It records in high quality full HD, with 1920 x 1080 resolution and 30 frames per second. As you can see, it is very compact.
The camera is an 8 Megapixel job, and a very compact camcorder that can actually double as a webcam for Skype.
It was originally priced at $169.95, but should be available for $69.99.
CraftArtist Platinum is a new digital crafting package from Serif. Aimed at “creative types looking to make professional-looking print projects”, the package may be of interest to anyone who wants to easily and quickly make unique photobooks, wedding stationery, cards, scrapbooks etc. at home. The package contains Serif’s CraftArtist Professional software and four creative kits, Baby Photos, Greeting Cards, Wedding Day and Scrapbooks. “CraftArtist Platinum makes the creativity of a craft store accessible to all PC users,” says Gary Bates, Managing Director at Serif. “It offers a fun, easy and affordable way for everyone to create personalised print projects regardless of their age, experience or artistic ability.” CraftArtist Platinum is compatible with Windows 7/Vista/XP and retails at £39.99.
Serif Press Release
Creative Types See Launch of CraftArtist Platinum – a Must-Have Digital Crafting Package
Creative types looking to make professional-looking print projects can now benefit from CraftArtist Platinum, which launched today. The new digital crafting package from Serif, the award-winning publisher of design, publishing and creative software, is perfect for anyone who wants to easily and quickly make unique photobooks, wedding stationery, cards, scrapbooks and loads more at home.
CraftArtist Platinum is the ultimate product specifically designed for those who want to create and print beautiful projects with a stunning finish and share them with friends and family.
The CraftArtist Professional software, which is included in the package, allows designs to be personalised with unlimited pictures and text, plus there are craft tools and photo editing capabilities to help deliver high quality results that are guaranteed to impress. It is incredibly easy to use, thanks to its simple drag-and-drop function and it contains fun video projects for users to follow. What’s more, the creations can be printed from home or made as a PDF or image for professional printing.
In addition to the software, the Platinum edition contains all of the content from four products in the CraftArtist range: Wedding Day, Baby Photos, Greeting Cards and Scrapbooks:
• Wedding Day – the perfect solution for brides and grooms looking to save time and money by creating their own wedding stationery and decorations. There is a range of gorgeous design kits to choose from and each can be customised to suit the couple’s personal style.
• Baby Photos – the complete package for parents who want to get their baby photos where they belong – off the hard drive and into the real world. Make high quality personalised photobooks and cards for friends and family to cherish forever.
• Greeting Cards – the essential software for anyone who wants to make cards exactly the way they want them. It contains everything needed to create and print wonderful personalised cards at home, helping users save money whilst having fun.
• Scrapbooks - the ultimate home scrapbooking software to make something beautiful with those cherished photos. Create unique scrapbooks and albums to share with friends and family.
“CraftArtist Platinum makes the creativity of a craft store accessible to all PC users,” says Gary Bates, Managing Director at Serif. “It offers a fun, easy and affordable way for everyone to create personalised print projects regardless of their age, experience or artistic ability. There really is no other product of this kind. The range of tools and techniques make digital crafting even more realistic and we’re confident users will see it as an invaluable alternative to buying ordinary items found in the stores.”
Another key feature of CraftArtist Platinum is the ability to upload creations with one click to the popular social crafting community, DaisyTrail.com. DaisyTrail is a fantastic website created for getting inspiration, sharing designs and getting help from other crafters.
CraftArtist Platinum is compatible with Windows 7/Vista/XP and retails at £39.99. It will be available directly from Serif at http://www.craftartist.com and from major retailers including Amazon, PC World and Argos. Baby Photos, Wedding Day, Greeting Cards and Scrapbooks are also available separately at £19.99 each.
Kubota Image Tools has announced details for its exclusive Secret Italy 2011 workshop, which will take attendees to several picturesque locations throughout Italy?s famed northern lakes region.
By Mike Panic on 19 Jan 2011 in Guides[ 4 Comments ]
Working with models in photography, as opposed to landscape, street or even wedding and senior portraiture is a skill all unto its own. Unlike most other types of photography, you aren’t shooting a model in most cases, you’re working with the model. Building a rapport with the model you are working with will result in better photographs. Here’s some tips to get get the best working experience when shooting with models.
