Category Archives: General

DON’T TAKE MY KODACHROME AWAY!

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Afghan girl, Steve McCurry, National Geographic.

Today Kodak announced the end of Kodachrome slide film’s 74 year run. It is a sad day. It is the end of an era and the disappearance of an icon. Unlike all of the “E-6 process” slide films out there, Kodachrome was totally unique in both manufacturing and processing.

Some famous images have been shot in Kodachrome, including Steve McCurry’s “Afghan Girl” which appeared on the cover of National Geographic in 1985. At Kodak’s request, McCurry will shoot one of the last rolls of Kodachrome.  The 8mm film of John F. Kennedy’s assassination was shot on Kodachrome.

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TIM GREY ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT SHUTTERFLY

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If you want to get the best out of Shutterfly, this post is for you.

With Tim Grey’s permission, I occasionally quote the questions and answers from his DDQ emails. If you aren’t on his DDQ mailing list, you can sign up for free. DDQ emails arrive almost daily and you can learn a lot just reading the Q&A’s.

If you want to search the DDQ archive or ask Tim a question, you will need to become a member. Either way, you can find more information here.  Tim provides a wealth of information when it comes to Photoshop and the technical aspects of digital photography. He has authored or coauthored several books.

Now for some DDQ questions about Shutterfly, followed by Tim’s answers.  In case you are wondering, Tim love’s Shutterfly.

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LENS REVIEW: Tokina AT-X PRO SD 12-24mm F4 IF Lens

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For some time now, I’ve been recommending this lens to friends looking for a high quality, super wide-angle lens. It’s not quite as wide as the 10mm super wide-angle lenses, but it makes up for it in superior image quality. If I didn’t have a Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens for my digital camera with an APS-C sensor size, I would be using the Tokina 12-24mm lens.

DPReview recently posted an on online review of this lens. The result isn’t surprising:
“The 12-24mm returns extremely good results in our studio tests, with impressive image quality across the range. Perhaps as a result of its more modest wideangle ambitions, it comprehensively outperforms both the Tamron 10-24mm F3.5-4.5 Di-II and the Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM. Indeed overall it’s arguably a better performer on APS-C than Olympus’s ZD 9-18mm F4-5.6 is on Four Thirds – no mean feat.”  Source.

Not only is this a great lens, it is on sale this week at Adorama.

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Tokina 12mm – 24mm f/4 PRO DX Autofocus Zoom Lens for Canon EOS Digital SLR Cameras.

Sale Price $399
$100 price drop
Free Shipping
http://www.adorama.com/TN1224EOS.html?emailprice=t&KBID=57428

IRENA SENDLER: MOTHER OF THE HOLOCAUST CHILDREN

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Irena Sendler, a Catholic social worker, saved 2500 Jewish children from the Nazi death camps during WWII. Like Schindler, she kept a list. She hoped to reunite the children with their parents after the war. Unfortunately, most of the parents had been killed at Treblinka. She was captured by the Gestapo and tortured but she never gave up the names of her helpers or the children. Sentenced to death, a guard was bribed and she escaped. With a new name, she went back to her work. She died in 2008 at the age of 98.

Her story is a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation tonight. Hopefully, it will be posted here for later online viewing. The movie is adapted from the book The Mother of the Holocaust Children” by Anna Mieszkowska.

You can learn more about Irena Sendler here and here and here.
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PHOTO LESSONS FROM THE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SWIMSUIT ISSUE

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SI 2009 Swimsuit Cover

I kid you not. You can learn photography lessons in a lot of different places. A great lesson in lighting is to watch the movie Citizen Kane. Turn off the sound and study the use of light and shadow.

It may seem like big jump from Citizen Kane to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue (and it is), but they both teach valuable lessons.

You will need to go out and buy the Swimsuit Issue. Then go to this online article [this link no longer works] at the New York Institute of Photography (NYIP) web site. Read the online article and check out references to the pages in the SI swimsuit issue. You will learn lessons in technique, lighting, focus, and detail. Seriously.

The NYIP web site [this link no longer works] is worth checking out on a regular basis for the free, ongoing photo lessons they provide.

Update, February 7, 2024: NYIP no longer owns the NYIP.com domain name so the links no longer work. This NYIP article is no longer online. The 2009 swimsuit issue is not readily available and I don’t know which photos are referred to in this photo lesson, so I looked for images of SI models that match the topics.

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WHAT TO DO WHEN PHOTOSHOP QUITS WORKING DUE TO LICENSING FAILURE

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You bought Adobe Photoshop CS3 or CS4 and it worked fine for a year or two. Then you get this message:

“Licensing for this product has stopped working. You cannot use this product at this time. You must repair the problem by uninstalling and then reinstalling this product or contacting your IT administrator or Adobe customer support for help.”

You uninstall and reinstall Photoshop and it still doesn’t work. Now you are really frustrated, but you try uninstalling and reinstalling again. No luck.  Now what?

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN 200 YEARS AFTER HIS BIRTH

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Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

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Painter Andrew Wyeth Dies

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Christina’s World by Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Newell Wyeth died January 16, 2009 at the age of 91. Wyeth was one of the best know American painters in the mid-20th century. Much of his realistic work reflected the land and people around his home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and his summer home in Cushing, Maine. Christina’s World is one of his most famous paintings.

