Photographic Tips Digest: June 2012

Saturday, 30 June 2012

Create a 360� panorama in Photoshop Elements

When on location, your peripheral vision tends to give you a much wider perspective than your camera’s lens, which is why landscape shots often lack the sense of space you experienced at the scene. Here, we’ll show you how to use Photoshop Elements’ picture-stitching powers to combine six shots into a 360° panorama composite that reveals much more about the location. We’ll also show you how to adjust the image to get a more balanced composition, which is especially important when creating an architectural 360° panorama.
We’ll explain how to batch-process our raw source files to reveal more tonal detail and boost the colours. By shooting in raw you have more information to work with, but as older computers may struggle to stitch such large images together, we’ll also show you how to resize the source images’ dimensions to something more manageable.

Once your source files are looking their best and are at a suitable size, we’ll show you the optimum settings to use in Photoshop Elements’ clever Photomerge command to create a cylindrical 360° panorama that will start and end at the same point, without any visible seams.
You can then share your amazing panoramas with friends and family, or you can go one step further and follow our bonus technique to turn your panorama into an interactive QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR) movie that people can explore themselves, as if on location.
All you’ll need for this Photoshop tutorial is Photoshop Elements 9 or higher, and about 20 minutes. Here’s how to do it…
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Create a 360� panorama in Photoshop Elements

Friday, 29 June 2012

Shooting long-distance family portraits via Skype

Thanks to some tech wizardry, N.Y. photographer John Clang is able to pose with his younger brother, Joe Ang, who lives in Singapore.

(Credit: John Clang)

John Clang lives in New York, thousands of miles from his Singaporean family. But that hasn't stopped him from posing in family portraits. He hasn't even needed a plane ticket.
Using a Webcam, the photographer and visual artist made live recordings of his family, transmitted them via Skype, and projected them onto a wall of his New York apartment. He then jumped into the frame, and his wife, Elin Tew, photographed him next to his telepresent family for a modern take on the traditional family portrait.
After trying his new long-distance portraiture method on his own family, Clang traveled from New York to Paris, London, Hong Kong, and other locales to create long-distance portraits of similarly scattered families. "Being Together," the resulting series, "documents and examines our condition of new-wave diaspora -- Singaporean families of various races and ethnicities grappling with the same predicament of separation through time and space," Clang says in an artist's statement.

Skype family portraits reunite separated kin (pictures)

The Essentials of Photography Websites

The days of having an online portfolio are over. Photographers should now be embracing their website in more ways than one. This means building and maintaining a photography website that not only shows your work, but also acts as a powerful marketing tool.
The statistics in this article come from Photoshelter’s survey of photo editors and commercial photo buyers. Eye-opening and insightful, I thought I’d share some of these statistics and tips to help take your photography website to the next level.
Whether you would like to update your existing website or start from scratch, use the new fundamental elements to make a “photography website of the future.”

Is your website following the new essentials of a “photography website of the future?” Photo by Stewart Baird

Function Over Fashion

“58% said a unique design does not matter”
A pretty website is nice. But if it doesn’t function the way it should, it might as well be retired. Instead of focusing on the look of your website, focus on the images themselves. Focus on the functionality of your website.
Here are a couple ways you can keep your website focused on function rather than style:
Keep things simple: The design of your website shouldn’t stand out more than your images. If it does, think about toning it down. A simple white or black background is standard for many professional photographers.
Avoid Flash: Although Flash is great in some ways, the issues with it outnumber the benefits. Basically, Flash is slow on many computers, doesn’t work without a plugin, and is difficult to index by search engines. Everything you don’t want your website to be.
Be consistent:. In addition to keeping the design of your website simple and consistent, keep your clients involved with your work via updates. This could mean establishing a monthly newsletter or posting news on a special “news” section of your website. When someone from your list of clients and prospects is in need a photographer, you’ll be the first one that pops into their head.
Deliver via download or FTP: The work of being a photographer doesn’t stop at taking stunning images for your clients. You’ll also have to deliver those images in a way that pleases your clients. Ditch outdated methods like e-mail and CD to deliver your photos.
When photo buyers were surveyed, “82% said they prefer to download high-res images directly from a photographer’s website.” Another effective method of delivery is FTP. Consider making these options an integral part of your websites functionality. It will streamline your workflow and please your clients.
Be speedy: For the question of how long would you wait for a photographer’s website to load, “71% of the respondents said they would give up after 15 seconds.” This means you need to make sure your website is running quickly and properly. Check the file sizes of your images if it seems to be loading slowly.
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The Essentials of Photography Websites

Thursday, 28 June 2012

The Brenizer Method Creates Bokeh You Won't Believe! tutorial

Brenizer The Brenizer Method Creates Bokeh You Wont Believe!

