World-Renowned Photographer Kevin Ames Set to Teach Nationwide Pro Digital Workflow Seminar Series Presented by Blue Pixel - Attendees Will Benefit Greatly from Hearing Valuable Secrets of Professional Digital Imaging Workflow First-Hand

Annapolis, MD – June 27, 2006 – Still trying to strike the balance of efficient digital photography workflow and ending up with high-quality results? Learn how as Blue Pixel presents the Pro Digital Workflow Tour with Kevin Ames. Beginning Sunday, September 17 in Washington, D.C., talented digital photographer and author Kevin Ames will teach professional and advanced amateur photographers how to get the most out of their digital photography using the fewest steps for the least amount of work, by improving their digital workflow.

Luminous Landscape have a useful guide to soft-proofing; what it is, how to use it, and why it will make your prints look better.

“But, even with a proper profile for your particular screen, as well as printer / paper / ink combinations, many photographers are often disappointed with the results. What appears on screen simply doesn’t match what is seen on the print, especially with regard to colour intensity and saturation. There is a solution, and it’s known as soft proofing.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Understanding Soft Proofing

Adorama Press Release

GO MACRO! Center Shows Photographers How to Capture Magical Little Worlds - Free, comprehensive mini-site provides macro photography gear buying tips and picture-taking techniques.

New York, NY (PRWEB) June 19, 2006—Do you know how to transform the everyday into fantastic new worlds of visual delights? That’s the magic of macro photography. Capturing everyday subjects at life-size is a thrilling visual exploration that takes photo enthusiasts and hobbyists to the next level. In its ongoing efforts to help consumers improve their photography, Adorama Camera, Inc. today introduced GO MACRO!, a comprehensive editorial package that provides extensive product, technical, and creative macro photography advice, written by a world-renowned team of photography experts. The GO MACRO! Center offers advice for photographers at all levels of experience, from people stepping up from compact cameras to their first digital SLR, to experienced hobbyists and pro shooters who want to upgrade their skills GO MACRO! Photography Center.

Strobist have just started a virtual boot camp for anyone interested in improving their lighting skills.

“The main point of SBC is to nudge those photographers out there who have not made the transition to actually trying this lighting stuff out to make the jump. Secondarily, we will hopefully all get a chance to see what many different photogs - from all around the world - do with the exact same assignments. You’ll also be able to ask “how’d you do that?” questions to your fellow photographers. Using Flickr, we will effectively become a virtual classroom.”

Website: Strobist Boot Camp

Digital Outback Photo have published Part One of an interesting look by George Barr at digital black and white photography.

“While not strictly a trick for successful black and white inkjet prints, I have to say that the ability to decide after the fact to go with black and white or colour has dramatically increased my success rate of shooting and therefore increased the fun of what is still mostly a hobby. About 70% of my images stay in colour. I like to think that only the exceptional images get to be black and white.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - The Challenge Of Digital Black And White

Ilford Photo Press Release

ILFORD Photo is providing unique opportunities for students of photography to learn their skills from masters of the art via a programme of Masterclass workshops at colleges throughout the UK. Underlining ILFORD Photo’s commitment to the long-term development of black-and-white photography, the company is a strong supporter of students studying photography-related subjects.

ILFORD Photo recognises that as today’s students work their way through the fundamentals of pure photography, they are laying the basis for tomorrow’s world of imaging. As such, the company believes it is imperative that the basis of film-based image capture, processing and printing continues to provide the foundation for all elements of photography, including digital, to ensure that the human element in the creative process is encouraged and nurtured to its maximum. To this end, ILFORD Photo sponsors a series of Masterclass workshops at various UK colleges and universities which offer photography courses. From Newcastle to Fareham, from Blackpool to Cambridge and London, and all points in between, in excess of 80 Masterclasses will be held throughout 2006. They are led by world-class professional printer/photographers who share their own knowledge, experience and talents to provide students with the best possible grounding for their studies.

Blue Pixel Press Release

Blue Pixel Presents Nature’s Best Photography Experience Led By Award-Winning Photographer Daniel J. Cox - Nature’s Best Photography™ Experience is a Unique Educational and Instructional Event Appropriate for Digital Photographers of All Experience Levels

Annapolis, MD – March 9, 2006 – Blue Pixel, the world’s leading digital photography educators, photographers and consultants committed to teaching digital photography from an unbiased, real-world perspective, today announced details of the Nature’s Best Photography Experience, a seminar series solely created to broaden and improve the nature photography skills of attendees. The seminars will be led by Daniel J. Cox, a professional nature photographer whose credits include: award-winning images in Nature’s Best Photography, cover stories in National Geographic and television appearances on Animal Planet. Beginning in March and visiting 16 cities across the country, Nature’s Best Photography Experience is a full-day seminar designed to teach attendees how to work with the latest technology, capture better images and work more efficiently throughout the digital workflow process.

