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CES 2017 show highlights: from the weird to the (kind of) wonderful

10 Jan

CES 2017: Show highlights

This year’s consumer electronics extravaganza in Las Vegas was the usual combination of the weird and wonderful, showcasing everything from a fish-finding underwater drone to Panasonic’s flagship DC-GH5. DPReview was there – click through the slides above to see what we found.

CES 2017: Show highlights

One of the first booths we stopped at was Canon’s. Here, the company was showing off a range of technologies, including the 250MP APS-H format sensor that they’ve been wheeling out at various trade shows over the past year or so. Here you can see an 800mm lens attached to the sensor housing.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Just around the corner is another technology demo, but this one is a shipping product. The ME20F-SH was announced back in 2015, and made headlines for its ability to capture HD footage at equivalent ISO sensitivities up to 4 million, but it is now in the hands of filmmakers. At CES, Canon was showing off full-color sample footage of the African savannah shot in collaboration with a National Geographic filmcrew, and captured in almost complete darkness.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Back to consumer digital imaging, and Canon was also showcasing its newest compact camera, the PowerShot G9 X Mark II. Externally almost indistinguishable from its predeCESsor, the pocketable G9 X Mark II is much faster, especially in Raw mode.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Meanwhile, just across the hall, Nikon was entertaining attendees with the return of ‘Project Helix’. Now featuring 72 simultaneously-triggered Nikon D750 full-frame DSLRs and one KeyMission 360, Helix creates an interactive 360-degree image of whoever steps into the ring.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Here are some of the 72 Nikon D750s, and their companion 14-24mm F2.8 lenses. That’s roughly a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of gear, right there.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Considerably less expensive is the new Nikon D5600, launched last year in Europe and Asia, and officially announced in the USA at this year’s CES. Boasting a 24MP sensor, 39-point AF system an redesigned body, the D5600 is an attractive beginners’ DSLR.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Over to the Ricoh booth, where this show floor demo Pentax K-1 has had its magnesium alloy swapped for clear polycarbonate, to show off the camera’s inner workings.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Also on the Ricoh booth was an interesting technology demo showing what happens when the Theta 360 is hooked up to a Pentax K-1. While the 360 takes care of a low-resolution 360-degree image, the K-1 can capture a high-resolution image of a portion of the scene. The resulting multi-image file can be explored in the same way as a conventional Theta 360-image, with the addition of higher-resolution inserts.

Currently only a technology demonstration, We can imagine this being particularly useful for businesses, and real-estate photography.

CES 2017: Show highlights

This is Kodak’s Super 8 video camera, which offers a hybrid of very old technology (super 8 film) with modern digital display and audio. The Super 8 camera features a digital live view display (albeit not a very good one) and digital audio recording, in a stylish body.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Much more modern is Panasonic’s Lumix DC-GH5. Definitely the highest-profile camera release of CES 2017, the GH5 is a flagship Micro Four Thirds 4K stills/video camera which also incorporates a ‘6K photo’ mode and a range of advanced stills photography features.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Not exactly new, but a new look at least – this is the just-unveiled ‘Graphite’ edition of Fujifilm’s X-Pro2, shipping soon with its matching 23mm F2 lens.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Ambarella may not be a brand name that rolls off your tongue, but chances are pretty good you own their products since the company makes the cameras and SOCs that power some of the industry’s most popular devices. We were really impressed by the Yi 4K action cam, which uses the company’s new H2 SOC to deliver stunning 4K/60p video.

CES 2017: Show highlights

What happens when you arrange 128 Canon Rebels in a sphere? If you’re Solidiphy, you sync them up, stitch the photos together, and send the results to a 3D printer. We gave it a try and will report back when we receive our Barney and Dale action figures.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Along with vinyl records, slide film, and 1980s video game consoles, instant prints are doing their part to drive the retro revolution. The Polaroid Pop brings back the classic 3.5 x 4.25″ instant print format using ZINK Zero Ink printing technology. A representative told us the Pop should be available ‘later in 2017.’

CES 2017: Show highlights

Speaking of retro… If you’ve been saying to yourself “Gee whiz, I sure do wish I had an old fashioned console TV on which to view my photos,” your day has arrived thanks to Broksonic. It’s actually a flat screen mounted in a console, but the analog spirit is there. If we get a review unit we’ll order up a bunch of frozen TV dinners to give it a spin.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Sony didn’t have any new gear to show off at CES 2017, but this tech was keeping himself busy repairing a6000-series bodies as part of Sony’s Pro Support program.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Touch it. Touch the future.

CES 2017: Show highlights

WE TAKE IT BACK – WE DON’T LIKE THE FUTURE!