There has been a lot of talk amongst the Photography community about the ‘Brenizer Method’.
Ryan Brenizer is a New York based Photographer, predominantly shooting Weddings, but has also been commissioned for covering the likes of President Obama and Muhammad Ali, and he has developed a method which has been dubbed the ‘Brenizer Method’.
The ‘Brenizer Method’ has been developed to enhance the field of view (showing wider angles), whilst keeping your depth of field intact to create some beautiful wide angle images with incredibly shallow depth of fields.
There are limitations to what we can capture with our cameras and lenses, and for wider shots, wide angle lenses tend to increase our depth of field. So what Ryan Brenizer has done, he has incorporated Photo-Stitching into his Photography, and has stitched up images to maintain the shallow depth of field, whilst attaining the desired field of view. The results are simply stunning!

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The Brenizer Method Creates Bokeh You Won't Believe! tutorial

Incredibly Simple 2-Step Program for Better Photos

I’ll be the first to concede, I am not a great photographer. The eternal optimist in me likes to think all things are possible. The pragmatist in me realizes I have a long way to go on my personal journey to photographic greatness. It may be a long way to go, but I’m on my way and serious about improving. I subscribe to photography magazines, glean articles and tutorials online and follow the work of some truly great photographers. All of that is valuable, but I’ve stumbled upon something that has dramatically improved my images more than everything else, combined.

Photo App of the Week: LINE Camera for Android and iOS

LINE Camera from NAVER is another in a long line of free creative photo editing apps for Android and iOS, allowing users to add hundreds of filters, frames, stamps, and text to their photos. What sets apart LINE Camera is the app’s slick presentation, sheer volume of frames, and collection of cartoon (if perhaps disturbing) characters that you can add to your photos.
LINE Camera touts itself as “the #1 photo app in 16 countries The number 1 app in the camera category of Google Play in 16 countries, including Iceland, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Nicaragua, Kenya, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Senegal!” We’re note sure Hong Kong counts as a country, but it has about 14 times the population of Luxembourg, so we’ll allow it.
Read more:
Photo App of the Week: LINE Camera for Android and iOS - DigitalCamerainfo.com

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

20 Stunning Panoramic Landscapes

I’ve always been fascinated by how 360° panoramic photos draw one into the scene. It’s almost like you’re really there and taking it all in.
In this article we’ll take a look at 20 stunning panoramic photos of landscapes from around the world. To view the fully interactive 360 degree versions, simply click on any of the images below.
Please note that you need to have Quicktime and Flash installed in order to view these photos. If full screen versions are not loaded at first, just click on the full screen icon to enlarge.
So browse away and enjoy your virtual trip to all of these amazing locations….

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20 Stunning Panoramic Landscapes

Tuesday, 26 June 2012

35 Action Photos That Will Give You Whiplash

Amanda Markos

"Our wedding in Downtown San Diego in '09 just flew by!"

Kyle Dove

"Tarp Surfing at Moonlight Beach in my hometown Encinitas, California. Photo taken with a Canon ES3000"

Vicky Delvaux

"Flying ball obsessed dog"

Rafo

"Harry fighting at the Arlington Cemetery"

Joseph Javier Solis

"Playful"

Greg Sims

"Bringing the pain"

Cheryl Allsbrook

"Say aaaaaawwwwwwwwww"

Monday, 25 June 2012

Interview with Fine Art Portrait Photographer Bill Gekas

Earlier in the year while surfing through a list of photographers on Google Plus I came across a photograph that grabbed my attention. A young girl with rosy cheeks, big wide eyes and a serious look on her face stood against a green wallpapered wall dressed in a bright red jacket while holding a bowl of cherries.

The image was striking on many levels – the subject, the colour, the pose, the style of the image and what it evoked on an emotional level all caused me to look twice.
The photographer was Bill Gekas and a quick look through the rest of his work revealed some beautiful images with a distinct style and attention to detail.
Today I’m excited to present an interview with Bill Gekas as well as some of his beautiful images. Bill lives in Melbourne Australia. Check out more of his work on his website and blog. Connect with him on Twitter and Google+.

Bill – can you tell us a little about your switch from film to digital photography? When and Why did you make the switch?

