Overheard at WPPI 2010…
By Diane Berkenfeld
The WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Professionals International) 2010 (www.wppionline.com) conference and tradeshow celebrated its 30th year by once again attaining record-breaking attendance numbers and a sold out tradeshow. In addition to the hundred plus programs, 300+ exhibitors—thousands of attendees made the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino their home away from home from March 4 through 11. WPPI Plus classes began on March 4, platform programs began on March 7 and the tradeshow ran March 8-10, with the conference ending on March 11.
Program topics ran the gamut from business, marketing, Photoshop and digital workflow, lighting/posing, and Social Media. In addition to the programs run by WPPI, a number of the exhibitors held hour-long programs at their booths. These included Miller’s Lab, Kodak, Nikon, Canon, Sony, and many others—large and small. No matter where you turned, you were likely to learn something new.
With all of the programs to choose from, the more popular had lines of attendees waiting for the doors to open. A few of the presenters were given encore dates/times and asked to re-present their programs because there were so many folks who had to be turned away when the rooms hit capacity.
What’s Said in Vegas, Doesn’t Stay in Vegas…
I thought I’d share some of what I overheard while attending programs and lectures at exhibitor booths on the tradeshow floor.
- While in an elevator, admiring a shirt that read, “Film is not dead” I was told that all of the images on display at the Fujifilm booth were captured on film. A few days later I finally had the opportunity to check out these gorgeous, vibrant images and was not disappointed.
- At the Miller’s Lab booth, TriCoast Photography’s (www.tricoastphoto.com) Mike Fulton and Cody Clinton gave a presentation on one of the specialties they’re know for, Wireless TTL flash photography: Use your TTL flash for creative lighting. By setting the zoom on the flash more telephoto than your field of view, you’re in effect creating a focused, light that looks as if you’re using a snoot.
- Attending another talk at the Miller’s Lab booth, this one given by educator and web expert, Gloria Antonelli (http://gloriaantonelli.com):
- Your website or blog is your home, and your Facebook/Twitter etc. accounts represent your vacation home.
- And… Web 2.0 requires a regular workload in addition to the offline work you do in your business. Social media is a two way street. Communicate with your audience and community. Be a friend, and others will want to be your friend in return. If you’re too pushy, you’ll turn your followers off.
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Doug Gordon begins his program with everyone singing and dancing to YMCA. Photo © Diane Berkenfeld
Attending Doug Gordon’s (www.patkenphotographer.com) program ‘Posing is Back and it is the New Black,’ the reason brides don’t want posed photographs is that they think it takes too long. Not true when you have a system. In the course of the two-hour talk, Doug was able to show attendees two hundred different poses for the bride and groom. His is a style of posed photojournalism. Yes, he takes the time to light and pose correctly, but he also finds the energy and passion in the moment and brings that out in his images.
- During the Canon sponsored Keynote, speaker Gregory Heisler (www.gregoryheisler.com) explained his philosophy behind taking pictures.
- He’ll always put himself in the position he’s going to ask his subject to take, because its important to him to know how they will feel while being photographed. He also explained that he’d never photograph someone in a way he himself wouldn’t want to be photographed in.
- And, even though he has finally migrated to 35mm DSLRs, Gregory still uses a cable release, because it gives him the ability to have a face to face conversation with his subject while taking pictures—which stems from when his experience shooting with large format view cameras that required this type of shooting.
- Vicki Taufer’s (www.vgallery.net and www.vgalleryhaven.com) program, ‘Unleashed,’ was all about her studio’s pet photography. One of the most important things she said was, “People are paying not only for photographs but for the experience.” Other photographers made the same statement, pointing out how your personality and the way you treat your clients is just as important as your photography skills. You are selling the experience of your photography, not just the images on pieces of paper.
- JB and DeEtte Sallee (www.salleephotography.com), speaking at the Kodak booth, talked about the importance of adding a “whopper” package to your line. While you may never sell this one, the next highest one won’t seem as high in comparison.
- In their presentation, ‘Creating Loyalty Beyond Reason’ first time WPPI speakers Justin and Mary Marantz (www.justinmarantz.com) mentioned some great business books:
- The E Myth Revisited, Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it by Michael E. Gerber (www.michaelegerber.com)
- Lovemarks, The future beyond brands by Kevin Roberts (www.saatchikevin.com)
- Purple Cow by Seth Godin (www.sethgodin.com/sg)
- Kay Eskridge’s (www.imagesbykay.com and www.celebratesexy.com) program on boudoir photography was one of the more popular topics, with WPPI attendees lining up early to make sure they would get a seat.
- Kay, like many of the other program presenters uses royalty free music from Triple Scoop Music. “If you’re complaining about people copying your images and you’re not using royalty free music, you’re doing the same thing,” she said.
- It is imperative for male photographers to have a female associate/assistant present at all times during boudoir shoots. She suggested guys should also ask their clients to have a female friend at the shoot as well.
- And, backgrounds and props don’t always have to cost a lot of money. Kay showed how she has created backgrounds from wall panels found at Lowes, shower curtains and satin sheets from Bed Bath & Beyond, and doors and shutters painted in hot colors from Home Depot. Oh, and if you’re going to buy and use satin sheets—use flat not fitted sheets, and use a steamer to get out wrinkles.
- Lori Nordstrom (www.nordstromphoto.com) presented a business program that was filled with inspiration—for the photographer [read: artist] to understand that their studio is a business and needs to be run that way to be profitable. Some of what Lori discussed:
- Ask for referrals, and for each one, give your current clients a small gift.
- Be charitable, its good for you and your business.
- You may have to handhold clients to help them, but they’ll appreciate this customer service—and the experience you provide.
Photographer Jules Bianchi (r.) is interviewed at the Pictage booth. Photo © Diane Berkenfeld
Photographer Huy Nguyen (r.) of F8 Studios speaks at the ProDPI booth. Photo © Diane Berkenfeld
There were a number of first time exhibitors at the tradeshow, as well as established companies showing brand new products and services, which is exciting, as it shows the growth in the industry.
Look for the wrap-up article of great new products and services to be posted on picture-soup.com soon.
Pentax medium format digital camera is now a reality
The Pentax 645D, just announced, is a 40MP medium format digital camera. Pentax had long been in the medium format film business, but this is the first medium format digital for the company.
For years, photographers, journalists and rumor mills have been mulling over whether Pentax would be reentering the world of medium format cameras with their first digital model. Well, debate no longer, because Pentax has joined the digital medium format game. Yesterday, Hoya Corp. Pentax Imaging Systems announced the Pentax 645D, a 40MP medium format digital camera.
The camera will be utilizing a 40MP CCD sensor with a physical size of 44mm x 33mm, and no low-pass filter. The camera will be compatible with the majority of existing smc PENTAX 645 interchangeable lenses. Processing of images will be done by Pentax’s proprietary Prime (Pentax Real Image Engine) II.
The camera was designed to be durable, a feature seen in many of the Pentax 35mm DSLRs. The 645D is made with a main frame created out of magnesium-steel alloy with a diecast aluminum chassis; the two LCD panels, (one on the back panel, one on the camera’s top) are covered with tempered glass plates for extra protection. The camera’s 70 seals will keep dust and other nasties out. A newly designed shutter is said to withstand as many as 50,000 shutter releases. On the inside, the camera will utilize the Pentax DR (Dust Removal) II mechanism to keep dust off the image sensor.