CES 2017: Show highlights

If there was one product class that dominated this year’s CES, it was drones. From the very big…

CES 2017: Show highlights

…to the very small…

CES 2017: Show highlights

…to the downright silly.

CES 2017: Show highlights

One of the most popular products of the show was a drone that doesn’t even fly. The PowerVision PowerRay is an underwater drone with integrated 4K camera – perfect for filming your tropical adventures. (Note: mermaid not included.)

CES 2017: Show highlights

Not do be outdone by their own underwater drone, PowerVision also introduced the PowerEgg. It’s a drone. Shaped like an egg. Because… eggs. Right? After all, who hasn’t said to themselves, “I love drones, I just wish they were shaped like eggs?”

CES 2017: Show highlights

And yet, it’s strangely cool and fun to fly!

And to think, we put a man on the moon…

CES 2017: Show highlights

Speaking of which, NASA was raising the average IQ of its fellow exhibitors just a short distance away, with a couple of small robots in tow. This one, called ‘Rovey’ (we’re not making that up) is a demonstrator used in schools and colleges. Loosely modeled on the Curiosity Rover, Rovey was obviously feeling the chill a little, over in the South Hall. Unfortunately, Rovey was nowhere near the BB-8 droid we saw rolling around, so chances for a robot romance were slim.

CES 2017: Show highlights

If VR is your thing, this Drone Volt aerial machine should be on your radar. It combines video from two separate GoPro Omni rigs (a total of 12 cameras) for a high quality VR experience that stitches the drone right out of the picture. Just don’t crash it…

CES 2017: Show highlights

In the future, all cars will look like this. Apparently.

CES 2017: Show highlights

Ride it. Ride the future.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Happy New Year 2017 from the dPS Team

04 Jan

The team at dPS including myself, all the writers, management, web guys, customer support, and everyone that makes dPS run – would all like to wish you a Happy New Year!

By Jeff Krause

We’re honored to provide you with quality photography articles, tips and tricks and informative review and tutorials each and every day.

Here’s to a new year full of education, inspiration, entertainment and hopefully a little photography! See you on the flip side.

Cheers, the dPS Team

happy-new-year-2017

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The post Happy New Year 2017 from the dPS Team by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Happy Holidays 2016 from the dPS Team

28 Dec

happyholidays2016

Merry Christmas from the team at dPS! It’s Christmas day already in Australia where most of the team is based, and we’d like to wish you the happiest of days from all of us here at dPS.

Thank you for being a regular reader and fan of dPS and for helping us to be able to continue to provide photography education for you and other photography enthusiasts. However you celebrate this holiday season, we hope you have a good one.

Cheers!

By Jake Vince

The post Happy Holidays 2016 from the dPS Team by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Happy Holidays from DPReview

25 Dec

Happy Holidays

As we celebrate our eighteenth anniversary (the site officially launched December 25th, 1998, when some of our staff were still in elementary school) I’d like to wish each and every one of our visitors a very Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Season’s Greetings/Happy Hanukkah/Merry Festivus* (*delete as required).

As you can might be able to spot from the picture above, I wasn’t personally able to attend the ‘put on a festive hat and pose for a portrait’ session due to the fact that some of us have actual work to do (or to put it more accurately, some of us had already left for two weeks of eating, drinking and being merry). And besides, there were no hats left. And I really, really hate being on the other side of the camera.

And, whilst I may not be sure exactly which of the various bearded guys in the picture above is which, I can tell you that I’m incredibly proud of the work the entire team has done this year, and excited to see what they achieve in 2017. I wrote my first camera review 20 years ago (when working on the launch issue of the world’s first dedicated digital camera magazine), yet I still learn something almost every day by working with these talented, dedicated (and, yes, often bearded) people. It is their ideas (which, naturally, I steal and present as my own) and their boundless enthusiasm that keep our audience growing year on year, in the face of the continuing decline in camera sales (and the competition from viral cat videos and an unpresidented amount of twittering from high profile US political leaders.)

2016 might have been a year many of us will be glad to see the back of, but I’m genuinely excited about what we have planned for 2017 here on DPR. You’re going to see some significant changes to our homepage, with much more photographic content and faster reviews. We’ve got big plans for the mobile site, and we have some cool new features that we think you’re really going to enjoy. Actually, let’s be honest, what I should say is that we have some cool new features that we hope you don’t hate…

I can hear the mulled wine and mince pies calling, so I’ll just add my thanks to you, our loyal audience, because (as I say every year), there would be no DPReview without you. You keep us honest, you challenge us, and you often surprise and inspire us. We’re thankful that we’ve been able to continue bringing you reviews, videos, how-to’s, news coverage and much more – it’s a privilege and we’re always striving to do the best we can for our readers. We’re grateful for your contributions to our galleries, photo challenges, forums and spirited discussions, and hope that you’ve taken some photos you’re proud of this year.