My transition from film to digital happened in 2005. Up until then I was primarily shooting both positive and negative 35mm colour and doing my own developing and darkroom printing from 35mm negative b&w film. As good as what traditional processes may have been at the time the switch to digital capture and post processing just opened up a whole new world which really simplified the process by a large degree.

What impact did this switch have upon your work?

This had the most positive impact on my work where I discovered I could finally create the images in my mind’s eye without spending the time and money using traditional processes! Digital capture simplified the workflow to the point where the tools and workflow were now a transparent part of the creative process and not getting in the way, it felt really liberating in that sense and it was very much welcomed!

Has portraiture always been a major focus of your photography? If not – why is it something you seem to focus upon so much today?

Paul Harcourt Davies: Getting Close Up to Macro Photography

Paul Harcourt Davies has been invited to speak at WildPhotos 2012, a must-see event in the wildlife photography industry calendar. This year it will take place on the 19 and 20 of October at the Royal Geographical Society in London. We recently interviewed Davies about his conservationist and close-up work.

Davies says that “virtually all the projects I am now involved with have an element of ‘close to home.’”

This is the second time Davies has been invited to be a speaker at WildPhotos. He was there in 2008 and is returning. He considers “an honor.” Currently based in Italy, Davies is a British writer, photographer and passionate environmentalist who has written 17 books (running to 46 editions in various languages) and numerous articles for various publications.

The MYN project

He is a member of the Meet Your Neighbours project (MYN), a collective of photographers who want to show the world the wildlife living close to our own doors. This is a natural option for Paul as “virtually all the projects I am now involved with have an element of ‘close to home.’”
That was the subject of the presentation he gave at WildPhotos 2008 and something he is deeply committed to. Raising awareness of “what is around us through my photographs and also… ensuring the highest possible standards of integrity in nature photography, without that,” he continues, “credibility vanishes.”

Davies at work, during a photography close-up session, something he has done for years.

This year Davies has two presentations at WildPhotos, one on the 19th October, “Close focus and wRead more:
Paul Harcourt Davies: Getting Close Up to Macro Photography

Summer Sunset Photo Tips—06/25/12

One of my favorite things about summer photography is getting outside in the warm evening air and photographing the sunset. Whether it's the sunset as the subject itself—a bold, beautiful sky filled with colorful cloud formations—or as the backdrop against which to make a portrait or a picture of any other subject, summer sunsets are a simply stunning subject. Here are five tips to help you make the most of sunset shooting sessions.

1. Show up early, and be prepared.

If you know ahead of time that you want to shoot a sunset, it's best to do a little bit of research to determine what time, exactly, the sun will be setting at your latitude and longitude. A simple Google search is a great way to arm yourself with this basic information, but an even better approach would be to rely on specialized software intended especially for photographers. The Photographers' Ephemeris is an app for computers, smartphones and iPads that not only provides detailed information on sunrise and sunset times, but it also lays out the transit of sun and moon across a topographical map of your location, making it even easier to visualize where and when your photo will look its best. Armed with that information—let's say 7:30 is the perfect time to shoot—you'd better be there well in advance of that time. I'd shoot for 7 p.m., myself, just to ensure that I've got enough time to set up while it's light and I can still see in order to set up my camera and make exposure adjustments. As the golden hour approaches I'm ready and able to photograph any beautiful moments that may pop up while I'm waiting. I also recommend shooting right through the perfect time until each image begins to pale compared to the previous exposure. This way you'll be sure not to leave the scene one second too early.

2. Use manual white balance.

It's fairly safe to assume that one of the reasons you're photographing a sunset is because of its beautiful colors. So don't risk ruining those great colors with an automatic color balance. Instead, choose a manual white-balance preset to ensure the colors in the sky won't be desaturated or washed out. (Underexposing slightly is also a good way to maximize color in a sky, but we'll discuss that more in a moment.) I suggest starting with a basic daylight white balance, but you can also choose other presets—such as open shade, cloudy day, or even tungsten settings—to manually shift the color in a deliberately warmer or cooler direction depending on the scene. If you're really good, you can even choose your DSLR's Kelvin temperature settings to manually add warmth (with a higher color temperature) or make a scene appear cooler (by going lower on the Kelvin scale). Either way, these shifts are fairly safe with shots of skies only, or even with silhouettes, but it can become dangerous to shift the color balance too far if you plan to fill in the foreground with a flash. Even if you don't want to do anything funky with the color, the manual daylight white balance will ensure that the camera doesn't "help" by compensating for bold reds, purples or golden hues in a beautiful sunset.Read more:
Summer Sunset Photo Tips—06/25/12 | DPmag.com

