Thursday, May 31, 2012

Rain Photoshoot Strobist Tutorial Adrian Vilcan

YouTube link: http://youtu.be/UQyqf04MoD8



by adrianvilcan - Rain Photoshoot Tutorial Article on Photo Approach:
http://photoapproach.com/strobist-rain-photography-lesson-002/

Gear used:
  • Canon XSi/450d
  • Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
  • Canon 550EX
  • Canon 430EX
  • CTR-301P (ebay wireless system)
  • Impact Kit from BHphotovideo which included 2 stands, 2 umbrellas, 2 mounts.
Atlanta, GA Photographer
www.adrianvilcan.com

Song by Jesus Culture - Rain Down

Category: Film & Animation
Tags: Rain, Photoshoot, strobist, Adrian, vilcan, adrianvilcan, Canon, XSi, 450d, 550ex, 430ex, umbrella, shoot, through


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Monday, May 28, 2012

Imprezzeo releases V2.0 of Imprezzeo Image Suite with enhanced support for Cloud service providers.

Imprezzeo, the leader in enterprise visual search, today has announced the release of version 2.0 of Imprezzeo Image Suite.

Imprezzeo patented technology provides developers the tools to enable rapid integration of visual similarity search and facial recognition functionality into existing search, content management and DAM systems
Peter Chin, CEO of Imprezzeo, says: “V2.0 is an important step forward in terms of functionality and contains many new features our customers have asked for as well as specific enhancements designed for service providers and DAM vendors who offer public and private cloud services’.

Among the many new features are:
  • -REST/JSON API for rapid integration with the Imprezzeo visual search platform
  • -Enhanced face recognition including gender detectio
  • -Duplicate Image Identification features to help users find duplicate images regardless of file names or associated metadat
  • -A new web based configuration workbench to help system administrators “tune” and manage Imprezzeo’s search feature
  • -Imprezzeo QuickInstall, a pre-configured standalone system allowing for rapid deployment
  • -Support for “Multi-Tenancy” – enabling service providers to manage multiple collections with a single instance of Imprezzeo
  • -Enhancements to support “Cloud” deployment and management
  • -Imprezzeo browser “plug-ins” for using external images as reference files for similarity searches

Imprezzeo will be demonstrating Imprezzeo Image Suite V2.0 on the 10th and 11th of May at the DAM 2012 conference (http://henrystewartconferences.com/damny2012/) at the New York Hilton.

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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Now your new Hasselblad could cost 22% less


The cost of owning one of the world’s most coveted high-end cameras has just been dramatically reduced, following the launch of a landmark global marketing initiative by Hasselblad.

The makers of the world’s most advanced camera system have announced plans to cut the cost of ownership on a number of models – including a massive 22.9% off the entry-point H4D-31 (with 35-90mm lens) and 20.59% off the company’s ‘ultimate photography tool’, the 60 megapixel H4D-60 camera.

Under the revised pricing structure the H4D-31 (incl. 35-90mm lens) has been reduced by 3,565 euros to 11,995 euros. The H4D-60 cost is down 6,200 euros to 23,900 euros.

Chris Russell-Fish, Hasselblad’s global sales and marketing director said: “This is a groundbreaking move and a very important day indeed for every photographer who aspires to own one of the best cameras in the world. For many, price has long been the biggest barrier to ownership. Now we have substantially reduced prices on six units and there really has never been a better time to get your hands on a Hasselblad. Photographers can now buy into our fully integrated H System capture solutions with an H4D-31 camera body for less than 9,000 euros.

He added: “This price reduction campaign is part of an innovative and dynamic marketing strategy for the company, ahead of the world’s biggest photographic trade fair; photokina, Cologne, in September. We are determined that more of the world’s serious creative photographers will now have unprecedented access to a Hasselblad at a price they can afford.”

The popular Hasselblad trade-in opportunity will also continue. Russell-Fish explained: “We have adjusted this programme to reflect our new price structure. Photographers can get more information online.”

Under the new deal the H4D-40 unit is reduced by 1,000 euros; the H4D-50 by 3,000 euros; the H4D-50MS by 3,000 euros; the H4D-200MS by 4,500 euros and the CFV-50 Digital Back by 2,000 euros.

