Replacement to D40/X as early as Spring?

File this one under rumor mill and wild speculation. According to a wildfire post on Dpreview, the D40X is apparently at the end of its shelf life and there is a possible replacement for the camera coming soon. While change is good, this flurry of camera releases by Nikon for its entry level cameras is not following the 18 month to 2 year product cycle normally employed. Nikon certainly shocked (and disappointed) the community when it released the D40X; a camera that seemed to play more into the marketing hype of the mega-pixel myth than an actual camera upgrade. Consumers who purchased the D40X appeared to basically be paying $50 for each additional megapixel and a very minor list of additional features, as well as the downgrade of the max shutter sync speed (non FP) from.

Also in the rumor department is the talk of a new Nikon lens, the 16-85 VR, which is interesting since Nikon just recently upgraded its 18-55mm kit lens to VR status as well. To be honest, VR isn't really needed in that range, and the consumers who purchase it are the type that are confused about what VR does anyway. All in all, I think PMA 2008 is going to have a lot of surprises for us when it comes around in late January.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays to you all!

World's Most Expensive Camera

No it's not a Hasselblad; not even close. This honor goes to a camera called "Daguerreotype", which is also an early form of photography in which the image is imposed upon mirror-polished silver surface. This early system didn't create negatives, so copies of images was not possible in the traditional sense.

Created in 1839, it's considered the first commercially manufactured camera in the world and is expected to fetch a cool million Euro, or $1,329,000 against our fast fading dollar. All this and no live view or image stabilization. How did they do it back then?

Photography: The Rules Of Composition Video

Here is a quick and dirty 4 minute video from Video Jug that quickly goes over four basic, but important rules of photography. Keeping it simple, rule of thirds, balance, framing, and placement are all covered, though some are explained a bit differently than expected. Their explanation of framing left me raising an eyebrow. Nonetheless, still a good view for the budding photographer.

Now granted, rules are made to be broken, but as the video so eloquently points out, you have to know the rules, to know when to break them.

Digital-Photography-School

I love Digital-Photography-School. They were instrumental in the many things I learned in my first year of DSLR photography. I'm the kind of individual who likes to research and learn using online resources, and this site is filled with a plethora of resources to help the budding photographer in what can feel like an ocean of things to learn. From the simple basics to more advanced techniques, this site has it, and is backed by an ever-growing community who produce a wealth of knowledge and answers to almost any question you may have.

As many sites are undoubtedly doing, they are posting some of the great articles they've had for 2007. Titled under "How to Photograph..." it covers topics from photography your kids and pets to wedding, air show and fireworks photography. Something useful for almost everyone.

Copyright Infringement for fun and profit!

Not a week goes by that I don't find a thread or article about a photographer's struggle with having their images stolen. Recent headlines like Virgin Mobile infringement of a Flickr image for an ad (and resulting lawsuit) and the shameless usage of a photo by Philip Warner of Apnea to promote an iPhone ripoff (double wammy!) may make one just a wee bit weary of posting their precious images online. I've even found my images in use after doing a simple vanity crawl. However, a quite lengthy blog post by Dan Heller argues that you should post your images online under the guise that it can be quite profitable! This is assuming you take the proper steps and be prepared for a lot of work if and when the time comes.

New Yorkrican

My friend Angel has been wanting a good photo that shows his features really well. I know this isn't what he had in mind, but I had the idea for this the moment I saw it. sb600 to camera left through 42" white umbrella at 1/4th. Triggered via CLS.

2008 Predictions by Thom Hogan

Thom over at Bythom has made his Nikon predictions for 2008. He mentions the predictions from 2006 that he made about to include the Full Frame D3 and the 24-70, albeit he said it would be a VR model. I don't see a new for VR in non telephoto lenses, but of course it couldn't hurt to have it.

For 2008 he predicts a replacement for the D80, and surprisingly even a replacement for the D40/D40x. I find it surprising as DSLR usually have a 2 year product life before replacement, and the D40/x has barely been out a year. Then again, considering how quickly an X model was brought out for the D40, it could very well be possible.

Of interesting note, he not only believes that Nikon won't come out with a smaller size FX body, similar to Canon's 5D, but believes that the DX format will prosper for years to come. Part of this goes to Nikon being busy with the D3, as well as the DX theoretically being at its resolution limit until about 34mp. Looking at the sizes of the uncompressed raw images from the D300 (25mb a pop!) I can't find a need or desire for that many MP. Most consumers don't need over 6 to get good 8x10 prints, though opponents to that will contend the need for cropping power. The pro response to that would simply be to get the shot right the first time, but I'm no pro!

Watching you, watching me...

