Camera Stablization

diy-digital-camera-stabilizer-setup: everyone needs a way to be mobile, quick, but stable. Here is a great idea that will work at Como or other places that limit tripods and monopods.

Samsung to Announce new MIrrorless Cameras

It is expected that Samsung will announce soon that it has upgraded its mirrorless cameras the NX10 and NX100. The current cameras are based upon a 14 megapixel APS-C sized sensor that is larger than a micro four thirds one. The new cameras ( presumably the NX200 and NX20) are expected to increase the pixel count of the sensor and upgrade video to 1080 HD from the current 720i.

In addition, Samsung has already announced an aggressive lens road map that includes five new lenses mentioned here previously. They are:

Olympus Announces 3 New Pen Cameras

Olympus, along with Panasonic, created the micro four thirds standard (MFT) based upon the 4:3 size sensor that was found in DSLR's. (For a good explanation of the two standards see our post on June 15th). The system offers interchangeable lenses on smaller portable cameras. For those who have thought about getting one, the options just got a little more tempting with Olympus' announcement of three new cameras to its lineup. All three feature a new 12.3 Megapixel Live Mos sensor with full HD 1080 video at 60 fps.

The flagship model is the E-P3. It was designed to deliver professional image quality, high speed shooting and improved low light capability, in a camera with professional level control. It will be available in August of this year.



The E-PL3 is a smaller version that incorporates a number of creative controls including a movable LCD screen for ease of composition in any shooting situation.



The E-PM1 is the smallest PEN camera to feature interchangeable lenses. It will be available in six colors with a new interface that was simplified for ease of use.



The E-PM1 and E-PL3 arrival dates have not yet been announced.

To learn more visit: Olympus.

Open to Interpretation - Juried Book Competition

There is a local art competition that features both images and the written word called "Open to Interpretation". The result of each competition is a book that is produced containing the selected works. The book features the winning photos with the prose that best describes each image. The process is described as:

Each book begins with a themed call for photos. The chosen photos become the literary inspiration for the writers’ submissions. A book is created that matches each winning photo with two stories or poems that offer different interpretations of the image. The unique collaboration adds new dimensions to both the photos and the written word.

The current competition is titled Water's Edge. This competition opened for written submissions on June 25th and has an entry deadline of September 20th. A second competition titled "Intimate Landscapes" is open for images until October 18th after which it will be opened up for written submissions.

To learn more go to: Open to Interpretation.

ICEBOX GALLERY - PIN ART EXHIBIT

Icebox is the name of a gallery in Northeast Minneapolis. It has been in existence since 1988, and is currently located at Suite #443 on 1500 Jackson Street NE. It offers workshops, framing and exhibits by local and international photographers.

The current exhibit is by Italian photographer Maurizio Marcato called PIN ART.


PIN ART is the world premiere of 24 new photographic images created by Maurizio Marcato one of Italy’s most diverse and creative photographers. This exhibit celebrates the classic beauty, style and humor found in the Pin-Up.

Maurizio Marcato’s images were inspired by his love of beauty, nostalgia and freedom that he first felt growing up in northern Italy in the early 1960s in the after math of Second World War. As a young boy Maurizio took a liking to the idealized beauty of the Pin Ups that he saw used in advertising. It was glimpses of the work of Joyce Ballantyne, Al Buell, Edward Runci, and the great Gil Elvgren that left a lasting impression on Maurizio Marcato.

The term Pin Up first appeared in 1941, but the illustrated style goes back to the late 1800s. The original Pin Up artists were painters and illustrators who employed the camera as the first step in making their creations. The artist would often photograph a model appearing to be caught in the moment of an unfortunate incident causing skirts and petticoats to be lifted revealing an embarrassing lingerie display. From that photograph they would paint and illustrate the final image.

In Maurizio’s work the camera captures the moment and in post-production the images are made to appear flawless, stylized and colored in ways that resemble paintings. Each model is chosen with great care to possess a combination of youthful beauty, bright-eyed innocence and then dressed and made-up in a vintage style. Great care is taken to make the scene detailed and styled with objects and props. Two themes are displayed in this exhibit: the game of Billiards and the pleasurable experience of beer drinking.

You can read about the history of this gallery, get directions and find more information about its workshops and services on its website: ICEBOX.

Camera Specials from Hunt's

Hunt's has been offering deals on cameras and equipment for many years, prompting us to post them from time to time. Below are some of their latest offerings.



Also, check out the new pocket rocket from Panasonic the FH25. It features a zoom lens made by Leica and a 16 megapixel sensor. It is offered at Hunt's for only $159.00 and includes the camera, battery pack, charger, AV cable, USB cable, wrist strap, software CD and 1 year Panasonic warranty.