Have a set game plan
It doesn’t matter if you’re shooting for a client, shooting to build your portfolio or shooting to build the model’s portfolio, having a game plan before you even get to the location or in the studio is essential. Of course each scenario will be different, but prior to shooting you should have a rough idea of the goals for the day will be, how you’ll achieve them and what you expect from the model. Chances are pretty good you’ve never worked with this model, and may never again, so having a time line with expectations and discussing them ahead of time will give the confidence to the model that you know what needs to be done and how they can best help you accomplish the overall goal of the shoot.
Introductions and expectations
Once you arrive to the location, or in your studio, introduce everyone and have a meeting to set expectations. Hair, make-up, assistants, stylists, designers, escorts with models, they all have names and should be address by them, so be sure to introduce everyone. Set the expectations for what you plan to accomplish and the time-line for each task.
Listen to what everyone has to say. If hair or make-up will take longer, or can be done faster, adjust on the fly, but more importantly, get the models input regarding the poses, emotions and feelings you expect. If they tell you they cannot give you the look or pose you want, you either need to figure out what can be done to accomplish this or, an alternative shoot. Again, listening to the models here is crucial, while your client or the stylist might have one set of views on how the day goes, the model can only do what they’re capable of, sometimes a little more. It’s best to find out these limitations ahead of time.
Respect
Everyone on the set should be treated with equal respect as if you were working in an office. Leave the profanity, off-color jokes and overall rudeness at home. Talk with the model, even if it’s not related to exactly what it is you’re shooting.
Be a human! Models are not just moving hangers for clothing, and you’ll build more confidence and get the look you want from having some actual interaction with them. Likewise, they need a break, food and water from time to time, even if it’s rumored models never eat, they do! Additionally, don’t touch the model, ever. If there is a flyaway hair, ask the hair stylist to fix it, if the clothing has wrinkles or is bunching, ask the stylist to fix it.
Contribute to the mood of the shoot
This can be a bit tricky for some photographers to do, since they are worried about gear, lighting, camera angles and everything else, but the mood of the photos needs to come across with your voice too. If this is a fun, happy and jumping around the set type of shoot you too need to be full of energy and encouraging the model in an upbeat and happy tone of voice. The mood of the set should be electric, so the model feels exactly what they are trying to show you with their face and body positioning.
Get to know the model
If the shoot allows for a break (which any shoot over two hours should), get to know your models, and do more listening than talking. Find out where they are from, what they’re interested in, how they enjoy the modeling lifestyle and what their goals and aspirations are. In some sense, it’s the same type of information you’d ask on a first date, without the flirting. Models are human, humans like interaction and as soon as we feel comfortable with each other, better photographs will almost always emerge.
Compared to shooting a wedding or high school portraits, where you are shooting someone for the purpose of remembering that moment in time, working with models is often a byproduct for another purpose. To sell something (the model or whatever they are sponsoring), or your services. With portrait settings, you would hope to get more business by people seeing your work, and thus hiring you. Working with models your work will obviously be out front, but since they are in the industry and not a consumer the way a high school senior is, they are more likely and willing to suggest to another client that they enjoyed working with you and thus drive more business to you via word of mouth. Models are your co-worker for the length of the shoot and hopefully an associate for the rest of your career. Treat them as you would any other co-worker and you’ll earn their respect and build a rapport that will last a lifetime.
Tags: Models, studio
This image has extensive burning (at the back of her head) and dodging (top right) done to it - with remarkable effect!
If you've spent any time in Photoshop editing your images, you'll have noticed a "dodging" and "burning" tools. They are used for making an image lighter and darker respectively, but why the odd icons? Why is there a lollypop and a fist as part of your Photoshop tool palette?
As you may have guessed, it's a hangover from the darkroom days - and it's a technique that is great fun to play with if you're ever printing your own images.
A darkroom enlarger is sort of like a camera, but 'backwards'. In a camera, you have a lens that gathers light and projects it onto a film plane. A darkroom enlarger also has a lens, and the film is pretty much in the same place as in a camera, but a light bulb is placed on the opposite side of the lens. By turning the light bulb on, the lens 'projects' an enlargement of the image onto photographic paper.
You can 'focus' the lens so your image is sharply in focus on the paper, you can choose a more or less sensitive paper (analogous to picking a higher or lower ISO film), and you can choose a longer or shorter exposure (which turns the lamp on for longer / shorter). You can also select a different aperture on the projection lens, which has much the same effect as on your camera: A smaller aperture requires a longer exposure, etc.
