RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘Images’

Slideshow: Winning images from the inaugural World Landscape Photographer competition

17 Jun

Winning images from the inaugural World Landscape Photographer competition

The winning photographs and commended shots of the inaugural World Landscape Photographer competition have been announced, showcasing incredible scenery captured around the world.

The World Landscape Photographer competition is the brainchild of professional landscape photographer Nigel Danson. Determined to help those affected by people affected by COVID-19 and inspired by browsing through his own photo catalog, Danson conceptualized the competition and eventually brought it to life.

The premise was simple — share five of your best landscape photos captured from before March 1, 2020 for an entry fee of just £10. ‘At least 90%’ of the entry fees would go to a COVID-19 charity, with the remaining 10% going towards ‘CC fees and costs associated with sending the prizes to the winners.’ According to Danson, he ‘never thought over 1000 people would enter,’ but sure enough, he and six other judges pored over 4,838 images from more than 1,000 entrants to whittle it down to one 1st place winner, seven prize winners and 50 commended images.

The 1st place prize in the inaugural World Landscape Photography competition went to Neil Burnell from England with his ‘stunning mystical image of Wistman’s Wood in Devon entitled Wise.’ For winning the coveted 1st place prize, Burnell is receiving a Nikon Z50 camera and two lenses, which were donated by Nikon. Other items from Benro, Fotospeed, Kase and Tenba were given out to the remaining six winners.

In total, more than £10K went to a Unicef coronavirus appeal that is ‘raising money to help children affected by the outbreak by working to provide handwashing campaigns as well as providing essential health worker supplies, such as surgical gloves, soap and clean water facilities.’

In this gallery, we’re presenting the 1st place winner and the remaining six prize-winning photos. You can view all 50 of the commended images and words from each of the judges on the World Landscape Photographer website.

1st Place — Wise by Neil Burnell

Gear & Settings:

  • Nikon Z7
  • 24–70mm F4 Z Lens
  • 28mm F8 1/3s ISO 64

www.neilburnell.com

About the photo: I’ve been shooting Wistmans now for four years and have had the composition of this shot in mind for a little while. The shot required extremely thick fog to give the centre trees a touch of separation in what is a very condensed and complex area of the woodland. After several unsuccessful shots of this scene, I finally got lucky with a full day of fog in January this year, I have to say this is probably my favourite image I’ve taken from this wonderful woodland.

2nd Place — The Copse by Jason Hudson

Gear & Settings:

  • Fujifilm XT1 (Infra Red converted)
  • XF10–24mm F4 lens
  • 24mm F8 1/125s ISO 200

Instagram

About the photo: Living in the Eden Valley, all I have to do normally to see if its misty is look out of the window. Thus was the case this particular morning. Thick mist sat across the Eden Valley. With my Sony A7 in for repair I was left with a small Sony Compact and my Fujifilm XT1 which had been converted to Infra Red.

I waited for the sun to rise over the Pennines for the magic to happen. For a glorious 20 minutes I scurried about in my local woodland at Edenhall. I captured some lovely images but then as I came along the road I saw this copse of trees emerging from the mist. It looked majestic. With some blue sky above.

I knew Infra Red would work well. As soon as I looked through the eyepiece I saw the potential for this image. I short the image handheld. The capture needed very little processing, other than an infra red preset in Silver Efex that I use and a touch of Gaussian blur to soften it.

3rd Place — Special by Andrew Baruffi

Gear & Settings:

  • Canon EOS 6D Mark II
  • 24–70mm F2.8 II Lens
  • 50mm F8 1/8s ISO 100

www.andrewbaruffiphoto.com

About the photo: I’ve only been practicing photography for a couple years. In that time I’ve always assumed that subjects, composition, and conditions outweighed the importance of light. In some cases that can still be true for me, but even the littlest amount of light can make a scene truly special. This image spans across two days. In areas of Zion’s east side, patches of ice can be found tucked between the boulders of the washes in the winter months. Those patches tend to fade as more of the water and ice seeps into the sand or simply melts and evaporates on a hotter day. I arrived to a section of the main wash on a chilly day that has the more rare attribute of a pool at a certain bend. The pool was fairly iced over, and the intricacies in the ice patterns were supported by delicate fallen leaves here and there. One leaf in particular caught my eye, a golden oak that bent upwards from the center as the tip and stem were fused into the ice. I sat at that pool for a few hours trying to find the best composition, and eventually found exactly what I wanted. It was such a beautiful scene, I knew that I had to make sure that I got it right before it all vanished.

The next day I arrived to an even colder east side. I returned to the same exact composition to see how it transformed over night. The ice took on a more singular pattern with less variation thanks to the freeze, and the oak leaf still sat frozen in place. Even more special was the morning light creeping into the scene. Golden reflected light from the sandstone opposite me kissed the surface of the oak leaf, and made me realize what I was missing. It wasn’t the composition, conditions, patterns, or subjects that defined the moment; just the simplicity of a tiny bit of light.

4th Place — Fleeting Daydream by Tod Colbert

Gear & Settings:

  • Nikon Z7
  • 70–200mm VRII F2.8
  • 200mm F5 1/100s ISO 200

www.todcolbert.com

About the photo: I took this at Lower Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park this February. It was shot early in the morning and the sun’s position created the rainbow for no more than a minute or so. There were many shots taken before this one as I waited for the sunlight to stream through the falls. Magical it was.

5th Place — Rolling Fog at Buttermere by Adrian Harrison

Gear & Settings:

  • Nikon D610
  • 20mm F1.8 Lens
  • 20mm F13 69s ISO 50

About the photo: Living only half an hours drive from buttermere in the lake district you could say that i am quite familiar with this location. I cant count how many mornings have been spent here trying to capture something that looked a little different from the images you usually see from here. luckily for me, on this occasion the conditions were simply amazing. fog filtering through the scene, perfectly calm waters and not a breath of wind. all i could hear was the sound of the gravel underfoot. i took several frames here but decided to go with a long exposure so the viewer could see just how the fog was gently moving over the fells behind the infamous pines of buttermere. A morning to remember.

