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Product Advisory: Sony says some of its SD cards are corrupting video files, offers free replacements

16 Jun

Sony has issued a product advisory for select SD cards in three of its SD card lineups, stating video captured with these cards could become corrupted without warning.

The product advisory, posted last Friday, says cards in Sony’s SF-M series, Tough SF-M series and Tough SD-G series are affected by an issue wherein ‘data on [the affected cards] may be damaged or data may not be recorded correction when shooting video on a camera in the video speed class mode.’ No further information is provided on what exactly is causing the problem, but Sony says it’s offering replacement cards through March 31, 2022 for SD cards currently under warranty.

Sony provides the below illustrations to help you deduce whether or not your card is affected by the issue, but you can tell at a quick glance by looking for a little star on the back of left-hand corner of the card — if you have a star, your card isn’t affected.

Sony: ‘To check whether your [SF-M] card is affected, look for a star mark and an alphanumeric on the lower corner on the back of the card. If your card has NO star mark and has an alphanumeric beginning with TV, your card is affected by this issue. (If your card has an alphanumeric beginning with TR, your card is not affected by this issue.)

Sony: ‘To check whether your card is affected, look for a star mark on the lower left corner on the back of the card. If your card has NO star mark, your card is affected by this issue.’

Sony: ‘[Affected SF-M Tough] cards can be identified by the presence of V60, R:277MB/s, and W:150MB/s on the card frontside. To check whether your card is affected, look for a star mark on the lower left corner on the back of the card. If your card has NO star mark, your card is affected by this issue.’

If your card is one of the affected units, Sony requests you call their support line (239–768–7669) or connect with a representative through its online chat support. Sony specifically requests you not contact the retailer you purchased your card from. Dan Carr of Shuttermuse says he’s been through the process and was required to provide the following information when you speak with a representative:

SD card model number
SD card serial number
Date of purchase
Place of purchase
Shipping and contact information

You can read the full advisory on Sony’s support page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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L16 camera manufacturer Light abandons consumer imaging, turns to automotive

15 Jun

In 2015 a start-up called Light announced a product that appeared have the potential to revolutionize photography. The Light L16 was a portable camera that, according to the company, provided ‘excellent low-light performance and DSLR-like image quality’. However, now it looks like Light has abandoned the consumer imaging market altogether and is instead focusing on the automotive sector.

The L16 offered focal lengths between 35mm and 150mm, 4K video recording, and depth-mapping technology to adjust a photo’s depth of field and focus after it has been captured. Instead of a conventional camera/lens setup it used 16 separate cameras across its front and computational imaging methods the combine the data captured by all sensors into a single output image.

The Light L16

When the camera finally started shipping in July 2017, after some delays and a $ 30M funding round, the camera’s performance was underwhelming, though, resulting in lukewarm reviews and presumably lower than expected sales figures.

Instead of working on an improved follow-up model Light turned its attention to the mobile market, announcing partnerships with smartphone makers Sony and Xiaomi. Given the Light technology’s limited space requirements and ability to fit into a flat smartphone body this seemed like a logical next move.

It followed a $ 121M funding round led by the SoftBank Vision Fund that also included German camera makers Leica, and the news that Nokia was going to be the first smartphone brand to launch a Light camera-equipped device. The Nokia 9 PureView was launched in February 2019 and featured a circular penta-camera setup on its back.

Penta-camera setup on the Nokia 9 PureView

The five Zeiss-branded lenses all came with an equivalent focal length of 28mm, an F1.8 aperture and were placed in front of 12MP image sensors, three of which were monochrome and two RGB. In addition, there was a dedicated depth sensor.

Much like the L16, the 9 PureView camera could not convince the testers, though, with more conventional camera setups in the flagship phones from rivals Apple, Samsung or Huawei delivering better results across the board.

Now it looks very much like the Nokia 9 PureView was the first and last smartphone with Light camera technology as the company has told Android Authority in a statement that it is ‘no longer operating in the smartphone industry.’

On the Light website there are no traces of smartphone or consumer camera technology to be found anymore. Instead, a statement on the About page says ‘Light is a depth-sensing and perception technology company focused on providing automobiles with the ability to see like humans.’

The company is now focusing on the automotive sector.

Demand for camera technology in the automotive sector has been rising quickly and with autonomous vehicles being on the brink of mass production the potential for growth seems almost unlimited. If Light’s venture into automotive will be more successful than the company’s beginnings in consumer, imaging investors could finally see a return.