Other features of the camera include the ability to shoot RAW (PEF/DNG), JPG, and RAW + JPG, (for a 40 megabyte 14-bit RAW file size); a newly designed 11 point Safox IX+ wide-frame AF sensor, 77-segment multi-pattern metering system, dual SD/SDHC memory card slots, ISO range of 200 – 1000 expandable to 100 – 1600, TTL, exposure compensation +/- 5 f/stops, shutter speeds from 1/4000 of a sec. to 30 seconds plus bulb, self timer, interval, multiple exposure and other modes, custom image function, HDR functionality, dynamic range expansion, digital level, automatic compensation of distortion and lateral chromatic aberration with the D FA 645- and FA 645- series lenses, copyright credit attachment on image files, compatabiltiy with the SDM (Supersonic Direct-drive Motor) autofocus mechanism inside SDM lenses, and much more.
The camera features a 3-inch LCD and HDMI terminal. PENTAX Digital Camera Utility 4 software package will come with the camera. To see the full press release, go to www.pentax.jp/english/news/2010/201008.html.
We can’t wait to get our hands on this baby, however at this time, there are no plans to bring the camera to the U.S.
—Diane Berkenfeld
Mamiya expands line with 40MP DM40/DM40 Digital Back
 Mamiya today expanded its line of large-sensor DSLRs with the addition of the new 40-megapixel Mamiya DM40, featuring a 44mm x 33mm image sensor offering a pixel count of 7360 x 5562. The camera offers a peak capture rate of .8 seconds per frame and a sustained capture rate of 60 frames per minute. ISO range is 80-800 and the largest file size that can be attained is a 240MB 16 Bit Tiff. A 6×7cm LCD touchscreen allows for ease of use. At the heart of the DM40 is the “DF” camera-core technology, which utilizes both a leaf and focal plane shutter. Because the camera uses a focal plane shutter and lenses that feature a leaf shutter, photographers will be able to use flash sync speeds up to 1/1600 of a second. For portable use, the camera/digital back uses CompactFlash cards; tethered use is via FireWire 800.
Mamiya also announced the Mamiya DM40 Digital Back, which can be used with the Mamiya 645AFD series, 645DF, Mamiya RZ series (via optional adapter), Mamiya RB series (via optional adapter) or 4×5 view cameras via an optional adapter. The new 40MP camera/digital back joins other Mamiya large sensor DSLRs/digital backs, featuring resolutions of 22MP, 28MP, 33MP, and 56MP. Three new leaf shutter lenses designed by Schneider-Kreuznach and manufactured by Mamiya are compatible with the camera, in focal lengths of 55mm, 80mm, and 110mm. These lenses join 15 other lenses from 28mm to 300mm APO, designed for use with the cameras’ focal plane shutter system. The file type captured by the DM40 camera/digital back is the 16 Bit Leaf Mosaic HDR-type file with a dynamic range of 12 f/stops. The files from the DM40 DSLR/DM40 digital back can be processed with a number of programs including Phase One’s Capture One, Leaf Capture, Adobe Lightroom 2 (or newer) or Photoshop CS4 (or newer). Tethered use is possible with Capture One or Leaf Capture. For those who choose to use Leaf Capture, you’ll have the ability of using the new Leaf Remote Capture app for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. |
The Mamiya DM40 DSLR kit, which includes the Mamiya 80mm f/2.8 D lens will be available for $21,990. The Mamiya DM40 Digital Back has a price of $19,990. Both are expected to ship this month and include Phase One’s Capture One and Leaf Capture software programs.
For more information, go to www.mamiya.com.
— Diane Berkenfeld
Double Take
dou·ble take
Pronunciation: \ˈdə-bəl-ˌtāk\
Function: noun
Definition: a delayed reaction to a surprising or significant situation after an initial failure to notice anything unusual—usually used in the phrase ‘do a double take’
Article by Diane Berkenfeld
Double Take (ISBN: 978-0-06-179153-6) published by Harper Studio, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, is the memoir of Kevin Michael Connolly; a young man who, like many of us is different, although he’s spent his entire life the only way he knows how.
On a trip during his junior year of college, Kevin responded to being stared at by embracing the inevitable leers, answering back with his own—camera lens. Thus began a 17-country trek to find out if it truly was human nature—no matter the location or upbringing—to stare at that which we find different.
Thirty-two thousand plus images later, an exhibition, website, and memoir were born, along with answers to some burning questions: ‘What did those looks mean? What did they say about the other person, and how did that affect me? Kevin says: “I knew the basic answers: people stared because they were curious… But it felt like there was something deeper than that…”
Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Photograph © Kevin Michael Connolly.
In addition to those questions Kevin found that the experience was therapeutic. “Each photo was a miniature catharsis—only a fraction of a second that lasted about as long as the shutter speed on my camera.”
A daunting task made more so by the fact that Kevin Michael Connolly was born without legs.
In the book, Double Take, Kevin lets the reader in to his life, beginning at the time of his birth, through childhood and his many travels, especially those surrounding the impetus for the photo project that led to The Rolling Exhibition and Double Take.
Through poetic yet poignant words, Kevin tells the story of his growing up just like many other American kids, but with the added pressures and concerns of also growing up with a disability—not that it ever stopped Kevin from doing what he wanted. Kevin Michael Connolly rolls with the punches, and doesn’t let anything stop him from fulfilling his dreams and goals.
Although Kevin says in the book that he never started out with the intention of being an inspiration to others, once you read his words, you can’t help but feel that if he can do all of the things he’s accomplished in his life to date (he’s in his mid-twenties), you begin to think, ‘how could I let seemingly little things stop me.’ Visit his website and you’ll see first hand examples of Kevin’s infectious sense of humor and good nature.
At the beginning of each chapter of Double Take is an image from The Rolling Exhibition, a constant reminder of what Kevin experiences on a regular basis.
While a student at Montana State University, Kevin double majored in photography and film. “I think that while I enjoyed the collective energy and teamwork of working on a film, photography provided a nice counterbalance in that any project was undertaken alone. Company and compromise balanced by solitude and autonomy,” he explains.
While on a trip oversees, an experience in Vienna frustrated him to the point that he decided he would go out shooting the sights and not let it ruin the trip. Impulsively that afternoon Kevin captured the first image that led to the formation of his expansive photography project. It was when he reviewed his images later that evening that he saw the expression of a man who had done a ‘Double Take’ at Kevin. It had hinted at something larger. Kevin began shooting in earnest, and throughout his stay in Austria as well as the next two stops in Ireland and New York City—and 1,200 photographs later, the idea was firmly planted.
Initially using a Nikon D70s, Kevin gravitated to the Nikon D200 because of its added durability. You see Kevin isn’t comfortable using prosthesis or a wheelchair, he gets around via skateboard; so his camera, especially for The Rolling Exhibition project was being held just an inch or two off the ground. Lens of choice was an 18-200mm VR II Nikkor. “The only way in which I was able to shoot from the hip and reliably capture subjects was to memorize what one specific focal length would produce in any given situation. That said, everything in The Rolling Exhibition is shot on an 18mm focal length,” Kevin explains.
He explains in Double Take that he never looked in the direction the camera was pointing. “I’d wait for the feeling on the back of my neck, the one that lets you know someone’s staring, and I’d secretly fire off a shot from my hip.”
Split, Croatia. Photograph © Kevin Michael Connolly.
Most of the images were captured at ISO 320. “If I was shooting in an open area and there wasn’t too much contrast in light, I would usually trust the program mode. If I was shooting between buildings, at night, or in any situation with contrasty light—I’d go manual, though I’d never go wider than f/8, if I could avoid it,” Kevin explains.