6th Place — Kunkovice´s Green by Radoslav Cernicky

Gear & Settings:

  • Nikon 7200
  • 70–300mm Lens
  • 260mm F11 1/160s ISO 100

www.radoslavcernicky.com

About the photo: The photo was taken in the spring during the golden hour using a telephoto lens. It is South Moravia in the Czech Republic near the village Kunkovice. This is an area also known as Moravian Tuscany.

7th Place — Fall Impressions by Jason Flenniken

Gear & Settings:

  • Sony A7R IV
  • 70–200mm F4 Lens
  • 84mm F11 1/20s ISO 200

www.jasonflenniken.com

About the photo: This was an image taken on my first trip to Acadia National Park in October 2019. It was my first time seeing fall color in the northeast, and I was completely blown away. This location is a Tarn right on the side of the road. It was taken mid-morning. For about 30 minutes you get perfect reflections of the hillside colors in the water.

This area was full of small scene compositions, and I was lucky in that some cloud cover created patchy light. It required little editing as does most shots from that time of year in Acada, the colors are almost too vibrant straight from the camera. Shot with a 70–200 f/4 and Sony A7R4, which let me crop in to really narrow down the shapes in the image.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Slideshow: Winning images from the inaugural World Landscape Photographer competition

Posted in Uncategorized

 

‘Disgraceful propaganda’: Fox News under fire for misleading images from Seattle protest zone

16 Jun
A screenshot of an altered photo shared by Fox News, which has since been removed from its website.

Fox News is taking heat after publishing a digitally altered image and a misleading photograph last week in its reporting on Seattle’s Black Lives Matter protests in Seattle, Washington.

Last Friday, Huffington Post reporter Michael Hobbes shared a set of pictures that shows Fox News clearly composited an image of a person carrying a rifle over two photographs of Seattle’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ). While the editing job is far from subtle if you look closely – note the lighting discrepancies between the backgrounds and the gun-wielding subject, as well as the extra area of red between his torso and left elbow – the fact the same individual was used in two separate images makes it clear this was a post-production job.

A Fox News spokesperson provided the following comment to Seattle Times:

‘We have replaced our photo illustration with the clearly delineated images of a gunman and a shattered storefront, both of which were taken this week in Seattle’s autonomous zone’

It appears that there are weapons in the autonomous zone, but as The Seattle Times notes, even Fox News’ follow-up statement is misleading, since the photo of the armed man was taken on June 10th in the Capitol Hill neighborhood while the wrecked storefront image was captured in downtown Seattle, back on May 30th, according to metadata provided by Getty Images.

Photojournalism ethics expert Kenny Irby told Seattle Times in response to the posting of the altered images, ‘I think it’s disgraceful propaganda and terribly misrepresentative of documentary journalism in times like this, when truth-telling and accountability is so important […] There is no attribution. There is no acknowledgment of the montage, and it’s terribly misleading.’ National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) executive director Akili-Casundria Ramsess also told The Seattle Times it was ‘completely egregious to manipulate this the way they have done.’

In a reply to Hobbe’s post on Twitter, Seattle Times Editor Gina Cole responded with a screenshot showing Fox News also shared an article under the headline ‘Seattle helpless as armed guards patrol anarchists’ ‘autonomous zone,’ shake down businesses: cops’ with a photo of an individual running through the streets with a burning car in the foreground and a burning storefront in the background.

However, the image Fox News featured with the article was taken not in Seattle this past week, but two weeks ago, 1,650 miles away in Minneapolis. It was taken by AP photographer John Minchillo, during the Black Lives Matter protests in Minnesota’s capital, as noted by Suki Dardarian, Senior Managing Editor & VP of Minnesota’s Star Tribune. Meanwhile, Seattle’s protests remains largely peaceful, and SPD has apologized for repeating the groundless claim that local businesses had been ‘shaken down’.

Note the creation date on AP Image’s website: May 30, 2020 05:13:07 PM

In response to the criticism, Fox News took down the images and shared the following statement on Saturday in the form of an Editor’s Note at the end of the article:

‘A FoxNews.com home page photo collage which originally accompanied this story included multiple scenes from Seattle’s ‘Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone’ and of wreckage following recent riots,” the note read. “The collage did not clearly delineate between these images, and has since been replaced. In addition, a recent slideshow depicting scenes from Seattle mistakenly included a picture from St. Paul. Fox News regrets these errors.’

This isn’t the first time Fox News has been caught altering images or sharing misleading images under unrelated headlines. But it’s not the only offender. CBS was caught this past April using video footage of an Italian hospital while reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. CBS apologized at the time for what it called an ‘editing mistake’.

Editor’s note (June 15, 2020): A previous version of this article incorrectly stated it was CNN that was caught using incorrect video footage in April — it was in fact CBS. The article has been updated accordingly.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on ‘Disgraceful propaganda’: Fox News under fire for misleading images from Seattle protest zone

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Anonymous Camera for iOS anonymizes images to help protect the innocent

12 Jun

London-based startup Playground has launched a new iOS app called Anonymous Camera that, as its name suggests, anonymizes images and videos to protect the subjects featured in them. The app leverages artificial intelligence to detect and remove or blur the subjects, a process that takes place locally on the user’s device if it’s running iOS 13.0 or higher.

Because facial recognition software makes it easier than ever to identify someone featured in a video or photo, anonymizing these images to protect innocent individuals, whistleblowers and more is vitally important. Anonymous Camera aims to make this process simple for iPhone users by using facial recognition to find subjects and hide them.

The process can include blurring a face, the most traditional way to anonymous subjects, or entirely removing their bodies in cases where enhanced steps are necessary. In addition to blurring the subjects, Anonymous Camera also supports putting a solid object over the subject’s face, which would prevent blur-reversal technologies from being used, plus there’s the option of using noise to hide the subject.

Playground claims that it uses ‘state of the art’ facial recognition technology to find and blur faces regardless of angles, including in videos where the subject is moving. There is a limitation, however: the full-body anonymization feature can only be used on the iPhone XS or newer models. Other features include distorting audio to mask the subject’s voice, removing metadata from the content and splitting the screen to anonymize only the subject in an interview.

Anonymous Camera doesn’t use the cloud, instead storing and processing images locally on the device; this is a key feature that decreases the odds of unmodified images being intercepted or otherwise acquired.