This said, despite the lack of success in the marketplace, both the Light L16 camera and Nokia 9 PureView smartphone will always be remembered as innovative imaging devices and secure their place in tech history.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Tamron Announces First Mirrorless All-In-One f/2.8 Zoom

15 Jun

The post Tamron Announces First Mirrorless All-In-One f/2.8 Zoom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Earlier this week, Tamron announced its brand new 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 lens designed for Sony mirrorless cameras.

In addition to its massive range, the lens boasts a maximum aperture of f/2.8 at its widest focal length, making it officially the first all-in-one zoom lens to begin at f/2.8.

While the lens ultimately tops out at f/5.6 at the 200mm end, the wide-angle f/2.8 maximum aperture offers low-light shooters the opportunity to work with a fast, lightweight, compact zoom, one that also features significant reach on the long end.

In terms of weight and dimensions:

The Tamron 28-200mm clocks in at just 20.3 oz (575 g), while measuring 4.6 in (117 mm). This positions the lens as a comprehensive option for travel photographers, landscape photographers, and more; just slip the Tamron 28-200mm plus a Sony camera in your backpack, and you’ll be ready for anything.

Of course, none of this matters if the lens can’t deliver on image quality, and all-in-one zooms are known for their lackluster optics, especially at focal length extremes.

While we can’t definitively comment on sharpness, Tamron promises “liberal use of special lens elements…to greatly suppress chromatic aberrations, making it possible to achieve high image quality from edge to edge.”

Tamron also claims to have “concentrated all its all-in-one zoom technologies into achieving optical performance that sets a new standard among existing all-in-one zoom lenses.”

While we’ll have to wait a few weeks to confirm Tamron’s claims, the company’s other all-in-one zooms have been mediocre-to-great. If Tamron has taken this one a step further, then the rewards could be great.

The new lens also offers:

An impressive minimum focusing distance of 7.5 in (0.19 m) on the wide end and 31.5 (0.8m) on the long end, making for a close-up magnification ratio of 1:3.8
A fast, quiet AF motor
Moisture resistance
A reasonable price of US$ 729

Assuming the optics are good, this lens will be a steal for almost any shooter, but especially photographers looking to reduce the size of their kit for travel, outdoors, or walkaround photography.

At the time of writing, the lens will launch on June 25, though Tamron warns of potential COVID-related delays.

So if you’re interested in an all-in-one zoom for Sony with tremendous low-light capabilities, great optical potential, and much more, check out the new Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD.

Now over to you:

What do you think of this new lens from Tamron? Do you expect it will separate itself from other all-in-one zooms in terms of optics? And if so, will you purchase it? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Tamron Announces First Mirrorless All-In-One f/2.8 Zoom appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

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Datacolor’s new SpyderX Photo Kit bundles 3 of its popular calibration tools at a $180 discount

15 Jun

Datacolor has released its new ‘SpyderX Photo Kit’ that comes with three of its most popular photo and monitor calibration tools at a dramatic discount compared to purchasing the items individually.

The Datacolor SpyderX Photo Kit comes with a SpyderX Elite monitor calibration tool, a Spyder Checkr 24 and the SpyderCube, a die-shaped grey card for getting the white balance just right in post-production. The kit is currently listed at an ‘anniversary special’ price of $ 200 on its website ‘while supplies last.’ That’s $ 180 less than if you purchase each piece individually, plus it all comes in a hard carrying case.

Strangely enough, though, Datacolor says the kit will eventually retail for $ 400 (it’— which is $ 20 more than what it’d cost to buy everything on its own. Maybe Datacolor is taking the carrying case into account? Who knows. Regardless, at its current price, it’s a solid steal considering the SpyderX Elite retails for $ 240 on its own.

The SpyderX Photo Kit joins Datacolor’s SpyderX Studio and SpyderX Capture Pro kits, which also bundle various calibration tools together at a discount. You can find out more information on the kit and each of the products on Datacolor’s product page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Looking to upgrade your camera battery charger? The Hähnel ProCube 2 is worth considering

14 Jun

Hähnel proCUBE2
$ 80 | Hähnel

Intro

The Hanhel ProCube 2 is a twin-battery charger that offers user-swappable plates to accommodate batteries from different camera systems. Several models are available for popular options – Canon, Nikon, Panasonic / Olympus and Sony. The only difference between them is the color of the unit and the set of plates it comes with. It is possible to swap plates between models and purchase additional ones for around $ 12 each, if you change camera systems.

I tested the ProCube 2 with batteries for the Sony A7 III (which does not ship with a charger). At $ 80, it is cheaper than Sony’s own BCQZ-1 charger (which retails for $ 98). Additionally you’re getting the ability to charge two batteries at the same time along with some other handy features not found in the BCQZ-1.

