Photography Workshop Online

Conceptual Photography: Abstract Ideas in Pictures

admin — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:31:30 +0000

Like painting, photography as an art form, also has a type that deals with abstract ideas. This one is called Conceptual Photography. Here, the artist’s thoughts and feelings are expressed in a photograph using real and tangible objects.

The original artistic idea is much more important than the physical image that portrays it. Obviously it’s important for the photograph to portray that idea in an interesting and understandable way. But it’s still the idea that comes first.

The ideas themselves do not have to be about the mysteries of the universe. They can be smaller and much more personal than that. But they must have been thought up prior to an image being created to express them.

Here are some examples of Conceptual Photography:

sources:
deviantart.com
ppsop.com

Converting a Color Image to Black-and-White through Desaturation Option

admin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:19:19 +0000

Converting a color image to black and white by using desaturation command is probably the easiest way of changing color mode next to direct conversion (image>mode>grayscale). Easy as ABC, this option also has its downside: it can be less effective because you do not have much control over the process. However, this can be used when you simply need a black and white photo without paying much attention to details.

Here’s how:

1. Open the image file that you need to convert into B&W.

2. On the “Image” menu, click on “Adjustments” then select “Desaturate”.

3. To complete the process, click again the “Image” menu, “Mode” then choose “Grayscale”.

As Well As

admin — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:32:59 +0000

CITY Magazine unveiled the inning photos from its “one City, Many Destinations” travel photography contest. Held at NYC’s Art Directors Club (ADC) Gallery, fifteen finalist images were showcased during a reception to honor the magazine’s first ever travel photography contest. Grand prize winner, new York-based photographer Konstantino Hatzisarros was on hand to discuss his breathtaking photo of two monks in a Burmese Temple which graced the 07 Fall Travel issue cover of the magazine.

The contest had more than 4,000 entries with images that “captured the essence of a city while taking readers on a photographic journey around the world, from a rainy day in Paris to the streets of Calcutta to the picturesque Cook Islands to the Great Pyramids of Giza.” The grand prize was a Leica M8 professional camera, a trip for two to any W hotel in North America and a gift certificate to Calumet Photographic.

CITY Magazine, is the 2004 National Magazine Award winner for Best Photography in 2007 and the National Magazine Award winner for Best Photo Portfolio.

Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

admin — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:04:29 +0000

The range of distance within the subject that is acceptably sharp is called the depth of field. This technique often depends on the camera. The factors that usually affect the outcome of a depth of field technique are focal length of the lens, distance of the camera to the subject, and aperture size.

Focal length of the lens. The focal length of the lens is inversely proportional to the depth of field, meaning, the greater you want the depth of field, the smaller your focal length number (number of the lens) should be. An example us using a 28mm lens that has the ability to capture more of the picture in sharp focus than a 100mm lens.

Distance of the camera to the subject. This time, you should take note that the depth of field is directly proportional to distance, meaning, a subject with a greater distance to the camera, the greater depth of field you’ll have (than an extremely close-up or close-up subject) Hence, a depth of field shot has distant subjects that are out of focus.

Aperture size. Adjust the aperture setting if you want to have a foreground or background while having the subject in focus. The wider the aperture, the shallower is the depth of field.

NYC CITY VIEWS

admin — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:20:08 +0000

Kudos to Hossein Farmani, Cat Jimenez, Susan Baraz, Sherrie Berger, Pilsner Urquell, and all the creatives and sponsors that pulled out all the stops at the Fifth Annual 2007 IPA Awards. The evening’s festivities were hosted by actress, Lili Taylor at a sold-out ceremony held at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall in NYC this past November.

All was in grand style with legendary photographers and emerging achievers garnering the coveted “Lucie Award” in a variety of categories. This yearsaw the inclusion of 2 new award categories; Pilsner Urquell International Photography Awards—The Deeper Perspective Award, open to both professional and non-professional photographers, which went to the UK’s Charlie Crane for his color image entitled Pyongyang, and the Spotlight Award presented by Hasselblad. The Spotlight Award celebrates the specific achievements of an individual, organization, or corporation whose endeavors have significantly changed the landscape of photography. The recipient: Magnum Photos.

Among winners were powerhouse Books’s Daniel Power for Photography Book publisher of the year; Dafur: Twenty Years of War and Genocide in Sudan; Massimo Mastrorillo of Rome, Italy for International Photographer of the Year, sponsored by AtEdge with his black and white image: A Decade of Peace Between Poverty and Dream, and Discovery of the Year Award, also presented by Pilsner Urquell, to Canadian larry Louie for his black and white entry, Women of Tibet. (This category is open to non-pros and students only.)

The Lucie Awards, produced by the International Photography Awards (IPA), salute the achievements of the world’s finest photographers, discover the emerging talent through the International Photography Awards and promote the appreciation of photography world wide.

