What determines whether a camera is collectible? Quality? Technical ingenuity? Commercial success (or failure)? All of these things--but some deserve to be saved from the scrap heap just because they are pretty. The Bilora Bella 44 has little else to commend it. The lens is indifferent; the shutter limited; the 127 film needed to feed it is hard to find; film counting is by...
One of the main benefits of SLR photography is that it allows you to make quick decisions and respond to what's happening in front of you with your heart, mind, and guts without fumbling around. It allows you to apply what you've learned about making pictures immediately, and is an instinctive response to...
Maria Piscopo | Feb 01, 2005 | First Published: Feb 04, 2005
Whether you have been in business two years or 20, it can still be discomforting and difficult to discuss pricing if you don't know what to say and when to say it. Getting paid what you want is all about what you do and say at the beginning of a client relationship. It is very hard to try and change later. To get paid what you want you will need a clear and concrete...
Portrait Photography: The Art Of Seeing Light; by Don Blair with Peter Skinner, Amherst Media, Inc., 175 Rano Street, Suite 200, Buffalo, NY 14207; soft cover; 128 pages; $29.95; (ISBN 1-58428-131-6) Successful manipulation of light is a technique that photographers must master to capture magnificent portraits and legendary portrait photographer Don...
Eastman Kodak Company has introduced new versions of KODAK PROSHOTS Studio Software
Suite v6.3, KODAK PROSHOTS Basics Software v2.0 and KODAK PROSHOTS Online Services
v7.0 that, via labs, will provide photographers with a broader range of templates
for their print ordering process. Photographers will also have improved tools
for previewing and selling their images to customers in-person or over the Internet.
The KODAK PROSHOTS System, a powerful set of image-management, design and ordering
tools, serves professional wedding, social and portrait photographers whether
they work with film or digital cameras. PROSHOTS System Participating Labs use
hybrid and complete digital lab workflows to offer a broad range of products and
services to photographers through the PROSHOTS System. The KODAK PROSHOTS System
is the industry's most-used service of its kind, with more than 40 labs,
11 album and frame companies and two studio management software companies integrating
it seamlessly with existing lab products.
PROSHOTS Studio Software Suite v6.3
Available as a free download to photographers with a current version of PROSHOTS
Studio Software Suite, or US$249 for new users, version 6.3 includes enhanced
proof book options with a variety of selectable background colors and definable
cover pages. Additional improvements include enriched digital product ordering
and presentation features:
· Lab templates now can be organized into categories, e.g., "Weddings,"
"Sports," etc., for easier navigation.
· More sophisticated lab products, e.g., templates with images displayed
on an angle or customizable text, can now be displayed and cropped as "what
you see is what you get" for better previewing and ordering.
· Enhanced slide-show options to play music through a PC, and a slide show
that can now easily be saved to be burned later to CD or DVD.
The album and frame interface definitions are streamlined, further enhancing Kodak's
full-featured software product for both photographers and labs.
PROSHOTS Basics Software v2
PROSHOTS Basics Software now includes additional features to simplify the image-ordering
process. As with the PROSHOTS Studio Software Suite, PROSHOTS Basics Software
now allows the organization of lab templates into categories, and enhanced proof
book options are now available. The features are all available in the intuitive,
easy-to-use interface for which PROSHOTS Basics Software is known.
In addition, key selling features have been added to PROSHOTS Basics Software.
With version 2, users can for the first time:
· Preview and order a broad range of lab digital products in a "what
you see is what you get" manner.
· Access the capabilities of PROSHOTS Online Services to create product
and price lists, post images and take orders over the Internet.
· Use a new built-in slide show capability for reviewing images with customers.
For PROSHOTS System Participating Labs, PROSHOTS Basics Software expands the potential
printing volume by providing a solution for the estimated one-third of professional
photographers who are MACINTOSH OS users.
PROSHOTS Basics software is free, runs on both MACINTOSH OS X and WINDOWS 2000
or XP platforms, and is available as a download at www.kodak.com/proshots/basicsinfo.
