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The Hollywood Distagon at f/2: A Single Daffodil and the Contax Zeiss 28mm on the Sony A7RV
April 28, 2026
Gallery Photo Layout?
USING PHOTOSHOP TO DESIGN A PHOTO LAYOUT Jim Quinn used Photoshop to create the complicated layout of his documentary photo exhibit, “Good Friday in Colonia San Luis Rey,” which was shown in the winter of 2012 in the Instituto Allende’s Galeria Pergola in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. If you have a series of photos or other images that you plan to display, it’s easy to build a layout using Photoshop. There are a number of steps, so take your time. Here’s how: 1. If you already know the space where your photos will be displayed, measure that space – in
Read moreHobbits And Other MiddleEarthlings
Hobbits, wizards and other Middle Earthlings are becoming an ever greater part of New Zealand’s tourism push. The Kiwi government footed $99 million of “The Hobbit” film’s $270 million production price tag, and chipped in an additional $10 million to its marketing coffer, all to make sure executive producer Peter Jackson kept the project in New Zealand despite union disputes. Also, as part of the deal, tourism ads for the country will accompany the film in theaters and on DVD. The country’s newest tourism ads themselves are centered around the tagline “100% Middle Earth, 100% Pure New Zealand,” and in fact, a reported
Read moreOlympus 17mm f/1.8 First Look
The new Olympus 17mm f/1.8 has been officially released for sale! It will cost you. Estimated Street Price: $499.99 And it’s worth it, from our first look. With a total length of just 1.4 inches, the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm f1.8 is light as a feather and incredibly compact. The autofocus performance of the 17mm F1.8 lens, used on the E-PL5, is exceptionally good. I expected that. What I hadn’t expected was how exceptionally good it is on my new Panasonic GH3 as well! This tiny wide angle really shows some snap, which is good when you shoot street photography or document events
Read morePanasonic GH3 “Amore Mio”
Amore Mio is Italian for “My Love.” Judging by this excellent wedding production done by Austin, Texas, wedding filmmaker Joe Simon, that love certainly shines too. Joe shot Amore Mio using a prototype software version of the new Panasonic GH3. Joe’s thoughts? Well, the quality of the production above speaks for itself. In the Behind the Scenes:The Making Of Amore Mio video below, Joe gives us the behind the scenes look at what went into creating the film. Check it out. Joe includes a good description of the process and tools he uses in his productions along with a rare
Read moreCan you Dig it?
Dig – Sony F55. Looking for a hearty new camera rig to add some spice to your next indie film? Not satisfied the new Panasonic GH3 will be sufficient upgrade as a video answer for your client’s needs? Are you one of those people who won’t settle for anything less than the very best available in the marketplace? Or do you just enjoy playing around with all the best new toys? Start Saving! Sony finally released the pricing for its PMW-F5 and PMW-F55 CineAlta PL-mount cameras, projected to start shipping in February 2013. Only a couple months to start raising the cash
Read moreWhen Size Matters
By Jim Quinn With some photo subjects, extending the frame to the left or right, or even up or down, can work far better than the usual 3×2 format that photographers have been dealing with since the earliest Leicas. And with the Sweep Panorama feature in Sony cameras, and similar features offered by some competitors, breaking out of those rigid rectangles is easier than ever. But with the exception of Sony’s new SLT-A99, that technology hasn’t made its way into Old School DSLRs, at least not yet. If your favorite camera doesn’t share that feature, don’t despair. Photoshop’s Photomerge
Read moreLens Design and Software Corrections
Lens design is a major act of compromises. Field of View (focal length) Quality Zoom or Prime Size Weight Image circle (targeted sensor size) Price (depends also on number of sold copies) All lenses show to some extent different lens artifacts: Chromatic Aberrations (Lateral and Longitudinal ) Distortions Vignetting Corner softness Software can improve your lenses The better the lenses are corrected the lower the artifacts. But often correcting a lens to a very high extent drives weight, size and especially the price up. Since about ten years software manufacturers like DxO and for some time now also other raw
Read morePhotos – To Die For?