Editing 32,000+ images down to only 48 seems like it would be a time consuming task to undertake. But, “the editing process was pretty fluid throughout the shoot,” says Kevin. “Because of the nature in which I shot the series (never looking through the viewfinder, shooting from the hip, never stopping the skateboard, etc.), I had a fair [amount] of technical mistakes—especially early in the trip. Most evenings after I’d finished shooting, I would trash some of the shots that were obviously useless—whether it was poor framing, exposure, or whatever,” he explains.
”By the time I arrived home, I had parsed it down to 20,000 or so and after that it became a matter of each photo matching some specific criteria. I made four passes through the set of images, and each time I added another criteria,” he notes. “My ultimate goal was to create a photo series that accurately represented my thesis—which was that everyone stares. So representing men, women, kids, and countries evenly was a high priority. Once that was achieved, I began to focus on making the series aesthetically beautiful. To be honest, I feel as if I could have gone smaller on the final number, but forty-eight allows me a lot of options when it comes to mixing and matching images in different galleries around the world,” he adds.
Initially deleting unwanted photos and working on a PC was Kevin’s workflow. Nowadays he uses a mixture of Adobe Photoshop CS4, DxO Optics and Adobe Lightroom on a Mac, depending upon where the photos will be used. “Thankfully the only work I had to do on a couple of [The Rolling Exhibition] images was some mild-dust removal, which kept the post-process from being too time consuming,” he says.
Kevin had intended for The Rolling Exhibition project to be turned into a photo book, but was convinced to write a memoir instead. “It was only after I had gone through a fair number of meetings that I met the folks at HarperStudio—who really convinced me that I had more to say than what could be fit into photo captions. For that I’m still thanking them. I think that someday down the road—maybe in a year or two, there will be a photo book popping up,” Kevin says. As to whether he would add to the original forty-eight photographs, Kevin says it might be a possibility.
One of the concerns Kevin had about the project was that he had been photographing strangers in countries around the world and not alerting his subjects to that fact, hence no model releases. But as it turns out, it was a non-issue. “There’s a lot of stuff I can’t do with the photographs—such as licensing—but I never planned on that anyway,” he adds.
Kevin is an avid traveler, so the question comes up as to whether he will continue shooting images for the project. “It’s certainly a possibility that I’ll add to the project, though I don’t think it will ever be totally overhauled,” he says. “I think that the aesthetic look of the photo series was so specific that it could be stagnating to keep shooting in such a fashion.” He adds: “I think that I’ll always shoot from a low angle [chuckles] and that I’ll always stray toward portraiture, but I don’t think it will always revolve around being stared at.”
London, England. Photograph © Kevin Michael Connolly.
Q. What types of photography are you into shooting?
A. I think I’ll always gravitate toward the stuff that requires some sort of adventure to undertake. I work the best when I’m in a situation that forces me to think “on my feet”, so to speak. Traveling on a skateboard fulfills that need pretty well, and allows me to cover a lot of ground at low angle in a very interesting way. So with that in mind—and if I was a betting man—I’d say that my photo projects will probably gravitate toward “survey portraiture” for the next project or two.
Q. Are there any other photo projects on the horizon that you want to talk about?
A. I do have something that I’ve been working on for the past few months. I’m still in research mode, but I’ll tell you that the photos will be framed more deliberately than last time. This one will also have a bit of sci-fi/Robocop vibe (though no Photoshop!), but that’s all I should probably say…
Q. How much photography vs. film do you want to do?
A. I think that writing and photography will probably be my focus for some time to come as far as new projects go. I still really enjoy the autonomy offered by that form of work. That said, there is a film project in the works.
Q. Who are your favorite photographers?
A. Robert Frank really resonates with me. I was thinking about his work on the Americans series quite a lot while I was shooting my own project. The number of images, distances traveled, and the survey-like nature of The Rolling Exhibition all drew parallels to Frank’s series in some way. Other than that—I really enjoy James Nachtwey’s work—though in some ways more for its process than end product. After seeing the documentary War Photographer, which is a portrait of Nachtwey and his craft, I was completely inspired. Not inspired to go to the places that he’s been to necessarily, but by the way he was able to move through incredibly tense situations with a very deliberate calm while still taking photos. Not many people have the resilience or fortitude to create anything—much less art—in the places that he does.
X Games Athlete
In addition to all of his traveling, photography and film interests, Kevin Michael Connolly is also an X Games athlete competing in Mono skier Cross.
Kevin began skiing as a youth, competing regularly until he was 18. Once he started college, his classes and other activities kept Kevin pretty busy. His only competitions over the past few years has been at the annual X Games.
He begins gear preparation at the end of the summer, and starts hitting the mountains by mid-December. Training these days is done with the local college and youth racing teams; as well as a private practice jump that Big Sky Resort generously built for Kevin. “The thing could throw you about 50 or 60 feet, and was a good tool for teaching you how to stay calm in the air. Pretty much the entirety of January is spent on the hill.”
“Between the demands of the book, photo assignments, and skiing—things need to be juggled pretty deftly,” Kevin explains. “Usually I try to keep each part of my life as separate as possible so that I can focus on one thing at a time. When I go out to shoot, I want to be excited about it. I don’t want to be thinking about skiing or writing, because it’ll keep me from focusing on the task at hand. Generally, I would say that my ski season is shorter and more compressed than most in order to deal with other work when I’m not involved in X Games.”
Home page of www.therollingexhibition.com.
To check out The Rolling Exhibition website, go to the website at www.therollingexhibition.com.
To see more of Kevin’s photography, go to his website at www.kevinmichaelconnolly.com.
Click here to read more about Kevin’s X Games experiences as a Mono ski Cross racer on the Harper Studio website.
February Has Been a Good Month for New Photo Product Announcements
By Diane Berkenfeld
A bounty of photo products have been introduced recently, including wide format printers, film, lenses, concept cameras and more. Many of the announcements were made at or surrounding the annual PMA convention and tradeshow, being held in Anaheim, CA this week, known as the place for product and technology announcements. And even some of those companies not exhibiting at PMA announced exciting new products for the professional photographer in recent days.
Wide-Format Printers
Two new 24" and one 44" Canon printers. (Images not to scale)
The biggest news announced today is three new wide-format printers from Canon: the the 44-inch imagePROGRAF iPF8300, 24-inch imagePROGRAF iPF6350 and the iPF6300. Each model features Canon’s new, 12-Color LUCIA EX pigment ink set; a newly developed Media Configuration Tool; and bundled with a new Print Plug-In for Photoshop, Digital Photo Professional and support for the Adobe Color Management Module.
The Canon iPF8300 and iPF6350 are equipped with an 80 GB HDD for faster spooling of large files and the ability to reprint jobs directly from the printer. All three new models are equipped with a standard gigabit Ethernet network interface and an automatic dual-blade cutter.
Expect new ICC profiles from a number of companies to be available on their respective company websites upon release of the new Canon printers. Updated printer RIP drivers will be available for download from those respective company websites upon release of the printers as well.
The imagePROGRAF iPF8300/6350/6300 will start shipping in March for with MSRPs of $5,995, $3,995 and $3,695, respectively. The new imagePROGRAF models will be unveiled for the first time at WPPI in Las Vegas, March 8-11, 2010. Go to www.cusa.canon.com for more details.
Film and A Film Camera
The Fujifilm GF670, a folding, medium format film camera.
