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.