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Canon Ixus 980 IS: First Look Review

Jo Deer — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:41:47 +0000

The best Ixus digital camera yet? Katie Scott checks out what we can expect from the new Canon Ixus 980 IS.

Are There Other Types Of Photography?

Jo Deer — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 03:14:37 +0000

As we have discussed there are many avenues open to a professional photographer. Some actually graduate from the world of business into corporate photography. Corporate photography has many facets; it is used for publicity, in the form of advertisements; for public relations, for historical purposes, and for in-house brochures. Some corporate photographers can work for the same company for many years. They cover special events in the companies’ history, as well as being as in some cases an important aspect of industrial history. The history of the steamboat, the transition from the Agrarian to the Industrial revolution has all been captured on film.

Not only industrial history but history has been captured on film. War photographers usually by press photographers’ have captured history.
In the 1940′s Ansel Adam’s was probably the best-known American photographer. He captured images of the enforced internment of American citizen’s of Japanese descent at the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California. These prints record history in another way as the Photographic Division of the Library of Congress show digital scans of his negatives as well as his prints; this allows a student to study his dark room techniques.
The art of action photography is a specialised art that presents unique challenges, requiring both technical skills in capturing a moving image, as well as knowledge of the activity you are photographing. A sense of timing is vital as well as having the ability to pre-focus. Some types of photography has peak moments, such as the hour before dusk, action photography has peak milliseconds! Your sense of timing has to be well developed to know when this is going to be, because you have to shoot a millisecond before that to give the camera time to actually shoot. This is where knowledge of the activity is very helpful to allow you to anticipate the peak second. However, this is a very specialised aspect of the photography business, your techniques can be improved. Sport photography is easier than moving wildlife, or breaking news stories, as it is more predictable in its outcome. Common sense is fairly important with your positioning, you need an interesting backdrop, as well as a place that allows you to make best use of ambient light, be it also to keep yourself in a position of safety. The Pulitzer Prize for photography is no use to anyone when they are dead. Often these skills can be refined at amateur sporting events, where you do not need a press pass.
Another specialist type of photography is underwater photography, partly because you also need to be a qualified diver and partly because the equipment is specialised. It is possible to take shots underwater, with a normal camera, but amphibious cameras, get better results, unfortunately they are expensive, with a lot of things to learn and the possibility of very expensive repairs. As with action photography this is best left to the specialist and it is not a feasible option, unless you work in this media for the majority of your time. The sea can be a dangerous medium to work in, and it presents special challenges such as night, and wreck photography, as well as drift photography, all of which challenge both your diving skills as well as your technical skills.
Scientific photographers take images of a variety of subjects to illustrate or record scientific or medical data using knowledge of scientific procedures. They typically possess additional knowledge in areas such as engineering, medicine, biology, or chemistry. Often the photography of this type of record is an adjunct to a scientific career.

Assignment photography is the delivery of material for a specific assignment, often with limited appeal. It includes portrait photography, as well as wedding photography. Portrait photographers often have their own studios, as their clients come to them to have a formal portrait photographed. SLR digital cameras are often preferred to do this type of work, as there are more opportunities to “view real timework”, you do not have to wait for the negatives to be printed to see if you have created a shadow on the face with a hat. Also they can be retouched, pixel-by-pixel, which means the small time imperfections can be glossed over. The adage the camera does not lie has never been completely true, but in today’s world is even less so. A portrait photographer has the opportunity to go out on assignment and covers events such as weddings, and christenings.
Photo Journalism is another branch of photography that covers the breaking of various events; it can be general, on a local paper, covering local events such as school plays etc. International freelancers often cover specific areas such as war photography. Press photographers are often characterized under the banner of “journalism”, as they collect, edit and present news material, yet despite this they use images to tell a news story.
It is distinguished from documentary photography, street photography and the photographing of celebrities because they have a timeline in that they tell a story in a chronological order. A narrative to further complete the story nearly always accompanies the work. Implicit to a degree in this type of work is a level of objectivity rather than creativity, as the images are recording real events in real time. For these reasons it differs from a wedding photographer, even though in theory he covers an event in real time and for publication.