According to The Verge, Anonymous Camera was designed for anonymizing videos and images of single subjects and small groups of people; when tested at a large Black Lives Matter protest, the app wasn’t able to deal with the large number of subjects, but it was never intended to do so, according to Playground.

Though the app could be useful for anyone who wants to protect someone’s privacy, it is pitched specifically as a tool that could be used by journalists, activists, whistleblowers and other people who are providing sensitive information, operating in oppressive regions or anyone capturing content in places that require public individuals to be blurred.

Such privacy tools are becoming increasingly popular and important. Earlier this week, encrypted messaging app Signal introduced its own built-in face-blurring feature that enables users to blur the faces of subjects featured in shared images. The tool also allows users to draw over faces or hide them with stickers.

It’s important to note that blurring alone may not be enough to protect subjects featured in content. In addition to other potential identifiers like unique tattoos or piercings, there are also forensic software tools that use machine learning to reverse the blur applied to an image, revealing the content that was hidden. Hiding the subject behind solid color or stickers may be the safer option.

Anonymous Camera is available for free now from the iOS App Store with a ‘Pro’ in-app purchase that costs $ 1.99 and offers video recording without watermarks.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Anonymous Camera for iOS anonymizes images to help protect the innocent

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Instagram clarifies its sublicense terms don’t cover embedded images

06 Jun

Instagram has made a surprising announcement that will have big implications for photographers and anyone who uses its built-in ‘share’ function: it does not grant sublicenses to users for embedded images. The revelation comes amid lawsuits over embedded Instagram posts and allegations that embedding without permission or a license constitutes copyright infringement.

Instagram features a share button that, among other things, enables users to embed public posts on other sites. This is a common way to include social media content in an article or blog post, but that may change with the bombshell announcement from Instagram. In a statement to Ars Technica, Instagram’s parent company Facebook said that despite the fact that ‘while our terms allow us to grant a sub-license, we do not grant one for our embeds API.’

The company went on to state that users must get permission to embed the image from the copyright holder, this despite the fact that Instagram offers the embed function on all public images and does not allow individual users to disable the sharing option.

In light of this, users who embed Instagram posts without first getting permission or a license from the photographer may face a copyright lawsuit. We’ve seen two cases of this issue appear in court in recent months, one involving digital media website Mashable and, more recently, another involving Newsweek.

In the first case, photographer Stephanie Sinclair filed a copyright lawsuit against Mashable after it embedded one of her Instagram posts without permission. The court ultimately sided with Mashable and ruled that Instagram’s terms allowed it to grant a sublicense for images. In the Newsweek case, however, the court sided with photographer Elliot McGucken and found that more details are needed to determine whether Instagram’s terms cover sublicenses for embedded images.

In the Newsweek case, Judge Katherine Failla references the Mashable ruling, stating:

‘The Court finds Judge Wood’s decision to be well-reasoned and sees little cause to disagree with that court’s reading of Instagram’s Terms of Use and other policies … The Terms of Use unequivocally grant Instagram a license to sublicense Plaintiff’s publicly posted content … Nevertheless, the Court cannot dismiss Plaintiff’s claims based on this licensing theory at this stage in the litigation … there is no evidence before the Court of a sublicense between Instagram and Defendant … Although Instagram’s various terms and policies clearly foresee the possibility of entities such as Defendant using web embeds to share other users’ content … none of them expressly grants a sublicense to those who embed publicly posted content.’

Ars Technica contacted Facebook to find out whether its sublicense terms cover embedded images — and the company says it does not. The revelation was very surprising and will fundamentally change the way users share Instagram posts, though it is a win for professional photographers who are frustrated over how the platform currently operates.

As Sinclair pointed out in the Mashable lawsuit, Instagram is one of the most popular image-sharing websites, but it gives photographers little control over how their images are used: they can either make the images public and therefore open to embedding or make them private to restrict embedding, limiting the platform’s usefulness for photographers seeking an audience.

With Facebook’s public statement on Instagram’s lack of sublicensing for embedded images, future copyright cases will not be able to follow in Mashable’s footsteps. Instagram has been criticized for failing to give photographers more control over how their images are shared and this new revelation will likely add fuel to that fire.

Though users are warned when they embed an image that they must follow Instagram’s terms, most are unlikely to actually read those terms and may not understand the intricacies of sublicensing and how it relates to embedded content. This would put unaware users at risk of copyright lawsuits for using the feature Instagram makes readily available.

In a statement to Ars Technica, Instagram said that it is ‘exploring the possibility’ of allowing photographers to control whether their images can be embedded…presumably without having to make their account private. It is far from certain whether this feature will actually be deployed, however, and how long it may take to introduce this additional control.

Whether Instagram’s statement will have a far-reaching impact on copyright lawsuits and how content is shared on the Internet is yet to be seen, however. Questions remain over the ‘server test’ and whether Instagram, not its users, is liable for infringing use of its embed feature. It seems likely that Newsweek will appeal the judge’s ruling with a server test defense, but only the future will tell how this all plays out.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Instagram clarifies its sublicense terms don’t cover embedded images

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Photographer sues Microsoft for $2.25M, alleges copyright infringement of 15 images

03 Jun

Microsoft has been sued over alleged copyright infringement by photographer Matilde Gattoni, who has accused the corporation of using several of her images for an MSN article without permission or a proper license. The lawsuit was filed on May 19 in the Southern District of New York and seeks damages potentially amounting to $ 150,000 per image allegedly infringed upon.

Gattoni’s images are featured in an article titled ‘These are the women leading China’s wine revolution,’ which appears on the Wall Street Journal’s website and on the MSN website, which includes a Washington Post header on the article, indicating that it is a syndicated work. Before both of those posts, the article with the same images was published in December 2018 by SCMP.

The new lawsuit is directed only at Microsoft, which is accused of using the images from that article on its MSN news website without permission or license.

The lawsuit alleges, in part:

Microsoft is not, and has never been, licensed or otherwise authorized to reproduce, publically display, distribute and/or use the Photographs … Upon information and belief, the foregoing acts of infringement by Microsoft have been willful, intentional, and purposeful, in disregard of and indifference to Plaintiff’s rights.

