pocket camera.
This article has nothing to do with awesome DSLRs, it is about using the camera that you have with you to document fleeting moments of your family life. But it’s different from just snapping away without a little artistic vision. Instead, it’s about about seeing differently – with a creative eye, and most importantly, having fun doing so.
Note: Of course if you wish these tips can also be applied using your regular DSLR. It’s about whatever works for you so that you can still have fun participating in the activity with your family
Remember preparation is key, even if a lot of it is mental preparation and you only devote a few minutes to it. It gets you thinking and creative juices flowing.
Christmas is just around the corner so let’s start get started creatively capturing Christmas at home in 10 images using the humble point and shoot pocket camera.
Think of a simple theme (decorating a Christmas tree, making a Christmas card or décor, decorating a cake, etc.).
Choose a subject – a person, little or large. Find a location or corner in your own home and de-clutter the area. Choose a spot with ample light, or a light source such as next to a big window, lamps lit up, tree lights, or better yet just outside the house.
Select the macro or close-up scene mode. Turn your camera flash OFF as direct flash flattens the image and removes contrast making your photograph looking very two-dimensional. You want a play of light and shadow going on in your image to make it more interesting. Set the scene up as a fun activity with your family.
Top tip: When taking the photo, tuck both arms in, stay steady or lean on to something if that helps, and hold your breath as you press the shutter (some say press the shutter as you exhale but holding my breath works better for me).
Get ready to take photos. Wait for your moments. Take your time. Don’t snap loads of photos, rather try looking at the scene with an artistic eye. Remember you are only after 5 photos that tell a mini-story.
Choose a Christmas decoration in your home. Get really close to it and shoot at an angle so you need to tilt your camera. Shooting very close or with a wide aperture can help achieve nice blur (bokeh) in the background. In macro mode, shooting a scene that has several focal planes helps in achieving some bokeh.
Include beautiful blur in the background, or use blur as the subject of your photo. Make sure your subject is at some distance, and in front of the light source. Press the shutter while your camera is still focusing. This way you get intentional blur even while using the automatic mode.
Choose a very simple activity, for example, ask your child to put a decoration on the tree. Tilt your camera, and fill the frame focusing in on the action. Avoid empty spaces in the background. You will have a more dynamic photo if you go close and fill the frame.
Make sure there is ample available light, then photograph a reflection instead of the subject. Try to use a mirror, or any reflective object like a bauble, to frame your subject.
Ask your subject to lie down under the tree and play with the baubles. Crack some jokes or tickle tummy and toes to get some genuine expressions. Make sure that the light from the window is illuminating your subject’s face so there is light in their eyes.
Set the scene, the photos below show a Christmas decorating activity. Get everything ready. Buy a Christmas cake if you haven’t had the time to bake one.
Choose the look (outfits and colour scheme), as you want some sort of coordination so that there is a focus. For example, if the cake is colourful, you may want to put plainer aprons or outfits on your kids, so that there is contrast and focus, and vice versa. Limit your colour scheme to three or four colors, so there is some sort of harmony and cohesion. Try not to go too matching though.
Make it a fun activity, but explain to the children that there is a process to follow to ensure a successful outcome, therefore they must allow time for each process. In your head, plan to document this process. Give them a sequence of stages so they look forward to the next step.
Set your camera to portrait or macro. The automatic settings for these in-camera include a wide aperture so lots of light enters the lens, and a slower shutter speed which allows in more ambient light. The danger here is blur, but you can use that creatively too. To counteract blur, try to be very still, and hold your breath as you press the shutter. You can also steady yourself against a table or wall.
Get ready to document.
In this case, it’s the bare, undecorated cake. One of the ways you can shoot editorially is to take the photo from a bird’s eye view. To make it interesting, rather than just photographing the cake on its own, get the kids to wave their hands on top of it for some energy and action. The blurry action creates an effective contrast to the still cake.
Take a photo of the kids kitted out in their aprons or outfits you planned for earlier, remember to try and capture expressions. You can introduce the kids by taking a more traditional front view image, or employing some creative cropping for a more interesting take.
Details are so important in telling a story, enhancing memory, and evoking emotions. Choose special, or key items in the process to focus on, and photograph them close-up. Avoid too many empty spaces in the background. A full frame engages the viewer more in this case.
Movement and blur add so much dynamic and energy to a photograph. They strengthen a story and allows for fun moments too.
Talking about fun, allow some silliness in the process, such as painting their faces with a bit of flour, writing their names on flour, waving decorations around while singing Christmas tunes, etc. Make it an experience, not just a secret photoshoot!
So there you have it, 10 creative photos capturing some Christmas joy in your home.
Do you have any tips for photographing the Christmas spirit in your own home, or images to share? Share them in the comments below.
