Das Bild des Tages von: Susanne Klostermann
Der Ausblick: Dieses Polaroid passt hervorragend zur Jahreszeit.
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity
Blog
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15. November 2015
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Readers’ Showcase: Tudor ApMadoc
Tudor ApMadoc’s usual photo haunts include the iconic architecture and gritty abandoned structures of Detroit, but a recent trip took him to an entirely different landscape – the canyons and big skies of the American Southwest. He brought a Canon 5DSR, 11-24mm F4 and a bag full of favorite lenses to capture Arizona’s colors. Read more
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Cherry blossoms and Daylight
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Die 5 Fotobücher des Monats
Liebe Leser*innen, der November ist vorangeschritten und Weihnachten rast förmlich auf uns zu. In den letzten Wochen lagen auf unseren Schreibtischen wieder fünf Fotobücher, die sich durchaus auch als Weihnachtsgeschenk eignen. Und bevor wir uns nun im Vorwort verhaspeln, wünschen wir Euch viel Spaß beim Stöbern (und Schenken).
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity -
Urban Ant Farm: Colony Encouraged to Hack City of Glass & Sand
[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]
In this Urban Ant City installation, hundreds of Spanish ants were set loose in a scale model of Rotterdam, allowed to navigate the existing street and carve their own paths and tunnels.
Using the same basic principles of a tabletop ant farm, STUDIO 1:1 (images by Ossip van Duivenbode) added a twist to their approach, giving the sandy landscape sandwiched between glass panels an initial shape.
The ants, in turn, are following their instincts, creating custom routes that evolve the existing cityscape, all set prominently on display at the the Office for Metropolitan Information.
The pending project results have potential to show how nature takes its course with cities over time, highlighting the intersection of planning and organic forces, and may add a new layer of meaning to EUsociality. It also just looks awesome.
“OMI is an initiative of UrbanGuides, Perplekcity and Ossip Architecture Photography. These organizations offer city explorations, urban planning and photography combined in one place.”
“In addition, an array of books and city guides have been collected and are presented at OMI, in collaboration with NAi Booksellers. Urban Ant City installation of STUDIO 1:1 is realized together with AIR, the architectural centre of Rotterdam.”
Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:
Sustainable Food in the City: 10 Smart Urban Farm Designs
The world’s largest indoor farm has already proven just how amazingly successful food production can be outside of standard agricultural setups, and …
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City of Sounds: Scale Model Plays Urban Soundtrack
Every city has its own unique sound, but until now those sounds have been less than musical. This unique project turns the city itself into an instrument.
Click Here to Read More »»
Urban Living Room: Feel at Home in Public Places
A cozy, blue-painted living room entices passersby to sit, get to know each other and enjoy entertainment in Rotterdam at the ‘Urban Living Room’ installation.
Click Here to Read More »»
[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]
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Deutscher Fotobuchpreis 2016
Gestern Abend wurde der Deutsche Fotobuchpreis 2016 verliehen. 22 Fotobücher wurden im Rahmen der Stuttgarter Buchwochen mit „Gold“ und „Silber“ ausgezeichnet.
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity -
Review of the Nitz Custom Handmade Camera Strap
Camera straps are one of those secondary things that most of us photographers don’t really put much thought into. However, consider this: the only thing keeping your camera away from the hard ground when it’s out of your hands, is your strap. It needs to satisfy some basic requirements, in order to serve us well. It needs to be strong, well-secured to our camera, and it needs to be comfortable.
It also doesn’t hurt if the strap doesn’t break the bank; after all, we have many other things we’d like to spend our hard-earned money on, like lenses, other accessories, or even a new camera body.
Nitz Custom Handmade Camera Strap is a product that not only meets all of those requirements – it exceeds them with extreme prejudice.
Photographer Chris Nitz created the product initially out of his own need. He wasn’t happy with the mass-produced camera straps available on the market, and set out to create one on his own. After experimenting with different materials, he settled on Type III Commercial Grade 550 parachute cord, and began weaving a few prototypes together. The result was a strap that met all of his own requirements, and inevitably began to attract the attention of his fellow photographers.