Gattoni’s images are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. The lawsuit seeks either actual damages, among other things, or statutory damages up to $ 150,000 per copyrighted image allegedly infringed upon. The MSN article contains a total of 15 of Gattoni’s images, which, assuming Microsoft paid $ 150,000 for each, would amount to $ 2,250,000.

The legal document is, at this point in time, quite short with no mention of the Washington Post, the header for which is featured on the MSN article. It’s unclear what license the WaPo received for the article and images, how that license may impact MSN’s use of the content and, ultimately, the viability of the copyright lawsuit.

This isn’t Gattoni’s first copyright lawsuit. As we detailed in 2017, Gattoni had sued the clothing retailer Tibi over its alleged use of her photos without permission or license. In that case, the lawsuit had accused Tibi of cropping one of Gattoni’s Instagram images, which had been published alongside a copyright notice; its copyright registration was still pending in the US at that time, however.

In that case, the judge had ruled that while Gattoni could go after Tibi with a DMCA claim, the copyright infringement claim couldn’t proceed because the copyright registration was still pending at the time. Photographers can register their works with the U.S. Copyright Office through its online eCO registration portal.

Microsoft is the latest in a long line of big companies and news publications sued over alleged copyright infringement. In April, for example, a New York court ruled that digital media website Mashable didn’t infringe upon an image copyright by embedding an image a photographer had uploaded to Instagram after a long squabble over the matter. Likewise, photographer Carol M. Highsmith sued Getty Images for $ 1 billion in July 2016 over its alleged infringement of more than 18,000 of her images.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Photographer sues Microsoft for $2.25M, alleges copyright infringement of 15 images

Posted in Uncategorized

 

How to Photograph Long Exposures to Create Dreamy Images

02 Jun

The post How to Photograph Long Exposures to Create Dreamy Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jeremy Flint.

dps-how-to-photograph-long-exposures

Many new photographers may not know how to photograph long exposures, or even what that means to their photography. Thanks to the development of camera accessories and filters, capturing long exposures is becoming a very popular medium of photography for enthusiast photographers.

Long exposure photography is a technique used by many landscape, cityscape and seascape photographers. Have you ever seen a picture of the city where clouds show motion, the car lights have been made streaky or the seawater is rendered blurry? Well this will usually be the result of using a filter to achieve a long exposure that captures the movement of the subject.

how to photograph long exposures
This long exposure has allowed the waves to soften. Illheus da Janella © Jeremy Flint
Canon 5DSR, EF24-70 f2.8 USM II | 30sec f/11 ISO 100

Before we look at how to photograph long exposures, it is first worth considering the meaning of a long exposure, and the different types of photography you can apply the method to.

A long exposure is “a timed exposure of a long duration where the shutter is open for a speed of several seconds where the purpose and aim of long exposures is to sharply capture and minimize movement of static objects within the frame whilst blurring the elements with motion.”

Samples of long exposure photography

There are a variety of different styles of photography where using long exposure photography techniques can result in great images. Some examples of popular subjects include landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes, astrophotography (such as creating star trails), street scenes, and even abstract scenes.

Applying the technique of long exposure photography to landscape scenes can be a great way to create drama in skies or foregrounds with moving clouds or foliage.

Shooting water with long exposures can also benefit your images. Capturing moving water can bring an ethereal look and feel to seascapes as waves break or crash. Using a long exposure, you can capture the swell of the ocean or motion of tides for dreamy-looking images.

How to achieve long exposures

When considering how to photograph long exposures,
you will initially need to think about the kit that you will require, how to
set this up and the steps to capturing your image.

How to Photograph Long Exposures to Create Dreamy Images
The Lee Big and Little Stopper Neutral Density (ND) Filters are great for long exposure photography.

Kit required

A tripod is an essential piece of equipment to enable your camera to remain still during the image capture time when the shutter is open.

Next, you will need a cable release, or wireless remote so you can start and stop the long exposure. Please note this is only required if you need to extend your exposure time beyond 30 seconds. If you shoot below 30 seconds your cameras self-timer will be sufficient to trigger and close the shutter.

A filter holder is another essential item that is required to achieve long exposures. These are used to hold the filters in place that will be used to slow the exposure time down. 

how to photograph long exposures
The filter holder with the Lee 6-stop ND Filter attached to the camera.

With regard to using filters, neutral density (ND) filters are recommended to minimize the light entering your camera.

These vary in strength and the effect they can create. The darker the coating, the greater the number of stops of light and the stronger the filter will be. For example, a 10-stop filter will block out more light than a 3-stop or 6-stop filter, and enable you to achieve longer exposures. Examples of these filters include Lee Filters Big Stopper (10-stop) and Little Stopper (6-stop).

how to photograph long exposures
St Nectain’s Glen waterfall, Cornwall, England
Canon 5DSR, EF24-70 f2.8 USM II | 1.5sec f/4.5 ISO 100

Leaving your shutter open for an extended amount of time can result in some really interesting shots. With this shot of a waterfall, I wanted to make the water more blurry, so I set the camera up on my tripod and photographed it using an ND filter and a longer exposure. By increasing the exposure time, you can see I have been able to create a milky, smooth effect on the water, giving a pleasing result to the image.

Set Up

Once you have found a composition you like, you will need to place your camera on the tripod, attach your cable release and affix your filter holder. Next, focus the camera manually (using the MF button on the side of your camera) before putting the filter in place.

How to Photograph Long Exposures to Create Dreamy Images
Ponta do Rosto, Madeira
Canon 5D Mk IV, EF16-35 f2.8L III USM | 241sec f/11 ISO 100

Steps to photographing long exposures

Once your kit is set up, here are some simple steps on how to photograph long exposures using the equipment mentioned above to achieve sharper images.

1. Bulb mode

Arrange your camera so that you are shooting in bulb mode. This allows you to keep the shutter button open for longer. It will stay open as long as you hold it open.

2. Set your aperture and ISO

I recommend setting a small aperture of over f/8 to f/22. The larger the f/number the longer the exposure you can achieve and a low ISO of 100.

