A tripod that’s small enough to fit into a camera bag and will still hold a SLR. This Tamrac ZipShot Mini tripod folds down to only 9″ and extends to 28″. It’s perfect for both compact cameras and SLRs, up to 3 lbs. Strong, lightweight aluminum and its spring-action legs set up in seconds. And, it’s only $49.99 st Spartan Photo Center. Check out the full line up of Tamrac ZipShots at http://www.tamrac.com/g_zipshots.htm
Oct 18-20 is going to be huge with special events at Spartan Photo Center.
On Thursday Oct 18
On Friday Oct 19:
Sat Oct 20
LIGHTROOM WORKFLOW STEPS – ED OVERSTREET
Crop
Clone Dust Spots
Zero out settings
Set the Profile
Set White Balance
Optional – Convert to Black and White
Recover highlight or shadow detail, if necessary, with the RECOVERY and/or FILL light tools
Make overall tonal adjustments with the POINT CURVE. (1) select point curve – lower right hand corner of brick. (2) Choose Linear curve (3) set white point, then black point (4). Create points 1/4 down and 1/4 up on linear curve and adjust.
Adjust overall CLARITY, VIBRANCE, and SATURATION with presence panel
Tweak individual colors with the HSL panel
Make local corrections (dodge and burn) with ADJUSTMENT BRUSH
If necessary, fine tune settings in the DETAIL and VIGNETTES panels
NOTE: I always try to complete my work in Lightroom. If I roundtrip a file from Lightroom to Photoshop and back to Lightroom…..I will have more than likely doubled the file size. Hard drive space is the price you pay for round-tripping.
This is also the same workflow with Aperture – and the round-tripping price is still the same for the master file. But can depend on whether you use managed or referenced Libraries.
Local photographer and self proclaimed “thrift store & yard sale junkie”, Michael Lamb, occasionally mentions in his classes that having any tripod is better than no tripod at all. Tripods are not only necessary for low light photography and long exposures like waterfalls but with a few accessories can be turned into a light stand that can hold your camera’s accessory flash, monolights, reflectors and more. Michael snaps up used tripods, if the price is right of course. Unfortunately most of the tripods that people are so willing to sell or give to Goodwill are missing the quick release.
Like a lot of camera accessories, quick releases are a brilliant idea but are small and easily lost once taken off the camera. The Manfrotto tripod company even has quick releases that fit the heads of different tripods and monopods, allowing you to have one release attached to your camera and switch your camera quickly and easily from tripod to monopod (Check out the Manfrotto 561BHDV-1 video monopod & 701HDV video head for example) and reducing the chance of loosing the quick release.
So, what do you do with that old tripod sitting around in hopes you one day find its release? Or, do you buy a tripod on the off chance that you can get a release? Now there is a site that specializes in outfitting almost every tripod with releases. You can search by brand, or for those really hard to find releases, click “generic tripods”. There are even tips on correctly measuring your tripod for the right release. www.tripodquickrelease.com
www.tripodquickrelease.com is a division of Spartan Photo Center in Spartanburg SC. If you live in, or are coming through the Spartanburg area please drop by. We may have your release in stock. We are located in downtown Spartanburg at 197 East St. John Street Spartanburg SC 29306
How long does SD and CF memory last?
That is a question I posed several times at a convention that I recently attended in Portland, Oregon. That was a question that, actually several of us were discussing. The group consensus was: “it is not permanent, but it is stable enough for some long term storage.” In fact one major retailer was actually telling his customers that you can use it for back up and long term storage. I have never gone that far, because I have never been told that it is permanent.
So one of the forums that I attended I asked a manufacturer of flash memory cards: Just how long is flash memory going to hold the information?
The answer quickly be came economic versus technical, but it all, of course, boils down to “you get what you pay for.”
Now for the answers:
Economic: The manufacturers of NAND memory (the stuff that goes into the SD and CF cards) are forced by production to continuously operate the lines. You just can’t turn on and off the capacity, and once you have a NAND line in operation it has to run. Ok. And, of course, if you can make the NAND smaller, you can get more on a wafer, so for some manufacturers more is better, because the cost is less, in some cases much less. Don’t quote me on this, but pretend maybe 900 NANDS on a wafer as compared to 500. That almost cuts the cost in half. But at what cost?