Have a fantastic holiday, and raise a glass with me to a pleasant, prosperous and peaceful 2017.

Merry Christmas!

— Simon

Happy Holidays

“We spend our entire year shooting cameras, dissecting features, and arguing about pixels. It’s kind of the way things are at DPReview…

…But when you receive a picture of your newborn niece two days before Christmas, it reminds you of what’s really important, and why photography really does matter.

Happy holidays. I can’t wait to see what you all shoot in 2017!”

Dale Baskin, New Content Editor

Happy Holidays

“2016 introduced a lot of exciting and innovative things in photography. New gear, glass, techniques, technology, accessories, talent…

…so <ahem> why are you still sitting there? Go take some pictures!”

Wenmei Hill, Editorial Manager

Happy Holidays

“Abstractly, 2016 was much like any other year. I’ve had failures, which I’ve tried to learn from. I’ve had successes, which I’ve tried to learn from. The biggest challenge for me is to avoid becoming bogged down by the former, and too comfortable with the latter. In this sense, then, I honestly hope that 2017 will provide opportunities for more of each.

Also, if it could provide me an opportunity to win the lottery so I can finally purchase a D5 and a 105mm F1.4 of my very own, that’d be great too.”

Carey Rose, some guy we found who likes taking photographs and writing about things

Happy Holidays

“Photographically this was one of the most challenging and rewarding years I’ve had in a long time. I got to photograph lava on my honeymoon, shoot the canyon lands of Utah and enjoy wildflower season at home in the PNW; it doesn’t get much better than that! I’m looking forward to see what 2017 has to offer, but it will definitely be hard to top 2016! Happy holidays everyone!”

Chris Williams, Landscape Guru and Lens Reviewer

Happy Holidays

“Other than finally coming to terms with Windows after 12 years with Mac, I spent much of 2016 researching LED, CRI, reverse phase dimming, and redundancy in smart device operation… all to get the various technologies in my home and digital life working together in time for the birth of my first child. And you know what? A hands-free smart home makes me want a hands-free smart camera.

All in good time. In the meantime, I’ve got a diaper to change and a once-in-a-lifetime smile to capture with my [insert brand that paid me off last here] camera. Happy Holidays!”

Rishi Sanyal, Technical Editor

Happy Holidays

“Is 2016 over yet?”

Barnaby Britton, Features Editor

Happy Holidays

“2016 for me included some great cameras and an increasingly ill-advised beard. It should probably also be the year I give up on watching elections.

Still, if you’re wondering why I’m the only member of the team wearing a suit, it’s because I wanted to wish everyone a very moiré Christmas.

And to apologise for that pun.”

Richard Butler, Reviews Editor

Happy Holidays

“I think I actually shot more photos in 2016 than any other year of my life, despite the world seemingly crashing down all around us. There was also some fiiiine glass released this year, which I think was even more exciting than the big camera launches.”

Dan Bracaglia, Camera Reviewer

Happy Holidays

“I told a friend earlier this year it would be difficult to buy the wrong camera after Photokina 2016, but then the Yi M1 came out…”

Sam Spencer, Studio Manager

Happy Holidays

“In the immortal words of Groucho Marx, ‘Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.'”

Allison Johnson, Homepage Editor

Happy Holidays

“As the person responsible for all of the ads on the site, I’m sorry.

Looking ahead to 2017, I’m reminded of some choice words from Prince, may he RIP:

‘Everyone has a rock bottom’

‘I have a lot of parties’ “

Scott Everett, Senior Product Manager

Happy Holidays

“We managed to go the entire year without any software-related injuries! I consider that a success.”

Josh Hays, Software Developer

Happy Holidays

“We will remember the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes and how that impacted so many camera brands and product releases.

We may forget how the year’s promise of Virtual Reality (VR) everywhere for everyone didn’t quite end up that way. (maybe next year)

We will remember Pokemon Go by Niantic becoming the hottest craze and the most successful Augmented Reality (AR) game ever.

I will remember how Nintendo made way too few NES Classics. (empty handed)”

Eugene Hsu, Geek, Product Manager Business Development

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Shots from a drone help photographer take first place in Travel Photographer of the Year awards

18 Dec

2016 Travel Photographer of the Year

Joel Santos, Portugal Winner, Travel Photographer of the Year 2016/www.tpoty.com

Salt Desert, Danakil Depression, Afar, Ethiopia. This unique aerial photo shows the salt miners guiding a dromedary and donkey caravan through this desert’s unique salt patterns.