3. Exposure times

Depending on the strength of the ND filter you are using, your exposure time will change. Based on an initial exposure time of ½ second using a 6-stop filter, you will need to shoot for 30 seconds or 8 minutes using a 10-stop filter, for example.

how to photograph long exposures
Land’s End, Cornwall, England
Canon 5DSR, EF16-35 f2.8L III USM | 1.5sec f/4.5 ISO 100

Press the self-remote timer and lock the shutter open
or if you are using the cameras self-timer press the shutter button gently on
the camera. When you are ready to close the shutter unlock the cable release
(if you are using the self-timer the image will finish by itself).

4. Extra tips

If you are using a DSLR, it is also a good idea to use your mirror lock-up so that the mirror going up and down during your exposure doesn’t cause camera shake. Also, be sure to cover the back of the viewfinder to prevent light from entering and potentially ruining your pictures during the exposure. Many cameras have a little rubber cap that comes attached to the camera strap, to cover your viewfinder. That will stop any light leaking through.

Conclusion

In summary, shooting long exposures is a great technique you can use to enhance landscapes, seascapes and images of water where movement is added to the image by extending the exposure time.

When you are looking at how to photograph long exposures, be sure to get the right kit for the job such as a tripod, filter holder, ND filter and a cable release. Remember to follow the steps required above to capture your long exposures, and share the images you take with us below. It will be great to see what you capture.

If you want to go deeper into long exposures, see this article by DPS writer, Rick Ohnsman.

The post How to Photograph Long Exposures to Create Dreamy Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jeremy Flint.


Digital Photography School

 
Comments Off on How to Photograph Long Exposures to Create Dreamy Images

Posted in Photography

 

Slideshow: These are the shortlisted images for the Palm* Photo Prize 2020 contest

20 May

Shortlisted images for the Palm* Photo Prize 2020 contest

Palm* Studios recently announced the shortlisted images for its 3rd annual Palm* Photo Prize competition. Over 7,000 images were submitted from all over the world. 108 were selected for the shortlist and are now in the running for the annual prize. All of these photos are for sale as prints with 100% of the profits going directly to the artists.

The judging panel consists of Alastair McKimm, editor-in-chief of i-D, Karen McQuaid, senior curator at The Photographers’ Gallery, Sarah Allen, assistant curator at Tate Modern, David Campany, Jessica Lopez, photo editor at Polaroid Originals, and Lola Paprocka, founder of Palm* Studios.

Brooklyn, New York-based photographer Dino Kuznik is in the running for the annual prize.

20 overall award winners for the Judge’s Panel prizes, Peoples Choice Award, and Peoples Choice Instagram Award will be announced on May 30th. DPReview reached out to a handful of these shortlisted photographers and got the story behind their nominated images plus the information on the gear they used. Don’t forget to check out all the nominees and support their work.

Shortlist, 2020: Dimitri Djuric (London, United Kingdom)

Artist Statement: The image is a type of pylon for a high tension overhead power line. It’s part of an ongoing series of buildings and structures photographed at night.

Gear: Fujifilm XH1 camera and a big flash.

Shortlist, 2020: Ashley Bourne (Bristol, United Kingdom)

Artist Statement: My work centers around storytelling within society, drawing on ideas from personal experience to form the basis of my projects.

Gear and Film: Pentax 67 medium format camera, a 90mm lens, and Kodak Portra 400 film.

Shortlist, 2020: Mark Mahaney (San Francisco, California, United States)

Artist Statement: This is an image from my first book, Polar Night. The project is a passage through a rapidly changing landscape in Alaska’s northernmost town of Utqiagvik. It’s an exploration of prolonged darkness, told through the strange beauty of a snowscape cast in a two month shadow.

The unnatural lights that flare in the sun’s absence and the shapes that emerge from the landscape are unexpectedly beautiful in their softness and harshness. It’s hard to see past the heavy gaze of climate change in an arctic town, though Polar Night is a visual poem about endurance, isolation and survival.

Gear: Pentax 645z camera with manual focus 75mm lens.

Shortlist, 2020: Joseph Balestra (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States)

Artist Statement: At the end of 2019, I spent a month out west in California as a way to wrap up the year and reflect. During this time I created a few portraits of local artist and personalities. This portrait was created on Venice beach of Artist Floyd Zion, a musician and model based out of LA. The shoot was approached in what is still to this day one of my favorite ways to work with a subject. No planning, just chasing light and enjoying a day of collaboration.

Gear and Film: Mamiya AFD II camera, Kodak film, self-scanned.

Shortlist, 2020: Alexander Beer (London, United Kingdom)

Artist Statement: Too many people stigmatize women who wear the hijab. There is nowhere in the the Holy Quran that tells them not to kick ass as human beings. These amazing girls and women are all taekwondo black belts.

Gear and Film: Asahi Pentax 67 6×7 camera, with 120 film.

Shortlist, 2020: Caitlin Chescoe (London, United Kingdom)

Artist Statement: My Father has been a life long KISS fan, we’ve grown up with bands like KISS playing throughout the house and it is very much a part of who we are as a family. On this occasion myself, Mum, Dad and Sister all dressed up as the band to watch a gig in Munich for KISS’ last ever world tour. We had front row seats and my Dad nearly cried he was so happy. This image represents an incredible memory that we all share together.

Gear: Hasselblad 500c/m camera.

Shortlist, 2020: Jan Kühr (Oslo, Norway)

Artist Statement: Ripe fruits and vegetables constitute a wild boar feast in the mountains in Alpilles, South of France.

Gear and Film: Mamiya 7 II camera with an 80mm lens, Kodak Porta 160 ISO film.

Shortlist, 2020: Rinchen Ato (Cambridge, United Kingdom)

Artist Statement: Rinchen Ato’s photographs are an exploration of her heritage and the fast-evolving culture of the Khampa people. Over multiple trips, spanning the past two decades, she has documented family, friends and the struggles and celebrations of the wider community of Tibetan people living in Kham.

It is an incredible place. The region is mountainous, consisting of high altitude grasslands, a remote and rugged land with a society where little had changed for centuries until recently. ‘My father often jokes that he was born in the Bronze Age and even in the 20 years I have been photographing there I have seen how quickly Kham has evolved.’ The inhabitants were mostly nomadic but, with rapid modernization, mass migration to the town of Jyekundo ????????????? and huge earthquake in 2010 which obliterated the area, many villages are now abandoned or only have a few families remaining.