Key features

Ability to charge two batteries simultaneously
Can accommodate a wide range of batteries via interchangeable plates
Includes AA battery charging option
12V Car lead in the box
Can act as a 2.4A USB power source

Hähnel claims that the ProCube 2 can charge two Sony NP-FZ100 batteries from empty to full in three hours and a single battery in two hours, something that we’ll be testing later.

The ProCube 2 is by no means the cheapest twin-charger on the market, but it does offer a unique combination of features, from an established brand. Let’s see how it performs.

What’s in the box?

Most of the popular Sony batteries can be charged with the included plates.

The Sony version that we tested includes the plates to charge Sony NP-FZ100, NP-FW50 and NP-BX1 batteries – you can only charge one type of battery at a time. Also included in the box is a plate that accepts four AA batteries which attaches magnetically to the top of the charger, with no requirement to take out the existing plate. You will have to install all four AAs though, due to the way the plate connects – and you can’t charge camera batteries and AAs at the same time.

The box also includes a 12v car adapter for charging on-the-go and various plug adapters for different countries.

Design

A simple pin and pad connection system makes plate swapping easy

As its name implies, the ProCube 2 is a small cube. It’s a solid unit finished in orange anodized aluminum. The internal battery contacts themselves are via spring loaded pins and connecting pads, so there is no need for fiddly cables . The plate ejection procedure is a little awkward as you need to use a supplied tool or other small-tipped device to release the locking mechanism. Some care is also required when changing a plate as there is only one correct orientation.

The front-mounted LCD shows you the current charge status, via a simple 5-segment capacity gauge of each battery. It also shows percentage readout for each and how much energy it has added since the start of the charge in milliamp hours – though it can’t show the actual capacity of the batteries unless you are charging from 0%.

Charging current is stated as up to 1700 mA for a single battery and 850 mA each when charging two.

The plate swap system could be simplified with a small button

When two batteries are installed The ProCube 2 charges both at the same time and it will adjust charging current individually depending on the state of charge of each battery.

The supplied eject tool is easily lost; it would have been a good idea not to have required one at all, a small button on the back would have been ideal

One thing struck me before I started testing, the supplied ejection tool is easily lost; it would have been a good idea to have a way of storing it in the base of the charger. It would have been an even better idea not to have required one at all – a small button on the back would have been ideal.

The LCD panel displays battery charge levels in %

Performance

I tested the charge time of a single battery from completely exhausted to fully charged and did it again with two exhausted batteries. The batteries I used were newish original Sony NP-FZ100s and the figures were averaged over three cycles.

Note: Sometimes, 100% on the charger doesn’t mean 100% in the camera. If the battery is removed immediately that the ProCube 2 indicates 100% charge, I noticed my camera would indicate anywhere from 95-100%. After leaving the battery charging for another five to six minutes, I’ve found that my camera will reliably report 100% charge.

Here are the results…

	Time to 100% as indicated on charger	Time to fully-charge as indicated by the camera	Time to fully charge with in-box USB charger
Single Battery	1 hr 49 mins	1 hr 54 mins	4 hrs 3 mins
Dual Batteries	2 hrs 57 mins	3 hrs 3 mins

Hähnel claims that a quick 15 minute charge will provide enough power for 150 shots. This actually seems like a conservative figure from my testing, although it is very dependent on how the camera was being used. I managed to consistently get around 250-260 shots when using the LCD screen and manual focus (1 shot every 10 seconds). By comparison, a 15 minute charge via Sony’s USB charger provided enough juice for 126 -130 shots, given the same conditions.

Even your AA batteries can be accommodated

I also tested the ProCube 2 in a car with the supplied 12v lead. As the charger is designed to use 12 volts from the wall there was no change to charge times or functionality in the vehicle. This is provided the socket can provide 1.5 amps, which is usually well below the fused output on most vehicles.

It doesn’t take any longer to charge batteries in a vehicle with the ProCube 2 than it does connected to a wall socket.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt that when charging batteries this unit is both much more convenient and quicker than charging up the battery in my Sony a7 III in-camera via USB.

If you’re planning a trip it’s small enough not to take up too much space in your camera bag and means that you don’t have to take a separate AA or USB chargers as well. It’s even possible to charge three batteries overnight if you connect your camera to the USB output. It will charge the batteries in the charger first, and then switch on USB power to charge the third.

The ProCube 2 also gives flexibility if you decide to change cameras and hence battery systems or if you have more than one battery type in your gear collection.