A photographer from Portugal has won the £4000 top prize in 2016’s Travel Photographer of the Year competition with a pair of portfolios of volcanic landscapes and, in contrast, a document of the life of fishermen in Ghana. Joel Santos is the first Portuguese winner of the competition, as well as the first to win with a set of images shot from a drone.

Winners of other categories in the competition went away with cash and accessories, while the best portfolios in the ‘Mankind’, ‘Land, Sea, Sky’ and ‘Journeys & Adventures’ sections won a Fujifilm X camera and lens. The Young Travel Photographer of the Year was Darpan Basak, a 14-year-old from India, while an 18-year-old from the USA, Courtney Moore, won the 15-18-year old category, and Ankit Kumar from India won the 14 and Under section.

The competition attracted entries from 123 countries, and a selection of the winning images will be exhibited in Hull, UK, between 18th May and 30th June, and again at the University of Greenwich, London, during August.

For more information and to see the winners in all categories visit the Travel Photographer of the Year website.

Press Release

ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Travel Photographer of the Year 2016 winners are revealed

From fiery lava flows to a magical, snow-swirled New York street scene that echoes an impressionist painting and from the imperious gaze of an elusive, endangered Iberian lynx to wonderfully minimalist images of West Kirby, England, the winning images in the 2016 international Travel Photographer of the Year awards (TPOTY) have been revealed, and they are stunning.

Photographers from 20 countries have won awards, and the winning images will go on show at TPOTY exhibitions at the UK City of Culture celebrations in Hull from 18th May to 30th June 2017 and at 10 Stockwell Street, Greenwich at the University of Greenwich, London from 4th August to 3rd September 2017.

Joel Santos becomes the first-ever Portuguese overall winner in the award’s 14-year history, beating photographers from 123 countries to take the title of Travel Photographer of the Year 2016. His winning entry features a delicate and intimate portfolio depicting traditional fishing in Ghana and – in another first for TPOTY – an aerial portfolio captured using a drone, giving a bird’s eye view of one of the hottest places in the world, Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression.

The Young Travel Photographer of the Year 2016 is 14-year old Darpan Basak from India, 18-year old Courtney Moore (USA) won Young TPOTY 15-18 and Ankit Kumar (India) won Young TPOTY 14 and Under.

In the portfolio categories, former overall TPOTY winner Craig Easton won ‘Land, Sea, Sky’, with two German photographers – Sandra Bartocha and Stephan Fürnrohr
– each being awarded ‘Best Single Image’ in the category. China’s Ruiyuan Chen took first place in ‘Mankind’, with Jeremy Woodhouse (UK) winning the award for Best Single Image, and Beniamino Pisati (Italy) won ‘Journeys & Adventures’, with Lluís Salvadó (Spain) winning Best Single Image.

In the single image categories, ‘Shaped by Light’ was won by Chinese photographer Biran Zhao, Michele Palazzo (Italy) won ‘Cities – Architecture & Spaces’ and Luke Massey (UK) won ‘Wildlife & Nature’.

Briton Alison Cahill came first in the New Talent award, and fellow Brit Rufus Blackwell won the HD video category Travel Shorts. Finally, Italy’s Marina Spironetti took first prize in Smart Shot, the category for images taken on a mobile phone or tablet.

Travel Photographer of the Year is judged by an international panel of judges that includes Deputy Editor in Chief, Fotomagazin, Germany, Manfred Zollner, champion jockey turned travel photographer Richard Dunwoody and Jerry Tavin (co-president of Glasshouse Images and founder of Young Photographers’ Alliance).

Awards and prizes
In addition to the significant international exposure that comes with winning TPOTY, Joel Santos receives £4,000, a selection of StaaG luxury leather travel goods and sterling silver accessories (worth over £1250), £500 to spend on the Páramo clothing of his choice, and a Plastic Sandwich personalized leather portfolio case.

For their success in Journeys & Adventures; Land, Sea, Sky, and Mankind, Beniamino Pisati, Craig Easton and Ruiyuan Chen each receive a Fujifilm X-Series camera and lens of their choice. The winner of the Best Single Image award in each portfolio category receives a giclée fine art print from Genesis Imaging.

Biran Zhao, Luke Massey and Michele Palazzo, the winners of Shaped by Light; Wildlife & Nature, and Cities – Architecture and Spaces will each enjoy a five or six- day winter or summer voyage for two people along Norway’s stunning coastline with Hurtigruten, and receive a Torres Insulator Jacket from Páramo.

