posted by Tom, May 11th, 2009
FlickrSync is a free Windows application that will synchronize the contents of a folder or set of folders on your computer with your Flickr account. It allows the user to define upload settings, create photos sets and define custom filters.
FlickrSync works one-way — photos are synced from your computer to Flickr, but not the other way around. You are able to define Flickr photo permissions, and synchronize according to dates, captions, file names and more. FlickrSync can operate on one specific folder or a set of folders, as well as synchronize all the contents of a folder including sub-folders.
Visit the FlickrSync website.
Link via “Flickr File Synchronization Software” by gHacks.net.
posted by Tom, February 11th, 2009
“Architectural Photography of Tall Buildings” by Paul Bartholomew is a play-by-play of the photographer’s thought process on a job that required him to capture towering Manhattan buildings without converging lines.
Of course I didn’t say it was 100% possible, but with an agreement to proceed I offered to scout each location so I can see the buildings through the viewfinder.
This is what I had in mind and successfully did. I’ve been thinking about doing panoramic photography for a long time and this was a chance to buy that nice panoramic head for one of my tripods and experiment with stitching.
Many wide angle lenses are affected by distortion that causes lines to balloon out in the center of the frame and converge near the edges; the client did not want their building to look like it was leaning over. To solve this problem Paul carefully chose his vantage point and shot a series of frames that were later stitched together in Photoshop. He set himself up on the rooftop of another building half the height of his subject and proceeded to photograph the building in pieces. The end result has definitive vanishing points, straight lines, and looks fantastic.
posted by Tom, February 10th, 2009
On February 9th Nikon announced a new lens aimed at their entry-level customers: the AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G. This is prime glass boasting a wide f/1.8 maximum aperture, small size & light weight and an attractive price tag.
Nikon’s new 35mm f/1.8 is an introductory fixed focal length lens aimed at owners of Nikon’s entry-level cameras (the D40, D60 & D90) who are looking to experiment with this sort of equipment. Its wide f/1.8 maximum aperture enables low light shooting without a flash and allows for a shallow depth of field to isolate subjects and produce soft out-of-focus backgrounds. Plus the lens’ small size and weight makes it very portable.
Nikon’s release of the 35mm f/1.8 DX is a throwback to the SLR film days in that its field of view on a cropped DX sensor is approximately equivalent to the “normal” 50mm lenses that are prevalent among 35mm and full frame shooters. A 50mm f/1.8 lens is available from Nikon, but its field of view becomes slightly telephoto with the DX format of these entry-level DSLR cameras ands its auto focus system is not compatible with every Nikon DSLR. You can read more about why Nikon thinks their entry level customers want a normal prime and why “DX is not dead” in “35mm F1.8 for DX? What is Nikon up to?” by Digital Photography Review (link via Benjamin Golub on FriendFeed).
Last but not least is the 35mm f/1.8 DX’s price tag — an attractive $260. Good glass gets very expensive very quickly, which has had the side effect of creating a large market for cheap fast primes like the “nifty fifty” 50mm f/1.8 lenses (which run under $100.00). By engineering the 35mm f/1.8 as an accessible consumer-grade lens instead of professional glass, Nikon should be able to capitalize on two photographic effects that a great many SLR shooters fall in love with at first sight: ambient light shots and shallow depth of field.
posted by Tom, February 5th, 2009
A number of photography sites and blogs have spoke about staying away from the delete button, so I thought I would weigh in with my own experiences in resisting the urge to free up storage space. Digital photography has a great many advantages, but the ability to review and delete your photos on the spot is too tempting and often harfmul. The picture above was a complete mistake and I was very much unimpressed with it upon immediate review. Looking back, I am glad I kept the shot.
The shot you see above happened in an instant. I was walking around New York’s Chinatown with my camera that night — I had just stepped out of a Starbucks on Canal Street and was waiting to cross the street when I heard the unmistakable sound of a sports car engine. As this Ferrari ripped around the corner I quickly shot a series of frames with all the wrong settings. I had been shooting mostly stationary subjects all night and the camera was in a semi-automatic mode that was unable to give me anything close to a motion-stopping shutter speed at that time of night.When the car was gone I hit the review button and was thoroughly disappointed with every frame. I dismissed them all and moved on, but resisted the urge to delete the files.
When I got around to processing my pictures from that night, I completely changed my mind about this photo. Upon closer inspection I realized that I very much liked everything about it — there’s the quintessential “sports car red”, the obscured but thoroughly recognizable yellow Ferrari badge and the anonymous driver’s hand on the wheel. And best of all, there’s the blur. This car was flying, entirely too fast for me to capture a sharp picture, and the blurriness of the picture says just that. The title for this photo was a no-brainer: “Too Fast for Me”. This shot could only have been better if I had made it on purpose.