If you’re interested in the ProCube 2, are other options out there that are also worth considering. The Watson Duo gives the same sort of functionality at the same price although it’s a bit larger, and the Nitecore USN4 offers dual charging at a lower cost – although it lacks some of the features of the Hähnel.

Overall, the ProCube 2 provides a quick way of charging either single or dual batteries.

What we like

Works with multiple battery types
Quick charging
Sequential charge and USB power option
Ability to charge in a vehicle

What we don’t like

LCD panel percentage display sometimes disagrees with camera’s estimate
Tool or pen tip required for plate swap
No sequential AA charging feature

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Lightroom Moon Editing Tips for Awesome Moon Photos

14 Jun

The post Lightroom Moon Editing Tips for Awesome Moon Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

One of the most fascinating photos you can take is a crystal-clear shot of the full moon. Pictures like this don’t require a lot of fancy gear, but you do have to be in the right place at the right time. To make matters even more tricky, you only have a handful of opportunities each year to even attempt a moon shot. Getting a picture is just the beginning, though. If you want to make your shot stand out, it helps to follow these simple Lightroom moon editing tips.

moon editing tips — Nikon D500, Nikon 70-200mm f2.8, 200mm, 1/200 second, f/4.8, ISO 640.

Shoot in RAW

The benefits of RAW over lossy formats like JPG are well documented. While there are certainly times where JPG is useful, RAW is essential when taking shots of the moon. You need all the editing leeway you can get to adjust colors, exposure, and other parameters.

For example, the photo below might not look like much, but it’s fairly typical of the types of moon shots most people would get with some basic camera gear. I shot this with a crop-sensor camera, which is much more common than expensive full-frame models. I also only zoomed to 200mm, and a lot of kit zoom lenses can easily reach this far.

At first glance, it probably looks like there’s not much that I can do here. The moon is overexposed and a little blurry. It’s way too small, and the power lines cut right through the frame. Also, the sky has a weird blue tint to it that’s a bit unnatural.

However, hope is not lost! Thanks to the power of RAW files, and a little bit of editing prowess in Lightroom, this photo can be turned into a frame-worthy image.

Crop

Back in the early days of digital photography, people often debated the importance of megapixels. A common, though incorrect perception was that more megapixels equal better photos. While that is not necessarily true, having a higher megapixel count does allow you to have significant room for cropping, which is great when your subject is far away – 239,000 miles, to be exact.

Most cameras today have upwards of 20 megapixels, which gives you a huge amount of freedom to crop your photos. If you don’t have a huge telephoto zoom lens to zoom into individual moon craters, use Lightroom instead. Crop your image until it’s nice and tight with the moon right in the center.

moon editing tips lightroom crop — Go ahead and crop your photo. If you have a modern camera you have plenty of leeway.

In this example, I cropped the image tight enough to get rid of everything but the moon and the sky. Gone are the power lines and trees, and what’s left is just the moon in all its glory. Even cropped in this much, the resulting image is 4.3 megapixels – more than enough to get an 8×10″ print made.

White Balance

At this point the picture is better, but still has a long way to go.

The next step is to adjust the white balance. The reason I recommend doing this after you crop your moon photo is that it helps you focus on just the important part of the image. If you adjust the white balance before cropping, you might be focusing your edits on parts of the image that you discard after cropping.

There’s no right or wrong way to adjust the white balance on a moon photo. It all depends on how you want the final image to look and what you want your viewers to feel when they see it. If you want a starting point, here are two options I recommend.

Use the Daylight preset
Use the Eyedropper and click on the moon.

Both of these produce vastly different results. You can also play around with the sliders until you get a look that you like. One thing to remember is that the moon itself produces no light. It’s just a ball of rock falling through the sky. The light you see is sunlight reflecting off the surface, which is why some people prefer to use a white balance suited for sunlight. The choice is yours, though, and you can set the white balance however you want.

Another option is to combine the best of both worlds. Click the eyedropper tool on the moon, but then use the Brush tool to change the white balance of the moon. This will give you rich, deep blues for the sky but a yellow tint for the moon. However, this can be a little tricky. If not done right, you will see a weird color halo around the moon. So just make sure to use the Brush tool as precisely as possible.

Exposure adjustments

Nailing the exposure when shooting the moon is tricky. It’s a giant bright ball against a dark sky, which means a lot of the conventional rules don’t apply. I usually prefer to under-expose the moon and then adjust it in Lightroom. That way you preserve your highlights, but even if your picture is a little overexposed you can still salvage it if you shoot in RAW.