Why Do We Get Noise in Our Images?

admin — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:04:22 +0000

Noise is a fact of life in the electronic world; there is no escaping it. Remember audio cassette tapes? Remember those noise charts printed on their labels? Noise is something engineers have wrestled with. Noise is built into all electronic circuits; it’s a physical limitation. The objective is to make the medium (audio tape or imaging sensor) able to capture stronger signal (sound and light) in order to overwhelm the noise in circuits.

Let’s state that in human terms, our imaging sensors have inherent noise, some more than others. In bright light, the signal (light photons) is stronger than the noise, effectively wiping out all visible traces of noise. Noise is still there, but we can’t see it. In low light, the signal is weaker than the noise, effectively wiping out all visible traces of noise. When the signal is weaker, it is not enough to overcome noise, whish is why we see more noise that exposed pixels when shooting in very low light.

Source:

I-Mag Photography

Canon EOS 450D

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:32:52 +0000

Canon has recently released EOS 450D (Digital Rebel XSi), a new compact digital SLR. Its design may look like EOS 400D, however there are a range of significant improvements especially when it comes to quality and performance. It has a whopping twelve megapixel CMOS sensor, 3.0″ LCD monitor, Live View with both AF modes (contrast-detect and passive), 14-bit processing and RAW, spot metering, improved AF, 3.5 fps continuous shooting, a larger viewfinder, SD/SDHC storage and a new higher capacity battery. All in all, a fairly impressive array of usage oriented improvements and refinements there innovated by one of the experts in digital photography, Canon.

Image sensor	22.2 x 14.8 mm CMOS sensor with 12.40 million photosites (12.2 megapixels effective)
Lens mount:	Canon EF mount (accepts EF-S lenses)
Focal length crop factor	1.6x
Image formats	CR2.RAW (14-bit), JPEG, RAW+JPEG
Image Sizes	4272 x 2848, 3088 x 2056, 2256 x 1504
Image Stabilization	Lens-based only
Dust removal	Canon Integrated Cleaning System
Shutter speed range	30-1/4000 second plus Bulb, X-sync at 1/200 sec
Exposure Compensation	Manual, AEB ±2EV in 1/3- or 1/2-stop increments
Self-timer	2 or 10 second delay or 10-sec. delay plus continuous shooting
Focus system	TTL secondary image-registration, phase detection autofocus with 9 AF points
Focus modes	One-Shot AF, AI Servo AF, AI Focus AF, Manual focusing (MF); AF-assist via built-in flash
Exposure metering	35-segment TTL full-aperture metering; Evaluative, Partial, Spot, Centre-weighted modes
Shooting modes	Program AE (Full Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Portrait, Flash Off, Program), shutter-priority AE, aperture-priority AE, depth-of-field AE, manual exposure, E-TTL II autoflash
Picture Style/Control settings	Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful, Monochrome, User Def. 1 - 3
Custom functions	13 (34 settings)
ISO range	Basic Zone modes: ISO 100 - 800 set automatically; Creative Zone modes: ISO 100 - 1600 (in 1-stop increments), Auto
White balance	Auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, white fluorescent light, flash, custom; +/- 9 steps of colour correction in full step increments; +/- 3 steps of white balance bracketing
Flash	: Retractable, auto pop-up flash, GN 13; coverage up to 17mm lens; recycle time approx. 3 sec.
Flash exposure adjustment	+/-2 stops in 1/3- or 1/2-stop increments
Sequence shooting	3.5 fps for up to 6 CR2.RAW files, 4 RAW+JPEG or max. burst of 53 shots (JPEG)
Storage Media	SD and SDHC Memory Card
Viewfinder	Eye-level pentamirror with approx. 95% coverage; 0.87x magnification and approx. 19mm eyepoint; fixed, Precision Matte focusing screen
LCD monitor	3.0-inch TFT colour liquid-crystal monitor with approx. 230,000 dots; 7 levels of brightness adjustment
Live View modes	Live View shooting, Remote Live View shooting (with a personal computer installed with EOS Utility)
Data LCD	no
Playback functions	Single image, Single image + Image-recording quality, shooting information, histogram, 4- or 9-image index, magnified view (approx. 1.5x - 10x), rotated image, image jump (by 1/10/100 images, or shooting date); highlight alert available
Interface terminals	Hi-Speed USB, mini B port; Video OUT (NTSC/PAL); Wireless (RS-60E3 remote control compatible)
Power supply	LP-E5 rechargeable lithium-ion battery; CIPA rated for 500 shots/charge (50% flash use)
Dimensions (wxhxd)	128.8 x 97.5 x 61.9 mm
Weight	475 grams (without battery and card)

7 Tips for Wedding Photographers

admin — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:36:41 +0000

From Lee Llamas

Shoot in bursts.
Lee always shoots in short bursts during a wedding, never single shots. He figured that if the subject blinks in one frame, chances are he didn’t blink in the other frames. Constantly chimping the LCD screen is a waste of time, which Lee never does during a shoot anyway. Burst shooting is the way he stacks the odds in his favor.