Technical: As you make the memory smaller, it has less capacity to hold and store the individual charges that make up your data. The fewer NAND chips on a wafer mean the NAND locations are bigger, more robust and able to hold more of a charge. Smaller NANDs will be less robust and the smaller ports will hold less charge over their life. But the data life is based on a charge, not a physical thing. Charges can dissipate if not refreshed regularly. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR DATA LOSS IF THE MEMORY CARD LOOSES ITS CHARGE.
So, I use some cards as backup, and carry work from home to store. I have some cards that I lost, and I find them again, sometimes months or years later. I’ve never had a problem. I won’t. Because the memory card is being used, I am refreshing the charge that keeps the data bits in place when I insert them into my computer and open the folders.
How long is that? Unknown. Some cards, well made ones from premium manufacturers that are using the 500 NANDS per wafer blanks; their cards MAY HAVE THE POTENTIAL to last 10 years before the NAND looses the charge. The least quality card may have the POTENTIAL TO LOOES THE CHARGE in as little as 30 days! So if you are constant changing the data and refreshing the card and data every day or two or hour then the charge potential is a non issue.
Again. I’ve got all kinds of cards from all manufacturers that we have acquired over the years. Why haven’t I lost any data? The potential to loose the charge is ethereal. It is not set in stone. The timer is ticking, so if you plug the card into your device to see what is on it, it is recharged. The cycle starts all over again. Temperature, storage conditions are just 2 factors that will effect the NAND charge cycle. So keep it cool, dry and dark.
So should you use SD or CF memory for long-term storage? Probably not. If you are using the cards and reading or writing to them on a regular basis, will the data last longer? Probably so, especially on a premium card from certain manufacturers, at least the potential is there. Who? Our presenter wouldn’t go into that for various reasons. I’m not going to knock any cards either, except to say you get what you pay for, and to buy from retailers that are known for dealing with quality suppliers. There are other blog posts about the various manufacturers.
The final take away from our discussion is:
If you are using SD OR CF memory, buy better. Use it regularly and store it properly.
Professional memory is going to be made better, so the potential is that is will last and preform better. The Promaster Professional grade is designed to operate in a wider temperature range, and is water and humidity sealed, as compared to the lesser price memory. This will help with storage, because sometime, even I store my cards in my pants pocket and wash them all for good measure. Not optimal, but my cards have survived. If price is an issue, it often is on may levels, then buy a less grade memory card. Promaster has several grades to choose from. They are all premium makes, so the potential is there.
As a specialty retailer I will also say the retailer makes a difference. Cheap cards often do not come with much if any warranty. Solid state memory should be usable for years. So why would any manufacturer or retails offer something with a 30 or 90 day warranty? Because they know the lack of potential of their cards. Our brand, Promaster has a lifetime warranty from the manufacturer. Because we use and believe in this brand, we also offer the second warranty of FREE data recovery for any reason, even accidental erasure or formatting. No cheap card will offer that, especially if it has a 30 day warranty. Good luck.
As always: You get what you pay for. You don’t have to pay the most, but buy better, get better, get Promaster. (shameless plug)
The death of point-n-shoot cameras is near. Not this year, or next, or even the year after but it is coming. It is inevitable and you can thank Apple for this. One of the most innovative, ground-breaking, ingenious, revolutionary, state-of-the-art, pioneering, cutting-edge, brilliant,… okay okay, enough adjectives but I am talking about the iPhone. It has altered the photography world. It may not seem like it has now to some people but just wait. Give it 5 years, maybe less. The iPhone can take photos better than some point-n-shoot cameras. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles as most of the little cameras but it is steadily getting there and when it does, that will be the untimely death of the beloved point-n-shoot camera.
Yes, there were cameras on cell phones before there was an iPhone but the iPhone has changed the easy side of photography dramatically. Right now, all you can do is turn flash on and off, use digital zoom if you want, and tap on the screen where you want the camera to focus. But soon, white balance control, metering control, TTL flash control, M A S P control zzzzzzZOMG! This is the future, and point-n-shoot cameras are the Dodo bird.