Definitely not my usual flavor. A quick observation of my photos will find that they usually follow a much darker contrast. However, I've found myself intrigued by the photography of Rachel Schell a photographer based mostly on Flickr. Her images could well be summed up as the antithesis of mine. While I find solace in shadows and dark contrast, her images celebrate the light from her subjects to their surrounding environments. I find that creative vignetting can help your subject stand out from it's background, where as she employs liberal use of soft bokeh and light to surround, separate, and transcend her subjects from their environments.

It can be said that the greatest form of flattery is imitation. While not exactly that of Rachel Schell, her photography was in mind when creating this image.

Jessica, High Key

One of the few images my wife has allowed me to take her. The high key style can be very flattering in that it tends to hide flaws in the skin while adding focus to the eyes and lips. It requires you to either overexpose the image or adjust it in post processing. For this image, post-processing was done in Lightroom by raising the exposure value up 1 full stop.

Next to try some Low Key Lighting similar to what I did a few months back.

In the Garden of my Mind

In the Garden of my Mind

We've had quite a bit of snow up here in Spokane. Mostly I've just peered at it through the window enjoy the comfort of my heated home. However, I knew I was really missing out on quite a few photo opportunities. So I grabbed my bag of lenses and went out to find something. Out here in Spokane, when in doubt, you can always head to Manito park. Unfortunately, the Japanese gardens is closed for the season, but I found something, possibly better.

"That's the good stuff..."

I had a second motive as well. Within the coming New Year, I'll be in the market for a professional mid range zoom, and I've been struggling with the decision between the extremely popular 17-55mm 2.8, and the infamous 28-70mm 2.8, aka "The Beast". Part of my difficulty is the fact that the 17-55 is a DX lens, and I plan to purchase an old film camera as well next year. The chief issue with the 28-70 is it is critiqued as just not being wide enough on an DSLR with a smaller than FF sensor. However, my feeling on it is if you want to take wide angle photos, then perhaps it would be best to buy a dedicated wide angle lens such as the well regarded 12-124mm DX or slightly cheaper Sigma 10-20mm. Of course if you have $1800 to shell out, there's always the newly released Nikon 14-24 which is a full frame lens, and will probably fully deplete your bank account.

I made my decision on the 28-70 today when out taking photos in that the widest image I took was at 26, which I later cropped anyway.

Good vs. Great: What Happens Before the Picture Gets Taken

I ran across an interesting blog while dreaming over my oh so out-of-reach Amazon wish list. I have to admit, Amazon really isn't the first thing that comes to mind when I think of insightful blog lines, but this one caught my eye. Now, we all for the most part know that great photos have very little to do with the camera (and if you didn't know that, you're probably the type still obsessing over megapixels). Ryan theorizes that to get a great photo, you have to go where great photos happen. I believe this to an extent that you should take self out of your normal routine to find areas of interest. Though it is not uncommon to find great photo opportunities right outside your front door.

"Oh the humanity!

This one really tickled me. Yes, it sucked that the manager lost out on quite a bit of money ($1,739.83 to be exact). However, can he really blame anyone? It's kind of like when an armored van turns over spelling thousands of dollars all over the highway. Would you help yourself to a few bills, or turn all the money in?

Hey...it's near Christmas. I'd put the money to good use.

Sometimes, I wonder

Sometimes, I wonder

I went to achieve an old film effect. Was I successful?

Creative Photography

This is a technique I had done in my More to come! post with the Christmas tree shaped bokeh. A few individuals were curious how I achieved the affect. It's actually a rather simple technique, to which can be found here. In short, you are creating a new lens hood with the shape of the bokeh you want. Trick to it is the outline has to be smaller than your aperture opening, which is why primes work so well since they usually have a very large aperture.

"I confess that I felt indescribable..."

This was something I had been interested in doing for some time, but it's unfortunately along the cliché list of things to photograph like smoke, silhouettes, etc. To me, there is an essential trick to interesting photography, and that is to show people something they can theoretically see at any time, but in a way they've never seen it before, would think to look at it that way. Quite simply, it is the art of making the ordinary, extraordinary. For the photo of the ring, though it is not something you would normally see, for many photographers it is something they had done before, and to change that, I simply made it the opposite of...a negative image.

Look up 2

Another way to add creativity to your images is to simply change your perspective. We walk about and see the world the same way every day, but when suddenly put in a perspective we are not used to seeing, something unique is achieved. Photography like macro photos gain a huge boon with this, as most macro photos are instantly interesting due to the fact that more often than not it captures not only something that we don't normally see, but in many cases, can't see.