Alison Cahill receives a set of luxury leather travel goods from StaaG, a personalized leather portfolio case from Plastic Sandwich, Photo Iconic tuition and a Páramo Halcon Traveller jacket for winning New Talent, while Marina Spironetti and Rufus Blackwell each win £500, a Páramo Halcon Traveller jacket and a Plastic Sandwich portfolio case, for winning ‘Smart Shot’ and the HD Video category respectively.

Young TPOTY winner Darpan Basak receives £500, Photo Iconic photography tuition and a Plastic Sandwich leather portfolio case. Each Young TPOTY age group winner receives £250 plus Photo Iconic photography tuition. The awarded photographers in Young TPOTY also receive destination guides from SNAPP Guides, as do certain awarded photographers in a number of other categories

To see all the winning images across all categories, visit the 2016 Winners’ Gallery at www.tpoty.com.

2016 Travel Photographer of the Year

Joel Santos, Portugal Winner, Travel Photographer of the Year 2016/www.tpoty.com

Lake Bosumtwi, Ashanti, Ghana. The Ashanti people fish from the traditional wooden padua.

2016 Travel Photographer of the Year

Courtney Moore, USA (age 18) Winner, Young TPOTY 15-18/www.tpoty.com

Island Beach State Park, New Jersey, USA. On a particularly windy day, this fox was sitting only a few yards away from the ocean as sand pelted against his fur.

2016 Travel Photographer of the Year

Ankit Kumar, India (age 13) Winner, Young TPOTY 14 and Under/www.tpoty.com

Lake Natron Tanzania. A flock of Lesser flamingos take flight above Tanzania’s salt and soda Lake Natron.

2016 Travel Photographer of the Year

Beniamino Pisati, Italy Winner, Journeys & Adventures portfolio/www.tpoty.com

Bayankhongor, Mongolia. Horses are present in all aspects of life in Mongolia. A popular saying is: “A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without wings”.

2016 Travel Photographer of the Year

Alison Cahill, UK Winner, New Talent, Eye to Eye/www.tpoty.com

Son & Dad Barbers, George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Portrait of Elyas the head barber and owner of Son & Dad.

2016 Travel Photographer of the Year

Craig Easton, UK Winner, Land, Sea, Sky portfolio/www.tpoty.com

West Kirby, Wirral, UK. A lone Buddhist monk walks around the boundary wall of the West Kirby Marine Lake.

2016 Travel Photographer of the Year

Ruiyuan Chen, China Winner, Mankind portfolio/www.tpoty.com

Daliang Mountains, Sichaun province, China. Portraits of the ethnic Yi people, who live in great poverty.

2016 Travel Photographer of the Year

Biran Zhao, China Winner, Shaped by Light/www.tpoty.com

Baiyu County, Ganzi, Sichuan Province, China. Every morning, the nuns walk around the mountain as practice lesson. Regardless of the season, they walk year after year, day in and day out.

2016 Travel Photographer of the Year

Luke Massey, UK Winner, Wildlife & Nature/www.tpoty.com

Sierra de Andújar National Park, Andalucia, Spain. In 2001 there were less than 100 Iberian lynx left in the wild. Fifteen years later there are now more than 400, but it is still, unfortunately, the rarest cat in the world.

2016 Travel Photographer of the Year

Rudi Sebastian, Germany Joint Runner-up Wildlife & Nature/www.tpoty.com

Berlin, Germany. In a small pond at the rural border of Berlin, male moor frogs in their bright blue mating colour try to mate with a common toad, which almost drowned. It took about 30 minutes before she managed to free herself and reach dry ground.

2016 Travel Photographer of the Year

Michele Palazzo, Italy Winner, Cities: Architecture & Spaces/www.tpoty.com

Flatiron Building, Manhattan, New York, USA. While walking through the Jonas snowstorm that swept across the East Coast, I captured this shot of the Flatiron Building against a backdrop of swirling snow.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Blog Project: Your Best Photos From 2016

15 Dec

It’s that time of year again and if you’re a regular JMG-Galleries reader that means one thing…
it is time to kick off the 10th annual best photos of the year blog project. This is by far my most popular blog project with hundreds of photographers taking part last year (see Best Photos of 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007). Around this time of year people start to ask if I’d be running this project again. The answer clearly is always YES!
1. I love this project and I love that so many people get excited about it.
2. It’s a great way exercise to improve your photography (10 Ways to Top Your Best 20xx Photographs).
So with out any further delay here is how you take part to submit your best photos of 2016.

