During the past few days I had a walk in the park and I noticed the beginning of autumn. After a few shots capturing lonely people in the far distance on the “golden” autumn afternoon – melancholic spirit, I got connected with the ground: some leaves (left standing or prearranged) create patterns and abstactional lines, shapes and colors. A few stairs covered by leaves and empty feet stepping on them was an idea I go but could not yet do. When I found myself close to a branch, I toked a close-up of it with the rest of the forest behind. However, macro shots of leaves are more impressive is you take one in your hand and shoot it even closer, creating a deeper DOF behind it. Another interesting idea I had was to combine old rusty objects and architecture pieces with the dead leaves. Go on and try that!

The 10 Tips

By trying to make a resume of how to acieve great photos in autumn I came out with these tips:
1. Try to take photos in the early morning or late evening (however, shooting directly against the sun will only cause a mixture of overexposed and underexposed areas – you don’t want that, but if you are lucky, you might get some spectacular sun rays through a golden forest)
2. Combine colors: take together red, yellow, green, and maroon leaves
3. Look up, look down and try different angles and backgrounds (I admit I climbed a tree to get one of my ideas done)
4. Follow the rapid changes of nature day by day on a near foliage
5. Look for contrasts but also fill one frame with just one color (same leaves)
6. Set the white balance to cloudy (even fluorescent might work) to get more vibrant colors – ah and by the way, also choose the vivid option for the pictures
7. The sun might be very powerful over the yellow leaves, and, in order to obtain more vibrant well-exposed colors, slightly underexpose your shots
8. A polarizer also helps allot, if any
9. Shoot near a lake and capture the colorful reflection
10.When editing your photos, saturate in yellow and red channels and add a yellowish photo filter to warm up the scene (if the cloudy white balance didn’t done well enough)

Tags: autumn photos, leaves photos, autumn photo tips, photo tips, macro leaves

Horses on snow

Original Image

Drops on colorful leaves

Original Image

Waterfall by Joe Braun

Original Image and much more

Shanghai

Original Image

Tarra by Michael Tarasov

Original Image and much more

Tags: best images, featured photos, best photos, photos of the week

Canon launched this week two new additions to its Selphy range of dye-sublimation printers, offering up to 6×4″ prints with the minimum of hassle. The Canon Selphy E2 replaces the previous ES1 and sports an articulated 3.0″ LCD, wireless printing via IrDA (Bluetooth with an optional adaptor) and may be powered from an optional battery pack. The Selphy E20 meanwhile features a fixed 2.5″ screen and does without wireless connectivity and battery power, and for the ultimate print-anywhere experience, the SELPHY ES2 features an optional battery pack. The newly improved Auto Image Optimisation, provides automatic correction of common flaws: face brightness can be optimised with no effect on background levels, and overexposure and underexposure are detected and adjusted for improved results.
Canon’s Easy System, which uses handy integrated ink and media cassettes, is complemented by one-touch operation and a generous 50-sheet capacity. For added ease of use, the SELPHY ES2 incorporates Canon’s intuitive Easy-Scroll Wheel, offering complete control of all key functions.
Features at a glance:
*Unique integrated ink and media cassette – the Easy Photo Pack – colour coded for easy identification
*Stylish vertical design with small footprint and carry handle
*3.0” tilt-up colour LCD viewer (fixed 2.5” on SELPHY ES20)
*Easy Scroll Wheel (SELPHY ES2 only)
*DIGIC II processing ( improved processing algorithms offer new rapid start-up times, plus card reading and image viewing times up to ten times faster than on previous models)
*Direct printing from most popular memory card formats1
*Dedicated Creative Print button
*Image Adjustments including Image Optimize, Image Trim, My Colors, and improved Red-Eye Correction
*Wireless printing via IrDA (SELPHY ES2 only) and optional Bluetooth
*Optional battery pack (SELPHY ES2 only)