A further aspect of photography is the “celebrity” and “Society” photographer. The two are distinguishable, though the person being photographed can fall in both categories. The society photographer may be also a photojournalist himself. In Europe at least the Society photographer, is nearly always of the same class, partly on the ground that they have the “breeding” to cover such events, which may be Wimbledon, or the Melbourne Cup, or even a charity-raising gala. It is implicit that the
Photographer has permission to take the photograph. That’s quite different to the inherent distaste often applied to the methods used by the celebrity photographer, whilst at the same time the public retain an insatiable desire to be able to see the photographs. Celebrity photographers are often these days called paparazzi, after a famous Italian photographer known for his dogged determination to trail after celebrities, and publish photographs taken in an unguarded moment.

Canon EOS 450D Digital Rebel XSi Camera – New EOS 450 DSLR

Jo Deer — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:44:15 +0000

www.microglobe.co.uk Canon EOS 450D Digital Camera Rebel xsi – New EOS 450 DSLR The Canon EOS 450D blends uncompromising performance with ease of use in a lightweight, ergonomic body. Capture your world with a 12.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor and the very latest Canon technologies. The Canon EOS 450D / Digital Rebel xsi is a new 12 megapixel compact DSLR camera. looking very similar to the previous 400D from the outside, the EOS 450D / Digital Rebel xsi features a larger 3 inch LCD screen, new 9-point AF system, 14-bit processing, Live View mode with contrast detection AF mode (like the Panasonic L10) and 3.5fps continuous mode. www.microglobe.co.uk

Can you Trust Digital Camera Reviews?

Jo Deer — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:14:27 +0000

Digital camera reviews are abundant not just online but also in the newspapers, magazines and even TV shows. We often wonder why most digital camera reviews always praise all the digital camera out in the market, that’s why we end up getting confused on which product to buy or get our loved ones. ]Here’s one thing you should never trust regarding digital camera reviews – never trust press releases or reviews that are directly from the manufacturer or advertising office that is directly connected with producer of the digital camera. Why?! Well because these digital camera reviews are never too truthful, or they just give out the good points about their products. I mean, what would you expect, supposing you own your own line of digital cameras and to boost your sales, you release digital camera reviews about your products. Of course you wouldn’t point out the bad things or the glitches of your product in your digital camera reviews, because that way you will never be able to shoot up your sales. Press releases or digital camera reviews from manufacturer are always half-truths. Haven’t you had any experience with that?! I mean, that just doesn’t go for digital camera, remember that brush-blower thingy that you bought over the internet that says it would work tremendously for your hair, but ended not working for your hair after all. Press releases are press releases, meaning that they are aimed to get people to buy the product or to give the product a better name. On more thing that you can never fully trust are home shopping networks and advertisements. As much as press releases, they pretty much pose the same claims about their products. But hey, don’t trust me, you can always get them and return them after proving to yourself that it doesn’t work. Never mind the time and effort that you’ve wasted, you chose to listen to a half-truth digital camera review, that’s what you get for that. The best digital camera reviews available are those found in specialty magazines (computer based and technical magazines), special websites catering to techie stuff and unofficial digital camera reviews. Why?! Well because! Because these digital camera reviews are always truthful. These reviewers and critics are never afraid to list down the good as much as the bad points of digital cameras. These digital camera reviews usually points out the difference between the products that a certain manufacturer has released and how it is worse or better than the previous one. These reviewers and critics are also knowledgeable in their craft, so its say to safe to say that they know what they are talking about when it comes to digital camera reviews. One more thing, most of the time, these digital camera reviews are actual first hand experience with the product itself and not just some advertising agent asked to come up with flowery words to capture you and your wallet. Another best source for a digital camera review is one that you can write yourself. And how can you do that?! Of course, you first need to buy your own digital camera, try it out and compare everything that you do with it to the things that it claims to be. (be careful to read the specs, options and features that you need to try out, be on the lookout for words such as weatherproof, meaning that they are splash resistant as to waterproof that are water resistant. You don’t want to get your newly bought weatherproof camera wet, just to prove to yourself that the things they claim are not true). After doing so, then you can write your own digital camera review or reviews, depending on how many things you’ve learned from your digital camera. Be sure to indicate that your review is an on-hand experience with the product and not just some wild guess. The most honest digital camera reviews are the best reviews you can look for and trust. Anyway, you can always call customer center or return your digital camera if they don’t live up to their claims.