Luminous Landscape have a great article by Alain Briot about choosing a print size that suits your subject matter, and how print size can in turn influence what you take photos of.

“However, many decide on print size for practical reasons rather than artistic reasons.  Some print at the maximum print size of their printer.  Others print only letter size.  Many print most, if not all, of their work in the same size.  This situation is very common, and if you feel that I described your approach, do not take it as a critique.  Take it as an opportunity to learn a different approach, an opportunity to try something new that has a significant potential to improve the artistic content of your work.  You may also have very good reasons to print your work in a single size and no desire to change.  This is a situation that is not only understandable, but which has been taken by some of the finest photographers.  Again, my goal here is to present alternate possibilities as well as reflect upon a specific aspect of landscape photography.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Subject Matter & Print Size

Luminous Landscape has a great article today about converting a DSLR to shoot in infrared.

“But now there’s a solution, and all it requires is one of the popular DSLRs from Fuji, Nikon or Canon, and US $450. This plus shipping costs and a few days with your camera away from home will return you a modified camera that shoots in the Infrared with no reduction in its usual functionality. Except, of course, that it no longer can shoot normal colour images in visible light, and can’t be changed back again if you decide that IR shooting isn’t for you. Oh yes – and it voids your manufacturer’s warranty. Since I had a Canon 20D that had been sitting on the sidelines for some months, when I heard that there was a company that did conversions to Infrared, I decided that now was the time to see what the fun was all about.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - DSLR Infrared

Gordon McKinney has published a very helpful “cheat sheet” that provides a number of useful tables for any photographer who’s interested in planning ahead for prevailing light, enabling the selection of lenses, flashguns, reflectors and associated shutter speeds.

FEATURES
Exposure Value (EV) reference table.
Sun Altitude and Shadow Factor.
Canon Flash Guides, 580EX, 550EX, 430EX.
Nikon Flash Guides, SB-800, SB-600, SB-80DX.
Contrast ratio tables (delta EV and Aperture)
“New Rule” handheld shutter speeds, Canon & Nikon.

Update: Version v0.7 now has a Contrast Ratio Table, Support for Nikon D200 and Canon 430EX.
Update: Version v0.6 now covers the new Canon EOS 5D and Canon EOS 1D MkII N cameras.

Website: Gordon McKinney - Photographic Cheat Sheet

Luminous Landscapes offers some good tips on taking photographs in China, and street photography in general.

“The first thing to bear in mind is that the laws and customs in various countries are different. Do some research. For example, in France, the home of Cartier Bresson, it is now not legal to photograph people in public places, even for non-commercial purposes. (More honored in the breach than the observance, I am told). Also, the situation you find yourself in dictates how you conduct yourself. Photographing children in a playground with a long-lens is likely to get you punched in the nose, or even arrested. But taking photographs at a public event like a street festival or market is innocuous. Use common sense.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Street Photography in China

Luminous Landscape take a look at how to express your own personal view of the world through photography.

“My outdoor photography is a very deliberative process. I have a final print in my mind before I press the button on my shutter cable. The question I ask myself is this: “What do I need to do to help me make that print?” I am forever telling myself to slow down, sweep my eye all around the viewfinder, step back and consider all of the creative possibilities. I like working with a photographic gray card and a mini Macbeth color checker card when I shoot botanical images. Yes, I know I can use the Auto White Balance setting on my Canon 1Ds MkII and then later twiddle with the white balance and other settings in Adobe Camera Raw and get the same result. Performing a custom white balance and taking the pains to try and get the exposure and color “dead on” in the field means I have to slow down. This gives me time to think about the final image I want to craft.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Develop Your Creative Vision

Luminous Landscape editor Michael Reichmann explains how he keeps his digital photos safe in his latest article.