To determine how light or dark your print is going to be, you choose an 'exposure' by choosing how sensitive the paper is you are using, you choose an aperture, and a 'shutter speed'. Just like with your camera, it's possible to over- or under-expose your image at this point.
Its worth keeping in mind that your photographic film will be negative, and the paper is negative as well - the dark portions of the film will become light on the final print, and the light areas on the film will be dark on the print.
To dodge means to avoid something by a sudden quick movement, or to move quickly to one side or out of the way. It's a pretty good description of how you would dodge something in the darkroom. In the darkroom, you would use a piece of black paper on a thin stick - which, when seen in silhouette, looks a little bit like a lollypop.
When dodging in the darkroom, you would traditionally select a slightly longer exposure (it gives you a bit of time to work). Then, when your paper is being exposed by the light, you could make some portions of the image lighter by moving the dodge tool between the lens and the paper. Because some parts of the paper get less light, they are lighter on the final print.
Burning is, as you might have guessed, the exact opposite; When burning, you would traditionally do 'half an exposure' normally (or whilst dodging, as above), followed by another exposure of the same paper. Because the enlarger head is firmly fixed and the paper doesn't move between exposures, 'stacking' exposures like this is no problem.
When burning, you would use a tool that would block some light, but let some light through.The areas you are 'burning' will come out darker: more light on the paper causes the print to be darker.
For the burning process, it is useful to have a tool where you can easily change the aperture (i.e. the size of the hole that lets the light through) - and it turns out that your hand is the perfect tool. By changing the shape of your hand, you can make a small hole for the light to pass through for fine work, or you can create quite a big hole, for darkening larger parts of the image. Hence the hand icon in Photoshop!
Canon will debut a collaborative film, entitled “The Story Beyond The Still,” on 23th January, at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. “The Story Beyond the Still” began as a year-long contest, launched in January 2010 on Vimeo that allowed photographers and videographers to showcase their creativity in a new style of filmmaking that blended still and video images into a continuous cinematic piece begun by Canon Explorer of Light, Vincent Laforet. The complete short film, including the final chapter starring The Breakfast Club star, Judd Nelson, will be viewed in its entirety at this private event during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. It will then publicly première on 7th February on the Sundance Channel and Vimeo.
Canon Press Release
Canon U.S.A. Collaborates With the 2011 Sundance Film Festival To Launch “The Story Beyond The Still” Short Film
As the Official Digital Camera of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, Canon Educates Filmmakers About the HD Video Capabilities of DSLR Cameras
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y.,January 20, 2011 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging and the Official Digital Camera of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, will debut a collaborative film, entitled “The Story Beyond The Still,” on Sunday, January 23, at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. This exclusive event will be attended by Sundance Film Festival guests, industry professionals and members of the media. The film will then publicly premiere on Monday, February 7, on the Sundance Channel and Vimeo.com.
“The Story Beyond the Still” began as a year-long contest, launched in January 2010 on Vimeo that allowed photographers and videographers to showcase their creativity in a new style of filmmaking that blended still and video images into a continuous cinematic piece begun by Canon Explorer of Light, Vincent Laforet. The complete short film, including the final chapter starring The Breakfast Club star, Judd Nelson, will be viewed in its entirety at this private event during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
“At Canon, we strive to let the visions of all filmmakers be realized,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies and Communications Group, Canon U.S.A. “We are proud to be a sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival where we will showcase the full ‘The Story Beyond The Still’ collaborative film that demonstrates the first-hand benefits of shooting still and moving images with Canon’s industry-revolutionizing HD DSLR cameras.”
Shooting video on DSLR cameras has become increasingly popular among filmmakers and enthusiasts. Nearly twenty percent of the overall 2011 Sundance Film Festival films were shot on HD DSLR cameras, demonstrating the rapid adoption of these cameras as the shooting equipment of choice among today’s filmmakers. More importantly, these cameras are revolutionizing the industry, allowing photographers and videographers to showcase their creativity in a new style of filmmaking that blends still and video images.
Canon will also have a “The Story Beyond the Still” room presence the entire week to showcase its latest and greatest digital imaging products. Located at the Festival Co-op, attendees will be able to view the film, learn about Canon products and be entered into a daily drawing for a Canon EOS 60D DSLR camera kit.
Friday, January 21 – Saturday, January 29, Open 10a.m. – 6p.m.