Can you Trust Digital Camera Reviews?

Jo Deer — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 04:23:38 +0000

Nikon D90 Video (HD)

Jo Deer — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:08:02 +0000

This video tells you all about the Nikon D90 video. This video is in HD.

Creating your Stock Photography Portfolio

Jo Deer — Thu, 20 May 2010 06:20:42 +0000

Stock Photo Portfolio Sites

Photographing Yellowstone – Red Rock Point

Jo Deer — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:13:09 +0000

Join Professional Nature Photographers John & Barbara Gerlach on a photographic journey through Yellowstone National Park. Both professional and amateur photographers alike will learn some of the best kept secrets on how to photograph the spectacular beauty that abounds in Yellowstone. To order the entire DVD visit: Discoverdest.com

New Jersey Children and Family Photographer

Jo Deer — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:28:46 +0000

There are not too many things that will ignite a nostalgic moment better than having an encounter with a beautiful photograph of a happy time. After all, isn’t that what photos are really all about? Capturing and preserving something special to us so that at anytime we can look at that photo and relive the moment? Maria Manjelo offers her amazing photographic talents to you to capture and preserve those special moments in your children’s lives.

John Lund’s Interview with Jonathan Ross, Founder of Blend Images

Jo Deer — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:55:29 +0000

John: Jonathan, I know that you and your wife Amy are a team. How did that come about? Jonathan: We met in a Commercial Photography program in college 20 years ago. I held the door open for her on her first day of class, smartest thing I ever did. Chivalry can pay off sometimes. We finished school and opened a studio right away. Well it was really a garage but it had our sign on the door. That’s where the Andersen Ross name came from, our surnames before we married. John: How do you divide up your responsibilities? It was first decided by some of our client base. 20 years ago we only shot commercial work. Believe it or not some clients didn’t want a woman as their photographer, not easy for us to accept at the time but we needed to keep the doors open. Then we started to realize Amy was much more business minded than me and I was more comfortable with an AD over my shoulder while shooting. Amy is still an amazing photographer and I think once our kids have moved on she will become the real artist in the family. John: I know you and Amy as pioneers and powerhouses in the Royalty Free arena. You two are also founders of Blend Images, an agency offering both RF and Rights Managed images. You guys truly have a wealth of experience in the stock photo marketplace. Now I understand you are dipping your toe, or maybe your whole foot, in the Micro stock waters. Blend has been a great part of our career not just from the financial side but especially through the amazing people we have gotten to meet and work with, as well as make great friends and mentors. By surrounding ourselves with such strong photographers we raised the quality level of our work. I have always found it better to play ball with players more skilled than yourself if you want to improve your own game. Blend was really the birth of community stock photography. Similar to what Micro has become today, just on a much larger scale. Before that stock was a very private business. We are also fortunate to be owners in Cultura Images a collection of European Lifestyle imagery run by another incredible group of professionals. We have collections in every pot. RM, RF and Micro. Every year we spend some time and budget on R & D. Just like 10 years ago when Macro RF began we tested the waters and found it a good investment. This year was Micro and we shot a few thousand images to get a good feeling for this emerging market. We still produce for all stock models but feel it is important to stay involved and understand the changes in our marketplace. John: Micro stock has been around for awhile now. Certain stars, like Yuri Arcurs, have established themselves and can earn truly impressive amounts of money. Traditional shooters from the RM and RF markets are also moving into Micro. The landscape for Micro stock is changing. It is changing almost daily it seems. I don’t know where the future of Micro is going but we felt it was important to be involved in the evolution. More eggs in more baskets, that’s our motto. John: Can you talk a bit about the opportunity that exists, as you see it, in Micro? I love to crunch numbers and that is in large part why we produced Micro this past year. We want straight relevant data so we can invest properly in the future. I have seen an increase in Micro returns but they haven’t passed our Macro RPI’s, yet. I see changes in the future of Micro. One change I see that could take place is more niche style Micro sites. Like Blend Images is a multi ethnic collection and Cultura is based on European content. I see something to that effect around the corner to make it easier for buyers to find the images they need in Micro. Also Micro agencies being more selective with their content and with whom they have as image providers, much like Macro is today. Right now just about anyone