This one minute commercial was published by Canon on November 20, 2012. As of this morning, twelve days later, it has racked up 319,692 YouTube views. It’s received 2,830 likes, 12 dislikes. It has over a hundred comments. Someone is paying attention. I have no knowledge whether or not this commercial is intended to air on National TV, but it’s one minute length suggests it is. Should it air nationally, in the USA alone nearly fifty million people will see it. As a professional photographer and like so many other viewers, I find it funny as hell. It had me rolling
Read moreThe Mirrorless Party Animation
First up, here are Canon’s marketing claims for their first mirrorless camera system, the EOS-M: “Inspired by Canon’s EOS technology, the EOS M digital compact system camera allows limitless creativity. Capture full HD video with smooth, quiet continuous autofocus made possible by Movie Servo AF and STM lenses, advanced CMOS sensor technology, and the processing power of DIGIC 5. Take spectacular still shots using the 18.0-megapixel CMOS sensor with the included wide-angle 22mm f/2 lens, plus Canon’s extensive family of interchangeable lenses (optional adapter required for EF and EF-S lenses). The touch-screen monitor, Scene Intelligent Auto, and a host of
Read moreDark-Side Of The Lens
Surf photographers are an interesting lot. Heroes of the surf all, the best bravely move with fierce determination directly towards a force of nature that engulfs, mangles, and tries its best to break their bodies into many tiny broken pieces. How do they manage to survive, let alone capture beauty in the blink of a moment? Surf Photographer Mickey Smith shares his thoughts on it with poetic prose. The photography and cinematography is fantastic. Judging by the list of awards this film has already received, I’m certainly not alone in this opinion either. Here’s a list of the awards this
Read moreA Musical Meld of Stills
Since moving imaging has become so easy and inexpensive to produce and post, many photographers wonder if there is any room for still photography to exist and thrive as an art form. Indeed, one of the purposes of this forum is to share ideas for creating art, and so we point you to the following video. Featuring the photographic art of Wyman Meinzer and the original music of Doug Smith, the video entitled “West Texas” is a stand alone Work of Art. Many photgraphic slide presentations show a selection of photographs, set a time of separation, add generic music,
Read moreThe Bicycle Series
The Bicycle Series It was just after sunrise on an October morning in 1989 when Arturo Monroy, a brilliant watercolor painter living in Antigua, Guatemala, opened his window to 7A Avenida Norte. A neighbor Arturo knew to possess unquestionable psychic talent greeted him as he passed below, proclaiming: “Arturo, something transformational will happen to you today that will change the direction of your life. Have a nice day.” The morning passed without incident. Around noon Arturo took the bus to Guatemala City… returning home following an intense thunderstorm around 7 pm. As he walked through the front door his
Read moreAnamorphic Illusions
And you think video doesn’t lie? Here’s 3 anamorphic illusions; a Rubik’s cube, a roll of tape, and an old tennis shoe. Every one of these fooled me. Which one is your favorite? I think I like the tennis shoe the best, but they are all pretty incredible. From: BrussPup PLEASE RATE THIS STORY! [ratings]
Read moreThe Marmalade
Did you ever wonder how food commercials capture that perfect shot of beer cascading into a glass, or perfectly moistened vegetables falling elegantly onto a plate? Let’s go behind the scenes for a visit to the German studio The Marmalade, where they specialize in slow motion capturing with a high speed motion control system, their robot they call “Spike”. This is a short movie about the company techniques to achieve beautiful footage used in advertising. Yes, it is a promotional video reel of their work, no question. It’s still a shining example of the highest quality standards both in the
Read morePhotoshop Tutorial
It’s Monday after the long Thanksgiving Weekend here in the USA so something fun is called for as we all head back to the grindstone. Here’s a tutorial from the Webby Award nominated site Glove And Boots that’s just the ticket. Many thanks to our friends at mirrorlesscentral.com for bringing this to our attention! PLEASE RATE THIS STORY! [ratings]
Read moreGordon College – Boston, Massachusetts
Long ago and far away in my distant past – about 25 years to be exact – I had the crazy idea of learning to fly an R/C Helicopter. I wasn’t all that interested in the R/C bits of it, my vision was to mount a camera to it and shoot aerial photography. To carry the weight of even a small film camera (a $2 Kodak cardboard disposable in this case) the R/C Helicopter necessary was a monstrous beast. Almost four feet long, my Cherry Red Lucite covered rube-goldberg grand prize winning contraption outfitted with servos, radios, batteries, and that horrible
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