While digital has been the de facto camera choice for most professional photographers these days, there are still film and film camera introductions being made.
Early this month we covered the announcement of Fujifilm’s folding film camera, the GF670, which will take rolls of 120 and 220 film, with the versatility to shoot either 6×6 or 6×7.
The camera features a Fujinon EBC 80mm lens, coupled rangefinder, exposure compensator, and aperture-priority automatic and manual exposure modes. Other features include a hot shoe, PC sync connection socket, electronic Leaf shutter with shutter speeds ranging from 4 seconds to 1/500 of a second including Bulb. Because the camera uses a Leaf shutter, flash sync is available at all shutter speeds. (see full article here) Go to www.fujifilmusa.com for more information.
Ektar 100, a color neg emulsion is now available in sheet sizes: 4x5 and 8x10.
Eastman Kodak has announced the addition of sheet film sizes of its Kodak Professional Ektar 100 film to its line. Ektar 100 is now available in 4×5 and 8×10 sheets in addition to 35mm and 120 roll film formats. Ektar 100 is a fine grain color negative film. Check out the website at www.kodak.com for more details.
New Lenses
Earlier this weekend, at the PMA show, Samsung, announced several new additions to its NX system lens line. The original line up of a standard zoom (18-55mm OIS / F3.5-5.6), tele zoom (50-200mm OIS / f/4.0-5.6) and pancake lens (30mm / f/2.0) launched with the Samsung NX10 earlier this year will be complemented by the introduction of five additional lenses through 2010.
The new lenses include: a compact zoom lens (20-50mm f/3.5-5.6), a wide pancake lens (20mm f/2.8), the tele zoom (50-200mm OIS f/4.0-5.6), macro lens (60mm f/2.7), standard zoom lens (non OIS (optical image stabilization) 18-55mm F3.5-5.6), and zoom lens (18-200mm OIS f/3.5-6.3).
Availability will be as follows: 30mm pancake lens, 18-55mm zoom, and 50-200mm zoom available as of January 2010; 18-55mm non-OIS lens during the first half of 2010; the 20-50mm zoom and 20mm pancake lens during the second half of 2010; and the 18-200mm and 60mm Macro lenses TBD. Visit the website at www.samsung.com/us for more details.
And More Lenses
(l. to r.) New 24mm and 16-35mm Nikkor lenses. (Images not to scale)
Earlier this month, Nikon announced two new lenses, the AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED lens and the AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR. Both lenses are designed for use with Nikon DSLRs that utilize the FX-format, full frame image sensor, however they can also be used with DSLRs that use the smaller DX-format sensor. The duo also utilize Nikon’s exclusive Silent Wave Motor technology for fast, yet quiet autofocusing.
The AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR is scheduled for availability in late February with an estimated selling price of $1,259.95. The AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4 G ED lens is expected to be available in late March for an estimated selling price of $2,199.95. Go to www.nikonusa.com for more details.
Yet More Lenses and a DSLR
Sigma Corporation of America expanded its line with the addition of five new lenses and a DSLR at PMA this past weekend. The new lenses are: 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM, 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM, APO 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM, APO 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM, and 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM; and the SD15 DSLR. Exact availability dates and pricing are pending. All of the lenses will be available this spring, in Sigma, Canon, Nikon, Sony and Pentax mounts. The OS lenses offer the use of shutter speeds approximately four stops slower than would otherwise be possible; and can be used with Sony and Pentax DSLRs even if the camera bodies feature an image sensor shift anti-shake system.
The Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM was designed specifically for DSLRs with APS-C size image sensors. This lens has an equivalent 35mm angle of view of a 12-24mm. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 9.4 inches throughout the entire zoom range.
The Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM incorporates Sigma’s Optical Stabilization (OS) function. The lens also allows photographers to utilize the f/2.8 aperture through the entire zoom range. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 11 inches throughout the entire zoom range and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:5.
(l. to r.) Five new Sigma lenses just announced: 8-16mm, 17-50mm, 50-500mm, 70-200mm, and 85mm. (Images are not scaled to size)
The Sigma APO 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM also incorporates Sigma’s original OS function. This lens has a maximum magnification ratio of 1:3.1 (at the focal length of 200mm). The addition of the optional 1.4x EX DG or 2x EX DG APO Tele Converters produce a 70-700mm f/6.3-8 or a 100-1000mm f/9-12.6 MF zoom lens, respectively. This lens can be used on DSLRs with full frame or APS-C sized image sensors.
Also introduced at PMA last weekend, the Sigma SD15 DSLR.
The Sigma APO 70-200 f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM also incorporates Sigma’s original OS function, and allows the use of the f/2.8 aperture through the entire zoom range. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 55.1 inches throughout the entire zoom range and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:8. The lens can be used with both APS-C and full frame sensors.
The Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM lens, when used on digital cameras with an APS-C size image sensor, effectively becomes a 127.5mm f/1.4 lens. Minimum focusing distance is 33.5 inches with a maximum magnification 1:8.6.
The SD15 DSLR is the latest model in Sigma’s SD series of DSLR cameras, and is powered by the 14-megapixel Foveon X3 direct image sensor. The Foveon sensor can capture all primary RGB colors at each and every pixel location arranged in three layers. The new SD15 incorporates the “TRUE II” image processing engine, which processes the large amount of data from the 14MP sensor. Other features include SD card compatibility, a 3-inch LCD, 77-segment AE sensor, and shutter mechanism with a life of over 100,000 actuations.
For more information, go to www.sigmaphoto.com.
Concept Cameras
Sony announced concept cameras: (l.) a compact DSLR that will accept interchangeable lenses; and (r.) a replacement for the Alpha A700 DSLR and two prototype lenses.
Yesterday at PMA, Sony announced a concept model of a new compact Alpha DSLR camera system. The system will employ the Sony Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor, and provide full AVCHD video capture. The concept camera, which is an ultra compact model, will utilize interchangeable lenses, Sony also showed a mid-range concept DSLR camera, successor to the Alpha A700, and prototypes of two lenses: a Sony branded super telephoto 500mm f/4 G lens and Carl Zeiss Distagon T 24mm f/2 ZA SSM lens. Check the website at www.sony.com for more.
Accessories
New accessories introduced last week include the Joby Ballhead X for Gorillapod Focus, the latest addition to its Professional Line of photographic equipment. The portable yet sturdy Ballhead X supports 11.1lbs and allows photographers the ability to pan, tilt, and rotate their camera. The Ballhead X is lightweight and compact, yet still robust enough to support pro SLR cameras with substantial zoom lenses and sizable camera rigs.
The Joby Ballhead X can be used with the Gorillapod Focus or any other tripod.
While it is optimized for use with the Gorillapod Focus, the Ballhead X can accommodate both 3/8” and 1/4” threads, for compatibility with any tripod. The Ballhead X will be available both separately and bundled together with the Gorillapod Focus, and is expected to hit store shelves in April. Go to www.joby.com for more information.
Adobe Photoshop Turns Twenty
By Diane Berkenfeld
Today is a day of celebration as Adobe Photoshop turns 20 years old and fans of the powerhouse software program are rejoicing around the world. Festivities include an anniversary celebration hosted by NAPP, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, in San Francisco today as well as numerous organized events around the globe; a special Adobe TV broadcast reuniting the original “Photoshop team” for the first time in 18 years to discuss their early work on the software and demonstrate Photoshop 1.0 on a rebuilt Macintosh computer; Facebook and Twitter users sharing of stories online and changing their profile photo to an altered 20th anniversary logo (there are over 400,000 and growing Facebook fans for Photoshop); and Tweeting about the software by adding the tag #PS20.