can upload content to Micro once they pass the technical qualifications. Possibly we will see Micro collections that are by invitation only to the strongest image providers. Tomorrow is another day and unfortunately my crystal ball is at the shop being repaired. John: Do you think that everyone needs to be in Micro? I think that is a question that can only be answered by each individual as they experiment in this newest stock model. Not everyone is cut out for every market. I find in Micro the best sellers for us are really the meat and potatoes of stock so you can see numerous sales. Not every photographer wants to shoot meat and potatoes. John: What should photographers from the RM and RF world of stock know before they move into Micro? A lot. They are different models and they need to be approached differently. When we shoot for RM we might only get 10-30 images selected from a days shoot. Micro we can shoot 200 in a day but it takes a great deal of choreography to get that kind of shot count and not be redundant. Keeping cost down is a big part of the Micro world. There is also the technical side such as key wording and uploading to many sites at the same time that takes some practice to work the bugs out. The up side about Micro is there is a feeling of freshness and excitement from the photographers that is sometimes hard to find from Macro shooters these days and I find that very motivating. John: How is your approach different when shooting for RM, RF and Micro? RM and RF really depend on the image and how specific it is for our buyers. If the image is highly produced but may only be of interest to a smaller group of buyers that are willing to pay well to obtain that unique image, then we tend to put it in RM. Macro RF is again a higher production value than Micro with less similars but it appeals to a larger audience than our RM. Micro is our least expensive production per image and that work is very broad in it’s applications, so to try and lure as many buyers as possible and reach a vast market. We find simple straight and clean works best in Micro. We are making a very conscience effort to keep our Micro and Macro styles different at this time. John: What do you think is the biggest challenge facing stock shooters today? There are many challenges in stock and there always have been. Now I think with the evolution of technology and the ability for the entire world to pick up a camera for cheap and take a good photo is much easier than when I started. If 100,000 people shoot all year and each one gets 5 great photos that is 500,000 great images added to the market with little return for each of those 100,000 photographers. For the full time stock shooter that makes competing more difficult. Diversification of agencies representing your images, watching the pennies and shooting the right content buyers need I think is the best way to stay strong in this business today. Old dogs need to adjust to this market even in RM and Macro RF not just Micro. Woof! John: How are you dealing with that challenge? The last two years I just worked like mad to keep my income up at the same level where it had been in the past as returns began to drop. I realized this winter that I personally was burning out and not loving what I do nearly as much. I have just taken 3 months off for the first time since we opened our doors 20 years ago and feel reborn. We dropped our staff down to just one producer and hire on as needed when shooting. We also dumped our huge studio and moved into a smaller office space since we shoot primarily on location. Between these two cut backs we reduced our overhead by over 65%. I now can shoot less and spend more time creating images that are harder for the average photographer to produce. I am also having fun again and that is so important. If you’re not having fun it shows in your work and quality of life. John: How do you choose what to shoot? It starts with research. Sometimes it’s collaboration with one of our editors to fill a need they have. We also spend time searching for holes in the collections where images need updating. Then trying to stay involved with the trends in society from what colors are popular to how the world is changing and what images best reflect those changes. Sometimes it is based off a location we gained access to that is hard to acquire. One good reason for shooting lifestyle is that after a few years the same shots need to be reproduced to keep up with social change. We chose lifestyle partially for that reason but also because we love working with people. They add to the days work so much,It is a team effort. From model to producer to photographer, it’s a blast. This year’s efforts are on creating believable slices of life that capture raw emotion and focus on a positive future in a global market. Boy, that was a mouthful. John: What do you enjoy shooting the most? People are my favorite subject because of the interaction that takes place between the models and myself. I love to motivate people and share positive energy. On a good shoot the energy level is through the roof, it takes me hours to come down from the buzz. I love it. Kids top the bill for me, they aren’t afraid to show who they really are. Their walls seem to come down much quicker than adults. John: Do you participate in the Fine Art market? I don’t really at this time, however that