How to Participate (Read Carefully)

Review & select your best photos from 2016.
Note: Photo edit carefully narrowing down your results to your best 10 or 5 photos. Reference Pro Tips: Photo Editing with Gary Crabbe for pointers.
Create a blog post on your web site or a Flickr/500px set containing your best photos from 2016.
Complete the form below by Tuesday JANUARY 3rd at 11:59PM PST to take part. The following Tuesday, or there about, I’ll post a link to all submitted sites and photos on my blog. Through out the week I’ll also share the results across all my social media accounts.

Spread the Word!
Feel free to spread the word of this project on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, photo forums you frequent and/or your blogs. All who are interested in taking part are invited.

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The post Blog Project: Your Best Photos From 2016 appeared first on JMG-Galleries – Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography.

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Tips from the Sports Photography Pros to Help You Get the Money Shots

07 Dec

The pros know that sports photography is a fast paced and intense profession. You have to be quick. Really quick! Catching the moment is one-third intuition, a third skill, and the rest is pure luck. Accept it now! Sometimes the most amazing shot you capture will just be pure luck.

Capture the emotion and the intensity of the players. These shots sell.

There are things you can do to increase the odds of success. If you’re like me and you want to earn part of your income from sports photography then there are some tips and tricks you need to learn. Sports photography is a lot more than just pointing the camera at an athlete and holding down the shutter button.

Camera grip is key

The sheer speed of sports photography requires a specialized grip. You have to be able to zoom in and out quickly as well as switch from landscape to portrait (horizontal to vertical) orientation. If you are strong enough to handhold your lens then this technique is for you.

For a magazine a shot in black and white can create a lot of drama.

Loosen up the tripod collar on the lens so it slides easily. Hold the lens by placing the base of the collar in the palm of your hand and grip the zoom ring with your fingers. As you rotate your camera from portrait to landscape your camera will automatically change focal lengths. It’s quick and convenient and it’s also pretty easy to maneuver. You can then adjust the orientation of your camera back to portrait or landscape by releasing your grip on the zoom ring. It takes practice to perfect this method but once you’ve got it the process becomes very quick.

The same basic premise can be used if you shoot with a monopod. Instead of using your hand as the base for monopod ring you’re going to handhold the zoom ring and turn from portrait to landscape in the same way.

In this case, the image is about the struggle and expressions on the kid’s faces. The scene tells a story about struggle.

Money shots

I quickly learned that certain types of shot sell while other shots are nice but they don’t sell. The images that generally fall into one of the following three categories:

At tournaments, these types of shots sell to parents.

1) The Celebration

Images of athletes celebrating are so popular because they show the height of emotion and sacrifice. The recent shot of the World Series winning Chicago Cubs is a fantastic example.

While this isn’t an epic celebration parents love this type of shot.

2) The profile shot

In this instance, you capture an image of an athlete in action. The shot shows the shape of their body as they compete and there is little to distract from the perfection of their form.

The water droplets are my favorite part of this shot even though most people won’t notice them.

3) The unusual occurrence shot

These are the unique moments in sports that only happen once. You won’t catch these types of shots very often but when you do it’s a fantastic adrenaline rush.

In this case, the facial expression and position of the girl’s arms and the ball make for a unique shot.

I’m not saying that other shots won’t sell but the likely hood is far less. Sometimes the image falls into a category of its own. If you try to capture the majority of your images from these three categories then you are well on your way to earning an income from sports photography.

Don’t give up

Sports photography is an incredibly tough world to try and break into. You have to work so hard to get noticed. It’s also incredibly challenging and very physical. Be prepared for the ride of your life. You will have to push your camera and your body to their limits to keep up with these talented and very physical athletes.

So use every trick or tip you can find to rise above the rest and take those memorable shots. Leave any of your tips below and also share your favorite images.

Capturing goalies is a real challenge. Usually, there’s a lot of traffic in front of them.

The post Tips from the Sports Photography Pros to Help You Get the Money Shots by Erin Fitzgibbon appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Hidden Addition: Stealth NYC Penthouse is Invisible from Streets Below

30 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

stealth-roof

Unseen above the restored cast-iron facade of this 1857 residential structure in Tribeca, a stunning modern loft extends the building’s livable space, its form responding directly to lines of sight.

roofline-view

view-from-below

Designed by WORKac and known as the Stealth Building, the addition had to work with the existing facade — to preserve its appearance, rendering it invisible became the obvious approach.

hidden-addition-from-above

roofline-view

roofline-calculation

In order to accomplish this clever act of concealment, all angles of view and shadows cast had to be accounted for. In turn, these informed the shape of the angular extension. Tracing lines of visibility across facade features of adjacent buildings, the designers derived a roof line that would work with the project goals.