Deeply aware of the visual tropes used by foreign photographers, depicting Tibetans as ‘other,’ Ato’s work employs a sensibility which comes from her connection to the community, a community which is familiar to her.

The project has been described as a mix of nostalgia and realism. ‘To photograph is the act of capturing a moment and this is my attempt to record and hold on to something precious, like a love letter, an homage, to the people I hold most dear and the country that I adore.’

The project started in a naïve way. Twins are an obvious subject for photographers as the very notion suggests the mirror-like rhetoric that photography has with the world. It’s also interesting because when you shoot subjects so similar, under scrutiny, it highlights the differences between them and how we’re all individuals. But as the project now stretches over such a long period it has evolved into something more, an uninterrupted sequence, a body of work in it’s own right marking the passage of time. As they have grown and changed, so too has the environment around them, yet the resemblance between the girls remains constant.

In this image they were 15. We’d finished lunch and were sitting around chatting but this year was different. They dashed off to their room to get ready and were gone about half an hour. They came out wearing these incredible gingham dresses and matching watches. It felt like a real transition, they’d become conscious of their appearance. We stood on the balcony overlooking the town. The rabbits were a birthday gift and they wanted to hold them, and there it was, the shot.

Gear: Hasselblad 503CXI camera with film.

Shortlist, 2020: Lotte Van Raalte (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Artist Statement: This January (2020) I published my very first book, BODY. Over the course of 16 months I photographed 46 women in their most natural form including my mom. This picture was taken on the 16th of October 2018 at the beach in The Hague, the city where I grew up. My mom – who is terminally ill – had just told me some bad news. Minutes after, we were driving to the beach, during which I was still processing what she had just said.

As soon as we started shooting she was running, dancing and playing. One of her oldest friends was at the beach too, so I photographed them together. My mom absolutely loves the beach and although she’s ill, looking at the images afterwards, she looks so full of life and joy. It’s one of my favorite images of the book and I still am fascinated by the fact that her body actually created mine. The title of this image is ‘Judy and Lily.’

Gear: Sony a7RIII camera.

Shortlist, 2020: Jon Ervin (Brooklyn, New York, United States)

Artist Statement: This project aptly titled ‘Boys Will Be,’ which references the common phrase ‘Boys Will Be Boys,’ is an ongoing photographic journey exploring the various ways in which men perform and construct their identity. In this project I use the camera as an active agent to witness these gestures of masculine performance through documentation, portraiture, and staged scenarios.

By turning the camera on these men, I am encouraging them to perform for the ‘other.’ That performance, framed between the lines of the viewfinder, is a subjective choice to display their constructed identity to the camera, myself, and the viewer. The use of staged adolescent experiences creates scenarios where innocent horseplay can become something of consequence and for impalpable power dynamics that are threaded throughout our society to become tangible.

It is in those moments where boys learn their own power and how it can be used to influence others. Despite the relation to “Boys Will Be Boys,” this project does not adhere to the belief of so-called excusable male behavior that is at times aggressive, violent, and toxic; instead it has importantly left off the last word — ‘Boys.’ That distinction allows the men of this project to simply be.

Gear and Film: Pentax 67II camera with a 300mm f/4 lens and 1.4x teleconverter, Portra 400 film.

Shortlist, 2020: Dylan Lewis (Richmond, Virginia, United States)

Artist Statement: This image is from my larger body of work, a photo book titled ‘Dusker.’ The images in Dusker act as physical expressions of interior states. Situated between exhalation and incantation, they construct a space where the ontological unease of ‘documentary’ photography, the aestheticizing eye of fiction, and the emotional texture of dreams within an always-already fractured reality intertwine.

Shortlist, 2020: Pat Martin (Los Angeles, California, United States)

Artist Statement: It was Easter afternoon and we heard Jeff was feeling lonely. She had thought that her whole family had forgotten about her, but to her surprise, we all showed up with a pack of American Spirits, wine, and a pair up bunny ears. Jeff may be 98, but she’s still a party-girl and loves some good company.

Gear and Film: MF Pentax 67II camera, and printed in a color darkroom. All Kodak film, chemicals, and chromogenic darkroom paper.

Shortlist, 2020: Hua Jin (Montreal, Canada)

Artist Statement: This photo is part of my long-term and ongoing project ‘My Big Family.’ A project I document my extended families in China.

I call the woman in the picture ‘Aunt,’ she is a distant relative who lives nearby. When I took this photo she was trying to dig some coppers and wires from the demolition sites where the old farmer houses had been destroyed. She could make a small amount of money in the market by selling these materials.

While local people were trying to make small amounts of money from the ruins that used to be their homes, the government along with big companies were trying to redesign and reuse the land by building residential and commercial high rises, meanwhile, to change the traditional life-styles in the rural area.

Gear: Plaubel Makina W67 camera

Shortlist, 2020: Kamila Lozinska (Bristol, United Kingdom)

Artist Statement: This is a candid shot of my dear friend Jasmine basking in the sun.

Gear: Mamiya RZ67 camera.

Shortlist, 2020: Laura Pannack (London, United Kingdom)

Artist Statement: At the age of 16, Baruch chose to leave his Orthodox Jewish community and to study. The dramatic and challenging decision forced him to question his identity and future. Einstein says: ‘The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.’ The project explores how we choose our paths in life and questions how much control we have to change who we will become. The project was commissioned by 1854 Media and supported by Panasonic.

Gear: Panasonic SR1

Shortlist, 2020: Imogen Forte (London, United Kingdom)

Artist Statement: Last Summer, I moved out of my house, put my stuff into storage, and spent three months traveling the coast of England documenting the people and places I encountered. I wanted to explore more of the country I’d always called home and familiarize myself with new people and new places.

I met this girl in Cornwall, where she was stood in the street with her family. I approached and asked if she wanted a portrait and she agreed. I spotted this amazing backdrop in the cafe beside us and so we popped inside to have a drink and a chat and take some portraits.

Gear: Mamiya RZ67 camera.