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The post Tips for Capturing the Holiday Festivities at Home so You Can Enjoy Them Too by Lily Sawyer appeared first on Digital Photography School.
[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]
What goes around comes around, especially for these dozen abandoned Ferris Wheels whose former clockwork precision has spun down to a permanent turn off.
Originally centering the Kulturpark Plänterwald (1969-1989) and, after German reunification, the Spreepark Berlin, this magnificent Ferris wheel was abandoned in 2002 along with the rest of the amusement park when its criminally negligent owner high-tailed it to Peru. Mired in debt and steadily deteriorating, the park was bought by the City in 2014 though future plans for the site remain unclear.
Flickr user gordon.shumwaay snapped these vertigo-inducing HDR images of the Spreepark’s Ferris wheel on August 9th, 2014, and one must say his timing was most fortuitous… about a day later, delinquent teen arsonists set two fires that burnt down much of the park (though the Ferris wheel was unaffected). Maybe they could rename it Post-Jurassic Park.
The South’s relentless “green menace” appears to have devoured this former Ferris wheel located somewhere in North Carolina. Flickr user Kyle Telechan (City Eyes) captured the astonishingly overgrown state of the once-charming amusement park ride while on vacation in June of 2009, noting that “when the remnants of Katrina hit the area (in 2005), a few places were left abandoned.” Could kudzu grow so much in just a few years? Yes, yes it could!
Looking disturbingly like a malevolent metallic sea monster, this de-seated Ferris wheel from the former Fun Park Fyn in Mollerlund, Syddanmark, Denmark seems to be waiting silently for some ancient signal to rouse it from its dreams… much like C’thulhu. Flickr user Troels Dejgaard Hansen brilliantly captured the long-abandoned ride on April 3rd of 2010.
Joyland Amusement Park in Wichita, Kansas styled itself as “The Southwest’s Finest” and during its run boasted a Ferris wheel offering unparalleled views over the windswept prairies. All that would end in 2006 when, after 55 years of continuous operation, Joyland’s management pulled the plug and the big wheel ground to a permanent halt. Flickr user Kenzie Alizabeth snapped Joyland’s abandoned Ferris wheel’s spidery yellow skeleton on June 10th of 2011.
Creepy and delightfully twisted, these amusement parks wont necessarily amuse the kids!
Click Here to Read More »»
Once prettily painted, polished and popular, these closed and abandoned nail salons won’t be doing any more filing unless it’s in bankruptcy court.
Click Here to Read More »»
Some of the most haunting abandonments are those that were once used to entertain and educate – filled with vast once-vibrant gathering and learning spaces.
Click Here to Read More »»
[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]
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Writer and photographer C.C. Chapman is a savvy businessman and creative thinker. He is the author of the bestsellers Content Rules and Amazing Things Will Happen, and his work has appeared on the pages of Rolling Stone and The Wall Street Journal. But when you meet C.C. you quickly realize that his real passion is helping other people use their creative abilities to drive positive change in the world. In this presentation from PIX 2015, C.C. shares his thoughts on how to use photography to influence social change, even if it’s only in your own backyard.
See more videos on our YouTube channel
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Pünktlich zu Weihnachten leuchtet es auch bei kwerfeldein wieder – zwar nicht am Adventskranz, dafür aber in den Flimmerkästchen: Die letzten Videos des Monats im Jahr 2015 präsentieren wir Euch heute und hoffen, dass Ihr trotz Vorfeiertagsstress ein bisschen Zeit findet, um abzuschalten und sie Euch anzugucken. Frohe Weihnachten!
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity
Das Bild des Tages von: Gregor Halbwedl
Ein winterlich-kalter Ausblick so kurz vor Weihnachten passt doch perfekt auf kwerfeldein.
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity
Sometimes, picking a favorite is hard. If you ask me to choose a favorite song or movie, it just can’t be done. Lenses; however, are different beasts. Ask most photographers what their favorite lens is, and you’ll probably get little hesitation before they start gushing and waxing lyrical.
At least that’s how I am, and when it comes to picking my favorite, all you have to do is ask which lens is probably on my camera body right now. That is almost always the Canon 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro.
This lens is a gem that offers great quality in terms of sharpness, ease of use, durability and versatility, and even though I’ve acquired some fairly serious glass since I bought it 12 years ago, it’s still my go-to lens.
Regarding lens choice, one of the most common things new photographers are told is to start with a 50mm f/1.8, often referred to as “thrifty fifties”. The logic here is more or less irrefutable. These lenses are cheap, reliable, versatile, and their large aperture makes them much faster than anything else in that price range. Their versatility makes them perfect for portraits and most other subjects outside of the extremes such as landscapes, which favor wide-angle lenses, and sports, which favor telephoto lenses.