Don’t compromise your rates.
Lee has stopped participating in bridal fairs, because most of them are nothing more than flea markets, where potential clients tend to compare his rates with the cutthroat competition. Instead of dropping your rates, educate your potential clients on the quality of your services and end products. Clients who can’t tell the difference aren’t worth the anxiety.

Be your own photographer, not the client’s.
Some clients insist on telling you to shoot in a particular style, or to copy a look they saw on the internet, or in a book. This reduces you to nothing more than mindless camera operator, all your training and experience gone to waste. You get paid, but it won’t be the kind of work you’ll proudly show around. Lee makes sure his clients understand why they’re hiring him by including a clause in his contract to the effect that “the photographer’s style in coverage is the basis for this agreement.”

Study with the masters.
Lee considers himself lucky to have trained under photographers who were as generous with their wisdom as they were knowledgeable. He paid his dues working backbreaking hours (literally) with no commensurate recognition for his labors. Many new photographers today think they need a fancy new DSLR and a few lessons.

Don’t delete anything in camera; reformat.
Lee has memory cards and microdrives from old cameras still in excellent read/write condition. He credits this to his preferred routine of never deleting any frame during or after a shoot, not event he bad exposures. He transfers all shots to a computer for sitting and sorting then reformats the memory card in the camera.

Watch out for the emotion-laden moments.
Not even the best-composed formal bridal portrait can beat the power and memorability of a shot showing a mother or father trying-often unsuccessfully-to hold back tears, or a bride in the arms of her father during her first dance of the reception. Don’t just shoot nice pictures to hang on walls; shoot pictures that tug at heartstrings.

Make a east two copies on different media.
This piece of advice works not only for wedding photographers, but for everyone who shoots digital. Make a set of copies on external drives and optical discs. The first set is the unedited, unsifted files, like storing all negatives from a shoot. The second set is the sifted files, the unusable shots removed. The third set is the working files, for inclusion in the wedding albums and for printing.

source: i-mag photography

Sony Cybershot DSC-T2

admin — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:35:14 +0000

Another compact camera from Sony, the Cybershot DSC-T2 amazes everyone with its beauty and unmatched features that live up to the expectations not just of the consumers but if every discerning photographer as well. The Sony Cybershot DSC-T2 is unlike regular compact camera. What separates it from the ordinary is the cool design available in 5 colors and its 2.7” LCD with touchscreen interface, and a whopping 4GB of internal memory.

Basic Features

* 8.1 megapixel Super HAD CCD
* 3x zoom (38-114mm 35mm equivalent)
* 6x digital zoom
* 2.7-inch LCD with 230,400 pixels
* ISO sensitivity from 80 to 3,200
* Shutter speeds from one second to 1/1,000 second
* Max Aperture: f/3.5
* MS Duo/MS PRO Duo memory card support
* Custom lithium-ion battery

Special Features

* 4GB internal memory
* Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization
* Smart Zoom (digital zoom for smaller image sizes)
* Flush lens cover
* USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
* 1080i HD component video with optional cable or dock
* Face detection technology for exposure and focus
* Smile Shutter mode for finding smiling faces
* Touch screen user interface
* Scene modes: Fireworks, High Sensitivity, High Speed Shutter, Landscape, Snow, Soft Snap, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Smile Shutter, Beach
* In-camera editing: Red-eye correction, soft edge filter, cross filter, partial color filter, fish-eye filter, retro, radiation, trimming

In the Box

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T2 ships with the following items in the box:

* Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T2 body
* NP-BD1 lithium-ion battery with case
* Compact battery charger BC-CSF with folding prongs
* Paint pen
* Wrist strap
* HD1-C adapter plate for Cyber-shot Station
* Long USB cable with proprietary camera connector
* Short USB cable with proprietary camera connector
* USB adapter for Multi connector
* Software CD
* Owners manual, registration materials

In Living Color

admin — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:53:30 +0000

Photographer Maggie Goudsmit was thrilled to receive a nomination from the prestigious International Color Awards 2nd annual Master Cup. Her entry in the fashion category was a single image from a 10-page story titled “Pause and Play“. Goudsmit used this particular image because of its color palette. The Michigan Native moved to New York City to pursue a career in fashion photography. Having had the opportunity to collaborate with Zink Magazine in 2006–contributing each month 10-12 page fashion stories, she was given creative freedom and thus able to build a portfolio of work that has been described as “cinematic due to her narrative approach to capturing a moment out of motion.”

Goudsmit work has appeared in The Blowup, American, Italian and British Glamour, Hint, Oyster, Vogue Tiwan, Vision, 100 Women, Zink and Ann Taylor.

The Master Cup is a global online awards show recognizing excellence in color photography. This celebrated event shines a spotlight on the finest professional and amateur photographers and is presented by International Color Awards. The awards jury represents the most influential art directors, agencies, editors, galleries, and publishers from the world of photography, advertising, and entertainment. Images are nominated and selected with the highest achievements in color photography.

SOURCE: Picture Magazine