The impact of Photoshop is everywhere, from the youngest digital photography enthusiast to virtually every professional photographer, to the artists at magazines and newspapers, website design, Madison Avenue and Hollywood.
In the Beginning
In 1987, Thomas Knoll developed a pixel imaging program called Display. It was a simple program to showcase grayscale images on a black-and-white monitor. However, after collaborating with his brother John, the two began adding features that made it possible to process digital image files. The program eventually caught the attention of industry influencers, and in 1988, Adobe made the decision to license the software, naming it Photoshop, and shipping the first version in 1990.
According to Thomas Knoll, Adobe predicted it would sell 500 copies of Photoshop per month. Sounds kind of like a comment made in 1943 attributed to then IBM president Thomas John Watson, “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
The Photoshop team thrives off its rich beta tester program, with active and vocal users who have submitted requests and helped shape the development of features throughout the years.
“We knew we had a groundbreaking technology on our hands, but we never anticipated how much it would impact the images we see all around us. The ability to seamlessly place someone within an image was just the beginning of Photoshop’s magic,” Knoll said.
Over the past 20 years, Photoshop has evolved from a simple original display program to an application that has over 10 million users worldwide on Mac and Windows-based PCs. Countless other software companies have created software programs, Photoshop plug-ins and Photoshop actions that enrich the user experience. Not to mention the dozens of books, tutorials, workshops and other educational programs. An entire ecosystem surrounds Photoshop.
Photoshop logos through the years.
Not only has Photoshop grown from version 1.0 to where it is today at Photoshop Creative Suite (CS) 4, but Photoshop Elements, the program for enthusiasts is up to version 8, and there are even web-based solutions now, at Photoshop.com, as well as a Photoshop App., for the Apple iPhone and Android devices, as well as Photoshop Lightroom, now at version 2, (version 3 is in beta testing) for image management.
Photoshopped or Photoshop’d has even become a part of our vernacular to describe a digital image that has been altered. According to Wikipedia, Photoshopping is slang for the digital editing of images.
We here at Picture-soup.com doubt that anyone who uses Photoshop on a daily basis would want to live without the program, having grown to depend upon it for his or her livelihood. From its ability to help you salvage old, treasured family photographs, to retouching images to the point that the alterations are impossible to notice, Photoshop allows photographers and graphic artists to do their jobs better.
Long Time Users Comment
We asked a few of the folks we consider to be Photoshop Gurus to offer their thoughts on Photoshop turning 20. Read on…
Canon Explorer of Light and Print Master, Eddie Tapp (www.eddietapp.com), a photographer and educator first began using Photoshop with version 1. “I would open an image, clone something, close it out and a week later do the same thing. It wasn’t until the next version 2.5, did I jump into what Photoshop was then… more of a creative use with images applying glows, effects, this is when I developed the 90% method of color correction along with a few other techniques… and when 5.5 came out… Color Management became available for the masses for the first time,” he explains.
“What I use to love doing in the darkroom, I now love creating in Photoshop… Photoshop gives [me] so much more control in every aspect of processing my images… I do however, miss the smell of Fixer on my fingers after processing… perhaps I should invent Channel Fixer #5…”
“Photoshop the tool has aged well, becoming more and more sophisticated as it innovates technology at each release… From what I’ve seen and heard… the next release will be a celebration of enhancements and next level imaging…”
Jim Tierney, Chief Executive Anarchist at software company Digital Anarchy (www.digitalanarchy.com) started using Photoshop with version 2.0 and was developing plug-ins for it shortly thereafter with MetaTools. “It’s been interesting to see how the uses of Photoshop have expanded and changed,” he says. “When I first started using it, it was used more for design than photography. Certainly some photographers were using it, but it definitely wasn’t a requirement. You could shoot and print without ever going through an image editing program. And if your photo got scanned in, usually it went straight into Pagemaker or Quark [Xpress]. If the photo did go through Photoshop, usually it was just to tweak the contrast… either that or to do some crazy outlandish thing [to it]. Photoshop was a new tool, digital was a new medium, and people were experimenting. There were a lot of really bad Photoshop’d images out there.”
“Layers really changed things. It became much easier to do professional looking work. Before layers, you really had to understand all aspects of the program to get good results out of it. Not too mention, that around the time of versions 2.0 and 2.5 you were lucky to have a monitor that could display thousands of colors.”
“Digital imaging… the ubiquitous digital cameras that started [showing up] everywhere that made Photoshop such a powerful tool—not only for designers and photographers, but for medical, science, law enforcement uses, etc. …brought it to the point that now everyone knows what Photoshop is. THAT is an incredible difference, especially for someone who was using it when no one knew what you were talking about.”
“And Digital/RAW really changed things for photographers. It’s now become an essential tool for photographers. Those who aren’t shooting digitally and using RAW are a dying breed.”
“So I think the most interesting things about Photoshop turning 20 is all of the things that have happened around it to make it the tool it is.”
Fashion and beauty photographer Helene DeLillo (www.helenedelillo.com) first started using Photoshop at around version 1.5, when it was for scanning software. “They never thought it would be a product except for a tool to use with scanners,” she explains.
“Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom are essential tools for photographers in the production and management of their digital images. In my professional work they are invaluable. Photoshop allows me to take my fine art/Sci-Fi creative work of faeries and magical creatures to beyond this world. If I dream them flying or in an eternal forest or garden I can now seam them together and make all the lighting & textures match… My dreams become still imagery.”
“Over the last 3 months my assistant has been archiving all our old files online so that I can access any images I ever retouched or captured…It’s been an awesome process and still is not yet done. However I have been reviewing images from over 10 years ago and what a difference—imagine not having layers and every time you made a big brush stroke you had to wait; in fact the Macintosh OS would give you a coffee cup with steam [coming] off of it instead of the possessed lollypop… sometimes it would be a 15 minute wait for an action or even 30 minutes for the unsharp mask [to take effect].”
“I Love Adobe Photoshop—HAPPY 20th—we love you Knoll Brothers!!!”
Photographer, author and consultant Andrew Darlow’s (http://www.imagingbuffet.com / http://www.PhotoPetTips.com) first exposure to Photoshop was with version 2.5 while he was working at a graphic arts/prepress/printing company in New York City. “Photoshop has been and continues to be an essential part of my workflow and it has helped me to do what I love best—take and make photos that express my vision—without having to deal with the many headaches that photographers have faced for so many years,” he says.
Photographer, Action Hero, and educator Kevin Kubota (www.kkphoto-design.com / www.kubotaimagetools.com) started in digital imaging when, “We can Scitex it out” was the buzz word at the studio he worked at. “That’s when it cost a few hundred bucks to send an image out to have a small blemish removed by a lab with a Scitex machine. Now anybody with Photoshop can easily do that in under a minute. Times have changed. I think I started using Photoshop at version 2 or 3. I remember it was frustrating because at that time it was very costly to have images scanned so that you could actually have something to manipulate in Photoshop. It was love at first sight though, and I ate it up—every pixel (that was pre-MEGApixel),” he says.
“Somehow I knew that this was the direction photography was headed. I eagerly adopted the early digital cameras as well—excited that I finally had a way to quickly get my images in the computer without costly scanning.”
“Being an early Photoshop adopter gave me a couple of advantages: I was able to enhance my images and show things to my clients that very few other photographers were showing at that time. It was a great boost to my business and it kept me excited about shooting…and discovering what I could do with the images in post.”
