Monthly Archives: October 2011

Hot New Photo Gear from Think Tank Photo

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Check out the latest releases of ultra cool camera cases and pouches from Think Tank Photo…

“This is to alert you that today at PhotoPlus Expo (booth 1172) in New York we’re pre-announcing the release of our Modular Rotation System and Modular Rotation System Skin™ Components.  Both systems have been completely redesigned, with many new cases and pouches added.  They are live on our website, www.thinktankphoto.com, and will be available for sale in early December.

Modular System V2.0 Hot New Photo Gear from Think Tank Photo pictures

Both systems are designed for photographers who like to carry their gear on their belts for quick access.  They rotate and lock on the belt, which allow you to rotate gear to the front when you need it and to the back when you don’t.  This also facilitates more equitable weight bearing, which matters when caring such heavy gear.

Skin System V2.0 Hot New Photo Gear from Think Tank Photo pictures

The difference between the two systems is that the Modular Rotation System is padded and the Modular Rotate Skin System is unpadded.  The former tends to be favored by those shooting outdoors who seek a little extra protection, and the latter tends to be favored by those shooting indoors, such as wedding photographers who seek to decrease visible bulk.”

logoThinkTankPhoto Hot New Photo Gear from Think Tank Photo pictures

About Think Tank Photo – Think Tank Photo is a group of designers and professional photographers focused on studying how photographers work, and developing inventive new carrying solutions to meet their needs. By focusing on “speed” and “accessibility,” we prepare photographers to Be Ready “Before The Moment,” allowing them to document those historic moments that reflect their personal visions and artistic talents.

Ten Steps to Better dSLR Photography

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Introducing Ten Steps to Better dSLR Photography – The Guide to Taking Control of Your Camera and the Images You Create, by photographer/author Douglass J. Klostermann.  Ten Steps to Better dSLR Photography is a guide to help digital SLR photographers take control of their camera and the images they create.

Ten Steps to Better dSLR Photography COVER 400 231x300 Ten Steps to Better dSLR Photography picturesCapturing great images with your dSLR should not be the occasional result of chance and luck. By taking control of your camera, its functions, and its settings you can begin to work with consistency and intention and take the photos you desire.

Readers of the author’s popular dSLR camera guides such as Nikon D5100 Experience and Your World 60D have benefited from his clear and concise explanations of digital SLR photography functions and concepts. With Ten Steps to Better dSLR Photography all photographers can learn these essential elements necessary for taking full advantage of a dSLR including how, when and why to use the camera’s various functions and settings.

With this guide you will learn:

  • Controlling Your Autofocus System – focus where you want for sharp photos of still and moving subjects.
  • Understanding Apertures and using Aperture Priority Mode to capture dramatic depth of  field.
  • Understanding Shutter Speed and using Shutter Priority Mode to freeze or express action.
  • Choosing the Metering Mode, Adjusting Exposure Compensation, and Using the Histogram for proper exposure in all lighting situations.
  • Determining proper ISO Settings and White Balance Settings.
  • Selecting JPEG or RAW image file format to save your images.
  • Improving Image Composition.
  • The Image Taking Process – a tutorial making use of all the steps learned.
  • …and more!

These are not simply photography “tips and tricks” but rather clear, concise, and useful explanations and examples of the fundamental functions, settings, and concepts of digital SLR photography. This 54 page illustrated guide can help the novice or intermediate photographer better understand their camera and how to use it to its full capabilities to consistently capture better images.

Download Your Copy Today for Only $6.99

About the author - Doug Klostermann is a travel, culture, and humanitarian photographer dedicated to documenting the work of international aid organizations. He has photographed for numerous organizations in Latin America and the United States, been recognized by the United Nations Development Programme for his humanitarian photography, and been published in magazines and books including Conde Nast Traveler, Sherman’s Travel, South American Explorer, and Viva Travel Guides. Doug is a member of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) and is a digital photography writer and instructor residing in Cambridge, MA

Landscapes from Southern France

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“My intention is to take shots, that tell more about a place or scene, as you can see in it,” writes Michael P. Ammel about his photography blog, creativum49.com. “What works fine for me, might not touch you at all, but this is ok, because diversity makes this small planet a better place. I don’t ask you to vote for my blog, just take the time to watch a photo that “catches” your eye a tiny moment longer to make your own story about it. If this happens, we already have a lot of common sense.