For convenient, stress-free printing, the SELPHY ES2 and ES20 use Canon’s Easy Photo Packs – special integrated ink and media cassettes that offer near-instant loading and sufficient ink and paper for 50 prints. Users can choose from three different printing sizes, with selected formats offering both colour and a dedicated Black and White version: all packs are colour-coded for easy identification, and include a slip to present at stores when replacements are required. Cartridges can be swapped quickly and easily mid-way through use, and because both ink and paper are stored inside the printer, the risk of dust affecting prints is minimised. Both the SELPHY ES2 and ES20 achieve a compact design by outputting prints to the top of the printer – eliminating the need for a bulky paper cassette. Finished in attractive cappuccino (SELPHY ES2) and elegant white (SELPHY ES20) colour schemes, their smooth, modern lines complement virtually any home.

Both models use exceptional print head control technology to produce top-quality, high resolution glossy prints. Minimal graininess and professional-looking gradation are assured by a dye-sublimation printing process, which generates up to 16.8 million colours and ensures that prints are dry to the touch from the moment they emerge. Photos are finished with a durable, high-gloss protective layer, which guards against water, oil, gas and fingerprints; kept in a photo album, prints retain their quality for up to 100 years.

As well as applying useful edits such as improved Red-Eye Correction, image trimming and My Colors effects, users can transform their pictures using the dedicated Creative Print button. It provides a wide range of attractive album designs, calendars and impressive Multi-Layout prints – plus fun picture additions like speech bubbles, clip art and frames. The SELPHY ES2 also includes a selection of Filter Effects such as Faded Edges, Soft Focus and Star Lights.

Available media includes:
* Post Card Size – (Easy Photo Pack E-P50, Easy Photo Pack E-P100)
* Post Card Size (Black and White) – (Easy Photo Pack E-P25BW)
* L Size (89mm x 119mm) – (Easy Photo Pack E-L50, Easy Photo Pack E-L100)
* Card Size (54mm x 86mm) – (Easy Photo Pack E-C25)
* Card Size Labels (54mm x 86mm) – (Easy Photo Pack E-C25L)

Software: The SELPHY ES2 and SELPHY ES20 are supplied with Canon’s Solution Disk, containing easy to use software for managing, storing and printing images via PC.
Accessories: NB-ES1L Battery Pack (for SELPHY ES2), BU-20 Bluetooth Unit.

Tags: selphy photo printer, selphy es2, shelpy es20, photo printer, canon photo printer

I decided to accept the challenge proposed by Brian Auer in “Edit my Photo” Project.
Here are the original image and the final image:

Step 1: Croping
By looking at the image you see that it is basically right composed, but, the subject needs to be closer to the viewer of the frame. Therefore, I need to crop the picture…. respecting the standard format…. or… and here comes my idea: a square crop keeping the rule of thirds in place. Not all pictures are fit for a square but this one is: the subject is little and placed over a clean background.
Step 2: Desaturating
The colors of the original photo are a bit washed-out but instead of increasing the saturation and contrast, I prefer in the case a picture like this (who doesn’t have many colors in it) to desaturate it. However, since the background is the see, I give it a teal tint. (Image -> Adjustments -> Black % White).
Step 3: Contrast
Now I want to bring some contrast to the frame, so i go to Image -> Adjustments -> Curves -> Medium Contrast. As you can see I only used preset functions since I feel like I don’t need anything more complicated for this picture: simplicity is a golden key to beauty.
Step 4: Highlighting the Shadows
I am almost pleased with the look of the result except one thing: the subject is more like a black silhouette, with not so visible details over it even if it’s in perfect focus. I went to Image -> Adjustments -> Shadow/Highlight and made the bird lighter… but wait a minute: this step distorted the entire background by making it too white. Lucky, the bird is easy to crop from the background and putting it into a different layer saves the background.
Step 5: Tri-Tone
After the Shadow/Highlight effect, I played a bit longer with the colors of the bird (only) because I seemed to me too green. Hahaha let me make it yellow! That was a joke, of course. I added more blue instead of green so that the result was converting the picture from duo-tone into tri-tone. Once I’m happy with the bird’s look, I merge the layers so I can go on with the final steps.