interior-kitchen-space

roofline-interior

All of this naturally shaped the interior spaces as well, creating dramatic diagonal lines that carry through the various rooms.

loft-addition-space

roof-hot-top-deck

The fifth-floor pop-up features sleeping quarters, entertaining and dining spaces, as well as a secluded terrace tucked behind the pediment to provide privacy for residents. The former elevator bulkhead has been converted to contain a hut tub servicing the deck as well.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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How to Publish Images Directly to Instagram From Lightroom

29 Nov

The Lightroom Library module offers more than just the option to organize your images. With its Publish Services, it allows uploading content to online services from within its interface. The best known Publish Services might be connections to Facebook or Flickr built into the software by Adobe. Since the summer of 2016, you can add Instagram to this list. The LR/Instagram plugin allows publishing on the popular sharing platform through a direct connection from the Library module.

From Lightroom to Instagram

This comes in pretty handy since Instagram does not allow uploads from desktop computers directly. Until now you had to find ways to export images from Lightroom and transfer them to your smartphone before being able to publish them on Instagram.

Installation of the LR/Instagram plugin

The plugin is free to download and try, and there is no time or volume limit to the usage. The publisher, however, asks for a $ 10 payment if you like it. The payment can be done through the plugin manager in Lightroom with a PayPal transaction.

Please also note that this plugin is programmed by a third party, neither Adobe nor Instagram can offer any support, and the plugin may fail at times when either Lightroom or Instagram change their code. So keep yourself updated through the author’s website.

The LR/Instagram plugin acts as a publishing service within the Lightroom Library module. To install the plugin, you first need to download a ZIP file from the website and unpack that to your hard drive.

Lightroom Module folder

While Lightroom allows you to install the plugin from that location, I recommend first moving it from your download folder or desktop to a more permanent location. I use the “Modules” subfolder in the Application Library structure on my hard drive to store my LR plugins. But as your system may vary, make sure it is located in a folder that is related to your Lightroom installation.

Now in Lightroom, open the Plug-In Manager through the File menu structure. Below the list of existing plugins you can find an “Add” button. Point Lightroom to the location of the plugin and tell it to “Add Plug-In”.

Add LR/Instagram Plug-In

How to set up your Instagram Publish Service in Lightroom

Once it is installed, you have to set up a Publish Service using that plugin. For this, press the Plus button on top of the Publish Services section in Lightroom’s Library module. The Publishing Manager will show up and offer LR/Instagram as an additional service. You can name the new service and enter your Instagram username and password.

Please note that the plugin does not work with a Facebook connection login, you need to have a password directly on the Instagram site.

Setting up the LR/Instagram Plug-In

If you now press the Login button, the plugin will show your Instagram profile picture if successful.

Configure settings

In the Preference section, you can limit the number of images published at once. As Instagram and its users might react negatively to one user filling up pages of images at once, it is recommended to set this to a value of around five.

Since Instagram changed their platform to also allow non-square images, you could upload portrait or landscape oriented images to the platform. Still, some users prefer to make their images all appear in the commonly known square format. For this, you can have the plugin add a white or black padding border for images that are not natively in square format.

However, I prefer to crop my images to square format before uploading them to Instagram. For this, I usually create a Virtual Copy of my image in Lightroom before making the Instagram crop. I might upload the original format to other platforms like Facebook and want to avoid going back and forth between different formats.

As Instagram widely relies on #hashtags for users to find content outside of their followings, the LR/Instagram plugin offers a separate metadata field with the option to add these hashtags within the Lightroom interface. You can find the hashtag field in the Metadata section through the drop down menu selecting the LR/Instagram section.

LR/Instagram Preferences

In the preferences area of the Publishing Manager, you can choose to “Caption #Hashtag” as an option to publish the image on Instagram using your caption and add the hashtags from that separate field. If preferred, you can also just publish the image using Title or Caption from your metadata as you also could enter hashtags in a second stage on the Instagram platform directly.

Publishing images to Instagram from Lightroom

Once set up, the new Publish Service will appear in your Library module. You can now simply drag the image you want to publish to the “Instagram photos” collection. This serves as a collection like all others in Lightroom. If you prefer, you can also set this as your Target Collection which allows you to use the B shortcut to directly add images from anywhere in your library into it.

Drag and drop images in Lightroom

When you are finished adding images, you can now tell Lightroom to publish those images. Personally, I try to limit myself to one new image each time. But if preferred, the plugin will now publish as many images as you have recently added to its collection or the limit you have set in the Preferences as explained above. The Publish Service will now run in the background and use Instagram’s API to publish your image.