My main takeaway from the experience of ordering, and using a Nitz strap, was how custom tailored the entire process is. When you order one of these products, you know a few things immediately from visiting the website. You know that this strap is being made specifically for you, as a photographer. You know that you’re getting a product that is meant to last, and protect the equipment you value so much. Chris is also proud of the fact that all of the materials for his straps are sourced from right here in the United States.
Finally, you understand immediately that Chris is well aware of the financial budgets many photographers have, and his commitment to our pocketbooks, as well as the environment, are clear.
My experience began by visiting the Nitz Strap online store. Several options are available for every aspect of the product, and you begin by choosing the type of strap. At the moment, Chris is concentrating on neck straps for the heavier cameras, and wrist straps for the smaller, lighter models.
After choosing a strap type, you then move on to the length and width of the product. Several different types of weaves are offered, each one differing in width. Want something thin, compact and discreet? Choose the “Thin Line”, a weave about 3/4″ wide. If you need something beefier, there are three more options available. Lengths available range between 12″ and 16″ for wrist straps, and from 36″ to an impressive 50″ for neck straps.
As I wanted something wide that my future cameras could grow into, and a longer option than my Canon strap, I ordered the 50″ Double Cobra weave, which is Nitz’s widest strap at 1.25″. This would allow me a bit more length to let the camera hang from my shoulder (my most common setup), or wear my equipment cross-body to lessen the chance of it slipping off and falling to the ground.
After selecting these basics, it’s time to move on to choosing the hardware you’ll use to connect the strap to your camera and keep it secure. The options here almost invoke a feeling of overkill; these straps are rated to hold up to 150 pounds depending on hardware, and any configuration you choose will be a huge step up from the connections we’re used to getting in standard camera kits.
All straps include two very capable, metal split rings, to connect hardware to the strap points on your camera. But some ingenious additional options stand out here, including a simply perfect tripod screw that allows you to connect the strap directly into your tripod mount point for quick and easy removal. I chose the anchor shackle connector, a small, but immensely sturdy piece of metal rated up to 400 pounds on its own.
At this point in the ordering process, it’s time to have some fun. Nitz Strap comes in a very impressive assortment of color and pattern options, many of which they keep in regular stock. Two colors are standard with your order, although you have the options of incorporating up to four colors into your creation, at the expense of possible additional wait time to get the product.
Want a camouflage strap? Check. American flag? Christmas themed? Tie Dye? They’re all there. You’ll have fun going through the over 200+ color options offered.
I wanted something that would satisfy my natural attraction to simple, dark, and matching palettes, and went with a very classy looking black and moss green weave that I figured would go with my all-black Canon body very well.
Another point that Chris means to make is that you don’t have to break the bank to keep your equipment safe and secure. Pricing differs depending on options of course, but I was able to create the custom camera strap of my dreams in less than 10 minutes, and ended up spending less than $ 100 USD.
My particular experience was a quick and completely painless one. I contacted Chris via e-mail about my order so he could talk me through some of the options I picked. I was amazed at how quickly he put the strap together and shipped it out (even though he had to order the moss green cord I requested as it was temporarily out of stock).
Only five days went by between the time I clicked the order button, to the point I had the strap in my hand. The entire process really did make me feel I was having a custom strap made for me as an individual photographer, by another photographer.
And let’s be clear about this; these straps are beautiful. As cliché as it sounds, the craftsmanship on the strap I received was nothing short of impeccable. The hand weaving was perfectly done, with no loose ends. Even the way Chris tidies up the ends of the cords, blends in with the rest of the product.
The strap came in very simple packaging, rolled up in a coil, with a couple of tags adorning it. These tags are made from recycled paper, and attached to the strap with the remaining end pieces of the cord that was used to create it. There are no paper receipts here, everything is handled through e-mail. You’re never going to get a bad rap from me when little details like this are included to make a small, but meaningful contribution to our environment.