A good tip that was given to me was when I found something interesting to photograph was to not photograph it in the position I found it, but to move around and find different angles to take it. The position I found it in, quite often is the way anyone else would walk up to it, and as such would lose a lot of interestingness. Move about, get down low, get high, try landscape and portrait orientations and take as many different pictures as possible, use the rule of thirds, break the rule of thirds etc. It is only to trial and experimentation can we discover what we truly like, and with the advent of digital photography, this is far easier as we can instantly see the fruits of our labor, as well as not worry about the cost of developing film.

Digital SLR Guide Newsletter

The latest version of the Newsletter from Digital-SLR-Guide.Comis available here. He goes over differences between DSLRs and DSLR like cameras, the aperture, shutter speed, iso triad, and some rationales for each one, and the cameras released for 2007.

This was a great site that I learned a lot from when still new to DSLRs, so if you're still new to photography, I recommend a look.

Dear Spring...

Dear Spring...

Dear spring,

We miss you. Come back soon.

It's Cold Damnit!

It's Cold Damnit!

With the first real snow of the season comes the oppurtunity to photograph the world in a different light. The landscape becomes wrapped in a soft, gentle, white blanket, though only briefly before it fades away to the passing wind. However, to get out there, requires a bit of motivation. In short...it's cold. Of course it is always best to dress warmly when venturing out, and even better to actually have a plan while out there so that the least amount of time is spent in the frigid locales.

The idea for this came when I went out the first time, and found myself capturing nothing of interest (mostly due to my unwillingness to go far). It was near 3 in the morning and I wanted to convey how cold it was. I remembered a light painting tutorial I saw recently on DIYPhotography, and the idea came quickly afterwards. You may have seen light painting popularized recently with some Sprint Ads.

A few notes about light painting. First, it is just that: painting with light. Using a flashlight, pen light or some other pointing device, you set a rather long shutter speed on a tripod mounted camera and paint light on a surface, or towards the camera itself. Requires some experimentation, but the effects can be quite unique. Word of advice, if you want to spell a word, it has to be spelled backwards. My first attempt got me the world DOLC.

From the Archives

Every now and then, it behooves you to go through your archives and revisit images you may have looked over when you initially took them. While they may have been dismissed at one time, a different view may bring forth an appreciation for what was once considered uninteresting.

From the Archives: April in Bloom

In Spokane, the cliché place to go is Manito park. Really, I can recognize a portrait it from a mile away. However, it cannot be disputed that it is a beautiful locale. From the Lilac, Japanese, and Rose Gardens, and other various locales in the park, while it is not quite Central Park or Prospect Park from my native New York, it is an excellent substitute, and quick and easy inspiration fix...providing the weather is warm.

From the Archives: In Good Graces

This was actually taken by my wife while shadowing a wedding photographer. Her impressions of him, which was shared by the bride, was far less than favorable. However, she learned quite a great deal from watching him work. Mostly things she'd like to avoid doing (like not respecting the bride's wishes) and a few things favorable. Mostly from the other photographer who was shadowing as well. If you have the opportunity to shadow another photographer, it is a great learning experience, even if you find the photog a ninny.

From the Archives: The Hudsons

Taking the plunge myself, this was from my first portrait shoot of the Hudsons, who were engaged at the time. While I was still quite new to advanced photography, their natural chemistry made the shoot delightful. It can be said that if you have a beautiful subject, you are already 90% of the way to a great capture. This was evidently the case as the two required very little feedback, and the entire sessions was enjoyable for all. I can look back and see a few things I would have done differently, but I think that is a given for any photo you look back on after your expertise has improved.

"I think I'll stay inside today..."

"I think I'll stay inside today..."

Experiencing winter in the frigid northwest has been interesting to say the least. Yes, it's cold. But I've been places that have been plenty cold. What gets me is the ridiculously early setting of sun. It's literally gone by 4pm. Things were different in Oklahoma, but then again, the weather was always screwy out there.

I took this photo by the off chance that I looked out my window and noticed it. It was obviously an interesting sight to behold, a bloom at the onset of winter. However, how best to capture it was the challenge. I had learned throughout the last year that my best photographs are those in which I already have a vivid picture in mind of what I want to do with it, and not just hoping to get something good. I had contemplated cutting it and "staging" the photo, but fearful I'd lose the delicate snow crystals on the rose. With a rough idea in mind, I took about a dozen images and went about to PP them.

Lovers Dismay

I wanted it to be along the lines of a dark love story, and as such a lot of blacks and vignetting was added in Lightroom. Additionally, the reds and magentas was increased to accentuate the petals, and a magenta tint was added to the overall image to complete the effect. A quick run through Noise Ninja in Photoshop with the settings tuned down (8, 8, 8) ensured that noise was removed while preserving detail.

Personally, I can't imagine the image any other way.