Festival Co-op
628 Main Street, Park City, UT
“The advent of full HD video capture on DSLR cameras has opened the doors to new and exciting possibilities to independent and emerging filmmakers,” said Trevor Groth, director of programming, Sundance Film Festival. “It is simply amazing to see how independent films are utilizing these cameras in new and exciting ways each year. They have truly changed the game.”
As the Official Digital Camera of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, Canon U.S.A. will host exclusive educational workshops led by filmmaker Eric Schmidt, creator of the film, “I Melt with You,” which was shot using Canon DSLRs and will premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. These workshops, targeting film enthusiasts and professionals, will highlight the impact and need for DSLR cameras in the filmmaking industry. Attendees will gain both technical and creative expertise to advance their careers and involve them with the new realm of DSLR video. The workshops will take place on the following dates and location:
Friday, January 21, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 22, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
New Frontier Blue Building
1354 Park Ave, Park City, UT
“The Story Beyond the Still” Contest Background
The contest, sponsored by Canon U.S.A. and Vimeo, invited participants to use the HD video capability of their DSLR cameras to create short, two-to-four minute videos that tell a story based on the final still frame from Laforet’s piece, and then from each successive winning “chapter.” Videos were submitted online and judged by a prestigious group of well-known filmmakers and the Vimeo community itself.
“The incredibly high-quality work submitted for ‘The Story Beyond the Still’ from the Vimeo community is a reflection of how truly beautiful and compelling user-generated video can be with the right tools and services,” said Dae Mellencamp, Vimeo’s general manager. “It was a pleasure working with Canon U.S.A. on ‘The Story Behind the Still’ as this contest was a natural fit with our online community and collaboratively engaged our members by letting them create and vote on the best video productions.”
To kick off the contest, Laforet collaborated with Grey New York to bring his interpretation of a still image to life in a short film entitled “The Cabbie,” which served as the first installment of a seven chapter collaborative work in which each participant was asked to interpret the previous winning photographer/filmmaker’s final still image as the start of their vision for the subsequent chapter.
“The innovative nature of the “The Story Behind the Still” contest demonstrates how storytelling has evolved to become a wonderful social experiment in collaborative filmmaking,” said Ari Halper, senior vice president executive creative director of Grey NY. “The awards won by this campaign, including the prestigious 2010 Cannes Advertising Festival: Gold Media Lion, Silver Promo Lion, Titanium/Integrated Lion, are a testament to how this contest has created a new milestone in filmmaking – one that inspires individuals to express themselves in new and interesting ways using the increased functionality of their cameras.”
I’m going to go out on a limb and state, for the record, I don’t like the overuse of HDR that is touted as examples of good HDR these days. I am not some fundamentalist, purist curmudgeon who despises progress and still does his art with firewood charcoal on a cave wall. I love digital photography. And its limits. Yes, I love the limits.
The limits of digital photography, currently, keep the images captured within the realm of realistic, lifelike photos. Photography, from its roots, has always been an attempt at capturing reality as seen through the eyes of the person behind the camera. That has certainly changed over the years as people experiment with new techniques and ideas. Experimenting and expanding is good and this is where some of you may find space to call me a hypocrite.
But before you do, hear me out and then I’d actually enjoy hearing your sane, civil, reasoned rebuttal in the comments section below.
HDR, when overused, is a grotesque abomination of the reality of life. I’m thinking here of cityscapes looking directly into the sun. Those types of scenes when the human brain looks at the HDR image and screams, ?Fake!?. I’m not using any examples in this post so as to not focus on any one particular images. Rather, for me, the annoyance comes from attempting to create something that doesn’t exist.
Is it art, if not an accurate representation of what is? I doubt it. Most of the HDR I have seen passed around the internet as ?amazing? is not attempting art. It is taking a literal scene that you enjoy and attempting to skirt around the reality of it; that it’s too harshly lit, that it has huge shadows or that the contrast is making things not so pretty. It’s taking an attempt at reality and turning it into a lie.
Maybe I am an old curmudgeon after all. To me, HDR is trying to improve on the beauty of life as experienced through the human eye and brain. It’s saying, ?Oh, you can’t see the highlight and the shadows at the same time? Here, let me change that.? I know, things like this have been happening for centuries. Things like polarized sunglasses which surely alter our perception of the world. Or even rose colored glasses. All of them do, so why shouldn’t HDR?