“I also learned early on how to create my own Photoshop Actions, which I then taught people how to do as well at my early workshops. I soon realized that the looks I created and the tools I used were very valuable to other photographers as well. Photoshop gave me a vehicle, and a common platform, to share these tools and techniques. It changed my life as it gave me another new business and opened new creative doors.”
“I think that Photographers generally fall in one of two camps—those that believe the art of photography happens solely in the camera, and those that believe it happens all the way from camera to presentation. Neither is right or wrong. The only thing ‘wrong’ would be to follow a path you didn’t believe in. I am in camp two. I think that there is no ‘rule’ that photography has to be pure. It’s an art form to me, just like painting. There are no rules in art—you combine tools, techniques, brushes, colors, whatever you want to create your vision. The end product is what matters, not the tools you used to get there. Photoshop has given photographers another tool to express their vision. It has helped to allow Photography to be impressionistic, modern, and fresh like few other artists tools have done. I love that.”
Photographer and instructor Gary Small (www.jsmallphoto.com) started using Photoshop in 1996, with Version 3. “It was the first version that used layers,” he notes. “Over the past 13 years, I have watched Photoshop grow and evolve into the wonderfully powerful program it is today, while at the same time, my skills and knowledge in this fantastic program have grown and evolved as well. I got to see and experience firsthand, the introduction of color management, adjustment layers, vector based text, text on a path, Liquify, Vanishing Point, Extract, Smart Objects, Healing Brush and Patch Tool, History Brush, Smart Filters, Content Aware Scaling, and so much more. It’s been an incredible journey and I’m looking forward to continuing this adventure.”
“Like Photography itself, I’ve found that there is no end to the learning process or the things you can do with Photoshop. Without a doubt, it has had the greatest and most positive impact on my career, over everything else I’ve ever involved myself in. The impact Photoshop has had on my work as a photographer as well as an image manipulator has been amazing. It has given me the opportunity to take my images to new levels, with amazing results that were not achievable prior to Photoshop hitting the scene.”
“As an educator, it is a huge rush to be able to pass along this knowledge to others who share the same passion for photography and image manipulation that I do. Seeing the excitement in others that I had when I first learned Photoshop has made the experience that much more fulfilling for me.”
Yours truly started using Photoshop around versions 5.5 or 6 and while I would not consider myself anywhere near the Guru status of those quoted above, I do know my way around the program. —DB.
Tell us what Photoshop means to you!
For more information about the Photoshop family of products, go to www.adobe.com.
Find Photoshop on Facebook at www.facebook.com/photoshop. Find Photoshop on Twitter at www.twitter.com/photoshop.
To see the NAPP Photoshop 20th Anniversary Celebration, go to www.photoshopuser.com/photoshop20th.
To see the Adobe TV Photoshop 20th Anniversary Broadcast, go to http://tv.adobe.com/go/photoshop-20th-anniversary.
Photographer Grows Her Brand from Flickr Beginnings
The photography of Natalie Dybisz a.k.a. Miss Aniela
By Diane Berkenfeld
The ubiquity of the internet has allowed artists far and wide to reach a much larger audience than they would have been able to by traditional means. This is true of Natalie Dybisz a.k.a. Miss Aniela, (www.missaniela.com) a photographer and artist who has turned her self-portraiture, initially created and posted on Flickr for her own enjoyment, into a brand, complete with a new liveBooks powered website, two self-published books, exhibitions and more to come.
Natalie Dybisz a.k.a. Miss Aniela's website homepage. All images © Natalie Dybisz.
“Aniela is my middle name. I wanted a kind of alter-ego to serve as a name to use on Flickr,” Natalie says. Once she started exhibiting her work, she says it felt right to stick with that name as her artist’s moniker.
Natalie explains that she was fond of snapping photos as a teen, when she first began to shoot self-portraits. Her interest in photography blossomed when she went to university. It was at this time that she discovered online photo sharing as well as the joys of digital processing.
Early on she used Sony compact cameras and lacked a tripod. Natalie then graduated to a Sony R1, which features a swivel screen that makes capturing self-portraits convenient, and a tripod. She used the R1 for about two years. In September 2008 Natalie transitioned to her first DSLR, a Canon EOS 40D. She recently upgraded yet again to a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, a larger, sturdier tripod and flashes.
Natalie Dybisz a.k.a. Miss Aniela's website. All images © Natalie Dybisz.
Natalie’s first website was created in 2007, as a place on the web where she could display a gallery of her photos and write about herself. She transitioned to a liveBooks site this year. “I liked the look of their sleek, fast Flash sites. It looked ideal for displaying photography, and I also liked that I was able to talk about my ideas and have the designers create a custom site based on my vision for my brand,” she says. Adding, “I also like being able to edit my site whenever I want, to edit text, and to add or remove pictures, which is easy enough in the editSuite that comes with the site.” The liveBooks site is the portfolio or gallery, for Natalie’s more refined work, as well as a place to disseminate information about her books, prints and her contact information. “The website is a showcase, a place that is generally consistent. My blog, (www.missanielablog.com) however, is a place with constantly updating information, a place to share essays or thoughts, or to promote my events,” she says. “The way I choose to use Flickr is rather like a studio, where I share lots of images, to see which gauge the most reaction or comment, or just for me to see images build and then to determine which ‘do it for me’ in the long term, and I may then add them to my galleries on my main website. I use Facebook and Twitter to link through to blog posts or to Flickr posts,” she adds.
Miss Aniela and Rossina Bossio. Photographs © Natalie Dybisz and Rossina Bossio.
Miss Aniela. Photograph © Natalie Dybisz.
Miss Aniela. Photographs © Natalie Dybisz.
In addition to a number of exhibitions and speaking engagements, Natalie has produced two books which are available on Blurb (click here): Self-Gazing, a collection of self portraits taken over the course of three years; and Multiplicity, with images taken over the course of more than four years that showcases her evolution of multiplicity photographs. As savvy a businesswoman, as she is a photographer, Natalie also offers fine-art prints of her work and commercial licensing opportunities.
Natalie has also collaborated with other artists. The books She Took Her Own Picture, Selections from the Female Self Portrait Artists’ Support Group available on Blurb (click here), features the work of 44 female self-portrait artists on Flickr including images from Miss Aniela; and In Her Own Image, Selections from the Female Self Portrait Artists’ Support Group also available on Blurb (click here).
(l. to r.) Natalie's two self-published books: "Miss Aniela: Self-Gazing" and "Miss Aniela: Multiplicity" and two books she's collaborated on, as part of the Female Self Portrait Artists' Support Group: "She Took Her Own Picture" and "In Her Own Image"
Q: What inspires you?
A: I have an assortment of inspirations. I don’t look at as many photography books and exhibitions as I should, and I spend too much time online looking at photo-sharing sites. I am inspired by anything from childhood thoughts to dreams, to raging depressive thoughts, from the joy, yet futility of life, to the chilling mystery of death.
I like the work of several people I have seen online, like Rossina Bossio and Rosie Hardy. I also admire the work of Gregory Crewdson, Julia Fullerton-Batten, and Ellen Kooi.
Miss Aniela. Photograph © Natalie Dybisz.
Miss Aniela. Photograph © Natalie Dybisz.
Q: How did you know you were onto something with the Miss Aniela brand?