And in a separate stand-alone offer customers who buy a new Hasselblad camera and lens before the end of July will be eligible to purchase a second lens at just 50% of the manufacturer’s recommended sales price.

For further information visit www.hasselblad.com/price-reduction


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Friday, May 18, 2012

The Olympic Games belongs to humanity, not corporate lawyers

As the Olympic torch leaves Athens for the UK, James West, CEO of photo stock agency Alamy argues that is should stay where it is.
Here he takes to task the draconian rules regarding sharing photographs taken at the forthcoming Olympic Games, whilst children in the birth place of the Olympics are suffering from the consequences of a recession not of their making, James West gives us a frank solution – and a position that goes far beyond photographers and their rights.

There's a general view in the professional photography industry that any pictures featuring the Olympic logos will (and does) result in the threat of litigation from seriously well resourced lawyers representing the Olympic brand, regardless of the merit of their claims.

If you visit this page you will see a summary of how tightly controlled the Olympic brand has become: http://www.london2012.com/about-us/our-brand/frequently-asked-questions.php

This page sets out, among other things, the following:

'it is unlawful to use the Olympic symbol, the London 2012 logo or the words 'London 2012' in the course of trade without LOCOG's written consent.'

The message is basically this - when the Olympic Games are in town you cannot use words like 'London 2012' (plus a myriad of others). Eh? Come again? Why not? Because the games are so expensive to host - the host nation is fitted out for a massive roaming sporting redevelopment project that takes years to prepare for and lasts for just two weeks - and so corporate sponsors and taxpayers must pay vast sums of money to make it happen, which in turn means the Olympic Games must operate like brand mafia to enforce their precious marketing and broadcast rights.

As a consequence of this we have the heavy-handed tactics (which forced a partial climb down by an official spokesperson recently) like the ban on London 2012 ticket holders from taking pictures and sharing them online. Generally, the law on photography is quite straightforward and simple in the UK - if you are in a public place you can take a picture of anything and anyone you wish. The same principle applies to the press. On private land however it's a different matter.

The Olympic Games, in fact, belongs to the country where it all started over 2,000 years ago - Greece. Reports claim that some children in Athens are having to get by on one meal per day. This from a nation in Western Europe and the birth place of the Olympic Games which, incidentally, already has all the infrastructure necessary to hold a modern Olympic Games.

Humanity should reclaim its right to the Olympic Games, kick out the state sponsored brand mafia, and give it back to Greece. Commerce will flourish unhindered by the corrupting influence of massive sprawling urban redevelopment white elephants. And maybe the Greek economy would benefit too.

A pioneer in stock photography
Founded in 1999, Alamy revolutionised stock photography by creating the world’s first open, unedited collection of images. With over 30 million images Alamy is the world's largest independent agency for news, stock and video imagery. It supplies thousands of designers, marketing departments, news desks, and publishers with imagery produced by the best professional and amateur contributors around.

Alamy provides the most comprehensive choice of imagery, supported by excellent customer service and a fast and simple online experience. Alamy is proud of its fair and ethical business model. It aims to be the first port of call for buyers and suppliers of imagery. It has a friendly and helpful approach. And it shares the rewards with its suppliers with fairness and transparency. Alamy’s business is underpinned by a philanthropic ethos.

See about Alamy for more information.

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Monday, May 14, 2012

Hasselblad Lenses Acknowledged as the Ultimate Choice

Following a decision by Leica to launch a new adapter compatible with Hasselblad’s H System lenses, Dr. Larry Hansen, Hasselblad Chairman and CEO said: “We are delighted with Leica’s decision to launch an adapter that provides their customers with a compelling opportunity to embrace the acknowledged ultimate superiority of our medium format H System lenses.

Every Hasselblad lens has been designed and produced to the most exacting and meticulous standards and discerning photographers worldwide are well aware that the image quality of any camera is only as good as the lens that forms the image.”


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Sunday, May 13, 2012

GIMP 2.8 Released


From the GIMP website:

We are happy to announce immediate availability of GIMP 2.8 — a new stable version of GNU Image Manipulation Program that culminates 3.5 years of exciting work.