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HOW GOOD IS THE VIDEO WITH A CANON 5D MARK II?

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Pretty amazing! Check out the Vincent Laforet video at the end of this article. This video is causing a lot of buzz among videographers.

The new Canon EOS 5D Mark II is the first Digital SLR to include 1080 high definition video. What is exciting about this is the size of the sensor and what it makes possible in terms of lenses choices and depth of field. It can do things that are impossible with video cameras.

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MEMORY CARDS PART 1 – THE BEST WAY TO USE MEMORY CARDS TO AVOID LOST IMAGES

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Since downloading problems and lost photos are such common problems (based on the emails I receive) I am writing two articles about memory cards and lost photos. In the first article I dealt with the recovery of lost photos.  In this article I will deal with the best ways to use memory cards to minimize the chances of lost images.

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MEMORY CARDS PART 2 – LOST PHOTOS

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AN UPDATED VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE WITH REVISED LINKS IS HERE .
I received a question today from a person who is having problems downloading photos from his camera body (a Canon 5D Mark II) directly to his computer and using Canon software.

Since downloading problems and lost photos are such a common problem (based on the emails I receive) I am writing two articles about memory cards and lost images. I will deal with lost photos in the article, and how to use memory cards to minimize the chances of lost images in the second article.

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SEASONS GREETINGS

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Silent Night, Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo copyright Jim Doty Jr.

Snow glistens in the last light of dusk.
Distant clouds glow with the fading light from the sun, long since set.

A chill fills the calm night air.
Stars twinkle in the deepening winter sky.

The crunch, crunch, crunch of gravel on the path.
Lights come on in the distance. Warm and inviting.

Home. Family. Friends. Dinner and the opening of gifts.

Christmas!

CANON 5D MARK II “BLACK DOT” AND BANDING PROBLEMS

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In my September 17 post when the Canon 5D Mark II camera was announced, I wrote:

“As always, I recommend that you wait to buy any new model of camera until a few months after the camera hits the shelves. That will give Canon time to work out the “new model bugs” that so often happen. The 5D Mark II should be “bug free” a few months after its release.”

I wasn’t picking on just Canon since cameras from lot of manufacturers are released with some bugs in the first cameras released to the public.

This time around, it is the Canon 5D which has “black dot” and banding problems. A Google search for Canon 5D black dot will turn up lots of articles. A good place top start is Rob Galbraith’s article. And example of the black dots next to white lights is here. Canon has posted a service notice which is reproduced below after the break.

If you haven’t bought the new 5D Mark II and intend to, I would suggest, as I did in September, that you wait until the bugs are worked out.

If you already have the 5D Mark II, you will need to wait for a firmware update and be aware of situations when the problem might show up. Details are in the service notice.

Official Canon Service Notice . . .

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THE BEST DIGITAL CAMERA SENSORS COMPARED

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top 4 cameras sensors overall
The Top 4 Digital Camera Sensors in Overall Image Quality – DxO Labs

How good is your digital camera sensor? How does it compare to other camera sensors in terms of color depth, dynamic range, and low-light high ISO quality? Is there a reliable source where you can find this information?

The good new is yes, there is a great, reliable source for this kind of information – DxO Labs.
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SERIOUS SECURITY FLAW IN INTERENT EXPLORER PUTS YOU AT RISK

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News outlets today are reporting that a serious security flaw in Internet Explorer (versions IE5 through IE8) makes it possible for hackers to steal the online passwords that you use on the internet.  Virtually all security experts are urging users of Internet Explorer are urged to use a different web browser. Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari are recommended as alternatives. Please read the whole story here.

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CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

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It is the time of year that I get asked a lot of questions from people who are buying gifts for photographers, or from photographers wanting to drop hints. (In this post, “photographer” means anyone who likes to take pictures.) “What is the best book for . . . ?” “What are the best point and shoot cameras?” “Is there any really good image editing software for less than $100?” Many of those questions are answered in the articles listed at the below.

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BEST BOOKS: NATURE AND LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

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One of the best ways to improve your photography is to read some good instructional books and then go out and try what you just read about. My favorite landscape and nature photography books are here and here.

Some of these are out of print but they are still well worth finding on the used book market.

TRIPOD HEAD RECOMMENDATIONS

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The short list.

3-Way Tripod heads:

Manfrotto 056 3D Junior Head (replaces 3025)
Manfrotto 3025
Manfrotto 115 3D Super Junior Head (replaces 3028)
Manfrotto 410 Junior Geared Head

Ball Heads:

Slik Pro Ballhead 800
Kirk Enterprises BH-3
Kirk Enterprises BH-1
Really Right Stuff BH-40
Really Right Stuff BH-55

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HITLER ON THE NIKON D3X

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I never thought I would mention the name “Hitler” in this blog, but life is full of surprises.

Just about everyone who is anyone has an opinion on the new Nikon’s new D3X digital SLR, even Adolf Hitler. Watch the video here.

*smile*