A: It wasn’t easy for me at first to see Miss Aniela as a brand, probably because my work is so personal, so it was like the images were not just my work, they were me. The stage, therefore, of separating myself from my brand whilst also being able to accept that my brand is very personal, was a challenging step. So, whilst I saw from 2007-2008 that my work was becoming popular and I wanted to go further with it and do it for a living, it still took me a while to see that my artwork can be considered as a brand and a business, something I can sell without feeling as if I were selling myself. As such—I could objectify the self-portraiture as one aspect of what I do, and not the sum total of my being.
Q: What did you think when you realized the large number of people that were viewing your images on Flickr?
A: I was surprised and pleased but always aware that it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Just because a load of people have clicked on your work doesn’t necessarily validate one’s images. It just meant I had the attention of an audience for an unforeseen length of time, and yet, the audience wasn’t all mine to play with, it was an audience through Flickr. I try to use that audience the best I can in encouraging them to visit my site, join my mailing list, join me on Facebook and Twitter, etc. Even then, the number of people following you and your updates doesn’t often feel like it means anything till someone actually offers me an exhibition or buys a print.
Q: How have you been able to grow your photography into a brand?
A: It has been fairly easy to self-publish books and to make these available to people online, and also to show and sell them at presentations and events. Exhibitions are an aspect that is harder to achieve, as they require collaboration with galleries or other venues. Most of my exhibitions have been offered to me, so the whole scene of approaching galleries is something new to me. I try to keep my brand consistent across books, gallery shows, and my website, in terms of graphic identity, but with the exhibitions, it is harder because the gallery will present the exhibition on their own terms.
Q: What direction do you think you’re going to take your work into next?
A: I would just like to carry on doing what I do, producing images I am artistically engaged with, and pursuing exhibitions and print sales. I would like to have a large-scale exhibition that is accessible to both the art scene and the general public. Another angle to my photography goals is to broaden my experience and my learning of the technical side to the art so I can teach workshops in the UK and beyond. I would like to become a published author (outside of my self-published books) and write books on photography and art, something that I will hopefully begin this year.
The 'About Me' page on the Miss Aniela website. Photograph © Natalie Dybisz.
All you have to do is take one look at Natalie’s work to see that she’s got a great eye for photographic composition and design, and we expect to see much more of Natalie Dybisz a.k.a. Miss Aniela in coming years. Go to the website www.missaniela.com to see more of her work, or check her out on Flickr, Facebook and Twitter.
Want more information about liveBooks? Click here.
Software Review: Kevin Kubota’s Pro-Pak w/ Dashboard
Article & Images by Kristin Reimer
One of the first lessons I learned about being successful in photography is that it is 20% photography and 80% business. I watch photographers come and go on a regular basis. Who remains? Obviously you need to have talent to begin with, but if you know how to market yourself, stay focused, consistently evolve with the times and stay ahead of the pack, chances are, you will be a success.
So what does this have to do with Kevin Kubota’s Actions? He knows his stuff. If you haven’t yet checked out his actions, the bad news is that you’ve wasted precious moments of time—the good news is that there is no better time than the present. Kevin Kubota’s actions are now packaged with an awesome addition called DASHBOARD.
I’m not really sure who began to market action sets, but I will confess, I’ve been an addict ever since the day I discovered these time saving gems. It’s easy to find actions these days and there are some deliciously creative ones out there. I’ve been using Kevin Kubota’s Artistic V2 actions as well as his Auto Album 2 for years now and I rely upon them heavily. Simply put, they save me time, and they are creative and easy to use.
The Kevin Kubota Pro-Pak contains roughly 300 actions to help not only boost your creativity, but also increase your production and help clear time so that you can actually get work done quickly and get out to enjoy the world again. Wouldn’t that be nice?
The production actions range from border actions, interpolation, sharpening, B&W conversions and logo placement. Yeah, you can do these on your own, but why? Enjoy the fact that someone has already done the work for you. Spend your time getting creative. And then get creative with Kevin Kubota’s Artistic Action Volumes 1 – 4.
(l. to r.) Original photo, final image, Dashboard, Photoshop palettes. Screengrab © Kristin Reimer.
Original on the left. Image on the right created using Punch Drunk with Vignette. Photos © Kristin Reimer.
The artistic action options are endless. Not only are the effects inspiring but with names like Fashion Passion, Super Heroine CS2, Kiyoko Punch, Enter the Dragon, Punch Drunk—you know your visual taste buds will be watering to get busy. Even better, if you are curious at all about what the action does, feast your eyes upon the creative descriptions that accompany each one.
Now let me return to the beginning. So, aside from the actions themselves and the funky and descriptive copywriter, what sets Kubota’s Pro-Pak above the rest of the pack? The DASHBOARD.
Now, if you don’t have any addictive behaviors of your own, or if you don’t like to collect things, you may not understand the value of the DASHBOARD. What happens when you collect too many things? Clutter? Can’t find what you are looking for? Waste time searching? DASHBOARD is going to rock some housecleaning in the world that is Photoshop.
DASHBOARD is essentially a floating menu window that keeps your actions organized, easily accessible and easily searchable. Go to the top right and you can pull your menu down to access each pack of actions that Kevin has been producing over the years. To the left of that pull down menu you can enter in a keyword and the DASHBOARD will call up the actions to suit you. Type in moods such as “funky”, “creative”, “moody” or go with genres such as “wedding” and “portraiture” and you’ll see actions displayed that are best matched to your request. Loving it yet?
Once you find the action you want to apply, head on down to the bottom of DASHBOARD where you have a few options. With one touch of the buttons in the bottom of the toolbar you can “apply”, “undo”, “redo” and “paint”. Paint is pretty nifty. Essentially this creates a mask and you can simply paint the action in specifically where you want it to go.
Original photo on the left. Image on the right created using Smokeless Burn, Tea Stained, 81K warming, Wash Out. Photos © Kristin Reimer.
On top of all of this, the Pro-Pak is simply easy to install and understand. I will confess to limited patience for watching online manuals or detailed installation instructions. The installation did come with a video manual, but it was simple, clear and to the point. Installation itself was a breeze and the manual was simple to read. But the reality is, the Pro-Pak and DASHBOARD are simple. Simple means you get to the fun stuff right away…and I was certainly the kid in the sandbox in a matter of moments.
There is one downside to the Pro-Pak, you’ll be having so much fun playing with your images and combining the actions together that you will lose track of time and forget about the outside world. But hey, think of the possibilities.
Original image on the left. Image on the right created using Sepia Deep Black 3. Photos by © Kristin Reimer.
Kevin Kubota Pro-Pak [Kubota Artistic Tools V1, Kubota Artistic Tools V2, Kubota Artistic Tools V3, Kubota Artistic Tools V4, Kubota Production Tools V2, and the Kubota Formula Book] with DASHBOARD can be purchased online at: http://kubotaimagetools.com/store/catalog/product_16263_Kubota_Pro_Pak_w_Dashboard_cat_258.html.
System requirements: Actions work with Adobe Photoshop CS2 or newer, some effects require CS3 or newer 32 bit versions of Photoshop only, on Mac and Windows computers.
The Pro-Pak retails for $629.00.
♦ Upon graduating with a BFA in photography from Pratt Institute, Kristin went on to become the studio manager for the esteemed Magnum
photojournalist, Elliot Erwitt. Under the tutelage of Elliott, Kristin acquired a more capacious understanding of the history of photography and of the unique and diverse contributions of those who define the field. Her work with Elliott also provided a forum from which to create and develop her own artistic style.