Step 6: Noise Reduction
I move myself farther from the monitor to see if everything is good enough: neah… I need to brighten the image. Done. Now it’s OK. I resize it to 900×900 and get into my NeatImage plug-in in the Filter Menu. Carefully not to oversharp the edges of the bird, I remove the noise that formed during the above processes.
Step 7: Border
I resized the Image Layer a few pixels less than the Background Layer and added an inner stroke of 3px from the Layer Style Menu. Once again, simplicity at the maximum.

Tags: photo editing, edit my photo project, photo manipulation, photoshop

Remember what I told you about an open wild bird photography contest? In order to prepare and get inspired, look at the video and then, below the video, some of the pictures I made yesterday (using my new Nikon D40x) at the Central Park lake in my home town. More photos and written tips on shooting birds will be coming later on at photoaxe.com (swans pictures expected).

Tags: bird photography, wildlife photography, photo tips, nature photography, bird photos, wild birds photos

Another book by Freeman Patterson (this time in collaboration with Andre Gallant) managed to draw my attention, basically because of the same reason: he talks about photography behind techniques and gear, he talks about creativity and how to see the picture before you take it through you eye and my not through a high performance lens. This book is called “Photo Impressionism and the Subjective Image”.

This edition features 100 stunning photographs with extended captions that include valuable technical information and personal commentary from both Freeman Patterson and acclaimed travel photographer Andr Gallant. A true collaborative effort, Photo Impressionism and the Subjective Image illustrates the superb craftsmanship behind beautiful photography.

There are two short books here under one cover, one called “Photo Impressionism” and the other “the Subjective Image”. Then each of these books is made up of relatively unrelated chapters. Each essay or chapter include several photographic examples and you would be amazed at the photos the author makes using nothing but tin foil as a subject. This book teaches presents a photography that can convey a scene or convey a mood or emotion using different techniques to switch between them. Several different techniques in subjective imagery are presented, including multiple-exposure impressionistic images (with different camera movement techniques for different effects) with good explanations, and techniques that are not difficult, although they take practice to master.

Tags: photography book, photo impressionism, subjective image, Freeman Patterson, Andre Gallant

An exhibition of Black and White fine art photographs of Cuba (from the 1930s to the modern day), called “Cubanismo”, runs from Thursday September 27th – Saturday November 3rd 2007 on a program from 11.00am to 6.00pm during the working days of week.
This exhibition is a precursor to the 2008 Cuban Cultural Festival which is planned for May of next year.

Capital Culture announced that Ernesto Fernandez has attended the opening night of the exhibition Cubanismo – one of Cuba’s greatest photographers, part of the Revolucion newspaper’s photographic team (where he documented the heady days of the Cuban revolution and he has continued to work in Cuba throughout the years since) and also worked alongside Korda, Salas and Corrales to capture some of the dramatically key moments of the 2oth century.

The exhibition will encounter rare images of Cuba in the 1930s taken by Arturo Martinez Illa in his photographic studio in the town of Caibarien and of his local community, as well as Laura Portilla’s most recent work 3 Mil Silencios (3 thousand silences) which graphically documents the jail in which Fidel Castro and his compatriots were held in the early 1950’s before he was sent into exile. James Sparshatt’s photographs of Cuba capture the passion and vitality of the island and its people, also published in his book of photographs, ‘Cuba Land of Spirit’, in 2006.

Tags: photo exhibition, photography of cuba, black and white photography, Ernesto Fernandez, cubanismo

Clothes Show Live is continuing its support for young fashion and design talent with the return of the second ever Young Fashion Photographer of the Year Competition in association with Nikon. This year’s competition invites budding 16-25 year old fashion photographers from across the UK to create a picture that encapsulates the historical era ‘Cool Britannia’, a term coined to sum up the mood in Britain during the late 1990s which was closely associated to the fashionable London scene, the Britpop music movement and the early years of the New Labour government of Tony Blair. Revisit this era and use your imagination and photographic skills to create and shoot an image which demonstrates what Cool Britannia means to you in 2007. The closing date for entries is 17th October 2007.
A panel of judges will choose the ten best entries whose work will then be displayed at Clothes Show Live 2007 – which runs at the Birmingham NEC between 7th and 12th December 2007.
The overall winner will receive £2000 prize money, a one week placement with a top photographer (I’m interested in this kind of prizes), £1000 worth of Nikon photographic equipment and a VIP lunch at the show for the winner and 3 friends (yamy…).
The runners-up will have their work displayed at the show, plus will get the opportunity to take their own pictures in the photography pit at the fashion theater on the day of the competition.
More informations here.