My post processing is done with Photoshop CS5 in raw mode.  I’m specialized in urban and landscape photography and I will be available for freelance assignments and requests.  All photos from my old blog LOOK can be seen here in a slideshow. Thanks to over 160.000 LOOK vistors in just one year, hope you keep coming.”

red Landscapes from Southern France pictures

pretty smile Landscapes from Southern France pictures

training sessions bull horse rider Landscapes from Southern France pictures

colorful sky Landscapes from Southern France pictures

Specialized Photography of the Bavarian Village

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magical winter Specialized Photography of the Bavarian Village pictures

In a tiny Bavarian Village, stepping into a small shop, you are swept away by soft smells and quiet music. Standing out most, are amazing pictures of four seasons, and instantly you are there. Peggy Ann Daczewitz-Hamlin was born in Chicago, but has lived in Leavenworth, Washington, since 2001. Her specialized photography of the Bavarian Village has won her acceptance as a photographer all around the United States and in 19 other countries. Through her pictures, she shares her passion and the beauty of this area, along with her ambitions and dreams.

As a devoted single mother of her three children for 20 years, she shares her life with anyone, who has an ear and some spare time. She animatedly tells you about how the Lord our God has lead her to fulfill her ten year dream of living in this beautiful village, nestled on the Eastern slopes of the North- Central Cascades.

Through many years of heartache and tears, as well as motivation and a crystal clear vision, God has molded, shaped, and sculptured her life beyond what she thought was imaginable. Her wonderful husband, Bob, and two sons, Chris, and T.J., have combined their talents in supporting and helping her in her efforts to make beautiful DVD’s, the giclee’ process to give her pictures the finishing touch, and framing her artwork so all can enjoy.

From the moment Peggy and Bob met, he has been devoted to her, encouraging on towards her visions and dreams, and never wavering in his quest to make all of it come true. He teams with his wife to promote her work, encourages, acts as a handyman around the shop, as well as working as a barber in their shop and gallery.

Peggy’s son, T.J., offers counsel, and creates, and maintains her website. Her other son, Chris, does all the technical work that finishes the final product of the DVD’s. Her willingness and perseverance has taught her to be obedient to God, and, as she says, “God sets the picture up and uses her as the tool to capture the moment,” so she can convey and share with others, His wonderful palette of vivid colors of the universe. As a result of all the combined family efforts, you are provided a product to enjoy in your home, office, and surroundings, that gives you excellent quality, a lovely memory, and moments to enjoy for life. With God, nothing is impossible, and Peggy is living proof of that.

New eBook – Making Light II by Piet Van den Eynde

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off camera flash photography tips New eBook Making Light II by Piet Van den Eynde pictures

I’m excited to announce the new release of Piet Van Den Eynde’s, Making Light 2 – Advanced Use of Off-Camera Flash.

Based on the success of the original Making Light, I was anxious to set hands on my advanced copy of Making Light 2 to review for you. And good news…it’s awesome!

Here’s what I found…

Where the strength of Making Light was focused on getting readers comfortable with the concepts of off-camera flash photography, Making Light 2 goes several steps further with advanced techniques, extra modifiers, great setup examples, plus interviews with  professional photographers on the topic.

motivational light New eBook Making Light II by Piet Van den Eynde pictures

Here is just a sampling of the chapters covered:

  • Going Beyond Sync Speed
  • Advanced Triggering Systems
  • Thinking Outside the Softbox
  • Ten Case Studies
  • and much more!

Conclusion – Making Light 2 is jam packed (77 pages!) with instructional details and illustrative diagrams. For photographers serious about stepping up the quality of their work, Making Light 2 is a must have! This quality offering demonstrates again why Craft & Vision are the leaders in the Photography eBook market.

flash equipment New eBook Making Light II by Piet Van den Eynde pictures

Special Offer

For the first five days only, if you use promotional code MAKINGLIGHT4 at checkout, you can have Making Light 2 for only $4 or use the code MAKINGLIGHT20 and get 20% off when you buy 5 or more ebooks from the Craft & Vision Collection. This is a limited time offer and discount codes expire at 11:59pm PST October 24th, 2011.

