The Daily Thing

HDR does to photography what Thomas Kinkade did to painting. The majority of what you see is over-saturated, poor examples of people not knowing how to use their equipment. I mean, c’mon, grass is NOT supposed to look like that. Don’t get me wrong, there are some really good HDR images. I think knowing how to use your camera in the same situation would have yielded a much better result.

I’m not going to show an HDR image with this post because I don’t want to hurt any particular persons feelings but you can check some out on Flickr.

Tags: Don't Quote Me on This, Photography by admin
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J.D Power and Associates has released a new customer satisfaction survey of digital SLR users with some surprising results. Nikon not only captured the top spot with a whopping 822 out of a possible 1000 points but was seconded by Sony, a relatively new arrival in the DSLR market.

Nikon tops SLR customer satisfaction survey | Underexposed - CNET News.com: “‘It dominates in digital SLRs,’ Steve Kirkeby, executive director of telecomunciations and technology, said in an interview.

Sony scored 793. At 788, third place went to Canon–the top seller of digital cameras in general and of SLRs specifically–followed closely by Pentax at 787 and Olympus at 783. The survey didn’t rank Panasonic, another new entrant, or Samsung, which today sells Pentax SLRs under its own brand.

SLR cameras, expensive but high-performance models, are at the center of a fiercely competitive and increasingly crowded marketplace. Canon is the top seller worldwide, with Nikon in second place.

The scale is weighted to favor the factors customers find more important, so image quality has a bigger influence on overall score than camera style, for example. And customer satisfaction has an import influence over future purchases: 36 percent of camera buyers ask for others’ recommendations, so happy camera users are good advertising.

‘Satisfaction leads to intention to recommend,’ Kirkeby said. ‘Intention to recommend–word of mouth–is something sought by camera buyers.’”

Tags: Photography by admin
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Nikon yesterday released the all new D300, a pro-sumer model aimed at the intermediate level shooter.

The new camera boasts a 12.3 effective megapixel CMOS sensor with a new 51 point autofocus system and large 3″ screen for reviewing your images.

Nikon: “The ultimate blend of image quality, quick response and go-anywhere mobility. A new 12.3 effective-megapixel DX-format CMOS image sensor, Nikon’s original EXPEED digital image processing concept, Scene Recognition System and the new Picture Control System advance all aspects of system performance. Setting the standards for the next-generation, the D300 achieves the best overall system balance of any DX-format D-SLR.”

Even though it boasts impressive speed, unless the price point is REALLY enticing I’m going to upgrade to last years D80. An impressive intermediate level camera that offers the best of consumer and professional options. It may not have the d300’s 3″ lcd but, I’ve never been one for chimping.

Tags: Photography by admin
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DigitalGrabber.com has a great article on taking photos at night. This is definetly something the aspiring photographer will want to read as it highlights some of the basic concepts of night photography as well as some very helpful advice.

Digital Grabber.com: “Plan your photos before you shoot! While it is always a good idea to study an area first, this is crucial if you are planning on snapping photographs around dusk! You will not have much time to plan, and if you spend five or ten minutes just getting a perfect angle or framing the perfect shot, the overall lighting will change as the sun slowly sets. And of course, remember when composing your photos that the sun sets in the west.”

Tags: Photography by admin
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If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of Apples Aperture photo management and editing program then ArsTechnica has some advice for you, wait a while longer.

ArsTechnica:
It saddens me to say that Aperture’s innovations are only skin deep. If it could deliver on the promise of being both fast and produce flawless results, it would be the dream package. At this point it is an expensive and questionable alternative to Camera Raw, a free extension to Photoshop, and Adobe’s Bridge which can batch produce better quality images in arguably less time. For US$500 (Photoshop itself retails for US$750), there is no excuse not to be aware of professional needs like a high-quality sharpen tool, DNG exporting or more basic things like curves, a sampler tool for RGB pixel readings, or retention of EXIF data on output.

[Go there now]

Tags: Photography by admin
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Christmas time is here and with it scores of people shopping online. But if you’re shopping for a new camera this holiday season it’s buyer-beware as this blogger found.

Thomas Hawk: “I will make sure you will never be able to place an order on the internet again.” “I’m an attorney, I will sue you.” “I will call the CEO of your company and play him the tape of this phone call.” “I’m going to call your local police and have two officers come over and arrest you.” “You’d better get this through your thick skull.” “You have no idea who you are dealing with.”

These are all direct threats that I received today from an individual who identified himself as Steve Phillips, the manager of PriceRitePhoto in Brooklyn, New York when I called to inquire about my order with them. My crime? Telling him that I planned to write an article about my unfortunate experience with his company regarding the camera order I had placed with him yesterday.

Be sure to read the rest of the article. It’s very interesting. The operator of the business in question has even taken it upon himself to call the bloggers boss.

[Go There Now]

Tags: From the Blogosphere, Photography by admin
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Here’s a great tutorial for those of you just starting out in Image Editing and trying to develop a method to which you edit your photos. The article is contributed by Matt LeClair, author of Oreilly‚Äôs, ‚ÄúPhotoshop in a Nutshell‚Äù and should help you get a basic understanding of photo editing.

Tags: Photography, Uncategorized by admin
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Kodak’s got some great tips to help you improve your photography. Ten of them infact, and believe me, they’ll make all the difference in your photography. I use them all the time.

Give them a shot and see if they don’t make a noticeable improvement in your photography.