Because there is so much more to learn and improve in the realm of photography that HDR need not even apply. It bugs me that, when I look at the full gallery of someone with an HDR shot, on Flickr for instance, people getting into it still don’t have the fundamental basics down to the point where they can produce solid photos time and time again. I see it used more as a gimmick than an honest extension of one’s artistic vision. Yes, there are some photographers, much accomplished in the field, who experiment with HDR. But the majority of people trying out HDR, and taking it too far, are people who should be experimenting with shutter speed and depth of field first!
It’s not that HDR is totally evil (just mostly) and should be done away with. I know it’s a bit of a craze and newfangled thing right now. Just stop taking it too far and stop using it in place of proper exposure and accepting the limits of the scene in front of you. There is so much great stuff to learn about proper exposure that the HDR gadget can just sit at the back of the drawer like the outgrown toy it has become.
Care to differ? Please do! Just keep it civil.
Post from: Digital Photography School
I’m going to go out on a limb and state, for the record, I don’t like the overuse of HDR that is touted as examples of good HDR these days. I am not some fundamentalist, purist curmudgeon who despises progress and still does his art with firewood charcoal on a cave wall. I love digital photography. And its limits. Yes, I love the limits.
The limits of digital photography, currently, keep the images captured within the realm of realistic, lifelike photos. Photography, from its roots, has always been an attempt at capturing reality as seen through the eyes of the person behind the camera. That has certainly changed over the years as people experiment with new techniques and ideas. Experimenting and expanding is good and this is where some of you may find space to call me a hypocrite.
But before you do, hear me out and then I’d actually enjoy hearing your sane, civil, reasoned rebuttal in the comments section below.
HDR, when overused, is a grotesque abomination of the reality of life. I’m thinking here of cityscapes looking directly into the sun. Those types of scenes when the human brain looks at the HDR image and screams, “Fake!”. I’m not using any examples in this post so as to not focus on any one particular images. Rather, for me, the annoyance comes from attempting to create something that doesn’t exist.
Is it art, if not an accurate representation of what is? I doubt it. Most of the HDR I have seen passed around the internet as “amazing” is not attempting art. It is taking a literal scene that you enjoy and attempting to skirt around the reality of it; that it’s too harshly lit, that it has huge shadows or that the contrast is making things not so pretty. It’s taking an attempt at reality and turning it into a lie.
Maybe I am an old curmudgeon after all. To me, HDR is trying to improve on the beauty of life as experienced through the human eye and brain. It’s saying, “Oh, you can’t see the highlight and the shadows at the same time? Here, let me change that.” I know, things like this have been happening for centuries. Things like polarized sunglasses which surely alter our perception of the world. Or even rose colored glasses. All of them do, so why shouldn’t HDR?
Because there is so much more to learn and improve in the realm of photography that HDR need not even apply. It bugs me that, when I look at the full gallery of someone with an HDR shot, on Flickr for instance, people getting into it still don’t have the fundamental basics down to the point where they can produce solid photos time and time again. I see it used more as a gimmick than an honest extension of one’s artistic vision. Yes, there are some photographers, much accomplished in the field, who experiment with HDR. But the majority of people trying out HDR, and taking it too far, are people who should be experimenting with shutter speed and depth of field first!
It’s not that HDR is totally evil (just mostly) and should be done away with. I know it’s a bit of a craze and newfangled thing right now. Just stop taking it too far and stop using it in place of proper exposure and accepting the limits of the scene in front of you. There is so much great stuff to learn about proper exposure that the HDR gadget can just sit at the back of the drawer like the outgrown toy it has become.
Care to differ? Please do! Just keep it civil.
Copyright By Socceraholic
Low angle shots give us a different view on the world. Most of our lives are spent well above ground level and by the time we are teenagers we rarely spend much time down low any more. Yet there is a whole world down there!! Plus the forced perspective brings a boring, everyday scene into new light when done right. So what are some tips on taking great low angle shots?
The first step in low angle is accepting you will not be able to look through your viewfinder most of the time. A lot of shots require the camera in such an angle that only the smallest of frogs could take a peek. If your camera has a flipout view screen, you will be thanking your lucky stars. If not, get used to having to go by sense of feel on this one.