When I was starting out, I spent a lot of time photographing things like food, flowers, toys, and other small things with fine details. I had little interest in other types of photography, and no interest in portraiture.
As such, the biggest limitation I got from my kit lenses was the focusing distance. I was forever trying to get closer to my subjects using the long end of kit lenses, and falling short every time.
When it was time to consider upgrading that first lens, research made it clear that neither the thrifty fifty nor the 85mm f/1.8 would do much good towards those aims. On the other hand, a dedicated 100mm macro lens was far out of my price range. Because of all this, I put off upgrading my kit lenses for a long time.
It was only by chance that I eventually found the 50mm Compact Macro while browsing through Canon lenses on a retailer’s site. To be honest, there wasn’t a lot of research involved. I saw the lens, the price, and the focusing distance of nine inches, and I bought it within the week.
The Canon 50mm Compact Macro is the workhorse of my camera bag and it’s certainly been put through its paces over the past decade. For my purposes, there are no flaws; however, it does have a few qualities that may make it unsuitable for some photographers.
It can’t be helped that the first thing you notice about this lens is the build quality. This is particularly true if your previous experiences are with kit lenses. The solid metal casing makes it feel sturdy and the extra weight feels great in your hand.
It may be worth mentioning that when I did get to use a 50mm f/1.8 a few years ago, I thought that I was being handed a Holga lens. This isn’t in any way an attempt the demean the 50mm f/1.8, but rather as an illustration of how far apart these lenses are in terms of build quality.
Durability may fall under build quality, but experience makes me feel it’s worth mentioning separately.
This lens has been dropped on concrete, cobble stone, and Tarmac, and it has been in the ocean. It has been in ash storms, torrential rain, hail storms, and there was one terrifying incident where it was left to stew in a half litre puddle of shower gel for a few hours. Despite all of this, this lens has not once shown any performance issues.
As should be expected from a lens created for the purpose of macro photography, the Canon 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro cannot be faulted in terms of sharpness. While I’m unable to compare it to the other 50mm offerings from Canon, I can compare it with the excellent 85mm f/1.8 and 70-200 f/4 L IS USM. The differences are almost indistinguishable.
The compact Macro may have a smaller aperture than Canon’s other 50mm lenses, but it is still a fast lens and works well in all but the dimmest of settings.
In terms of background blur, if you take into account that depth of field is also affected by the distance of the camera from the subject (the closer you are, the shallower the depth of field) you can see that you will achieve a comparable amount of blur to the faster lenses.
Whether it’s in auto focus or manual focus, it’s really hard to find fault with this lens. In normal situations, the auto-focus is fast and accurate. The large aperture of f/2.5 allows for a bright image in the viewfinder, making manual focus easy and quick.
With a focusing distance of just nine inches (23cm), you can get extremely close to your subjects. Yes, this may be the sole reason for this lens’ existence, but the versatility this adds is wonderful. For example, you are able to take a close-up of someone’s eye, then move a few steps back and take a normal 50mm portrait seconds later.
As mentioned, it wasn’t easy to come up with any negative aspects of this lens. There are; however, a few considerations that could mean this may not fit your specific photographic needs.
At 9.88 ounces (280 grams), the Compact Macro weighs more than twice as much as Canon’s 50mm f/1.8 lens (4.6 ounces/ 130g). If you’re trying to keep your kit bag as light as possible, and the macro functionality isn’t that important, then you may want to consider the alternatives.
While I will attest that this lens offers tremendous value for the money, at $ 299 it is a big jump in price from the 50mm f/1.8 at $ 125. If you’re just starting out, and do not yet know what subjects you’re interested in, or whether or not you will stick with photography for long, it may be worth considering a more wallet friendly option.
Editor’s note: at the time of this article the 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro lens is listed on Canon’s site as Out of Stock. You may be able to find it used on Amazon.com or go for the even higher priced 60mm f/2.8 Macro at $ 419 USD.
There is a slight downside to the lens’ closest focusing distance. When you’re standing that close to your subject, you and the camera effectively block any light coming from the front. Often, this is easily countered with side lighting techniques, or by using a dedicated macro ring flash, but it can be tricky to overcome at other times.
What may be considered as a deal breaker for a lot of photographers is that the 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro is not a true macro lens. With a magnification ratio of 1:2, it only creates images at half life-size. This can be rectified with a converter that allows for 1:1 magnification.
I know I’ve been gushing quite a bit, but my experiences with this lens have been outstanding, despite the heavy use and torture I put it through. If you’re in a position where you’re deciding to buy a 50mm, and you like the idea of getting really close your subjects, do consider the Canon 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro. It really is a treat.
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The post Writer’s Favorite Lens – Canon 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro by John McIntire appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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