Tags: Clothes Show Live, Young Fashion Photographer of the Year, fashion photography competition, photo contest

The London College of Communication is launching a new online, part time 2 year masters programme in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography. Starting from January 2008 it will be delivered entirely online using Digital Railroad as the main image management software, and will make use of web conferencing , blogs, discussion boards etc as well as regular tutorials online with established industry figures. For me, it sounds exactly the way I want it. This course is designed for postgraduate students who wish to pursue a career in photojournalism or documentary photography. The purpose of the program is to equip the appliances with a thorough grounding in the methodologies of film and digitally-based photojournalism and documentary photography, as well as the creative and analytical tools and knowledge in order to establish and develop individual vision and practice.

The course will provide students with a framework in which to locate, analyse and reflect on their own practice within a critical and historical context. This will encourage a more deeply involved, informed, critically aware and challenging approach to the medium. The theory element will also enable students to articulate their personal practice within the various marketplaces and contexts they choose to operate in.

The course also encourages students to develop a wider vision of the practice and potential of the medium of documentary and reportage photography – of its uses and outlets from the classic editorial/magazine spread, to published portfolios, digital portfolios, gallery exhibitions, books, web or CD-based productions, television and other media. The main concerns of photojournalists and documentary photographers are with the real world – exploring and recording the wide range of human experience. Therefore, students may decide to take a journalistically-focused approach. They may also look at other strategies for dissemination, including galleries, books and multimedia presentations.

The course fees for 2008 will be approx £3,240 for UK/EU students and approx £10,095 for international students, paid in 2 installments one each year of study.
For more informations contact Paul Lowe: p.lowe@lcc.arts.ac.uk.

Tags: master in photography, photojournalism, documentary photography, paul lowe

Functions:
• Shooting Modes: Auto (default), Scene, Movie
• Scene Modes: Theatre, Landscape, Portrait, Action, Night Portrait, Sunset
• Movie Mode: Frame Rate: 24 fps, Video Resolution: QVGA 320 x 240, Video Format: M-JPEG.
• Effects: Color Modes, HP In-camera Red-eye Removal
• Flash Modes: Built-in, Functions: Auto (default), On, Off, Red-eye reduction
• White Balance: Auto
• Metering: TTL Center Weight auto exposure
Technical Data:
• 1.5 inch LCD
• 5 megapixels
• 3x optical zoom + 5x digital zoom
• Focal Length: 6.0 mm focal length (equivalent to 36.4 mm)
• Aperture: f4.5 (fixed)
• ISO Range: Auto (default) ISO 60, 100, 200, 400
• Flash Range: 4.1 ft wide (ISO 100), 5.7 ft wide (ISO 200), 8.0 ft wide (ISO 400), Metric: 1.24 m wide (ISO 100), 1.74 m wide (ISO 200), 2.44 m wide (ISO 400)
• Focus Range: 1 m to infinity
• Exposure Compensation:
• Continuos Shooting: 2 frames at 2 fps
• Shutter Speed: 2 to 1/2000 sec.
• Shot to Shot: 1.2 sec.
• Self Timer: 10 sec.
• File Format: JPEG
• SD – Secure Digital memory + 16MB internal memory
• 2x Alkaline: approximately 200 shots (average); photo lithium: 700 shots (average); rechargeable NiMH: 340 shots (average)
• Dimensions: 3.65 x 1.17 x 2.43 in
• Weight: 4.8 oz

Tags: hp digital camera, compact digital camera, hp photosmart, hp photosmart e337, photosmart e337, hp e337, 5MP