is my plan for spending the last chapter of my career in image making. I don’t want to rely on my fine art or possibly documentary work to have to pay the bills. I’m concerned that it will keep me from creating what I see instead of what I think others want to see, does that even make sense? John: How does Andersen Ross handle post-production? I have a great post producer I contract with. I do the edit, set the basic color and density and crop the image on a small file then send it to the magician that makes it perfect. I used to do all my own processing in the beginning but over time we found the more I was clicking the camera the more we could produce and offset the cost of a post-production person while increasing our revenue. I still do post for my personal work. John: Do you have a staff? Just my producer is with me now Laura Marchbanks and of course Amy my wife, they really keep this company moving ahead. We hire everyone else on an as needed basis to help keep the costs down. I would prefer to keep a full staff but that is all part of adapting to the changes in the market. It also means I don’t have to shoot nearly as much to cover the overhead, which leaves more time for the family. John: Any plans to get into video? Yes, that is our R & D for this year. We are working out an arrangement with a production company that shoots the Red One. They have been working in film production for years and will help us get up to speed from the get go. Instead of just jumping in and spending more money we saw this as an opportunity to see how much we enjoy the work while at the same time getting an education and still producing income. The video company has been trying to find a door into stock and how to produce it and that is what we can provide them with. It looks like a win – win situation. John: How do you get your models? I would say that is one of our stronger areas of production, we have a deep casting book of great talent thanks to my producer Laura Marchbanks, a Brooks graduate. We do test casting days in studio to try out new talent just to see how and what they could be used for. We try to use the right model for the shot be it their energy or their look. We use every source these days from street casting to Craigslist and professional modeling agencies. My children used to model for Pokemon cards but their rates are too high these days. John: Have any photographers been influential in your career? My head professor in photo school Bart Attebery changed my life and we stayed friends till his passing this last year. He was one of the original Art Center graduates. I have always loved having mentors, people that push you and believe in you especially in those times you question yourself. I have to add that when I was just starting my career I read an article in PDN about this guy that was making these conceptual images in something called Photoshop. These images were so fresh and exciting they really opened my eyes to the future of what photography could be. That was you John and I still follow your work like a schoolboy. The rest are painters not photographers, Dali and Peter Max had a big effect on me as a child. John: Long term, are you optimistic or pessimistic about the stock photography industry? It’s all I want to do so even if I am a bit skeptical at times I am not going anywhere. One thing for sure, everything in life changes and keeping up or even ahead of those changes can be viewed as either a hassle or an inspiration to push yourself, I prefer to choose the latter. John: Any words of wisdom to leave us with? If I have one concern with stock I would have to say it is in need of reevaluating the price point on small web images. When stock started online with Macro RF the agencies established a set of price points based on the size of the file. That was fine 10 years ago when the web was just a baby. Jump forward ten years and now many web sites reach far more buyers than print does. Yet we still have these very low price points for small files that are more then adequate in size to be used by companies represented on the web. I feel it is time to make a change in that area of stock pricing and sizing. Either to bring up the prices on small web sized images or remove the small size all together. I do not understand why a printed publication pays more than a website does in this day and age. It should be based on something other then image size to establish the appropriate price point. My local newspaper just went off press to only web two weeks ago and I think we are going to see more of the same in the future. If photographers are going to be able to stay in business I think these price points need to be addressed for the change in how our culture is exchanging information and how advertisers are reaching their buyers. For the next while, as this stockpot continues to bubble and churn, I would say keep costs down. Don’t buy that new camera this year unless it makes you more money. Research is a bigger part of the game, more then ever before. Do your homework and get your ducks in a row before you spend your money on a shoot. Invest in R & D and try to stay true to your vision instead of just copying what you see working for others or that you have already shot yourself. Most of all have as much fun as possible that always brings the largest rewards, financially and personally.