In this example, my shot is overexposed by about one stop. To fix it, I entered a -0.75 value in the Exposure slider in the Basic panel. This darkens everything: the moon and the sky. If you want the sky to stay the same level of brightness but just adjust the moon, use the Highlights slider. Drag it left to lower the exposure of the brightest portions of your image – in this case, the moon.

Adjusting the exposure isn’t one of the most mind-blowing moon editing tips, but it’s an essential step in the process of getting your final shot to look good.

Texture and Sharpening

When you take a picture of the moon, you have to contend with all sorts of variables that can lead to a soft or fuzzy appearance. From earth, we see the moon through miles of atmosphere, which often contains dust and other particles. Your lens might not be tack-sharp either, especially if you got your zoom lens as part of a camera kit. Lightroom can help fix these issues with a few simple sliders.

Normally, I would recommend starting with the Sharpening slider, but not when shooting the moon. In this case, you want to bring out the moon’s texture and surface details, so the texture slider is a great place to start. You can find it at the bottom of the Basic panel. Alternatively, you can use the Brush tool to adjust the texture if you want a little more precision in your editing.

The Sharpening slider is great for fine-tuning your image after adjusting the texture. However, I do not recommend using the Clarity slider. That will result in a false, unnatural look with moon shots and can show some unwanted noise in the sky as well.

Final touches

At this point, you have several options to polish your image. While you can use any number of editing tools, some that I recommend trying are:

Adding a vignette
Use the Brush tool to reduce noise in the sky
Adjust the tone curve to have a very slight S-shape
Raise and lower the blue saturation
Convert your picture to Black and White. Click “Black and White” in the top-right corner of the Basic panel

When it comes to moon editing tips, the sky is quite literally the limit. These should be enough to get you started, but I recommend spending time just experimenting with some of the sliders in Lightroom to see what you can do.

What about you? DO you have any other moon editing tips you’d like to share? Do you have any favorite shots of the moon? Share your favorites in the comments below!

The post Lightroom Moon Editing Tips for Awesome Moon Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

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How to Create a Photogram Effect with a Digital Process

13 Jun

The post How to Create a Photogram Effect with a Digital Process appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

One of the first photographic processes I learned was how to make a photogram. Since then, I’ve often wondered if a digital process could adequately mimic the appearance of the finished photogram aesthetic. The difference between the original and digital processes means that the results of any digital technique can’t really be called a photogram as such (I’ll call it a photogram effect). Nevertheless, there are digital processes that do hearken back to the appearance of the photogram.

In this article, I’ll walk you through my method to make a photogram effect with a digital camera, a laptop/tablet, a bit of Photoshopping, and a handful of objects.

How to Create a Photogram Effect with a Digital Process

What is a Photogram?

A photogram is a photographic image made without the use of a camera. The photogram process usually involves placing objects directly onto a photosensitive medium like photo-paper and exposing the arrangement to light. The result is a negative rendering of the objects, creating delicate studies of the interplay between light and various degrees of transparency.

The photogram technique was famously used by Man Ray in his explorations of rayographs. Other artists like László Moholy-Nagy, Pablo Picasso and Imogen Cunningham also experimented with the distinctive photogram format.

How to Create a Digital Photogram Effect

To create your photogram effect, there are a few things you will need.

You will need a:

dark(ish) room
tablet or laptop
digital camera
piece of white paper (A4 approx)
selection of objects of different transparencies
tripod (optional)

Setting up

Creating a photogram effect requires a little preparation. On the laptop or tablet, open a plain white image and display it full-screen. You can make a plain white image by saving an unedited white canvas from Photoshop or Paint etc and viewing it full-screen in a photo-viewer. For greater impact, turn up the brightness of your laptop or tablet screen too.

Once your laptop or tablet is displaying a plain white background, position the screen so that it lies flat and face-up on a level surface. Place the sheet of white paper over the screen.

Position an object or a selection of objects on the paper. You can arrange them as neatly or as randomly as you like – there is no hard-and-fast rule!

Once your have arranged your objects, turn off the lights, close the curtains, do what you can to darken your surroundings. You don’t need complete darkness to create a photogram effect, but working in darker conditions does make the effect a little more pronounced.

Taking the shot

Next, it’s time to start taking photographs. If you want to use a tripod, get set up so the camera is positioned squarely over the laptop or tablet.

In terms of camera settings, I set my camera to manual at f/4 at around 1/80th of a second. For this project, I set my ISO to 1600 and I also adjusted the exposure compensation to +2. These settings may differ depending on your setup. To mimic the photogram effect, you want detail in the transparent areas of an object and considerable shadows in opaque areas. It can be difficult to get the balance right first go, so don’t be afraid to experiment with your camera settings.