Now, at the moment I own a Droid X. I love the phone. I love everything about it but one thing: the camera. It is unresponsive at times when hitting the shutter button, and then it is sometimes too responsive when hitting the shutter button. The photos look flat in color and contrast. It is horrible in low light. It switches between scene modes too slowly. What else do I have to complain about? Hmmm… “but Mr. Blog Writer, you are going against the whole point of this blog post.”
Keep reading my readers.
On the bright side (and very bright side I must say) the native camera app has more options to change than the iPhone such as changing ISO, effects, scene modes, exposure compensation and……… see my point I am trying to get at. Camera phones are getting there and once they do there will be no need for people to carry around a point-n-shoot camera as well as a camera phone. These camera phones already can shoot Full HD video (and that was the death of Flip video cameras), has face detection, can do HDR photography and it is just going to get better. Even some additional camera apps have become very popular such as Hipstamatic for the iPhone and RetroCamera for the Android. Even Adobe made a Photoshop app for phones now! But when September rolls around and the iPhone 5 is released, I am switching and I am getting it not because I am an Apple fanatic but because of its camera. That sole reason.
I am going on a big trip in September to mid-October. Of course, I am taking my Nikon SLR and a bunch of Lomography cameras but I was also in the market for a small point-n-shoot camera that I can carry with me when I do not want to lug around all my camera gear. But then I got to thinking, I am getting an iPhone soon. The camera on the iPhone 5 will be better than the camera on the 4th generation. And plus it is a PHONE! Done, decision is made! And see what just happened there. The point-n-shoot line just lost a sale.
And here is reassurance on how well the iPhone takes photos… Ahem (clears throat…). Once upon a time in a far away land called Afghanistan, a New York times photojournalist named Damon Winter was documenting the First Battalion, 87th Infantry of the 10th Mountain Division. To best convey those soldier’s story he decided to shoot pictures with his iPhone using an app called Hipstamatic. There was a lot of controversy about his photos being taken with a camera phone but that is a whole other blog post. Back to Damon’s story, with his photos from his iPhone he won third place in POYI international photo contest. iPhone photos… winning in a accredited international photo contest… that is pretty good for a camera phone. Below are some of those winning photographs that he took.
Damon Winter / The New York Times
Damon Winter / The New York Times
Damon Winter / The New York Times
Here are some camera phone pictures from myself using RetroCamera.
© Brandon Pendred. www.nodnarbphotography.com
© Brandon Pendred. www.nodnarbphotography.com
© Brandon Pendred. www.nodnarbphotography.com
© Brandon Pendred. www.nodnarbphotography.com
Also, here are some other cool things that have been done with an iPhone
Watch this: iPhone Wedding Video
Nikon and Canon SLR lens mount for the iPhone
Photojojo.com
Photojojo.com
Now do you see how great camera phones are becoming?
-Brandon-
I am a Nikon shooter, and I absolutely LOVE the Canon 60D. There. I said it.
With its new in-camera processing, vari-angle LCD screen, Full HD 1920×1080 video at 30, 25 or 24 fps, you can’t go wrong. And don’t forget its electronic level, which is really helpful when shooting landscapes and large groups.
Using in-camera processing, you can edit the exposure, saturation, contrast, and more on your images without even taking the card out of the camera! This works for both jpeg and RAW. Furthermore, using its star-rating system, you can rate your images so when you import them into your photo-editing software, such as Lightroom, you can already have your favorites sorted out.
Now, you can’t talk about the 60D without talking about its video capabilities. It is the first in its class to have video capture. It can shoot up to 60 fps. If you’re shooting in Full HD, it will shoot 30 fps.
It does NOT have autofocus when shooting video. However, if it did have autofocus for video, I’m not convinced it’d make for better video. When the camera is switched to LiveView (it has to be on LiveView in order to shoot video), the autofocus is sluggish. When you manually focus, you can be faster and more precise. Furthermore, at this point in time, the focus motors in these cameras are loud enough for the mic to pick up. So manual focus is quieter, faster, and more precise than autofocus would be.
The autofocus for still photography on this camera, however, is better than the Rebel T3i’s. This is due to its 9-point crosstype autofocus system. The crosstype points detect horizontal and vertical lines, allowing for better, more precise focus.