Publishing from Lightroom to Instagram

Instagram Stream with photo from Lightroom

If you ever want to change the settings you have originally entered, just press the Plus button on the Publish Services section in the Library module and open the Publishing Manager again.

You can also set up multiple different publishing streams, either with different settings or even for a separate Instagram account.

Multiple Publishing Streams for second account

Give it a go

So if you’re on Instagram you might want to have a look this the LR/Instagram plugin. If you’ve used it tell us about your experience. Please share your profile so others can see your work, and follow dPS on Instagram as well.

Read this on how to get more Instagram followers too.

The post How to Publish Images Directly to Instagram From Lightroom by Michael Zwahlen appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Full frame 48MP sensor with global shutter and 8K video hits market from CMOSIS

13 Nov

The Belgian manufacturer that makes some of the sensors used in Leica’s cameras has announced a new offering that features 48MP and a global shutter. Although the CMV50000 CMOS sensor is described as medium-format in the press release, it is actually nearer to being 35mm-sized and measures 36.43 x 27.62mm (the width of a 35mm ‘full-frame’ sensor but elongated out to 4:3 aspect ratio).

The new sensor is also designed to record 8K video at a rate of 30fps and offers, according to the manufacturer, a dynamic range of 64dB at full resolution and a signal-to-noise ratio of 41.4dB. The sensor can increase the dynamic range of its output by recording alternate row of pixels at different exposures (a process comparable with the DR mode of Fujifilm’s EXR CCD designs).

The global shutter design of the sensor allows all pixels to record at the same time instead of in sequence as is usually the case. This means fast moving objects traveling across the frame can be captured without distortion in cameras when using a fully electronic shutter. While some of the company’s target market is industrial inspection the sensor is also said to be suited to still photography and professional and broadcast video.

At the moment the sensor is only available in black and white, but a color version is on its way for the end of the year. The existing sensor costs €3450 (approx. $ 3800). For more information visit the CMOSIS website.

Press release:

Industry’s first global shutter 48Mpixel CMOS image sensor from CMOSIS supports 8k image resolution at 30 frames/s

CMV50000 features low noise, high frame rate, and high dynamic range; easy-to-design-with sensor excels in automated optical inspection systems, machine vision uses and prosumer video applications

Premstaetten, Austria — CMOSIS a member of the ams AG (SIX: AMS) group, a leading provider of high performance sensors and analog ICs, today launched the CMV50000, an industry first global shutter CMOS image sensor offering high resolution of 48Mpixels, more than twice the resolution of its previous generation CMOSIS global shutter CMOS image sensors.

The CMV50000 is a medium format 48Mpixels sensor with 7920 x 6002 4.6-µm sized pixels using the patented 8-transistor pixel architecture to offer low noise and excellent electronic shutter efficiency. Global shutter operation means, that images of fast-moving objects can be captured without distortion.

Its pixel offers 64dB optical dynamic range at full resolution and up to 68dB in subsampled 4k mode, and the imagers benefits from the implementation of sophisticated new, on-chip noise-reduction circuitry such as black level clamping to enable it to capture high quality images under low-light conditions.

Operating at a fast 30 frames/s with 12 bit pixel depth at full resolution or a binned 4k mode, and at up to 60 frames/s with pixel subsampling to 4k resolution, the sensor is suitable for use in high-speed machine-vision systems, as well as in TV broadcasting and video cameras.

The CMV50000 provides detailed views of a large surface area required in factory automation applications such as automated optical inspection (AOI) systems and systems for the inspection of displays of mobile phones, tablets, laptops and TVs. The combination of high frame rate and high re-solution allows further increase of the already high throughput rates at consumer product assembly plants.

A High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode is supported by an odd/even row dual-exposure operation.

The CMV50000 is expected to replace high pixel-count charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors used in machine-vision cameras and high-end security cameras. Compared to the older CCD sensor technology, CMOS image sensors are easier to integrate in camera designs, use less power, and can operate at much higher frame rates.

“The introduction of the 48Mpixel CMV50000 gives camera manufacturers the opportunity to enjoy the design and operating advantages of a CMOS image sensor while gaining the ultra-high resolution, which has previously only been available through the use of CCD sensors”, said Wim Wuyts, Marketing Manager for image sensors at ams.

“The CMV50000’s advanced noise-reduction features such as black level clamping combined with its high optical dynamic range, results in high picture quality at full operation speed without the need for complex analog output matching required for multi-tap CCD image sensors and therefore also decreases the camera development time significantly.”

The monochrome version of the CMV50000 is sampling now. The color version will be available for sampling by the end of 2016. Unit pricing is €3,450.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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