KODAK PROSHOTS Online Services v7
The award-winning PROSHOTS Online Services have been redesigned to enhance the
image viewing and ordering experience for the increasing number of consumers using
the Internet. Redesign features include:
· A modern, sophisticated look and feel with a cleaner shopping cart and
checkout process.
· Improved slide show with faster refresh and improved navigation and speed
controls.
· Increased image-zoom capability to better view image details.
Access to PROSHOTS Online Services is integrated within PROSHOTS Studio and PROSHOTS
Basics Software so photographers only need one piece of software for lab print
ordering, in-studio presentations and online selling. A new rewards program provides
benefits to photographers the more they make use of PROSHOTS Online Services.
The PROSHOTS System software updates will be available in March. For more information
on the KODAK PROSHOTS System and membership benefits for photographers ¾
including Web site and other training resources ¾ please visit www.kodak.com/proshots/membershipinfo. ...
Konica Minolta Photo Imaging U.S.A., Inc. has introduced the new compact DiMAGE
Z5 -- a digital camera that offers a built-in 12x optical Mega Zoom lens,
Konica Minolta's proprietary Anti-Shake System, 5.0-megapixel CCD, fast
overall response including Rapid autofocusing (AF), and a large 2.0-inch LCD
screen.
Epson America Inc. has begun offering its Online Experience digital photography
and printing program via authorized photo dealers, making it even easier for
photo enthusiasts and advanced amateurs to participate in the valuable on-demand
program. This unique program offers participants expert techniques, valuable
tips and insider secrets the pros use to create spectacular digital prints.
Featuring a unique, self-paced video-streaming program hosted by award-winning
photographer and musician Graham Nash, the Epson Online Experience provides
participants with access to over 60 video segments and tutorials on digital
photography techniques from capture to print including such topics as color
management, choosing the right papers and inks, understanding printer drivers,
and using the latest Adobe Photoshop CS techniques. These tutorials are designed
to show photographers how to get maximum quality prints from a broad range of
digital cameras and scanners. In addition, subscribers get a true behind-the-scenes
perspective on how each photographer works both in studio and on location.
LightScribe and LaCie have announced that they are partnering to offer the first
direct disc labeling drive for Macintosh computers. For the first time, Macintosh
customers can burn the data side of a disc, then flip the disc over and burn a
precise, iridescent label with their desired text and graphics using the same
laser that burns the data. No printer, permanent marker or adhesive labeling is
required to develop and burn creative designs onto the CD or DVD.
LightScribe uses the LaCie d2 DVD±RW Double Layer drive's existing
laser to deliver precisely controlled light energy to the disc through an innovative
circular writing system. The light energy causes a visible chemical change in
the dye coating. The result is a high-resolution label image of art, text or photos.
Because the labels are laser etched in a coating applied during disc manufacture,
no ink or adhesive labels are required.
The LaCie d2 DVD±RW Double Layer supports burning a full 4.7GB DVD in about
five minutes, as well as burning to double layer discs that offer twice the capacity.
Easy-to-use DVD creation software allows people to create movies in a matter of
minutes complete with menus, thumbnails and backgrounds. With the LightScribe
technology, customers can also burn a label that is a high-resolution reproduction
of their artwork, text or photos.
LaCie d2 DVD±RW Double Layer drives with LightScribe will be available
in early 2005.
There are times when you want your color to exactly match what's in the
scene, but for the most part color is a fairly subjective matter that can be
tweaked with ease in just about any image-editing program. Color has a hue--like
yellow, green or blue--as well as a vividness, which in photography is
often called its saturation. In addition, color can have a cast, which is influenced
by the prevailing lighting conditions when we make the photograph. That cast
can be influenced by the light source itself, such as photographing under direct
sun versus what we'd get when photographing under tungsten lights, and
by the position of the subject in relation to that light source, such as the
difference between photographing in the shade or open light. In addition, color
can also be influenced by the recording medium itself, be it film or digital,
and how the film is made or the digital image processor is programmed to change
the color during the recording processing.