New Camera Technology is Announced

LYTRO is the working name of a company that has just announced a new type of technology for taking images. It was developed by a professor at Stanford University and has received substantial funding to bring this technology to market. It's based upon research the inventor did a while back on light fields.

The technology is described as "focus free" meaning the image when taken does not have to be in focus. Rather, the camera takes all of the information it can from the "light field", stores it digitally and then allows the user to manipulate the image in an infinite number of ways. The sensor used captures more information than current ones. It can capture not only color, but the direction and intensity of every light beam in the light field. The result is an image file with far more information than is recorded by current image sensors that in turn allows greater manipulation of the image file when being processed.

The technology while promising is not yet ready to compete with the likes of Canon or Nikon. The company has perfected a means of creating a sensor that will record all of the information from a light field. But it still must solve the problem of developing the software necessary to process all of this information to render an acceptable image.

You can read more about this technology at: CNNMONEY and at LYTRO.

If you would like to try it out go to: MASHABLE.

Exhibit Opening at MPC

There is a new exhibit opening at the Minneapolis Photo Center titled "Early Morning/After Dark". It will run from June 24th through August 13th. It will feature images from photographers in 9 countries and 20 states. The juror was Peter Howe, former photo editor of the New York Times Magazine and director of photography for LIFE magazine.


We are pleased to recognize Cynthia Fleury ( Crosstown Camera Club and Minneapolis Photographic Society) who had 3 photographs selected for this exhibit; Marina Boats Early Light, Grand Marais Lighthouse, and Artist's Point.

The photo center is located at 2400 North Second Street Minneapolis, Minnesota 55411. Everyone is invited to the hors d'oeuvre and wine reception at the Mpls Photo Center from 7-10 pm on June 24th.

Photography at Silverwood Park

A person interested in art and a resident who lives near Silverwood Park in St. Anthony contacted us about a current exhibit. The exhibit is by a photographer who apparently uses a special technique to produce what she thought were truly amazing images. She described them as appearing like "charcoal drawings" but in actuality were photographs.

If anyone gets out there and can take some images or provide more information about the exhibit, artist or technique, send it in and we'll publish it.

For more information about how to get to Silverwood or any of the parks in the Three River system go to: Three Rivers.

Photographer Donald Weber

Canadian photographer Donald Weber discusses in this video his methods, ideas and approach to photography as he shows his images of the Japanese Tsunami, Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and Russian mobsters, among others.

(NOTE: there is a commercial ad that runs before the video that cannot be edited out. In fact, it is kind of a cool cinemagraphic. You can skip it by waiting for a second or two and then clicking on "skip this ad" when it appears on the upper left hand corner)

Cinemagraphs

Most of the new cameras coming to market have HD quality video. There is a technique that can take advantage of this capability called a cinemagraph. It is not a still photograph, nor a video, but a GIF file that is a combination of both. The result of using this technique is a still image that contains movement in a few subtle details. The effect can be mesmerizing.

The cinemagraphs that are online aren't videos that can be embeded in this site, so they can't be shown here. However, if you go to this website: TAXI you can view a number of these images to get an idea of how creative they can be. If you have a MAC, drag one of the cinemagraphs from this website onto your desktop and then open the image in "Preview". (There probably is a similar program on a PC). You can see in the sidebar every image that makes up the cinemagraph and gives it movement within the still image.

A cinemagraph can be created in CS5 through the use of layer masks. I gather from the description of how it is done that it can be time-consuming work depending upon the level of sophistication you wish to put into the resulting image. For a good description of how to make a cinemagraph go to: Fernandojabez.com or to these two articles on the subject: AAD1 and AAD2.

You should really check this technique out as the resulting images do catch a viewers eye and hold its attention. To view a variety of these types of images go to: If we don't remember me.

PIN-UP ART

If you've ever gone to the St. Paul Science Museum's merchandise shop, or to a toy store that features unique games, then you probably have seen the small plastic boxes that contain hundreds of pins. On one side you can press your hand or other object, and on the opposite side the pins push out to form a pattern of the object. Thus the term pin-up art.

Recently a designer in London took the concept to a whole new level creating a life-size pin-up sculpture that people could press against to create full size images of themselves in various positions. The one in the middle is especially interesting since it appears the creator had to jump against the sculpture and get airborne to create it.

WVIL Camera Concept

A prototype WVIL (Wireless Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens) camera was shown at the CES trade show. We previewed the video here on the blog.

Now a new video has surfaced showing this potentially new camera format. It features a lens cap that supposedly can be placed over the back of any current lens to give it wireless capability. Then the lens can be used to compose an image that is sent wirelessly to the WVIL camera back, which can then shoot and store the image.

The camera back is designed to look like, and presumably function like a current smartphone.