With this version we are introducing some long-anticipated features such as layer groups, on-canvas text editing, advanced brush dynamics and the much desired optional single-window mode. We also started applying other important changes to the user interface that bring us closer to matching the product vision.

For detailed information about changes since 2.6 please read the release notes. Source code is available for downloading from a plethora of mirrors, a build for Windows will soon be available, and we hope to see a build for Mac OS X released as well.

We'd like to thank everyone who participated in development of GIMP 2.8: programmers, translators, documentation writers (updated user manual is a work in progress), and testers. We also thank our user community for the dedication and support — we needed it more than ever.

Now that this version is finally released, we are grasping the future with both hands. Stay tuned: some really exciting news will follow.


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It's All About The Swinging 60s This Week At UK Model Agencies, The UK's Leading Directory For All Things Modelling

'Swinging London' and the arrival of 'The Black Trinity' shaped the 60's - the team at UKMA research and launch their brand new section about the most iconic fashion era in Britain. With fashion at the time focused on bearing all, it was the era when the waiflike model was born. To kick start the new section, the three bad lads of fashion photography are focused upon. 'The Black Trio', Bailey, Duffy and Donovan were the very first celebrity photographers and they seem a fitting tribute to herald the start of the new pages on the website http://www.ukmodelagencies.co.uk

London (PRWEB UK) 13 May 2012 - 'The Terrible Three' arrive at UK Model Agencies and the first celebrity fashion photographers are brought to life by the winning team at UKMA.

With features on fashion designers, supermodels and the latest model information, the UK's largest online model agency directory bring fashion photographers to the fore on their winning website, dedicated this week to the Swinging 60s.

'The 1960's was a culture of high fashion and celebrity chic and saw the birth of a new breed of fashion photographers, the three famous photographers who defined the era of 'Swinging London' superbly well in their pictures,' explains Helen Stark, fashion editor. 'They were known collectively as 'The Black Trinity', 'The Terrible Three', or 'The Black Trio', depending on who you spoke to at the time. The three men had a ball socialising with models, actresses and royalty and were very badly behaved from all accounts! '

An era that changed the face of model fashion, the 1960s is being deftly delved into by the researchers and writers at UKMA.

'This is my favourite section so far,' continues Helen.' It must have been an amazing time to be around, to be a teenager growing up with a very changing world in fashion'. She explains that her first pieces of writing about the era, centred on models at the time, which ultimately led her into the fashion photography department.

'David Bailey, Brian Duffy and Terence Donovan were geniuses at their craft, 'says Stevie Lake, marketing manager at UK Model Agencies. 'They managed to record for posterity the whole atmosphere of the swinging 60's, the attitude, youthful and spontaneous essence of the era.

With models such as Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton and Penelope Tree bursting onto the scene, the photographers worked hard and played hard around the new 'girl next door' models, the very first supermodels, so they say.' He continues,' I'm very proud of our new section. Primarily, we are a company who promotes all the great model agencies throughout the whole of the UK, but that is just half the service we like to provide to models everywhere. Our sections are constantly updated and added to, and a model can rest assured they are getting all the latest up-to-date modelling information at the click of the mouse, as well as news from the past which has undoubtedly shaped their future.'

'Our model fashion section has only just begun,' says Helen.' It's an ongoing project researching the 1960s and for me, it has been an absolute pleasure. It was the dawn of the waif like model, the models who set the trend for modelling years afterwards and it is amazing to think that an image created 50 years ago is still such a big influence on fashion and models at the present time.'

Visit http://www.ukmodelagencies.co.uk to see the model fashion in the 1960's section grow and grow.


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Thursday, May 3, 2012

2012 Creative Asia Photography Awards


Call for entries – photographers worldwide

Now in the second year, the awards are conducted in conjunction with the Creative Asia Conference, Asia’s world class photography conference.

16-20 July 2012, Langham Place, Mongkok
HONG KONG

Enter online at creativeasia.com

ONLINE ENTRIES NOW OPEN, closing 13th June 2012

The Creative Asia Awards is revolutionary in its vision to evolve, include and educate its
entrants.

