Last minute gifts

For the photographer, a photography-related book is a good bet. Here are some you might want to consider:

Masterclass: Professional Studio Photography by Dennis Savini. This book provides a comprehensive workshop on studio photography aimed at aspiring professionals. Richly illustrated, it covers an array of photographic subjects including still life, industry, technology, food, jewelry, portraiture, and more.

The first part of the book focuses on concepts of studio planning, lighting, perspective, and camera and lens choices. The workshops that follow include 50 full-page photographic masterpieces, each with a detailed description of how the image was created.

The Photograph, 2nd Edition, Composition and Color Design, by Harald Mante. Mante, one of the most distinguished teachers of the photographic arts in Germany and an internationally recognized master of photography, brings his teaching to us in the English language for the first time in more than 30 years.

In The Photograph, Mante explains the elements that are essential to achieving the highest level of visual design in photographs. This book is geared toward the serious intermediate and advanced photographer who strives to create outstanding images.

The Sony Alpha NEX-7; The Unofficial Quintessential Guide by Carol Roullard and Brian Matsumoto. The book provides a wealth of experience-based information and insights for owners of this exciting new camera. The authors team up to help the new user navigate past the confusion factor that often comes with complex and powerful camera equipment.

This book explores the features and capabilities of the camera in a way that far surpasses the user’s manual. It guides you through the camera features with step-by-step setting adjustments and detailed how, when, and why explanations for each option. Every button, dial, switch, and menu configuration setting is explored in a friendly manner, with suggestions and tips for setup according to various shooting styles.

The HDRI Handbook 2.0; High Dynamic Range Imaging for Photographers and CG Artists by Christian Bloch. High dynamic range imaging (HDRI) takes photography to a whole new level (although it can be misused, in my opinion). It opens the door to unprecedented creative freedom in digital post-processing by capturing everything from the darkest shadows to the brightest highlights. HDRI means truly lossless image editing, full exposure control, and the ability to master any scene’s contrast without artificial lighting and preserve all light from a scene so it can be digitally revisited anytime in the future.

Mastering the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 by Rico Pfirstinger. This book provides a wealth of experienced-based information and insights for owners of the new X-Pro 1 camera. Readers will learn about the features and capabilities of the X-Pro 1 and will discover numerous tips and tricks for how to maximize its potential.

The Digital Zone System: Taking Control from Capture to Print by Robert Fisher. There is an ongoing debate among photographers whether digital photography processes will ever be able to reach the pinnacle of image quality and tonality achieved by Ansel Adams decades ago. The Digital Zone System (DZS) is an innovative methodology for editing digital images that mimics the Zone System created by Adams.

With this book, Fisher presents a practical guide for editing digital images with a level of control previously unattainable without significant manual work.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III: The Guide to Understanding and Using Your Camera by James Johnson. The 5D Mark III DSLR cameras has an impressive array of capabilities and advanced controls allowing the photographer ever more influence over the final image. With this comes more menus, buttons, and dials that the photographer must learn how to use to take full advantage of the camera.

 

Velbon gets new Canadian distribution

The popular Velbon tripod line, as well as other Velbon accessories, will be distributed in Canada by Nadel, effective January 1.

For all intents and purposes, the change in distribution will be transparent for those of us who pop into our local store to check out the latest goodies.

Although . . . according to Nadel vice-president Bill Wood, we’ll be seeing many new models of tripods and monopods, items which have been available in other parts of the world, but to this point never introduced in Canada.

 

Nikon offers eight holiday photo tips

Most holiday revellers are fortunate enough to have at least one individual in their midst who is eager to document the festivities with their camera, notes Nikon Canada. You, perhaps? If so, here are Nikon Canada’s holiday photo tips to help in your quest to compile the perfect holiday photo album.

• Get your gear in order: Nothing is more frustrating than missing that perfect holiday shot because you’ve run out of battery power or space on your memory card.

Tip: Charge your battery the night before. Most point-and-shoot camera batteries will allow you to take around 300 shots, while DSLRs will capture anywhere from 600 to 900 shots.

For many of us, this is plenty of juice to get the job done.

If you think you need more, consider investing in a spare battery (and make sure it’s charged). That way you won’t waste time scouting for a power source or waiting for your battery to recharge.

Deciding which size of memory card to purchase is dependent upon many factors including the size of picture files, type of camera, and the number of megapixels on the camera’s sensor.

For example, an 8GB card will store approximately 1,600 medium-sized “JPEG normal” images when using a 24-megapixel DSLR.

As a precaution, it’s always a good idea to keep a spare memory card in your camera case.

• Get that perfect food pic: Many people love taking and showing off pictures of their holiday feasts. However, making food look as delicious as it tastes can be tricky.

Tip: Play around with natural and artificial light sources to achieve the best light to make that plum pudding look as scrumptious as you know (or hope) it is.