Shortlist, 2020: Tais Sirote (London, United Kingdom)

Artist Statement: Tais Sirote, also known as Taisido, is a London-based photographer specializing in still-life and product photography. She has a background in graphic design and loves anything related to self-publishing books. Her style has always shown attention to lighting, showing her strengths on taking bold images, and having an eye for detail. Her pictures are sometimes mistaken for 3D renders and attempt to trick the eye of the viewer to make you wonder how it was taken.

Gear: Canon 5DS

Shortlist, 2020: Valeria Moreno (Richmond, Virginia, United States)

Artist Statement: This image is from a photo series meant to serve as an image as film sequence portraying young womanhood.

Gear: Panasonic Lumix G7 camera.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Slideshow: These are the shortlisted images for the Palm* Photo Prize 2020 contest

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Unsplash: The Perfect Source for Free Images?

14 May

Have you ever wanted to make your life simpler when it comes to finding stock photos, and by simpler I mean not dealing with confusing licenses, being afraid that one day an image you used may change its license, and not paying for subscriptions or collections of images? Well you are in luck as today I will be going into Continue Reading

The post Unsplash: The Perfect Source for Free Images? appeared first on Photodoto.


Photodoto

 
Comments Off on Unsplash: The Perfect Source for Free Images?

Posted in Photography

 

British Museum launches revamped online collections database early with 1.9M images

30 Apr

On Tuesday, April 28, the British Museum announced that it is the latest institution to make digitized images of its various collections available for free online. The ‘revamped’ online collections database now contains 1.9 million images that are offered to the public under the restrictive Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license, which allows for non-commercial use with attribution.

According to the announcement tweet from British Museum, its team expedited the release of this new online database so that the public can browse the museum’s collections while in quarantine at home. The launch follows similar big digitized collections launches from institutions like Paris Musées and The Smithsonian.

This revamp simplifies things for public users who are no longer required to register in order to use the images. Going forward, anyone can browse the online collections database and download any of the 1.9 million images for non-commercial use with attribution. Each image is scanned at a high-resolution; the online viewer enables users to zoom in on objects to view fine details.

According to the British Museum, this collection features two million years’ worth of history that spans six continents. The museum digitized nearly 4.5 million objects, making it the largest online collection of its kind. British Museum explains that its revamped interface not only provides access to these images for free but also makes it easier for the public to find the specific items they’re looking for.

The online collections are vast, including everything from ancient Egyptian sculptures to Assyrian artifacts, Greek objects, Iranian jewelry, artwork from the Roman Empire and much more. Viewers can sort through the content based on collection galleries, as well as searches using museum numbers, persons, places and keywords.

This launch is a welcomed addition to the growing body of digitized artifacts and other works made available to the general public online. However, the release isn’t without criticism. Unlike The Smithsonian and Paris Musées, both of which released their online collections with Creative Common 0 licenses, the British Museum’s collection is made available under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

Author and activist Coro Doctorow highlighted some of the concerns related to this in a recent tweet thread, pointing out, among other things, that UK law states that copyrights can only subsist in cases where the work is ‘original in the sense that it is the author’s own ‘intellectual creation.” Among other things, the nation’s copyright law [PDF, page 3] notes that it’s ‘unlikely that what is merely a retouched, digitised image of an older work can be considered as ‘original.”

Critics have also pointed out that Wikimedia Commons only allows images that aren’t ‘subject to copyright restrictions which would prevent them being used by anyone, anytime, for any purpose,’ meaning the British Museum’s digitized collections can’t be included in the Commons catalog.

Despite these concerns, the revamped database is a step in the right direction. The British Museum has been commended for the effort it put into this launch — not just for the high-resolution images and scans of the content, but also the number of tools and information the museum provides for each listing.

The database includes the name(s) of the original excavator who discovered the items, where the object was found, the materials it is made from, the technique used to craft it, its size and weight, its present condition, where it was acquired, its registration number and more. The collection is available here.

Via: ianVisits

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on British Museum launches revamped online collections database early with 1.9M images

Posted in Uncategorized

 

ON1 announces 360° cross-device sync service for editing and managing images remotely

29 Apr

Software developer ON1 has released details of a new service it claims will allow photographers to synchronize the editing and organizing of images across computers and mobile devices no matter where they are stored. The ON1 360° application will connect up to five computers and five mobile devices so that images stored on any one of them, or on attached external hard drives and NAS systems, can be accessed and edited from any of them – with changes synced across them all.

The software relies on a cloud storage service and a newly developed compressed RAW file format. Photographers select which files, folders or albums they would like to have access to and compressed versions are sent to the cloud. Connected devices, including smartphones, can then access those compressed files so they can be edited locally and the changes saved to all synchronized versions of that picture. A new free mobile app will be available for Android and iOS devices that will have the same RAW processing engine as its ON1 Photo RAW 2020 application so adjustments can match those made in the full desktop version of the software.

ON1 says the compressed RAW files that will pass between the devices will be 75% smaller than the original files, but we are told they will retain the same tonal and color range as the originals. Users also have the choice to store their full-sized originals in the cloud so they can be shared between devices as well.

ON1 claims its new program will offer ten times the amount of storage as competitors, but its application will cost 20% less. The high compression of the new RAW file format all also mean that more pictures will be able to be stored in the same space.

The company says it will retain its perpetual license options alongside subscription services with monthly or annual payment plans. The ON1 Photo RAW 2020.1 desktop application costs a one-off $ 49.99 at the moment, while the ON1 360° starts at $ 59.99 per year with 200GB of storage, or $ 109.99 per year with 1TB if you already own Photo RAW. If you want to buy Photo RAW and the 360° service together it will cost $ 89.99 for 200GB and $ 179.99 1TB per year. The monthly prices will be $ 5.99 and $ 9.99 for those who own Photo RAW, and $ 7.99 and $ 15.99 for those who don’t. Pre-ordering the 360° plan will also get you a training course and a pack of extra pre-sets.

For more information on ON1 360° go to the ON1 website.

Press release:

ON1, creators of ON1 Photo RAW, announces ON1 360° will be available in late June.