If you haven’t done so already, the original Making Light book is still available and makes a great companion with this selection! Just follow the link below.

Enjoy.

Download your copy of Making Light 2 – Advanced Use of Off-Camera Flash

Landscapes and Cityscapes by Asier Zubiaga

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mendiak mountain range Landscapes and Cityscapes by Asier Zubiaga pictures

“I have been interested in photography for a long time. I don’t have any formal education in photography, apart from some basic courses for the use of the camera. I started with a pentax reflex film camera. The transition to digital photo was difficult because coincided with a small crisis about how able I was to make fine pictures.”

“Nowadays, I solved that problem and I have learned that I make mostly landscape and cityscape photographies while I keep exploring other subjects as well. I can describe my approach as pictorial. I stress the treatment of the colors and the composition. For my photoblog I took the task of posting a picture per day and I have kept doing it for more than a year now. The subjects are taken from my trips, that is when I shoot most of my pictures.
There are a varied type of pictures with different treatments going from B&W to saturated colors and from natural to abstracted versions of the shot. I hope that you enjoy going through the pictures in this blog.”

Landscapes and Cityscapes by Asier Zubiaga

Blurb Launches Beautiful ebooks for the iPad

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London, UK — October 18, 2011 — Blurb, the creative publishing platform, today announced their first step into the ebook market with ebooks for Apple’s iPad® and iPhone®.  Not only are the Blurb ebooks truly optimised to display images and text beautifully, they are created using Blurb’s easy-to-use bookmaking tools, Bookify™ and BookSmart®.  Moreover, any book previously created with these tools can now be produced as an ebook, automatically, with a click of a button.

Shark 20percent 300x250 Blurb Launches Beautiful ebooks for the iPad pictures

Until now most self-published authors wanting to create a visually rich ebook had to hire a software developer to produce it, costing hundreds if not thousands of dollars and taking many weeks. With Blurb’s new ebook offering, the file conversion happens automatically in moments, and costs just £1.49($2.35US) per download, saving Blurb authors considerable time, money and frustration.

“This is not just an ebook offering, it’s way more than that. Blurb now lets authors create their book once and then output their book to either print or ebook formats, from the same file, quickly and automatically. Fans and customers can then buy whichever version they prefer at the Blurb bookstore. That’s game-changing. Plus there’s more to come.” said Eileen Gittins, Founder and CEO.

Blurb ebooks include all the design and interaction benefits of Apple iOS® technology: two-page spreads, pinch and zoom capabilities and uncompressed images, providing a stunningly rich visual experience, with no quality compromise.

Like all Blurb books, ebooks can be listed for sale at the Blurb bookstore. Authors can set their own price and keep 100% of the mark-up from sales.

More information about ebooks can be found at: http://www.blurb.com/ebook

BLB2805 cons 468x60 Q4update nooffer Blurb Launches Beautiful ebooks for the iPad pictures

About Blurb®

Blurb® is a creative publishing and marketing platform that unleashes the creative genius inside everyone. Blurb’s platform makes it easy to design, publish, market and sell professional-quality books, using the Blurb Bookify™ online bookmaking tool, Blurb’s free, award-winning Blurb BookSmart® app or by using Blurb’s PDF to Book workflow. Blurb’s bookstore and online marketing tools enable customers to market and sell their books, and keep 100% of their profit. Blurb’s social and community features allow customers to create and share Blurb books among friends and colleagues with ease.

Blurb was founded by Eileen Gittins in 2005, and includes a team of design, Internet and media veterans who share a passion for helping people bring their stories to life. In 2010, Blurb shipped just under 1.4 million books to more than 70 countries and territories. In 2010, Blurb was ranked the fastest growing media company on the Inc. 500. Blurb is based in San Francisco with offices in London. For more info, visit www.blurb.com.