Entries are accepted online as digital images. The entries will be judged online in a preelimination round to determine the top 25 images in each of the 8 categories, and all images judged online will receive feedback from the judges.

These 200 finalist images will be judged live by our panel of experts during the Creative Asia Conference.

New for 2012 - a broader range of categories;
Wedding Photojournalistic, Illustrative/Abstract, Landscape, Wedding Open, Commercial & Fashion, Street & Travel, Portrait, Environmental, Portrait Open

WHAT MAKES THE CREATIVE ASIA AWARDS DIFFERENT FROM EVERY OTHER COMPETITION?
The whole judging event will be broadcast live online with video and audio of the judging panel, judges scores, image previews and interactive audience chat. Entrants can experience from their own location, the insight and education that comes from watching a live judging event.

In the final judging after the pre-elimination scoring, there will be 4 judges and the original
online score will act as the 5th judge, with the 5 scores will be averaged to produce the final
score for each image. The 4 judges will not know or be able to see the original online score.

PRIZES & AWARDS
The 2012 Creative Asia Photographer of the Year will receive a US$5000 cash prize!

The Awards will be judged as 8 separate categories. The 2 wedding and 2 portrait categories will each be combined and the highest scoring image from the combined categories will determine the Wedding and Portrait category prizes.

Category Prizes:
First place US$1000 cash
Second place US$500 cash
Third place US$250 cash

Category and overall winners will also receive trophies.

The Creative Asia Photography Awards is proudly supported by Phottix.

Entries close 13th June 2012. Become a member of Creative Asia and save!
Members info/benefits www.creativeasia.com/BecomeMember
Regular member US$68 per year
Student member US$28 per year
Member pricing US$25 per image (regular & student) with the first image free!
Non-member pricing US$35 per image

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Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Hasselblad launches the next Masters Awards Competition with a Call for Submissions


05/02/2012 - Photographers are invited to submit their images to be considered for the prestigious Masters Awards. Categories and qualifications for the 2014 Awards have been expanded, opening the competition to more photographers than ever before. 

Hasselblad today announced that it is accepting submissions for the 2014 Masters Awards competition. The title of Master is awarded to one photographer in each of 12 categories in recognition of his or her contribution to the art of photography. Judging is based on photographic ability in the areas of creativity, composition, conceptual strength and technical skill.

"We've made some adjustments to the 2014 Masters Awards competition, which will allow more photographers to participate," says Paul Waterworth, Hasselblad Global Photographer Relations Manager. "Since many photographers are using both medium format and 35mm-type DSLRs, image entries may be captured with either format - as well as film," explains Waterworth, adding that DSLRs must have a minimum resolution of 16 megapixels.

Other modifications include the addition of an underwater category for images captured using a professional housing and the transition of the Up & Coming category to Project//21. The latter is open to amateurs, students, assistants and young professionals who are 21 years old or younger. Waterworth adds that, "I think Project//21 is an exceptional part of the 2014 competition. There are so many gifted young photographers around the world and the Masters Awards gives us the opportunity to help their careers evolve."

Waterworth anticipates a record number of entries and encourages all qualified photographers to participate. "I expect this will be our most exciting competition to date and I very much look forward to seeing the work of both new and established photographers from every corner of the world."

Finalists will be announced in 2013, with winners revealed in January 2014. Masters Awards winners will be provided with Hasselblad equipment to work on their projects for the Masters Book Volume 4. The Masters Book will be launched at photokina 2014 in Cologne, Germany. Submissions are being accepted from May 1st to August 31st 2012 at: www.hasselblad.com/masters-registration

Submission Guidelines:

Applicants are invited to submit 3 images in one or more of the following categories: Fine Art, Landscape/Nature, Wedding/Social, Portrait, Fashion/Beauty, Editorial, Products, Architecture, General, Wildlife, Project//21 and Underwater.

To qualify for categories other than Project//21, the competition is open to all photographers who have been active professionals for at least three years. Submissions may be captured with digital or analogue medium, large format or 35mm system. All images must be submitted digitally (including full EXIF data) regardless of capture format. Digital SLR submissions must be captured with a 16 megapixel or higher camera. For full details on competition Rules & Regulations, please visit: www.hasselblad.com/member/masters/rulesregulations




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