January 23, 2008
New SLR’s have been foreseen from Pentax over the past few months and the rumors keep growing. The two new models are said to sport bigger screens, more megapixels and all kinds of neat stuff. More over on Engadget.
It’s thought that Pentax will get official with these by the end of the month. The above shot from LivedoorBlog is in Japanese so unless you can read it, we’re out of luck on those exact specs but they look like pretty solid offerings.
January 20, 2008
In a recent press release, OnOne software makers of popular photo plug ins such as Genuine fractals, Mask Pro & others, have announced their acquisition of Liquid Resize Technology. This may sound boring but it’s actually pretty amazing. In two words.
Rather than a normal resize, which distorts your image if you apply a size other than one that matches the original aspect ratio, Liquid Resize finds uses a technique called “Seam Carving” to add information to areas that DO NOT distort the critical subjects in then image. We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime the video below shows it in action!
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/qadw0BRKeMk" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Whats this all mean to us photographer. Hopefully it means that we can finally resize images without always having to concerned about the aspect ratio of the image. OneOne has stated that the software should be available for purchase sometimes in 2008. Pretty cool stuff!
January 14, 2008
Ah the everlasting debate of what camera is the best.
Most of us have been involved in it at some point. Nikon and Canon are thus far in the lead of others, but who knows what the future will bring with competition on the rise.
Luminous Landscape just ran a very long, and very superb article. Not a bash the other brand article but a refreshing comparison of features, ergonomics, and capabilities of Canon & Nikon systems. The author who was actually a Canon shooter, went a bought a complete Nikon system to see how he felt about the two brands.
Most of you know that I (Gavin) am a Canon shooter, and this article really helped me see some differences (I have never shot Nikon) that was not aware of. Will I be switching to Nikon anytime soon? No, but I do have some more respect for Nikon, and know some things that both brands have over the other.
The battle rages on…
January 13, 2008
Click Button To Listen, PPS #41 Sweet Clarity. Getting more vivid photography!
To download mp3 podcast, right click above link, and “Save As”
Podcast subscription feed is http://feeds.feedburner.com/prophotoshow
Todays Host…
Gavin Seim ~ Seim Photography – Seim Effects
Show Notes and links…
Photoshop Elements 6 for mac is now available. (correction from show. It is not actually shipping yet but available tor order) Pentax may be working on an electric viewfinder based a a DP-review forum thread.
Gavin is working on a Black and White Lightroom presets collection, and you can download the free Christmas Glow action and Visual Razor II free sharpening action over at Seim Effects.
During our discussion of making clear images we talked about Gavin’s 5 tips to getting clearer images article. As well as the podcasts on making HDR portraits. We also discussed using a Spyder to get your monitor color correct.
You can discuss things we talked about in the show on the PPS #41 forum thread.
Lastly here’s that image we talked about during the show. It was taken at 1/60th, F4.0, ISO1000, with a Caon L 17-40 and a 580EX flash. I set the flash to about 1/16th power to allow enough light to freeze the bride and groom, but not so much that the sparklers were washed out…. Till next time, Gavin Seim
January 3, 2008
By Gavin Seim. Updated 06/09: How do they always get super clear vivid images? Most of us have looked at images and thought this. I’ve been there too and thought I would tell you a bit about the secrets behind it. Also check out the companion PPS podcast on getting clear images.
No matter what camera you shoot with, the question comes out the same. What do photographers do to get tack sharp, vivid, beautiful images? There’s not one magic formula. It’s more of a lifestyle, and how intense and vivid you want to make your images will vary. Either way you should understand the principles, so here’s some good tips to get you rolling. At the end you can post your own tips, and you’ll even find a link to a free Photoshop action that will help you out.
This can be easily overlooked, and is crucial. Let’s say you have a lens that goes down to 1.4 or 2.8, or perhaps a long zoom. Depth of field (similar to focus) can be very shallow. You can certainly get great shots, even without a pod and on the go. It just takes some practice. Don’t get discouraged when some eyes are blurry. If you focus on a person 6 feet away who is slowly moving towards you, those eyes might be soft in the time it takes you to press the shutter.
One solution is to raise that aperture setting higher (smaller opening and more depth of field) 5.6, 8.0, etc. That will help give you more focus depth, but will also require a slower shutter speed and sometimes that shallow effect is beautiful. So to help you nail it, take lots of shots and then pick the best ones. When you can, use a tripod help keep that camera still, and remember the focus will be shallow at lower (larger opening and less depth of field) aperture settings. Also try setting the focus point right on their eye (or other desired focus spot) and nowhere else, to get your focus dead on. Practice makes perfect.
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