If you are hand-holding, aim your camera so it is square with the dimensions of the laptop or tablet screen. Set your focus and take a shot (don’t worry if some areas are out of focus, this can add to the effect).

The intriguing part about this process is that the results may not immediately grab you. The paper may look blotchy, the shadows blocky, the edges of the computer/tablet screen might be visible etc…but don’t give up! Just aim to capture detail in the transparent areas. It’s in the post-production that the photogram effect really comes to life.

Post-production

Once you have shot a range of images, its time to Photoshop them. First, open an image and click on the Exposure Adjustment Layer. Set the exposure so that the background in the image is completely white. This will brighten your subject too. You can also do some cropping to eliminate any remnants of the laptop/tablet screen etc.

Next, click on the Invert Adjustment Layer to invert your image. Then, select the Black and White Adjustment Layer. The result will look something like this…

You can experiment further with your image by adjusting the Black and White Adjustment Layer settings and/or presets, or experimenting with a Curves Adjustment Layer to increase or decrease contrast.

Here are a few more examples I made by collecting plants around the local area, photographing them on my laptop screen and processing them with Photoshop:

photogram effect bottle brush and flowers — To get a blockier photogram effect, I increased the contrast of these images with the Curves Adjustment Layer

Conclusion

And there you have it! While it isn’t a genuine photogram, this photogram effect sure is reminiscent of the old analog processes I did in the darkroom.

Show us your photogram effects in the comments!

The post How to Create a Photogram Effect with a Digital Process appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

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Slideshow: Winners of IPA’s One-Shot ‘MOVEMENT’ competition

13 Jun

Slideshow: Winners of IPA’s One-Shot ‘MOVEMENT’ competition

The International Photography Awards (IPA) recently announced the winners of their One-Shot “MOVEMENT” competition. Thousands of photos were submitted from around the world for the theme, movement, around 5 categories: Street Photography, Nature, Fine Art, People, and Technology/Machine. The jury selected the following entries for top prizes:

Grand Prize Winner: ‘Wild Carrots’ by Anne Mason-Hoerter

Category Winners:

Fine Art: ‘Wild Carrots’ by Anne Mason-Hoerter
Street Photography: ‘School Run, Rwanda’ by Benjamin Buckland
Nature: ‘Wallace Flying Frog’ by Shin Leong Teo
People: ‘Rice Growers’ by Jacopo Maria Della Valle
Technology—Machine: ‘The Urban Semiconductor’ by Youngkeun Sur

‘The idea that everything moves, changes, and evolves, is such a great concept to explore through photography. It’s been inspiring to see how photographers of all levels of expertise have captured this concept in its many forms—universal, abstract, human, and machine. Even though it seems the whole planet has almost come to a standstill, through these images we see that life goes on and moves forward,’ says Hossein Farmani, Founder and President of IPA.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, IPA has matched all cash prizes awarded to winning and finalist photographers in the form of a donation to the charity of their choice. All winning and honorable mention photos can be viewed here. IPA is now accepting submissions for its Annual Photography Competition.

Grand Prize Winner + 1st Place – OneShot: Movement, Fine Art: ‘Wild Carrots’ by Anne Mason-Hoerter (Germany)

Date of Photograph: 2013

Technical Info: Nikon D70s, LeicaD-Lux, Canon scanner.

Artist Statement: Multiple scan data combined with digital camera data of a Wild Carrot, scientific name being Daucus carota. My photographic process involves first taking the plant apart and then scanning each piece. I then combine those images with images I have taken with my cameras. I wanted to reproduce the unseen movement of plants at night. There are over 50 single images and took over a month to complete.?

2nd Place – OneShot: Movement, Fine Art: ‘Almost Free’ by Patrizia Burra (Italy)

Date of Photograph: December 12, 2019

Technical Info: 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO 50.

Artist Statement: An artistic vision of movement.

3rd Place – OneShot: Movement, Fine Art: ‘Giant’s Causeway and Figure, Northern Ireland’ by Ugo Ricciardi (Italy)

Date of Photograph: 2018

Technical Info: 18 sec, f/11, 100 ISO. Pentax 645z camera. Long exposure with led light on a long pole.

Artist Statement: This picture, that is part of the ‘Nightscapes’ series, was taken in Northern Ireland. The Giant’s Causeway is an ancient part of the coast. Is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea.

This place, so still and immovable, is illuminated by the moving light, that is fluid and changing. Two elements in contrast, and between them there is the figure of a man, on the top of the rock.