Low angle shots work best with a wider lens. Something in the 10-22mm range for 1.6 crop factor cameras works quite well. Fisheye lenses can also be handy. This is not to say a zoom doesn’t do the job if you can lay on your belly and frame things. It is just much harder to crop the image right in the filed of view that it will be with a wider zoom. Although three is no reason you can’t have it both ways and opt for something like a 18-200mm zoom which will allow for a lot of room to play.
A low angle shot is going to have objects near and far. That is part of its appeal, being able to show the perspective by including foreground objects. This means you will need to understand your camera and lens combination’s sweet spot for aperture. Cranking the f-stop up as high as it will go does not insure perfect depth of of field front to back. Each lens has positive and negative aspects this approach and it is best to learn where your lens performs best, then use that setting (via a Aperture Priority mode). Even better, some cameras have a Depth Of Field mode, which will do its darndest to hold as much of the image in focus as it can, by correlating both aperture and focus points.
When you bring the camera close to the ground or other low object, take an extra second to insure your camera is level. This will save time in front of the computer realigning everything. It may not seem like a big deal at the time, but if you want to use this technique again and again, it’s best to learn leveling early. It can be a huge time saver in the long run.
The good news is, if you can’t get it perfect, there always is the computer to make it nice and level. I simply prefer to get it right in the camera the first time around, even if it means a lot of trial and error to learn.
It may be a sunny day and all your shots are coming out well. A nice balance of light and the exposure seems to be spot on…until you go for a low shot. The foreground is dark and the sky is not that well defined. What’s happening?
If your low angle shot is including a lot of sky, and it is a bright day, you will need to compensate or, possibly, accept the limits of the scene in front of you. Shooting up and near the sun will make your camera squint with all its might, just like you would if you were laying on the ground looking partially into the sun. To compensate, take a pick between the dark and the light and go for it. If you want a lot of sky or cloud to be defined, underexpose. If the foreground is too precious to you to let go, overexpose and accept that the sky will be blown out. But at least you can capture the aspect that is most important to you.
Imagine the scene from down low before taking the shot. Just like eye level photographs, frame the scene to include something of interest. Maybe it’s just a rock, or an apple or anything. This is a chance to make the mundane appear huge by perspective. Because of the angle, nearby objects will be exaggerated in their size. Play around with it.
This is where digital is a boon to the photographer. While I’m not a fan of reviewing every shot on a camera’s view screen, learning from your mistakes has never been easier than with the digital revolution. Use it! Take a shot and see what can be changed, either with exposure or composition, and try, try again until the shot you want is captured.
Just don’t forget to delete the dozens of attempts that failed before you get home to download.
Low angle photography can be a fun way to spice things up in your picture taking world. Don’t be afraid to experiment and see the world from another point of view!
Post from: Digital Photography School
deGeo is a new photo sharing app for iOS that helps iPhone and iPad users guard personal their privacy by removing the built-in geotags when sharing photos.
This is a an interesting viral video that I have been seeing about a camera mounted on an arrow.
Think about that one scene in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. That was about the only good thing about that movie.
Of course, it is always a little dizzying to see a camera mounted on something. Some of you might remember that scene in Cast Away when the camera was mounted on a long triangular box.
I think it is a pretty amazing vid, and it has a lot more spinning than I thought. How about a camera on a bullet? Let see that one!
gyroCam is an iPhone app that automatically levels photos in real time, while shooting. The app uses a combination of accelerometer and gyro sensors in camera-equipped iOS devices to frame a level 4:3 sub-image from the scene, with perfect alignment every time. In addition to its unique gyro capabilities, gyroCam is also a full-featured camera app, offering tap-to-focus and exposure, front and rear camera control, focus and exposure activity indicators, and much more. gyroCam 1.0.1 sells for for $0.99 on the iTunes App Store, and works on any camera-equipped iOS device with iOS 4.2 or later, although some functions are available with certain models only.
Press Release
Announcing gyroCam - the camera app that puts an end to crooked photos
Virginia based Hunter Research and Technology today introduces gyroCam 1.0.1 for iPhone and iPod touch. gyroCam automatically levels photos in real time, while shooting. With gyroCam, users don’t need to worry about crooked aim or setting up and taking level shots - the app does it for them. gyroCam frames a level 4:3 sub-image from the scene, with perfect alignment every time. gyroCam brings a true point-and-shoot capability to iOS devices, and makes photography easier and more fun.