Digital cameras make it very easy to review and manage our shots in-camera. Many times we are tempted to delete the missed shots to free up space for more frames, but we forget that the LCD screen on most camera bodies is entirely inadequate to properly review a picture. So keep your finger off that delete button.
posted by Tom, January 30th, 2009
In “Camera Feature: Audio Recording“, Jack Prominski of ProminskiPhoto describes a feature found in pro cameras that is often overlooked: audio recording.
Many top-of-the-line professional digital cameras allow the photographer to annotate their photos with audio clips. Fire off a series of shots, then record a quick description of what’s going on. This feature is very useful for journalists and, as Jack notes, many sports photographers. The reason you do not hear about this much is because audio recording is not currently available in entry level, advanced amateur, or prosumer camera models.
posted by Tom, January 29th, 2009
When the camera shakes an exposure and you are not using a fast enough shutter speed, your pictures may turn out blurry. In order to get sharp images when shooting hand-held, you must identify all the different factors that have the potential to cause camera shake, and take precautions to minimize their impact on your pictures.
Stabilize your body
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, firmly planted on the ground. Hold your camera firmly with both hands, and keep your elbows tucked in close to your sides. If your camera does not have an optical viewfinder, try not to hold the camera out very far from your body while composing your shot on the LCD.
Look for natural braces
You can lean a nearby pole, tree, gate, fence, or any other structure in order to keep your body extra still.
Time to expose — keep it steady
Breathe out right before you press the shutter button. And speaking of pressing the shutter button, do not tap it. Tapping the shutter button can make the camera jump — instead, gently squeeze it.
Take multiple exposures
Unlike film, we can take multiple digital exposures without our wallets taking a hit. Given a scene that changes very little such as a landscape, we can take multiple exposures in order to increase the probability that at least one turns out sharp.
Use image stabilization/vibration reduction
Lenses and cameras with IS or VR have built-in mechanisms that can sense the movements of your camera and compensate for them in order to keep the pictures sharp. Some of the latest image stabilization technology lets you shoot up to 3 stops past the point where camera shake would normally introduce blur.
posted by Tom, January 28th, 2009
In “The Biggest Secret of Photography” professional photographer Marc Silber reveals the most important secret to improving your photography: making a lot of pictures.
Silber reflects on a few famous photographers who perfected their craft though tireless effort: Cartier-Bresson carried his camera everywhere, and Annie Leibovitz photographed everything. My favorite story along this line has always been the account of Ansel Adams capturing the famous photograph Moon and Half Dome — Adams pulled over his car on the way to happy hour to capture one of the most famous images around.
In addition to his blog, you can find Marc Silber on Flickr as well as hosting Marc Silber’s Photo Show.
posted by Tom, January 19th, 2009
In “The Canon Powershot G9 in Japan” by Luminous Landscape, Nick Devlin discusses shooting almost excusively with a Canon Powershot G9 over his Leica M8 during a trip to Japan. Forgive us for posting an article that is almost a year old, but an enthusiastic comparison of a high-end point & shoot camera to the legendary Leica brand is fascinating.
When Devlin traveled to Japan in December of 2007, a friend suggested he try out the Canon G9 instead of his Leica M8. He was so pleased with the G9’s size, controls and image quality that his Leica spent most of the trip in the hotel room.
I will leave the Leica talk to the pros, but I can write with regard to the Powershot G9. I bought one last summer as a compliment to my Canon 5D, specifically for those times when I would prefer not to carry a DSLR. My favorable review of the Canon Powershot G9 at Of Zen and Computing contains some sample images, low-light high-ISO shots and movie clips.
Link via “The Canon G9: Better than a Leica?” by CrunchGear.
posted by Tom, January 16th, 2009
“The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Composition” by Photography Wired covers the first major step in moving from taking snapshots to making photographs: learning how to compose your shots.
Do you have a desire to move on from taking snapshots? Just got a camera, or had one a while but don’t think you’re using it as wisely as you could? Let’s have a little look at composition then. There’s a few things to think about, or look for, when you’re taking a photograph which should help elevate your snapshots to an all new level.
The article covers three major rules of composition: the rule of thirds, leading lines and negative space. And then there’s my favorite aspect of gaining an understanding of the rules of composition: once you know ’em, break ’em.
posted by Tom, January 15th, 2009
In “Facebook Can Use Your Content for Promotional Purposes” Carolyn Wright of Photo Attorney discusses the broad license of your content that is granted to Facebook by its Terms of Use. Basically, Facebook can do almost anything they want for promotional purposes with your content, including photos, without asking or compensating you for as long as that content remains posted on Facebook. Once you remove your stuff, the license expires.
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