1st Place – OneShot: Movement, Nature: ‘Wallace Flying Frog’ by Chin Leong Tao (Singapore)

Date of Photograph: November, 2018

Technical Info: 1/1250 sec, ISO 1250, f/13, Sony Alpha a6500 camera.

Artist Statement: Wallace’s Flying Frog is a moss frog found in Malaysia and western Indonesia. It is generally quite photogenic given its large size, brilliant colors and calm temperament. This is a shot taken of a specimen swimming in water, with full extension of its beautiful long legs.

2nd Place – OneShot: Movement, Nature: ‘Flying over the Sea’ by Claudio Piccoli (Italy)

Date of Photograph: September 6, 2019

Technical Info: 1/4000s, ISO 100, f/2.8, full frame.

Artist Statement: I love to represent the dog as a super hero in my action shots. This dog and its owner were practicing disc dog in the water. It’s very difficult to do such amazing performances in these conditions, since the water brakes every movement. It was sunrise and I love the colors.

The position of the girl is really focused on her dog and the launch of the disc was perfect. It’s a shot you can repeat more than one or two times since after that the dog needs to rest. The dog remain the main subject and his position in the air is perfect and extended with the maximum tension of muscles.

3rd Place – OneShot: Movement, Nature: ‘Surfacing’ by Jean-Christophe Girard Lemay (Canada)

Date of Photograph: March 2, 2020

Technical Info: 1/2000 sec, f/2.8 , ISO 400 , 125mm lens.

Artist Statement: Such a memorable day navigating the St. Lawrence (Quebec, Canada) on the CCGS Amundsen. A was assigned as official photographer for the scientific mission that took place on the ship, for two weeks and a half.

On the fifth day, a beluga came to visit us very closely when we were stopped at the last sampling station. I knew I saw one earlier, but very far offshore. This time, it couldn’t have been closer than; it dived right in front of our eyes, and then came out often on the other side of the boat about fifteen minutes later, each time blowing air just before it hit the surface.

2nd Place – OneShot: Movement, People: ‘Night Journey’ by Ken Browar and Deborah Ory (United States)

Artist Statement: ‘Night Journey’ is a photograph of the Martha Graham Company taken for our book ‘The Style of Movement’ The image is of 6 dancers performing the piece ‘Night Journey’ choreographed by Graham. The dance is based on the Greek myth of Oedipus and Jocasta with six women portraying the Greek chorus.

Martha Graham designed the dramatic costumes, which accompanied the text in our book discussing Graham’s influence on fashion design. We felt this piece worked well for the theme of ‘movement’ as the women are moving together in perfect harmony, both in their movement, and in their dynamic expression.

3rd Place – OneShot: Movement, People: ‘Good Sheepherd’ by F. Dilek Uyar (Turkey)

Artist Statement: The dusty and arduous journey of sheep herds in Bitlis. Sheep herds do this dusty path to reach the highlands where they graze until the middle of July after milking.

1st Place – OneShot: Movement, Street Photography: ‘School Run, Rwanda’ by Benjamin Buckland (Switzerland)

Date of Photograph: October 20, 2019

Technical Info: 1/15 sec, ISO 160, f/22, cropped sensor.

Artist Statement: I drove down here in a wild storm. South towards Lake Rweru and the deepest source of the Nile. Pools of water on the road. Hard enough that my creaking windscreen wipers couldn’t keep pace and I stopped for a while. Peering downhill at Burundi through the mist. Rain intense enough that even the usually indomitable Rwandese cyclists disappeared from the road. But like all rain here at this time of year, it was quickly over. And the cyclists were back before I knew it. Rwanda. October 2019.

2nd Place – OneShot: Movement, Street Photography: ‘Flying Boys’ by Dimpy Bhalotia (India)

Artist Statement: This was shot in Varanasi, India.

3rd Place – OneShot: Movement, Street Photography: ‘Momentum’ by George Stastny (Canada)

Date of Photograph: June 11, 2018

Technical Info: 1/1000 , ISO 100, f/1.8, Micro Four Thirds crop sensor.

Artist Statement: We all have a driving force that keeps us moving at a forward momentum.

1st Place – OneShot: Movement, Technology/Machine: ‘The Urban Semiconductor’ by Sur Young Ken (Republic of Korea)

Date of Photograph: January 24, 2020

Technical Info: 15 sec, f/11, ISO 64, Nikon D850 camera.

Artist Statement: We live in an age of massive and fast transmission.