Another new, useful feature on the 60D is the manual audio control. This gives you better control over the audio than the 7D, for instance, which only has automatic audio capture. The 60D also has wind filters which useful for shooting outside.
A more fun feature on the camera is the use of “creative filters.” My favorite is the “miniature effect” which is fun to use when shooting objects or buildings from far up. It gives the effect of a tilt shift lens. Some of the other filters are grainy b&w, toy camera, and soft focus. (Below are some
This is an example of the miniature effect. Better when used on objects or buildings from high up. (This is straight from the camera, no post-processing)
One of the toy camera filters. (again, straight out of camera, no post-processing)
The body of the camera is a little different than its predecessors. To me, it’s easier to use. The placement of the buttons on the Canon cameras have never made much sense to me. The 60D has been completely rearranged to where you can use your right hand to press the majority of the buttons. Also, the back dial and the D-pad are now integrated, which again, makes a lot more sense than having two controllers in different places. The body of the camera is a little lighter than the rest in its series due to its polycarbonate shell (it does have an aluminum frame, however).
One of my favorite updates on the body of the camera (as can be seen in the below picture) is the four buttons along the top of the LCD screen. They match up to corresponding settings. (The ISO button is directly above the ISO setting on the top panel screen).
Another cool feature is its aspect ratio simulation. Let’s say you’re shooting an image that you know will be used for a 5×5 print. When in live view, you can set your aspect ratio for whatever size you need, in this case we would use a 1:1 aspect ratio. Red crop lines will appear on the live view screen. You can also set the aspect ratio to 16:9 and 4:3; the camera will automatically shoot with a 3:2 aspect ratio. When shooting in jpeg, your images will be saved with the crop. When shooting in RAW, the files will be saved as 3:2 but will be tagged with crop lines and can be viewed with Canon’s digital photo professional software. This is really a nice feature, especially when shooting with a particular print size in mind.
So, to answer my first question: What’s not to love? Well, not much. This camera is super fast, super smart, and really fun to use. I do have one complaint, however. Canon has removed the option to make lens AF microadjustments to compensate for lenses that aren’t tuned just right. This doesn’t seem to turn too many people away from the 60D, however. I mean, really, how many photographers do you know that sync their lenses? I think this is also Canon’s way of making the camera more user-friendly for entry-level users. Canon has made the 60D more appealing for professionals as well since they’ve added the capability of the pop-up to control external flashes wirelessly. One other complaint is its polycarbonate shell. When I get this level of camera, or anything beyond entry-level really, I’d like a heavy-duty body. They’ve made the 60D fairly light. Even though it still has the aluminum frame, it still feels light, plastic, and almost like a toy. Other than those two complaints, I really REALLY love this camera. Too bad all my lenses are Nikkor…
-Meredith-
I have a Panasonic T2 which I can take EVERYWHERE! It goes to the pool, the beach, and mostly is in my pocket. Same for the TOUGH cameras by Olympus. I am now such a big fan of their TOUGH series, they would be my second choice as a walking around camera.
So over the 4th of July weekend, my family and I went to the beach, into the surf and sand. The camera was very dirty after our fun day. After a day like that, how do you safely remove the battery to charge it?
First, don’t skimp when it comes to reading the instructions on maintaining the water seals. There is nothing more important to the integrity of a waterproof camera than its seals. One hair or speck of sand is enough to compromise the seal. With a bit of pressure from the water, the seal can fail and ruin your camera. No, the manufacturers warranty does not cover water damage on water-resistant cameras, mostly because if the seal was maintained it wouldn’t have failed.
So, I rinsed the camera and washed off the salt and sand off the outside of the camera. I dried the camera thoroughly and removed lint and dust that was clinging to the outside, then I removed the battery and charged it. At the same time I inspected the battery door and the seals VERY carefully. There was sand long the edges which I carefully removed and dusted and blew out and dusted until I couldn’t see any more. I let the camera air out and when the charger was finished, replaced the battery and resealed the camera, again checking for hairs and eyelashes and ANYTHING that could get on the seal. Of course, there were a few bits of sand form where I had already cleaned. Once I was sure that everything was clean, I closed and locked the covers, and off I went again!
