Book Review by Natalie Field
Title: Shoot and Share by Stuart Sipahigil
Format: eBook
Available at Craft and Vision, www.craftandvision.com
As photographers, we are constantly capturing the world around us; be it for personal pleasure, or commercial projects. But how do we follow through and make our art accessible to the general public? Too often, great images are left forgotten in shoe boxes and on hard drives. Stuart Sipahigil’s eBook “Shoot + Share” sheds light on this dilemma.
The guys at PetaPixel have shared this story on a brilliant new digital camera launching soon from IKEA. Don’t let it’s cardboard design fool you. Inside is an advanced zoom and stabilization system (big dose of sarcasm). Check out the video after the break for more.
Johannesburg, South Africa. 16 April 2012. Canon today announces the company has been awarded six separate honours by the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) – Europe’s leading photo imaging and press association. Designed to recognise the best products launched in the preceding year, theTIPA Awards are considered the most coveted imaging honours worldwide. The 2012 awards again acknowledge the quality present across Canon’s wide portfolio, including the revolutionary new Cinema EOS range.
A little while back we reviewed the Drift Innovation X170. In an action camera world dominated by Go-Pro the Drift had the advantage of a built in LCD screen and a remote control for taking snaps and pressing record that strapped to your wrist like a watch. (See the review here) Now Drift have announced a new, more compact Drift HD720 as a new entry level model. It offers 720p HD video and 5mp stills images. Full details in the press release when you click on “Continue Reading”.
We have an exciting Photo Walk to announce. Sony South Africa want you to experience the new range of NEX and Alpha cameras in a real world enviroment. Among the new machines to get to grips with is the NEX-7 we just reviewed. We have teamed up with Mark Straw from Joburg Photowalkers to host this event at Sci-Bono in Newtown, Johannesburg on Saturday, 21 April 2012.
There will be two groups on the day with limited space in each so as to provide everyone with a chance to shoot with at least one of the new cameras that will be there. Read on for details of the event and to register.
Thanks to the great support from Foto First, we are pleased to announce our involvement once again with Photos For Hope. This great initiative by the Sunflower Foundation raises funds to grow and maintain the bone marrow registry in South Africa. The registry is the first place people who are diagnosed with Leukaemia turn to when they need to find a match. Once again, images submitted to Photos For Hope will be exhibited and sold to raise funds for this fantastic cause.
You can upload your images here at PhotoComment. Foto First are sponsoring the printing of the first 1000 images as A4 enlargements. You also have the option when entering our Photo Decathlon competition to add your entry into the Photos For Hope submissions. This year there will be two Photos For Hope exhibitions. This first one is on 26 May 2012 at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg. You can submit an image and buy it back in print with the funds going to a great cause.
We apologize for the error in the image accompanying this article in our print edition
I admit that when the Canon EOS 5D Mark III was announced, I figured – for the price difference – one would be better off getting the older Mark II. On paper, sure there are some differences, but I doubt it would justify upgrading if you already have a Mark II. Then, last week, during a brief stop at Canon’s offices, I was given the Mark III to play with for a few minutes. I quickly realized that my thinking could be very wrong.
Our April 2012 issue of PhotoComment Magazine is out on shelves and is also live on the site. It has a great mix of informative and perhaps controversial content. Kicking off with Armani’s Editor’s Comment that tackles the issue of using a professional model over willing relatives, friends etc. Then you can dive into some examples of the entries in the “Scapes” theme of our Photo Decathlon. Remember, entries close for this theme at the end of this month. We have a Pro Portfolio by Shayne Robinson before diving into the techniques to better cellphone photographs (the May theme in the Decathlon). Cast your eyes on a new Koos van der Lende panoramic and the story behind it. We look at a handful of the top smart phone apps for your photographic pleasure before being taken on a game drive with the fantastic images of Darred Joubert in our Reader’s Portfolio. In the review section, you will find a group review of some of the top smart phones we have played with, as well as the Sony NEX-7 with Zeiss 24mm f/1.8. We also share our first impressions of the Canon EOS 5D Mk III (our apologies for publishing it with an incorrect image). The Final Comment looks at the use of smart phones with apps like Instagram in photo journalism.