2nd Place – OneShot: Movement, Technology/Machine: ‘Porsche Type 64 Ice Race’ by Richard Seymour (United Kingdom)

Date of Photograph: February 1, 2020

Artist Statement: Tracking shot of a replica Porsche Type 64 at the 2020 GP Ice Race at Zell am See, Austria.

3rd Place – OneShot: Movement, Technology/Machine: ‘Moonlight over the Atlantic’ by Christiaan van Heijst (Netherlands)

Date of Photograph: January 12, 2020

Technical Info: 4.0 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250, Nikon D850, 10.5mm.

Artist Statement: Full moon. About to cross 30 West, halfway a stormy Atlantic Ocean when the radiant moon ascents above the horizon. Blinding out most stars, the bright lunar spell adds a touch of magic to the world around me. Silver-painted clouds drift by while the capsule of the 747 cockpit allows me to breathe, live and appreciate this alien-like landscape. Far beyond, the gently glowing horizon marks the delicate edge of space. Almost home.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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DPReview TV: Do you still need camera filters for digital photography?

13 Jun

Are camera filters obsolete in the age of digital photography? Can’t we just Photoshop images? Not so fast! We take a look at four filters you still need in your camera bag.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

Introduction
Polarizers
Neutral density (ND) filters
UV filters
Graduated neutral density filters
Wrap-up

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Weekly Photography Challenge – Birds

13 Jun

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Birds appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

This week’s weekly photography challenge – BIRDS!

With some lockdown restrictions being eased around the world at this time, I have chosen Birds as this week’s theme.

Capture them in flight, or sitting still. Do close ups or wider shots. Make them color or black and white! The choice is yours. I look forward to seeing your shots

bird photography camera settings — Photo by Prathap DK

Tips for photographing BIRDS

10 Must-Use Bird Photography Camera Settings for Beginners

5 Camera Settings Every Bird Photographer Should Know

A Quick Guide to Amazing Bird Photography Compositions

A Guide to Photographing Birds and Wildlife in a Wetland Area

5 Ways to Photograph Birds

How to Photograph Hummingbirds

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see. Or, if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites – tag them as #DPSbirds2020 to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Birds appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

Digital Photography School

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Archive for June, 2020

Hähnel proCUBE2$ 80 | Hähnel

Intro

Key features

What’s in the box?

Design

Performance

Conclusion

What we like

What we don’t like

Shoot in RAW

Crop

White Balance

Exposure adjustments

Texture and Sharpening

Final touches

What is a Photogram?

How to Create a Digital Photogram Effect

You will need a:

Setting up

Taking the shot

Post-production

Conclusion

Slideshow: Winners of IPA’s One-Shot ‘MOVEMENT’ competition

Grand Prize Winner + 1st Place – OneShot: Movement, Fine Art: ‘Wild Carrots’ by Anne Mason-Hoerter (Germany)

2nd Place – OneShot: Movement, Fine Art: ‘Almost Free’ by Patrizia Burra (Italy)

3rd Place – OneShot: Movement, Fine Art: ‘Giant’s Causeway and Figure, Northern Ireland’ by Ugo Ricciardi (Italy)

1st Place – OneShot: Movement, Nature: ‘Wallace Flying Frog’ by Chin Leong Tao (Singapore)

2nd Place – OneShot: Movement, Nature: ‘Flying over the Sea’ by Claudio Piccoli (Italy)

3rd Place – OneShot: Movement, Nature: ‘Surfacing’ by Jean-Christophe Girard Lemay (Canada)

2nd Place – OneShot: Movement, People: ‘Night Journey’ by Ken Browar and Deborah Ory (United States)

3rd Place – OneShot: Movement, People: ‘Good Sheepherd’ by F. Dilek Uyar (Turkey)

1st Place – OneShot: Movement, Street Photography: ‘School Run, Rwanda’ by Benjamin Buckland (Switzerland)

2nd Place – OneShot: Movement, Street Photography: ‘Flying Boys’ by Dimpy Bhalotia (India)

3rd Place – OneShot: Movement, Street Photography: ‘Momentum’ by George Stastny (Canada)

1st Place – OneShot: Movement, Technology/Machine: ‘The Urban Semiconductor’ by Sur Young Ken (Republic of Korea)

2nd Place – OneShot: Movement, Technology/Machine: ‘Porsche Type 64 Ice Race’ by Richard Seymour (United Kingdom)

3rd Place – OneShot: Movement, Technology/Machine: ‘Moonlight over the Atlantic’ by Christiaan van Heijst (Netherlands)

Tips for photographing BIRDS

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

Hähnel proCUBE2
$ 80 | Hähnel