Check out the video:

Concept Camera: The WVIL from Artefact on Vimeo.

COSTA RICA TOUR - SAVE $200.00!

Rikk Flohr and Laurie Hernandez have been conducting annual photo tours to Costa Rica for many years. Their experience allows them to bring you to the most beautiful locations in a country filled with beautiful locations.

If you act before June 30th and book one of the 8 day tours offered in February 2012 you will save $200.00 on the tour price. Click on the image below for detail:


Also, visit the Worldesigns website for more information. Make sure to check out the photo galleries of past tours conducted by Laurie and Rikk.

Mirrorless Camera Market is Heating up

They're small, capable, stylish and evil (as in Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens). They're mirrorless digital cameras based upon the four thirds system that have interchangeable lenses.

The Four thirds system pioneered by Panasonic and Olympus now includes models from Samsung and Sony (rumors of a Nikon offering this spring fizzled and Canon remains on the sidelines). Recent product announcements from all of these makers indicate manufacturers are continuing to expand this market beyond the advanced entry level category into a viable competitor of sorts for the traditional DSLR. While EVIL cameras are not there yet in terms of quality and features, the capabilities of these camera is growing rapidly.

Panasonic announced the DMC-GF3 camera that has a 12mp CMOS sensor, shoots at 3.8fps and takes HD quality video. Last year Sony entered the fray with its NEX-3 and NEX-5 cameras. Each has a large 16mp APC sensor in an incredibly small package (at least until you attach a large lens). Also, Sony just announced the NEX-C3 with a sleeker style and new features.

Samsung updated its NX system that included the NX100 and NX10 with the new NX11 camera. It has a large 14mp APC sensor and shoots HD video at 720p. It also announced five new lenses for its NX system that includes a 60mm 2.8 macro and a 18-200 zoom.

Carl Zeiss AG, maker of high quality lenses, also joined the micro four-thirds system in February. Its Zeiss HD video lenses will now be available for four thirds cameras greatly expanding the product line of these cameras.

Projections indicate the market for these types of cameras will continue to expand well into 2015 and beyond.

For a complete explanation of the Four Thirds standard go to: MFT (Micro) and 4/3.

Convert an SD/SDHC Card to a CF Card

If you have more than one camera, you know they can utilize different card formats. Many DSLR cameras use the compact flash card format, while point and shoot cameras and the newer camcorders tend to employ either the SD/SDHC or MMC format.

An easy solution to the format dilemma is to use a card adopter like the one below. It accepts SD/SDHC/MMC cards and adoptts them for use in devices requiring compact flash cards only. Since the price of these smaller format cards is generally less then CF cards, this adopter is a great way to increase storage capacity inexpensively. Also, it is currently on sale at Amazon for only $17.28.

It's all just a matter of perspective.....

Russ Borud's Studies in Junque!!

POLO

As reported last year in this blog we do have a local polo club active in our area. It is called the Twin City Polo Club and is headquartered in Maple Plain. On most weekends between May 1st and September 10th there are matches or practices that are open to the public. They offer a great opportunity to photograph this thrilling sport.

The highlight of the season is the Twin City Polo Classic scheduled this year on July 31st. If you go to this or any other polo events remember to bring LONG lenses, as the field of play is really large. Also, bring a smaller portrait lens for closes up shots on the sidelines.


Below is a map to the field in Maple Plain.

National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

National Geographic Traveler magazine is holding a photo contest with some wonderful prizes. Click on the image below for the more information, or go to Nat Geo to review contest rules, prizes and to see the images submitted so far.

Facebook Privacy

All of us have become accustomed to sharing images and other information online. But if you are using Facebook, it would be wise to read an article posted in the Minneapolis Star about protecting your privacy. The title is "10 Facebook Settings to Check Now" and it is a real eye opener.

There are a number of ways anyone can access your information through Facebook. The article outlines 10 account settings you should review to ensure no one has unwarranted permission to access your private and personal data/images.

Users may initially set up their Facebook account without taking the time to explore their account options. This includes leaving many of the settings in the default mode that come standard with the account. As a result, permission to access personal data on the account is automatically given to any number of third persons and entities that were never intended to have this level of access.

This article provides simple instructions on how to reconfigure your account to avoid the unknowing release of information to any third parties. If you use Facebook, read this article and follow its instructions to protect your information and images.

Mitch Dobrowner at Fstop

FStop is billed as "the place that professional photographers discuss their craft" online. One of those photographers is Mitch Dobrowner. He works primarily in the Southwest. He has a special talent for recording severe weather scenes of intense beauty, for example the image below:


Recently Mitch gave an interview about his work you can view at: Fstop. You can also view Mitch's portfolio of fine images at: Dobrowner.