After struggling a bit to get the strap onto my camera via the heavy-duty split rings (since I didn’t choose one of the simpler attachment options available, I don’t plan to switch this strap out to a different camera), it was immediately obvious that I had found a permanent solution to keeping my 60D safely around my neck.
The strap was sturdy to the point of making me feel like it was almost too much for my camera. I would feel confident swinging it over my head by the strap as hard as I could; that’s how secure this thing feels. The strong anchor shackles are tightly wrapped in gaffer tape, and the whole package just looks professional, sturdy, and very, very slick.
If I had to nitpick about one thing, it would be how stiff and unforgiving the strap is at first touch out of the package. But even this is by design. Chris weaves the parachute cord together as tightly as possible for strength, creating an impossibly tough piece of fabric. This type of cord is known for softening over time, which means after a bit of use out in the field, the strap becomes much more pliable, and it conforms to your neck or shoulder. I have found this is exactly the case, as in less than two weeks my strap is almost perfectly broken in to my liking.
Overall I couldn’t be much happier with the product I received from Nitz Strap. Even as a photographer who gets excited about little accessories for my camera, I was beyond pleased with what I ordered. I already plan to order another one for my film camera body in the near future. This strap definitely has my endorsement, and I recommend you at least visit Chris’ site at www.nitzstrap.com to check out all of the options I’ve discussed; I’m sure you’ll be just impressed with what you see as I was!
Disclaimer: Nitz Strap did provide this product to our writer to test out free of charge. However at dPS we only do completely unbiased reviews. But, as you can see the author plans on purchasing another one for his other cameras so that speaks to the product’s quality.
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14. November 2015
Das Bild des Tages von: nufotografie
Heute ist unser Ausblick gespiegelt.
kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin | Fotocommunity -
Out of Africa: The black and white nature photography of Laurent Baheaux
Laurent Baheux began in photography as a sports writer and photojournalist before a safari to Tanzania in 2002 changed his life. There he fell in love with photographing the exotic animals of Africa, preferring a fine art approach that gives his wildlife images a portrait-like quality. Read more
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How to Take Control of Aperture and Create Stronger Photos
The focal length of the lens you use, combined with the aperture setting, determines how the camera sees whatever you point it at. This has profound implications for composition. Let’s look at them one by one.
Selective focus and bokeh
Selective focus occurs when you focus on your subject, and use a wide aperture to make the background go out of focus. Bokeh is the blurred parts of your photo. It originates from the Japanese word boke, and has come into use because we don’t have a word in English for it.
This photo shows both selective focus and bokeh. I focused on the model’s eyes, and selected an aperture of f/1.4, to blur the background as much as possible.
There are several factors that affect bokeh.
1. Aperture
The wider the aperture, the less depth-of-field there is, and the more bokeh you get. Photographers that like to use selective focus buy prime lenses, as they have often wider maximum aperture settings than zooms.
But, you can still obtain nice bokeh with zooms, if you pay attention to the following points.
2. Camera to subject distance
The closer you are to the subject the less depth-of-field there is. This is a useful tip if you have a zoom lens with a limited maximum aperture (such as an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens). Just set the focal length to longest available setting, the aperture to its widest setting, and move in as close as you can. You’ll be surprised by what you can achieve.
This photo was taken with an 18-55mm kit lens set to 55mm and f/5.6, the widest available aperture at that focal length. It’s not nearly as close to how little depth-of-field there would be if I had used an 50mm prime lens at f/1.4 – but it’s still enough to blur the background.
3. Subject to background distance
The more distance there is between subject and background, the more out of focus the background will get, at any given aperture setting.
4. Quality of light
Light affects bokeh. Soft light (like that on an overcast day) produces smooth, even bokeh. Sunlight or reflections, create a different type of bokeh with more texture.
I took this photo on an overcast day. The bokeh is very smooth.
I took this photo in the early evening. The artificial lights reflecting from the shiny objects in the background have created a different type of bokeh.