In 2002 Kristin founded Photomuse (www.photomuse.com), a fine art/documentary style wedding company. Kristin is an award-winning member of the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA), a professional organization composed of photojournalists and wedding photographers from around the world as well as the Artistic Guild of Wedding Photography (AGWPJA) and the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers (ISPWP).
Canon Expands Rebel line with new DSLR
Canon U.S.A., today introduced its new flagship model for the company’s popular Rebel DSLR line: the Canon EOS Rebel T2i DSLR. The camera is ideal for the photo enthusiast looking for a camera they can grow into as well as a backup camera for the Canon shooting pro. The Rebel T2i offers 18-megapixels resolution for still images and can also capture full HD video at 1080p.
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- Front of the Canon EOS Rebel T2i
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- Rear of the Canon EOS Rebel T2i
The Rebel T2i offers a wide range of impressive features including an ISO range of 100-6400 (expandable to 12,800), a 63-zone Dual Layer Metering System, and Canon’s proprietary DIGIC 4 Imaging Processor. For the Rebel T2i, Canon developed a new 18MP CMOS sensor. The camera also offers 3.7 fps continuous shooting for stills, an expanded ± 5 EV exposure compensation range as well as a number of user-selectable Canon image processing features, including tagging of RAW files, and in-camera optimization of JPG files.
Other features include: Canon’s Auto Lighting Optimizer to enhance shadow detail and add contrast to “flat” scenes, Highlight Tone Priority adding up to one stop of detail in bright highlight areas, Peripheral Illumination Correction for automatic correction of vignetting, High ISO Noise Reduction with four user-selectable settings, and Long Exposure Noise Reduction applied to exposures one second or longer.
The camera has a 3-inch LCD. The EOS Rebel T2i Digital SLR camera is the first EOS model to support SDXC memory cards. The camera also incorporates such features that photographers are used to seeing in a Rebel: Live View, a built-in pop-up flash, and the EOS integrated cleaning system, as well as compatibility with Canon EX-series Speedlites and Canon EF and EF-S lenses. The EOS Rebel T2i Digital SLR camera is also compatible with Canon’s new BG-E8 battery grip and new RC-6 wireless remote control for both still images and video capture.
The video capture in the Rebel T2i allows for manual exposure control, selectable frame rates and an external mic input, for added flexibility. Photographers can also capture video in standard definition with the camera. Adding a new pro-level feature for EOS cameras, the Rebel T2i includes an Auto ISO function that works in all Creative Zone exposure modes including Manual where users can set a limit to the highest ISO the camera will use, enabling them to retain the lighting and look they desire for a scene. By setting an Auto ISO range, videographers can retain dark shadow areas and avoid blowing out highlight areas in a scene while still retaining the benefit of automatic ISO adjustments. The Rebel T2i DSLR captures video in both NTSC (US system) and PAL (European system) standards at selectable frame rates.
The camera also features Canon’s new Movie Crop mode, whereby you can get an additional 7x magnification when shooting SD video; this is done by the camera cropping the image directly from the CMOS sensor.
Canon expects to ship the EOS Rebel T2i to dealers in early March. Estimated retail price for the camera, body only is $799.99; and MSRP of $899.99 for the kit version that includes the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens. For more information about Canon, check the website at www.cusa.canon.com.
Product Review: ExpoImaging’s Ray Flash Ring Flash Adapter
By Diane Berkenfeld
The Ray Flash is an adapter that fits over the head of your DSLR’s accessory flash and turns your flash into a ring flash. The Ray Flash uses the power of your flash—redirected through the adapter’s body—onto your subject. The Ray Flash has a center diameter of 4 1/8-inches and can accommodate most professional 35mm interchangeable lenses.
A range of models are available so you’ll want to check the ExpoImaging website for your DSLR/flash combination to see which one will work for you. The reason behind this is that there are differences in the height of different models of flashes sitting on various camera bodies. Originally the Ray Flash was designed to work with Canon Speedlites (580EX and 580EX II) and Nikon Speedlights (SB800 and SB900) but they will work with a range of other camera/flash combinations including cameras/flashes from Olympus and Sony; as well as flashes from Metz and Sigma.
The question is, when so many camera manufacturers and some lighting equipment makers make dedicated ring flashes, why would you go with an adapter instead? Price. The price ranges start at around $225 to $400 or so for dedicated ring flashes from camera makers and companies including Sunpak and Sigma; and upwards of $1,000 to $1,800 for ring flash heads from companies like Lumedyne, DynaLite, Comet, and Elinchrom. The ring flash heads average 3,000 watt seconds (w/s) of power. And if you own a lighting system that isn’t compatible, you’re out of luck—unless you’re willing to go out and spend thousands of dollars more for a full system of lights.
But when you’re looking for portability, a smaller unit is necessary. Street price for the Ray Flash is $199. which is a less than the cost if you were going to go out and buy a dedicated ring flash. And, by design, you’re getting more versatility out of your equipment, since you can most likely use a flash you already own.
Using the Ray Flash
(l. to r.) Installing the Ray Flash on a flash is quick and easy. Just slip it on, and turn the locking mechanism (on the top of the Ray Flash) to secure the adapter to the flash.
(l.) Final image; (r.) Close-up in Adobe Lightroom. Note the distinctive Ring Light highlights in the eyes. Photos © Diane Berkenfeld.
You will lose one stop of light from your flash by using the Ray Flash adapter. Because of the design, you can still use TTL modes with the Ray Flash adapter. Depending upon your shooting situation, though, you may want to use the flash on manual instead of TTL, to compensate for the light loss. A locking mechanism secures the adapter to your flash head, so it won’t slip off. And there is no change in color temperature.
Another example of the soft lighting from the Ray Flash. Photo taken with the Ray Flash on a Sigma EF 530 DG Super flash, Nikon D300s. Photo © Diane Berkenfeld.
The lighting from a ring flash is distinctive—virtually shadowless lighting on the front of the subject with a soft halo of shadow around the edges. The further away your subject is from the background, the harsher the shadow behind the subject will be. With other lighting methods, it is usually the opposite, in that you’ll get softer shadows the further your subject is from the background.
The Ray Flash, or any ring flash for that matter is ideal for Macro photography, however you can use the Ray Flash for wider compositions such as portraits too.
I tested out the Ray Flash (model #RAC 175-2) with a Nikon D300s body, AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6 G lens and Sigma EF 530 DG Super flash. I also decided to try it out with the Lensbaby Composer and Fisheye optic on the D300s and the Sigma flash.
Using the Ray Flash adapter is very easy, it just slips over the head of the flash. I had no problems using it, in fact, when using the Nikkor lens, I held the D300s body with my right hand, and zoomed the lens with my left. When I tried taking photographs with the Lensbaby, which was much shorter than the Nikkor, I found it a little more difficult to shoot, but not impossible. Because I was using the Fisheye optic, I could see the back of the Ray Flash adapter in the viewfinder. For the image of Mardi Gras beads (below) that I shot with the Fisheye Lensbaby, I actually liked the circular crop that I ended up with.
(l.) This image was captured with the Lensbaby Composer on a Nikon D300s, using the Fisheye optic. The black ring is the back of the Ray Flash - visible because of the Lensbaby's shallow physical size and Fisheye's wide field of view; (r.) Final cropped image, exposure adjusted slightly, bringing out the blacks. The outline around the circle was created in Photoshop. If you look really closely you can see the reflection of the Ray Flash in the highlights. Photos © Diane Berkenfeld.
If you’re looking for an economical ring flash lighting solution the Ray Flash adapter might be right for you.
For more information, go to the website www.expoimaging.com.
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