ON1 360° is a new end-to-end photography workflow solution for capturing, editing, and accessing photos seamlessly between multiple computers and mobile devices. ON1 360° connects ON1 Photo RAW 2020 on macOS and Windows computers with the new free ON1 Photo Mobile on iOS and Android devices. ON1 360° is the complete photography ecosystem that photographers have been waiting for; giving them more choice and more control. Multiple options for syncing files, control in file storage methods, and new capabilities for managing and editing across devices no matter where files are stored are available in ON1 360°.

At the core of ON1 360° is ON1’s new cloud storage service and sync technology, which allows photographers to sync photos, metadata, and edits, as well as albums, cataloged folders, and more between all their computers and devices, external hard drives, or even network drives. Unlike other cloud service offerings, ON1 360° will allow customers to choose which files or folders to sync, where the files live, as well as their preferred storage format.

“Our focus is on giving photographers control. Control of where they store their photos, what they want to sync and how they want to edit. There isn’t another solution out there providing this flexibility or functionality. We are still going to offer customers perpetual license options where they keep the software, even if they choose not to continue with this service. Of course, the subscription plan will be a good option as well and is ultra-competitive when it comes to price and features. The ON1 360° subscription plan includes 10x the storage at 20% less cost compared to other plans. Plus, the optional ON1 compressed-raw file format requires significantly less storage to have access to all your photos from all devices,” says Dan Harlacher, VP of Product.

With ON1 360°, customers can choose between syncing their original raw files or syncing their photos using ON1’s compressed-raw file format, which is 75% smaller than the original RAW file while maintaining the same tonal and color range. They are perfect for remote editing, sharing, and even printing common sizes, without noticeable loss in quality, saving the customer additional storage costs.

“Some people like using external drives, and some people like storing photos in the cloud. And some like both. The great part about ON1 360° is that you get to choose where photos get stored while still having access to them on all of your devices so you can share from anywhere,” add Matt Kloskowski, ON1 Educator and Guru.

“These all-new technologies that are the foundation of ON1 360° have been under development for some time and we are very excited to deliver them in June. This complete photography solution allows our customers to incorporate ON1 in every stage of their photography. With the technical foundation in place, we will start integrating new AI tools and features into all our products. There has never been a more exciting time at ON1.,” President and CEO, Craig Keudell adds.

Key Features
One Workflow — A complete end-to-end workflow between desktop and mobile with just one desktop application in ON1 Photo RAW 2020. No bouncing between organizers, raw processors, and layered pixel-editors. ON1 Photo RAW 2020 is a modern photo organizer, raw processor, layered editor, and effects app, all-in-one well thought out and affordable application.

Value — ON1 360° plan options start out at 10x the storage amount for 20% less cost compared to competitive plans available today.

Complete Control of Photos — Photographers can organize how they choose, where they store photos, and how they back up their photos. Whether photos are on local drives, upload some or all of them to the ON1 360° cloud storage, it’s their choice. All metadata and edits will back up automatically with ON1 360°.

High Quality with Less Space — ON1’s unique compressed-raw file format will also allow photographers to store more photos in the same amount of space without noticeable loss in image quality when processing. The new file format will also let photographers view, edit, and share their photos without having to store the original photo in the cloud.

ON1 Photo Mobile — The new free ON1 Photo Mobile will be a single app for capturing, editing, and syncing photos back to desktop computers, where each photo will also be re-editable. More than a basic raw processor, ON1 Photo Mobile uses the same RAW processing engine developed for ON1 Photo RAW. Adjustments will include Exposure, Contrast, Shadows, Mid-tones, Highlights, Whites, Blacks, White Balance, Noise, and Sharpening. Built-in filters will start with, black and white, adding film grain, darkening the edges with a vignette, and enhancing local contrast. ON1 Photo Mobile will be available for both iOS and Android devices and is free for anyone.

Capture and Create Anywhere — The new free ON1 Photo Mobile’s camera mode works like your device’s camera app but with many more advanced features. Capture raw photos on your smartphone with all the tonal range and details you expect from an interchangeable lens camera. The pro-level manual controls include the ability to adjust exposure, shutter speed, depth, and white balance.

Photos Stay in Sync — Automatically or selectively sync photos and edits from ON1 Photo RAW 2020 on desktop or laptop computers back to the free ON1 Photo Mobile using ON1 360°, providing a complete, photo editing and organizing system. ON1 360° will allow photographers to wirelessly send photos between desktop and mobile devices. Photos can be viewed, edited or downloaded directly to ON1 Photo RAW 2020 on both desktop or laptop computers with the non-destructive editing settings intact. You can also push edits from ON1 Photo RAW 2020 on desktop or laptop computers and automatically or selectively sync them back to ON1 Photo Mobile.

Privacy — Privacy is most important, and with ON1 360°, all photos will be kept private. ON1 will never analyze any photos using ON1 360° to build ways to market to photographers.

Availability and Pricing
ON1 360° subscription plans will be rolled out gradually starting today and continuing to the full release in late June 2020 when the ON1 360° service officially begins and all purchasing options become available. Today, owners of Photo RAW 2020 can take advantage of special introductory pricing on a 1-year prepaid subscription for ON1 360° (service only edition) with reduced pricing and pre-order bonuses including a new ON1 Pro pack with 360 custom presets ($ 100 value) delivered today, and a new ON1 360° Training Course delivered in June when the ON1 360° service begins. New customers can purchase a perpetual license for ON1 Photo RAW 2020 at a reduced price and the ON1 360° Service Add-on or the ON1 360° Software & Service subscription which includes everything. For a limited time, ON1 is cutting the price of ON1 Photo RAW 2020 by 50% during the lead up to ON1 360° availability in late June.

In June 2020, ON1 will roll out all ON1 360° plans including monthly subscription plans which include ON1 Photo RAW 2020, the ON1 Photo Mobile connectivity, and the 360° syncing service. As always, ON1 will continue offering Photo RAW as a perpetual-license product separate from ON1 360°, for those who prefer to own their software. This allows customers to upgrade to future versions at a time of their choosing, and it allows them to add or cancel any ON1 360° subscription without losing access to ON1 Photo RAW or their photos.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on ON1 announces 360° cross-device sync service for editing and managing images remotely

Posted in Uncategorized

 
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »