Photoxels - Digital Photography » Articles

Food Photography: Interview with Leemei Tan, Author of My Cooking Hut @ Digital Camera World

photoxels — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:48:02 +0000

Well there’s real food and then plastic food. The latter we all know about: the real version does not look anything like the plastified one we see in ads. Shame to the photographers and companies indulging in this blatant lie. But real food photography can be beautiful. Witness those by Leemei Tan, Author of My Cooking Hut.

Read the interview at: Digital Camera World.

Have Camera, Will Photograph Stars @ BobAtkins

photoxels — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:36:29 +0000

Have a good DSLR and have always wanted to photograph the stars? Here’s a tutorial from Bob Atkins on just how to go about doing it with your camera, a sturdy tripod and a telephoto lens. It covers focusing, exposure, image stacking, shutter speed to use, and how to photograph the Moon (how we all start), star trails, the Sun (yikes, but beautiful) and the planets.

Read the tutorial at: Bob Atkins.

Reminiscing About Kodak @ Luminous Landscape

photoxels — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:26:26 +0000

Michael Chiusano over at Luminous Landscape has a must-read article about an era gone by when “Kodak meant photography.” What’s interesting is the part about how we misread the market when we are on the top of the world, so to speak. The “we know best” attitude that looks down on new competitors is always the beginning of the end of any empire. The same people who made Kodak film great and #1 in the world refuse to “compromise” to meet competitors’ onslaught. Threats are not taken seriously.

Read the article at: Luminous Landscape.

This makes me think. Today, as we see the new DSLRS come out, we are amazed by what they can do. Traditional mirrored DSLRs are at the top of the world right now. Nothing comes even close, if you dot the i’s and cross the t’s. There is no threat from the mirrorless. We will not compromise. They can’t touch us — never will. Pros will never accept mirrorless for exacting commercial work. How easily we lie to ourselves.

It feels funny for me to even give article space to Kodak when new cameras are being introduced. But Kodak serves as a lighthouse whose light is quickly fading. Which company is ignoring the warning and heading straight for the rocks? Whose camera company eulogy will we read next?

When Is Image Postprocessing Cheating?

photoxels — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:02:03 +0000

Harold Merklinger over at Luminous Landscape has an interesting article titled “The Game of Photography — What Are the Rules?”

It’s about whether digital manipulation is cheating or acceptable photography. He makes an excellent point about the difference between amateur and professional photographers. As an amateur photographer, you follow no rules except your own. So, if you digitally manipulate a picture and the end result gives you great pleasure, then why not? [No rules to break = no cheating.] On the other hand, a professional photographer (as in one who does it for a living) must follow the client’s rules. [Photojournalism, for example, accepts absolutely no digital manipulation of a news photo; they break the rules, they cheat.]

Though I understand and agree overall with his reasoning, I still am left wondering: when does one leave post processing and starts to engage in digital manipulation? When does photography end and digital painting starts? I’ve seen beautiful works of art where the artist has painted on a photograph. Is the end result a photograph or a painting? The end result is art, but [obviously] not a photograph anymore. Likewise, I am of the opinion that as soon as one starts cloning part of a photo, removing elements one deems extraneous, adding colors, moving elements… one is leaving the world of photography and entering a related world, still producing beautiful works of art.

I still struggle with this and find it difficult to call the end result of a digitally manipulated image a “photograph.” But I don’t feel there is anything wrong in digital manipulation if you own up to it; you are not cheating. You are the artist, you can choose your medium and manipulate it however you want. What do you think?

Read the article at: Luminous Landscape.

Roof Topping: Photographing Cities From Atop Skyscrapers

photoxels — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:43:18 +0000

It’s crazy and probably illegal in some cases, but a new fad has developed and involves getting to the very top of buildings and photographing the scene below. The images are dramatic and one of a kind but “roof topping,” as this guerilla art is named, may well get someone killed as they seek the thrill of getting up there.

Read the story at The Star and view the pictures.

The View From The Back Seat Of An Abandoned Car

photoxels — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:39:10 +0000

Netherlands-based photographer Alícia Rius finds beauty where most of us would find rust, dirt and ugliness. She shoots from the back seat of abandoned cars and captures not only the view through the broken windows but the interesting details of the car itself. Looks very much like HDR photos.

via PSFK

Sigma Founder Michihiro Yamaki, 1934-2012

photoxels — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:00:49 +0000

Sigma Corporation of America announces the passing of Michihiro Yamaki

Imaging manufacturer’s pioneering CEO, founder led company for more than 50 years

RONKONKOMA, NY, Jan. 27, 2012 – With great sadness, Sigma Corporation of America today announced the passing of Sigma Corporation’s founder and CEO Michihiro Yamaki. He died of liver cancer in Tokyo, Japan, on Jan. 18 at the age of 78.

“We are deeply saddened by this loss,” said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, president of Sigma Corporation of America. “Mr. Yamaki was an industry visionary, and his leadership and enthusiasm has been the driving force behind our company’s innovation for more than 50 years. We’re sending our deepest condolences to the Yamaki family, and our entire Sigma family around the world, during this very difficult time.”

Yamaki founded Sigma Corporation on Sept. 9, 1961 with the development of the first-ever rear attached lens converter. At that time, most photo enthusiasts believed that a lens converter could only be attached to the front of a camera lens and the 27-year-old optical engineer turned conventional optical theory on its head. Sigma Corporation celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011 with Yamaki still at the company’s helm.

Throughout his years in the photo industry, Yamaki has been focused on producing high-quality, high-performance photographic technology at moderate prices. His goal for the company has always been to make outstanding image quality accessible to all photographers. To this end, he grew the family-owned organization into a leading researcher, developer, manufacturer and service provider of lenses, cameras and flashes. The company is now known as the largest, independent SLR lens manufacturer in the world, producing more than 50 current lenses that are compatible with most manufacturers, including Sigma, Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax and Sony.

In 2008, under Yamaki’s direction, Sigma Corporation purchased Foveon, a California-based company that’s renowned for developing the X3 image sensor technology. This patented, three-layer image sensor captures all primary RGB colors at each pixel location arranged in three layers to deliver outstanding, high-resolution, high-definition images with impressive three-dimensional detail and rich gradation. Last year, the company announced the arrival of its SD1, a groundbreaking, 46-megapixel direct image sensor camera, offering more megapixels than any other DSLR currently on the market. Sigma Corporation continued its theme of addressing gaps in the industry and the needs of photographers by kicking off 2012 with the launch of its new, Digital Neo (DN) line of lenses for Micro Four Thirds and E-mount camera systems.

In addition to his inventions and photographic foresight, Yamaki made many other contributions to the industry in his 78 years of life. He served organizations such as: the Japan Photographic Enterprises Association, Japan Machinery Design Center, Japan Optomechatronics Association, Photographic Society of Japan, and Japan Camera Industry Institute. He has also been honored with the “Person of the Year” award from The Photoimaging Manufacturers & Distributors Association (PMDA), the “Hall of Fame” award from the International Photographic Council (IPC), and the Golden Photokina Pin for his longtime contribution to the imaging industry.

About Sigma Corporation
For more than 50 years, Sigma Corporation’s expertise and innovation has driven the company’s core philosophy of “knowledge, plus experience, plus imagination,” with an emphasis on producing high-quality, high-performance photographic technology at moderate prices. This family-owned organization is the largest, independent SLR lens manufacturer in the world, producing more than 40 lenses that are compatible with most manufacturers, including Sigma, Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax. Sigma Corporation also produces digital SLR cameras and high-definition digital compact cameras. The company is headquartered in Japan, with offices strategically located throughout Europe, Asia and North America. For information, please visit www.sigmaphoto.com.

Is The Megapixel War Really Over?

photoxels — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:37:40 +0000

There’s an interesting article over at DigitalCameraInfo on whether the Megapixel War is over or not. You weren’t even aware there was a war going on? It’s the one where camera manufacturers tried to sell you new cameras with ever more pixels because you thought (and sensor engineers will publish technical papers to prove it) that more megapixels meant better images. Up to a point, this is true and certainly true on large sensors which have still ots of space to accomodate even more pixels. But on the tiny sensors (you’d be shocked if you saw how tiny the image sensor in your digital camera or phone is), more pixels usually mean worse quality images.

Read the article at: DigitalCameraInfo.

The 2012 Australian Open in Pictures

photoxels — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:26:58 +0000

The Atlantic has a rather beautiful pictoral coverage of The 2012 Australian Open. The pictures are quite dramatic with light, shadows, blur, interesting angles, shadows, and dramatic closeups.

View the gallery at: The Atlantic.

via robgalbraith

Our Beautiful Home Planet In Exquisite Hi-Def

photoxels — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:02:39 +0000

Most Amazing High Definition Image of Earth - Blue Marble 2012

This is a ‘Blue Marble’ image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS (Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite) instrument aboard NASA’s Earth-observing satellite Suomi NPP. It’s a composite image using a number of swaths of the Earth’s surface taken on January 4, 2012. Suomi NPP is carrying five instruments on board. The biggest and most important instrument is the VIIRS.

To read more about NASA’s Suomi NPP go to: npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html

Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

Ben Heine: Love Is Not Far Away

photoxels — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:00:10 +0000

Ben Heine has added to his famous and original Pencil vs Camera artwork. He shot the above picture with the Samsung NX11 during a trip in Spain, while walking the “Camino de Santiago de Compostela” (some 700 hundreds kilometers in a few weeks). I like that Ben has added some of his thoughts behind the images:

The other woman walking in the distance is an important element in
the composition of this picture. The guy on the rocks is attracted by
a beautiful but fake holy creature. In my view, the person with the red
backpack symbolizes the real and genuine LOVE… but it is actually
going away from him. Hopefully he will take the right decision before
it’s too late.

As well, he has posted the sketch in progress that mixes drawing with photograph to craft his unique images.

View more of Ben Heine’s Pencil vs Camera artwork at: benheine.devianart.com.

Catch Ben Heine’s work at the Exhibition at the Brussels Affordable Art Fair (Tour & Taxis) on Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 12:00pm until Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 6:00pm.

Raed an Interview with BenHeine.

Sightseeing Heatmaps

photoxels — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:39:31 +0000

This sightseeing heatmap is not very accurate but nonetheless gives an indication of popular photo spots. Select “Top spots” to displays markers for the most photographed small areas of the world. The heatmaps are based solely on the number of available Panoramio photos for an area: both the number of photos and the number of authors is taken into account.

Dark and Blue indicate few photos, Red indicates more, with Yellow indicating the largest number of photos geotagged.

Remember that popularity is often a self-fulfilling prophecy. Similar to the “Most Viewed” photos or articles that incite people to click and therefore become “most viewed” — the more people believe these are great spots to photograph and visit and photograph them, the more “popular” they become.

via stevesdigicams