5. The aperture blades of the lens
The more blades the lens has, the rounder the shape of the aperture, and the smoother the quality of the bokeh. Less expensive lenses tend to have fewer aperture blades, and may not produce the same quality of bokeh as better ones.
6. Other optical characteristics of the lens
Some lenses, such as the Helios 58mm f/2 lens, used to take the photo below, have optical characteristics (or more likely, flaws) that produce a certain type of bokeh. Lensbaby is a company that makes lenses that produce a specific type of bokeh.
f/2.8 on a prime lens
I’ve singled this aperture setting out because it hits a sweet spot when it comes to composition, especially for portraits.
If you have a normal or short telephoto prime lens, and use the widest aperture setting (generally f/1.2, f/1.4 or f/1.8) then the depth-of-field is very narrow indeed. Sometimes that works really well, but other times you need a little more depth-of-field to create a stronger image. It’s like any technique – overuse it and it becomes a gimmick.
The solution is to mix it up a little by using aperture settings like f/2, f/2.8, and f/4. You’ll still get a narrow depth-of-field and create some beautiful bokeh, but a little more of your subject will be in focus.
Using f/2.8 (or thereabouts) shows subtlety, restraint, and maturity.
I took this photo with an 85mm lens (full-frame) at f/2.8. The depth-of-field is still shallow enough to blur the background nicely.
The middle apertures
Now we get into the middling apertures, those from around f/4 or f/5.6, to f/8, depending on your lens.
The effect of these apertures depends on the focal length of your lens and how close you are to your subject. For example, you could use a super telephoto lens (300mm plus) and shoot from farther away from your subject to create images with shallow depth-of-field at f/5.6, or get the entire scene in focus at the same aperture with a wide-angle lens (35mm and less) if you focus on the right spot and are much closer to your subject.
These middle apertures represent the transition between photos where some of the image is out of focus, to those where everything is in focus.
You can still use selective focus at these apertures (although perhaps not with wide-angles), although the effect is much gentler than with the widest aperture settings of your lens. Use these apertures when you want good depth-of-field but don’t mind if the background is out of focus a little.
I used an aperture of f/4.5 for this photo. The depth-of-field is sufficient to get the man, the statue, and the wooden baskets in focus. The background is unimportant and doesn’t need to be in focus.
The smaller apertures
These are the ones you use when you need everything within the frame to be sharp, like with landscape photography. This can be anything from f/8 on a wide-angle lens, to f/11 or f/16 on longer focal lengths. With telephotos and macro lenses you can stop down to f/16 and still not get everything in focus.
The thing you need to be aware of here is diffraction. When the aperture gets too small, the light passing through it spreads out, and softens the image. Thanks to diffraction, images taken at f/22 are usually visibly softer overall, than those taken at f/8 or f/11. Noticeable diffraction may start at f/16 or f/22 on a full-frame camera, and around f/11 on an APS-C camera.
An aperture of f/11 ensured everything in this photo, taken with a 14mm lens (APS-C), was in focus.
Take control
Every time you take a photo you should be thinking about what the optimum aperture is for the composition you want to make. Do you want to open the aperture and throw the background out of focus? Do you want to stop down and get as much as possible in focus? Or somewhere in between?
What aperture settings do you like to use with your photos? Do you use a Lensbaby or other lens that gives a certain bokeh effect? Please let us know in the comments – I’d love to hear your thoughts and see your images.
This week on dPS we’re featuring a series of articles about composition. Many different elements and ways to compose images for more impact. Check out the ones we’ve done so far:
- Using Framing for More Effective Compositions
- 7 Tips to Improve Your Skyline Photos
- 33 Images that Exemplify Compositional Elements
- Weekly Photography Challenge – Composition Craziness
Mastering CompositionMy new ebook Mastering Composition will help you learn to see and compose photos better. It takes you on a journey beyond the rule of thirds, exploring the principles of composition you need to understand in order to make beautiful imag
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