Consider using a camera with incredible low-light performance, or even adding a flash unit that allows you to manipulate light by bouncing it off of nearby walls or ceilings.

With the right lighting, the colour and texture of food will be captured with everything you remember.

• Get that perfect group shot: The more subjects you have posing for a photo, the more likely it is that you’ll catch someone with their eyes closed or in mid-sentence.

Tip: Use a camera with a high-speed continuous capture mode with a full autofocus (AF) mode to track fast-moving subjects to increase your chances of capturing that perfect shot with everyone’s eyes open and focused on the camera.

With a Nikon 1, consider using Smart Photo Selector mode. This feature helps capture those critical moments other cameras may miss by taking 20 shots with a single shutter press and presenting you with the five best shots.

It’s also important to shoot at a high frames-per-second (fps) rate to capture as many shots as possible, ensuring your subjects get back to the holiday revelry ASAP.

• Get that perfect angle: When photographing subjects, capturing them at their eye level can really transform your photo. Pictures of gifts being unwrapped become a lot more engaging when a lens is placed right in the action.

Tip: When taking pictures of kids and pets, get down to their level. This vantage point will evoke a sense of intimacy in your images and make the action pop.

Consider using a camera equipped with a swivel monitor that can tilt, flip and turn to just about any position so you can remain comfortable while shooting from almost any angle.

• Get that priceless reaction: Sometimes, a still shot just isn’t enough to capture the emotions of particular moments. Many digital cameras are now built with video-recording capabilities to capture the joy and excitement during the holidays.

Tip: Capture videos to complement your still images. This mix will allow you and your loved ones to re-live all those pleasant (and maybe even awkward) memories of the holiday season. Or, consider blending still images with a short video clip by taking advantage of Motion Snapshot technology (FYI, exclusive to the Nikon 1 line). This function captures moments by combining motion, stills and sound to create a short, slow-motion video that ends with a single defining still image.

• Get the kids involved: The holiday season is especially exciting for the little ones at your holiday gathering – let the magic of the season be seen through their eyes.

Tip: Give yourself a break and let the little ones take the photographer reigns for a bit. You may be surprised by the moments they capture.

A durable, easy-to-use point-and-shoot is your best bet (you may not want to hand your HD-SLR over to just anyone!).

• Get sharing: All too often, we capture amazing moments just to have them sit on our memory cards or home computers. Looking through old and new photo collections is fun year-round, but the holidays really make us yearn to share those priceless shots with loved ones.

Tip: Why delay? Share your images with friends, family and your social network on the spot.

Everyone will appreciate being able to enjoy your holiday photos while we’re still in the season. There are a number of digital cameras with Wi-Fi capabilities that simplify the process of sharing high-quality images onto Google+, Facebook and Twitter, and sending shots directly to your smartphone or tablet.

• Savour the moment!: Don’t let the holiday season pass you by because you’re too busy looking at the LCD screen on your camera.

Keeping your eyes glued to that screen might cause you to miss out on other photo opportunities or more importantly, precious holiday moments.

Tip: Review your shots after all the action is over! Avoid making a habit out of looking at every photo right after you take it. Simply soak in the moments and take photos when it feels natural.

Flickr updates iPhone app

Yahoo! has announced a new mobile Flickr experience on the iPhone.

Flickr, which lays claim to being the largest photo-specific site in the world, says the iPhone app is “significantly” updated.

The app lets you easily capture, create, share and discover photos – from your iPhone.

And there are advanced features – editing and managing photos.

The Flickr site has been spiffed up, with the navigation redesigned, and the new Explore page updated to display even more photos in a new layout.

The Flickr app for iPhone and iPod touch is available as a free download from the App Store.

 

Canon adds two printers, scanner

Pixma MG6320

Canon has added two new Pixma Wireless Photo AIO printers (MG6320 and MG5420) and a CanoScan photo scanner (9000F Mark II) to its lineup.

Details are on our companion site.

Spots before my eyes

I have more than 4,000 pictures scanned, using the trusty Epson V330. I have been slowly going through them, one by one, colour-correcting, spotting, so at some point in the not too distant future they can be sent out to all family members for their archives.

This past weekend, I discovered several hundred more pictures, all slides.

They weren’t in the greatest of shape. Some were more than 40 years old and, while kept in dark storage, have either noticeably faded or been attacked by mold/mildew/fungus.

As you can see in the accompanying illustration, some of the slides were in really bad shape. This one shows part of an alpine scene, above Sion, just before sunset, in about 1972. I have purposefully manipulated the image to bump up the contrast and gamma so you can better see what I’m talking about.

The damage was too great for the V330’s spotting function to tackle this, so it has meant labouring in Photoshop using both the cloning and healing functions to get rid of the debris. I didn’t have to tackle/scan/spot all the slides; I winnowed them down to about 150. The rest were either too far gone or of no redeeming value to keep.

But what a joy to discover these images. Some of them will undoubtedly be printed and put up on our picture wall.