Remember to give us your feedback on the magazine. If you are looking for a print stockist, check the list here. We are working on something special for subscribers which, if you wish to be a part of, you can subscribe here. Lastly, read the magazine online. We are using a new reader which should be better for mobile phone and tablet use. Let us know what you think. Also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+
We have just seen details of the new Sony Alpha A900 replacement. In a move to make the ultimate modular camera system, the new camera (possibly to be called the Alpha AX1) is a merging of the NEX-7 concept with a full frame A77. Even that description does not truly do it justice.
The paragraph below is simply the introduction from a larger article on sister site SA Review. To get the full article please head over there. A more photographic orientated summary of Samsung Africa Forum 2012 is coming soon.
Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Samsung Africa Forum 2012. It was, for me, a rather enlightening experience. In my not so distant past is a brief one year history, working at one of the big electronic companies that compete with Samsung in the space of televisions, imaging, laptops, etc. Perhaps because of my time there, my perception of Samsung was tainted for the worse. I had been fed stories that perhaps served one purpose: to discourage my leaving to join the competition. (Read the rest at SA Review here)
The deadline for the very first theme – Expressions – in our Photo Decathlon is just 4 days away (31 March 2012). That means you have only got 4 days left to upload your entries here and stand a chance to win.
The Photo Decathlon is only made possible through the fantastic sponsorship offered by some of our great advertising partners including Foto First, Vega, Lexar and Graham Robertson Photographic. We will bring you details of the grand prize that will be going to the photographer who gains the most points from all the themes combined at the end of the Decathlon as the competition progresses. At this time however we can share the prize bundle available for the winner of the Expressions theme. These prizes will be up for grabs in other themes as well.
1st: A Lexar Premium 8GB SD or Compact Flash Card (depending on you requirement) and a Foto First Voucher for 10x A4 prints valued at R298,00
2nd: A Foto First Voucher for 60x Jumbo Prints Valued at R195,00
3rd: A Foto First Voucher for 5x A4 prints valued at R149,00
Last week we announced the latest release in the Craft & Vision eBook range, “Forget Mugshots”. We asked fashion and portrait photographer, Natalie Field, to review and share her thoughts on it.
Title: Forget Mugshots: 10 steps to better portraits by David Duchemin
Format: eBook
Available at Craft and Vision, www.craftandvision.com
Johannesburg, South Africa, 15 March 2012 – Nikon in South Africa today announces an exclusive five year warranty on Nikon D7000, D5100 and D3100 DSLR bodies. The five year warranty is an initiative by Nikon in South Africa and is valid only on Nikon products distributed by Foto Distributors (Pty) Ltd.
The following entry is somewhat lengthier than most entries that are posted on here, but I would urge you to read it through on the basis that at some point in your photographic endeavors, you might be faced with a subject or scenario that forces you to think twice about the choice you make in pressing the shutter. This choice is not about the technicalities of shutter speed, aperture, or ISO settings, but rather an internal combustion of emotional and moral weight. As the title of Joe McNally’s book states: “It all happens the moment it clicks.”
This is a guest post by Robbie Aspeling. A fellow photographer and Minolta/Sony shooter from many years.
As happens every now and again, I manage to get my grubby little paws on some new kit. In this case it was the newly announced Sony A57 DSLT (Digital Single Lens Translucent) camera. This is one of the new technology cameras that Sony are now making which have a translucent mirror instead of the traditional DSLR, whose mirror flaps out of the way when an exposure is made. Much has been said about the pros and cons of DSLT technology, but I find that the pros far outweigh any cons. This coming from my using traditional DSLR’s for far longer than I care to remember. Some main differences are that the mirror no longer has to move out of the way when an exposure is made. This gives the ability of a much faster frame per second (fps) vs traditional DSLR’s, as well as having an electronic viewfinder (EVF). The EVF can now show additional information such as the actual value of settings, as well as the real effect of these different settings that the photographer has selected. The live view is direct and covers 100% of the frame. In other words, WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get).
The latest Craft & Vision eBook has been announced today written by David duChemin himself. We have a review coming soon but in the mean time here is the announcement of discount limited time discount offer for “Forget Mugshots, 10 Steps To Better Portraits”
Forget Mugshots, 10 Steps To Better Portraits is for every photographer who’s ever wanted to make stronger photographs of people. Written by David duChemin, a photographer whose living and calling for the last 6 years has been creating compelling portraits and people photographs for clients all over the globe, if he could tell you only 10 things to immediately improve your images, these 10 steps or concepts would be at the very top of the list.
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