Saturday, December 31, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2012

My resolutions for 2012
  1. Make more photographs
  2. Make better photographs
  3. Have more fun while making more and better photographs
  4. Organize my photos (I would say organize better, but organizing my photos has never been my strong point. What can I say, I can not tell a lie.)
  5. Present my photos in a more interesting way (creating more folios, and expanding into books - this should force me to actually do #4)
Well, these few items should keep me busy for the next 12 months, don't you think?

Have a wonderful New Year, my friends. Good shooting to you all.....

Friday, December 30, 2011

Limited Edition Photo Prints?

The Online Photographer has a discussion going on 'limited edition prints' that is quite useful. If you are thinking of doing 'limited editions', check it out before you trap yourself.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Layne Kennedy at REI

Local photographer and lecturer Layne Kennedy is scheduled to give a free presentations at REI in Bloomington on January 21, 2012.  The title of his presentation is "Photographing the Wild".  It is scheduled to be delivered between 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. 

You can get more information at: REI.www.rei.com/event/33237/session/41599

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Master of Photography Series

National Geographic is producing a series of episodes called "Master of Photography."  Each is an audio podcast that can be heard and viewed in I-Tunes.  The series covers a variety of interesting subjects related to photography, and best of all, each episode is free.

You can see all of the episodes produced to date (29) by going to the I-Tunes store and typing in the category "I-Tunes U", or you can view them here: NAT GEO.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

CNN Fires Photo Journalists

No one disputes the fact images often times make a news story.  Images attract a viewer and can convey a sense of "being there" at the source of the news.  Well composed images often times lend impact to a story that mere words alone could not convey.  

News outlets traditionally employed professional photojournalists who are dispatched to the news scene to "get the images" needed to support the news being reported.  But recently CNN has fired some of its photojournalists in favor of developing what it calls I-Reporters.  The move raises an interesting debate on the value of photography and the ethics of news reporting.

On its website CNN has for sometime encouraged viewers to submit images of news in the making.  The initial theory being news occurs randomly everywhere and no news organization can possibly cover it all, or anticipate which stories will be published.  In addition, news organizations recognize that nearly everyone carries a smartphone or other device capable of taking images whose quality can be acceptable for use in news coverage.  By soliciting images from viewers a news organization can get the benefit of potentially having millions of photojournalists on the ground covering potential news stories.  And in fact CNN reportedly does get many images regularly from I-Reporters it can potentially use in news stories.  CNN also does not pay for the images submitted to it even if they are used in a news story.

At the center of the debate is the decision to rely on what is described as "user generated" content versus original content developed by professionals.  This can raise ethical issues about the use of images that can and may in fact have been manipulated by amateur I-reporters, rather than an eyewitness image produced by a trained journalist.  It also involves a "cost of coverage" issue for news organizations.  Clearly it is cheaper in theory to have free news photos and stories to publish to save the costs associated with sending journalists to the scene of the news.  But there are costs associated with handling and reviewing the thousands of images submitted by I-reporters, not to mention the investigation that may be required to put the images into a workable news story.  

Finally, there is an issue regarding the quality of the news.  Trained photojournalists produce professional content, but so can some I-reporters with the advantage they may happen to be at the scene of the news, whereas a professional may not.  Photographers have this discussion all the time: What is better, getting a lower quality shot with a cheap point and shoot camera that is easy to carry, or not getting it at all because it is too difficult to carry expensive and heavy professional equipment around all the time?  The move to rely more on I-reporters rather than professional photojournalists is much the same debate and the outcome does affect the type and quality of the news the public will ultimately receive. 

To view the article go to CNN.

Images of the Year - 2011

The Atlantic is featuring its images of the year for 2011.  The article features a great collection of images taken this past year on topics ranging from the tragic Japanese tsunami to heartwarming human interest stories, to images of political change and unrest that made headlines during the year.

Below are examples of some of the featured images.  You can view the entire set of images in three parts at: Atlantic.  You can view the images of parts #2 and #3 by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page.






Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Hunts New Specials for the Holidays

Check out the camera specials here at HUNTS

Scroll to the bottom of these specials and check out the Nikon and Canon coffee mugs and thermos shaped like actual manufacture's lenses.  

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Friday, December 9, 2011

A Short guide to Street Photography

Russ Borud sent in a link to a website that discusses street photography.  It contains a lot of information on the main topics involved with such shots such as: "Overcoming Shyness", "Locales", "Legality" etc.

To visit the website and view its content go to: STREET PHOTO.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

The Best Advice for Photographers


This is great advice for new photographers, but we all learn a lot from our photo mistakes. 

Whats Inside a DSLR

There was a recent article in Popular Mechanics that featured disassembled DSLR that shows the working parts of the camera. Click on the image below for an expanded view.


You can view the article at: PM.

National Geographic Photography

National Geographic showcases amazing photography on its website including the "photo of the day" like the one below from November.
 

To view the photos submitted go to: Nat Geo Photography.

New 12 Ink Pixma Pro 1 Printer from Canon

John Ringquist of the Crosstown club mentioned that Canon has just come out with a new printer that features 12 ink cartridges for better color resolution in prints up to 13" x 19" in size.  Below from Adorama TV is a video of this amazing new printer that lists for $999.99.


Canon Pixma Pro-1 Printer: Product Reviews: Adorama Photography TV from AdoramaTV on Vimeo.

Sony A77 & NEX 7 Cameras

Sony has introduced two new cameras to market the semi-pro A77 with a non-moveable translucent mirror, and the mirrorless NEX 7.  Both contain a 24mp APC sensor and a new OLED viewfinder. 

Here is a video that introduces the new cameras and their features:
PhotoPlus 2011 – Sony NEX-7 and A77 from AdoramaTV on Vimeo.


Note that the NEX 7 is both popular (due to its size and features), and delayed due to flooding that took place in Thailand earlier this fall.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Night Photography

A recent article in Wired Magazine featured the night photography of Scott Martin.



The article gives some basic information about how to take night shots, but is more notable for the excellent shots taken by Mr. Martin.

To view the article and see the photos go to: Night Shots.