Breathtaking Fire Breathing Photos of DAS

When it comes to wicked concepts and excellent execution, Benjamin Von Wong is stepping into a class of his own. Which is why we were so excited to be the official sponsors of the Von Wong Does Europe Tour. Because we wanted to see what Ben could do if he had a month just to piece together concept shoots throughout Europe.
Well, the tour is over, and Ben and Erwan are hard at work in editing their images and creating wonderful BTSVs for you all to enjoy and learn from. Today, I am excited to say that we have the first of these Behind the Scenes Videos, an editorial shoot featuring the incredible artisan work of pyrotechnian DAS.
In this video, Ben walks us through his concept and shoot with DAS. Working with fire as an artistic medium presents many challenges in and of itself. Photographing fire presents a whole new set of challenges, check out Ben’s techniques in pulling of some truly amazing works of fire breathing art!
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Breathtaking Fire Breathing Photos of DAS - Behind the Scenes Photography Video and Tutorial: Von Wong Does Europe Episode 1 tutorial

Nokia app increases pressure on camera makers to smarten up: Digital Photography Review

Nokia has shown-off an app including photographic features unlike anything yet available in compact cameras - suggesting camera makers will need to consider apps if they're to remain competitive. The Camera Extras app includes a 'Smart Group Shot' mode that takes five images and chooses the 'best' faces for each of the subjects. It's also possible to manually select which face you want for each of your subject. It's a useful and consumer-friendly feature that helps to underline the challenge that compact camera makers face - competing not just with the convenience and connectivity of smartphones, but also their app-based approach that allows extra features to be offered, separately from the normal model development cycle.
This flexibility, and the increased software development effort that a potentially profitable app market can help to foster, means smartphones risk making conventional compacts look out-of-date almost as soon as they're released. While several camera makers are looking to offer the convenience of improved connectivity, the existence of this kind of feature-adding photo app suggests that they might need to offer app-ready cameras, if they're to really compete with the rise of the smartphone.
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Nokia app increases pressure on camera makers to smarten up: Digital Photography Review

Eiffel Tower: 78 Awesome captures from Fantastic Angles!

All pictures are copyright of their respective owners. Please explore the further work of the photographers by browsing through their work. All screenshots are linked und lead to the pages from which they’ve been taken.

by Erroba

by Abdulla Alfoudry

--> by cuellar

by Giorgos

by Frank Baillet
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Eiffel Tower: 78 Awesome captures from Fantastic Angles!

Kobra puts classic photographs through the kaleidoscope - Holy Kaw!

Ted Turner definitely could have taken some artistic notes from Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra when he started colorizing classic films, though a movie version of such an explosion of color might have induced a number of nervous breakdowns when applied to It’s a Wonderful Life.
New York’s Chelsea neighborhood is the home of this gorgeous mural, and according to Kuriositas:

His aim is to preserve the historical aspect and to evoke a certain cultural memory which evokes certain emotions. Other parts of this significant piece of street art include interpretations of other images from the city's past.

We hope we’ll soon see more of his incredible work livening up walls across the United States.

Full story at Eduardo Kobra via Kuriositas.

Saturday, 23 June 2012

12 Creative Ways To Run A Photography Business And Stay Married Too | Virtual Photography Studio - Resources for photographers

What is the trick to starting up a photography business, working at it every single day of the week … and staying married too?
I was listening to the radio the other day, and the DJs had an ongoing conversation with their listeners on how people could work together all day, and stay married in the process? Both DJs had no idea how it was possible. The one said he would be divorced within a week if he was forced to spend 24 hours of the day with his wife. The other wasn’t married – so the concept was totally foreign to him. And the listeners that called in all had mixed reviews. Yes, you can imagine how many stories came through – things I had trouble believing they were so wild.
Yet many people do it every single day. Andrew and I have worked together side by side for over 14 years now. In fact, we live in a 1200 square foot condo, work side by side at the dining room table, eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together, and still like to hang out on the weekends together with family and friends. Yes, we do go our separate ways for clubs, hobbies and activities. We book separate meetings with clients, and have our own friend bases and interests. But for the majority of the week, we’re side by side.
Dig Deeper: 8 Secrets To Running A Photography Business As A Husband and Wife Team
So yes, it is possible. And really there isn’t a big “secret” to it. We’re just both pretty laid back when it comes to business and personal issues, and enjoy being together.
Can it work for you? Possibly. Here are some of the tricks we’ve learned along the way.
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12 Creative Ways To Run A Photography Business And Stay Married Too