We all take our camera with us to the beach, or the mountains or wherever we take our vacations. But the hardest part of taking good shots is always thinking ahead and being prepared. I carry my camera bag, but arthritis prevents me from carrying it like i did when I was younger (read as: 3 years ago when I didn’t have the flareups) . So I take the bag, but leave it and try to go light, taking only the things I think I need.
I always carry the lens I know I will need. Last night I started with a 50mm f1.4 for low light, walking around. When the fireworks started, I was unprepared since the field of view was so limited. Luckily I could change the lens to a 17-55mm f2.8 for the fireworks. The wide area allowed me to shoot the fireworks that the neighbor was shooting off.
When we are walking on the beach, I tend to carry the 70-200 f2.8 lens for the ability to shoot distance shots, and reasonable macro. Portraits are nice, since I can use the depth of field and compression to get a better shot.
Now, do I take the flash as well? I have to say that overall, I would rather take the equipment and have it if I need it (that includes the cable release, flash cords, filters etc). After all, if the shot is Ok, but not worth hanging on the wall, was it really worth taking the shot in the first place? I will always go for quality over quantity.
Maybe I need to get a backpack…
Technology advances everyday and it has become a way of life it seems. You buy a computer only to find out when you get home that you are already outdated. Cellphones, TV’s and of course, our favorite little gadgets: digital cameras, are all victims. Cameras are updated about every 12-18 months. They perform better in low light, the megapixels keep climbing to a point that it is pointless, they add 72 focus points on top of the 52 that was on the previous model… I get it. Upgrade. Upgrade. Upgrade. But it has reached a point where I think it is too much of an upgrade. Let me explain.
There is a little known company (right now) called Lytro based out of Mountain View, California and yes, this is where a once little known company and now ‘king of the internet’ called Google is from so this little town is packed full of innovative thinkers, designers and inventors. Lytro has an idea that will change photography and it is both very exciting and very scary. They are developing a camera that will allow you to change your point of focus after you have taken the photo. Yes, you read that correctly, I said AFTER.
Why is this so exciting? Well, think about this scenario. You and your family take a road trip to the Grand Canyon. When you finally get there and pick your jaws up off the floor from awe of how beautiful the canyon is, you ask another tourist to take a photo of you and your family with the canyon behind you. That kind tourist snaps the photo for you and hands you back the camera, then something amazing happens. A massive eagle flies by and you run off to take some photos of the eagle and completely forget to glance at the photo of you and your family with the canyon. Days pass, vacation is over, and you are now back home uploading all of your images to view them. You scroll through and then devastation ensues. That one photo of you and your family with the canyon is out of focus. You scream, break stuff and yell four letter words.
That scenario doesn’t sound too pleasing does it? Well, if that family photo was taken with a Lytro camera then you wouldn’t have a broken computer screen and apologizing to your children for those four letter words that you belted out. You would be able to simply click on you and your family in the photo and magically you all come into focus. Ta-Da! Awesome, right? Well of course but this is where it gets scary.
Photography has now become one step LESS of an art form in my eyes. What will define a professional photographer from a novice? What will define knowledge of photography over automated photography? Yes, we have auto white balance, auto ISO and auto focus which help a lot of people but now with the control of your depth of field AFTER you make the mistake; that is too much ‘mistake correction’ in my eyes. I say learn your camera and lenses, learn how photography works and practice it. Do not relay on machines to correct your mistakes because you will never learn. That is what the scary part about the Lytro camera is. If this becomes mainstream, all the ‘old school’ photographers will be the only ones left in the world that know what depth of field is and how to control it.
So how does it work? Without getting too technical, basically this camera can capture a ‘light field’ which is the amount of light traveling in every possible direction. Traditional cameras can not capture all that light. The Lytro, however, can and thus, allows you to control your depth of field in post processing because all the light and information was captured from the beginning. Pretty cool, huh?
Do not get me wrong though, if I ever get my hands on the Lytro camera I will try it out and see what it can do. But when I am done, I am going back to my Nikon. As a good analogy: You are not a chef if you cook everything in the microwave and the same goes to photography, you are not a photographer if you make zero decisions in your shot. Learn your camera people.
-Brandon