“When traveling on a shoot, as soon as a card is full it is removed from the camera and placed into an Epson P2000 (or equivalent) where its files are copied to the Epson’s hard drive. Once the card has been copied it is removed and then placed in a metal card wallet. The card is placed inside facing backwards so that it can easily be identified as an exposed card. Since the Epson 2000 has a 40GB drive there is more than enough storage for even the busiest day’s shooting. It can also copy more than ten 2GB cards on a single charge, so using it in the field without AC power is not an issue.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - When Failure is Not an Option

Nikon Press Release

Nikon School Visits 19 Cities Nationwide, Featuring Expert Instruction by Leading Imaging Professionals for Digital SLR Photographers of All Levels

MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/—Nikon Inc., the world leader in photography, has released the new schedule for its popular Nikon School (http://www.nikonschool.com/), one of the most comprehensive photography education and training programs available today. The two separate one-day seminars are taught by some of the best experts in the digital imaging industry and are aimed to help photographers at all levels better understand and enhance their digital photography experience.

Ever seen a great photograph and wondered exactly how it was taken, right down to the exposure, and Photoshop techniques? Well, wonder no more, as a new series of articles over at the promising new blog I Like Cameras takes you behind the scenes of their photographs.

“The exposure was a shutter speed of 1/250th, an aperture value of f/8 and an ISO of 100. The Canon 10D was in Aperture Priority mode which means that you set the aperture and it figures out the best shutter speed for you. I would say that 80% of my photographs are shot in AV mode and that a lot of pro-photographers use AV mode too. It allows for creativity while still being fast enough to use in most situations. Had this been a serious photo taking excursion I would have used a tripod and bracketed the scene by a stop on either side.”

Website: I Like Cameras - Behind the photograph #001

The new website I Like Cameras has an in-depth look at tripods, perhaps not the most exciting of subjects, although the author of the article obviously disagrees:

“Let me start this with a seemingly odd statement; tripods are exciting. Tripods will satisfy the deepest gear addiction streak you can muster. They hands down beat megapixels, telephoto lenses and camera bodies for depth and entertainment value. Tripods come closer to religion amongst professional photographers than Canon vs. Nikon. Forget getting a black bodied camera, get a good tripod and your pro-quotient will triple.”

Website: I Like Cameras - Going steady

Colour Confidence and Iridius team up to provide a Totally Colour Managed day

- Most extensive UK colour management roadshow ever
- All day seminar represents great value at £99.00 ex. VAT, and book before the 14th of October to receive early bird discount and pay just £79.00 ex. VAT
- ‘Ask the Experts’ is open all day and is totally free of charge

Birmingham UK, 21st September 2005 - Colour Confidence, the leading independent colour management specialists, have today announced the dates for the colour management event of the year - Totally Colour Managed.

Totally Colour Managed is a series of one day events, which are set to bring colour management to a location near you for the first time.

Just Show Me How Press Release

September 7th, 2005—Last season’s sold out Just Show Me How Pro tour is back, with new tips, new techniques, and new ideas for your digital photography workflow. World-renowned photographer, author, and teacher, Kevin Ames, will educate and entertain you as he shares the secrets of professional workflow. Kevin is the newest associate of Blue Pixel Digital Experts, leading photographers and consultants committed to teaching digital photography from an unbiased, real world perspective. The tour begins on October 2nd in Miami, and travels to eight U.S. cities through the beginning of December.

This one-day seminar will take professional photographers through what to do with all of those digital files after the photo has been captured. Kevin covers the ins and outs of downloading from memory cards, adding metadata, backing up, image optimization, controlling color, delivering files, and creating bulletproof archives of digital negatives. Attendees will learn how to achieve better results faster through automation, without sacrificing the integrity of their images or the quality of their files. As a highly respected photographer, Photoshop author and instructor, Kevin will also share techniques that are essential to any photographer’s creative workflow.

Canon have published the latest issue of their monthly CPS (Canon Professional Services) Newsletter, including some stunning portraits of the Icebergs Winter Swimming Club from Matt Hoyle, an interesting look at how photographers are working together as part of a collective or agency, and some details about the new products that Canon announced this week, including the EOS 5D digital SLR.

Website: Canon CPS Issue#14

Manfrotto Press Release

Online guides help customers get full benefit of camera supports and equipment

Bassano del Grappa, Italia (August 18, 2005) – Manfrotto, the world’s leading manufacturer of support products for pro video and photography, is proud to announce the launch of a series of practical photography lessons available to the public at www.manfrotto.com.  The lessons were developed in collaboration with Web Photo School, the California, United States based digital photo education company.

Developed to help Manfrotto customers get the most out of their equipment in various “real-life” photographic situations, the lessons provide valuable information on how to tackle different subjects from still life to macro, from nature photography to portraits and more.  Each lesson has been created utilizing a range of Manfrotto tripods and heads.  Each lesson provides detailed information on every step of the photographic process, from setting up the tripod through framing and lighting technique and turning a good photograph into a great one.