Tags: Photography, Uncategorized by admin
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Do you have a Nikon D70? Well then listen up. Nikon is initiating a voluntary recall of the EN-EL3 battery that comes standard with the D70 line after manufacturing flaws have been linked to overheating and damage during charging.

NikonUSA: Nikon Inc. is asking your cooperation in connection with a voluntary recall of certain lot numbers of its Nikon Model EN-EL3 rechargeable lithium ion battery packs. The battery pack can experience a short circuit causing it to overheat and possibly melt, posing a potential hazard to consumers. There have only been four confirmed reports of incidents of the problem worldwide, and while no injuries have taken place, Nikon Inc. has initiated this recall of the affected lot numbers as a reflection of its commitment to safety and product quality. We are asking that owners of the affected battery packs return them to Nikon Inc. for a free replacement.

The Nikon EN-EL3 battery pack is provided as a supplied accessory with the purchase of Nikon’s digital SLR D100, D70, and D50 cameras. It is also sold separately at retail under Nikon’s model number 26265. The EN-EL3 battery pack involved in this recall was first distributed by Nikon in May 2004 and is still being sold at retail.

Nikon offers a replacement battery to be shipped postage paid (you print the label and drop it off at UPS same day) or you can pay an additional $10 and give Nikon your credit card number to get a new battery shipped to you before you return yours. You can find out more information about which batteries are being recalled by visiting the official NikonUSA site.

I’ve never had a problem with my battery being hot but I’m going to err on the side of caution and send mine back. Besides, a new battery is a new battery, right? I’ll just have to use my CR2 adapter until my new battery arrives.

Tags: digitalphotography, photography, Nikon

Tags: Photography by admin
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Wow! Apple has release a really cool professional photo platform called Aperture. Aperture allows real time editing in RAW format as well as versioning so you never lose your master documents. Take a look at the specs below:

Apple: Input

* Import images directly from cameras and storage devices

o Compact Flash I, II and Microdrive

o Memory Stick and Memory Stick Duo

o Secure Digital, MultiMedia, and SmartMedia cards

o xD Picture cards

* Drag files in from any volume (preserves Finder folder hierarchy)

* Browse and import directly from iPhoto library

File Formats

* Native RAW import and editing from leading dSLR cameras

o CRW, NEF, TIF, CR2, OLY, DNG

* Compatible with all major still image formats

o JPEG, TIFF, PICT, BMP, PNG, TGA, PSD(1)

Photo Management

* Work with thousands of projects

* High-performance database

* Organize photos into projects and albums

* Include up to 10,000 “master” images per Project with as many “versions” as needed

* Create albums from any combination of images

* Combing photos from multiple projects into albums

* Search using Smart Albums based on metadata queries

* One-click archival and backup

* Backup to multiple drives concurrently

* Aperture tracks backup status and location of all images

Image Processing

* Non-destructive image processing

* Master image becomes locked digital negative

* Create alternate versions without using extra disk space

* Photographer’s “Essential” non-destructive editing tools

o Exposure

o Histogram

o Crop

o Highlights & Shadows

o Sharpen

o RGB Channel Mixer

o Levels

o White Balance

o Straighten

o Red Eye Correction

o Noise Reduction

* Modify and suspend adjustments at any time

* Dust, spot, blemish, red-eye, and patch tools

* Lift and Stamp tool to copy and paste adjustments

* Use Stacks to manage alternate versions

* Seamless Photoshop integration

o One-click export directly into Photoshop as .PSD or TIFF

o Native support for flattened or single-layer .PSD files

o Manage Photoshop-generated image versions

Compare & Select Tools

* Stacks

o Group sequences of shots together

o Automatically group bursts and bracketed shots

o Manually stack alternate shots

o Collapse entire shoots down to selects

* Full-screen workspace for comparing images

* View multiple images side-by-side

* Simultaneously zoom multiple images

* Compare Mode for selecting shots

* Digital Loupe tool for magnifying images

* Digital Light Table for organizing images and creating comp layouts

Output

* ColorSync color managed output

* On-screen soft proofing

* Embed ColorSync and ICC profile data during file export

* Embed IPTC metadata during file export

* Expert local printing

o Images

o Customizable contact sheets

o Light Table comps

o Proofs

* Gamma adjustment

* Black point compensation

* Order color-managed prints online

* Integrated layout and authoring tools for web

* Integrated layout and authoring tools for books

* Fully customizable template library

* High-resolution book printing

* One-click .Mac web publishing

User Interface

* Professional interface designed for photographic work

* Color-neutral UI palette

* Adjustable background luminance

* Customizable window layouts

* Variable size thumbnails

* Heads-up displays, tools, and controls

* Full-screen mode for single or multiple displays

Metadata

* Comprehensive IPTC and EXIF metadata support

* View, extract or add any metadata

* Define custom metadata sets

* Customize display of metadata throughout entire worfkflow

* Add metadata automatically to batches on import

* Embed IPTC metadata on export

* Powerful Query tool for searching, sorting and sifting

* Lift and Stamp tool for copying and pasting metadata

* EXIF Metadata Tags

* IPTC Metadata Tags

Pretty nice! I’ll be sure to get it when I’m ready for a new Powerbook.

Tags: Apple, applications, digitalphotography, photography, software, programs

Tags: It's a Mac Mac Mac Mac World, Photography, Toys by admin
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