Williamsburg Virginia - Hunter Research and Technology, developer of the award winning augmented reality app Theodolite, today is pleased to announce the release of gyroCam on the iTunes App Store. This full-featured camera app has a killer new feature: it automatically levels photos in real time, while shooting. With gyroCam, users don’t need to worry about crooked aim or setting up and taking level shots - the app does it for them. gyroCam brings a true point-and-shoot capability to iOS devices, and makes photography easier and more fun.
gyroCam uses a combination of accelerometer and gyro sensors in camera-equipped iOS devices to frame a level shot from any scene. The app is great for action shots, macro shots, self portraits, scene compositions, and situations where it’s hard to line up a level image due to complicated terrain, bad position, poor aim, or lack of time to aim. gyroCam frames a level 4:3 sub-image from the scene, with perfect alignment every time. In addition to its unique gyro capabilities, gyroCam is also a full-featured camera app, offering the following:
* Small, large, burst, and timer shot modes
* Manual tap-to-focus and exposure (iPhone 3GS, 4)
* Focus and exposure activity indicators
* Front camera (iPhone 4, iPod 4) and rear camera
* Flash on/off/auto (iPhone 4)
* 1X, 2X, 4X zoom
* Fast buffered image saves
* HUD on/off options
* Portrait and landscape level reference frames
* Gyro clip, fill, and off modes
Pricing and Availability:
gyroCam 1.0.1 sells for for $0.99 on the iTunes App Store, and is available worldwide. The app works on any camera-equipped iOS device with iOS 4.2 or later. This includes the iPhone 3G, 3GS, and 4, and the 4th-generation iPod touch. More information, including screenshots, is available on the Hunter Research and Technology website. Media professionals interested in reviewing gyroCam can request a promotional code to download the app from iTunes at no cost.
gyroCam 1.0.1: http://hrtapps.com/gyrocam/
Purchase and Download: http://itunes.apple.com/app/id385490401
Why Photographs Work by George Barr is now available in the United Kingdom.
I’m packing again. I sometimes wonder why I bother unpacking, it seems such a recurring task. A month ago we returned from Vietnam, then the Isle of Skye beckoned, and now we’re off to the Philippines. Once again the spare room is a loading depot with camera bags gaping open and clothing, chargers, books, boots and sunglasses ready to pack. I’ve the usual headaches; how many lenses can I take, how to get it all on the plane and how will we fare jumping on and off boats with it all in the Sulu Sea. There are so many variables to consider; and each and every trip is different.
I remember a scene from Michael Palin’s Pole to Pole when he was checking in at an airport. The camera panned around to reveal all the crew and their kit forming their own snaking queue, with innumerable aluminium cases, booms, tripods and soft bags cluttering the terminal, not to mention bodies. I was envious. The thought of taking what I like with someone else sorting it all out and paying the excess baggage is so appealing. But in the Real World I have to always make compromises and box clever, paring down what comes along to what we can carry. There is a powerful argument for keeping it simple; photography does not have to be a logistical exercise akin to the invasion of Iraq. With one DSLR and two lenses like a 24-70mm & 70-200mm a roving photographer is well equipped for most situations. Being there is the important thing, not how much gear is being deployed, and travelling light has so many advantages. With this basic set up a small camera bag that causes no back injuries or raised eyebrows at check in is just the job. So that clearly is the way I should approach the Philippines trip. But of course I’ll need a spare body, and chargers. I’ll want to use my 85mm f1.2 for portraits, and I can’t live without my tilt & shifts these days. A long tom perspective can be so handy, so the 100-400mm has to go in. Not to mention the 16-35mm, fisheye, 14mm, flash and tripod. I’ll need to back up images as cards are filled, process a few images for the newsletter on the hoof and write my despatches as we go, so the portable hard drive and lap top have to come. It’s all just got a whole lot more complicated. I need to go back to basics and try to get a handle on the essentials. A logical approach is needed.
Annapurna: Annapurna, Nepal. Fuji GX617 panoramic camera. For a Himalayan trek a camera bag with a backpacking harness was necessary.
With any journey what needs to be packed is determined by where we’re headed, and how we’re travelling. Clearly the requirements for a Himalayan trek are very different to a road trip to Provence. The most difficult trip to pack for is a long haul cool weather camping trip to a wilderness location. There’s all the photographic gear to consider plus camping kit, thermal and waterproof clothing, and all the rest. That’s not so bad if it can all be loaded in the back of the car, but to fly with it all is a nightmare. Get a bunch of photographers together and inevitably the conversation will turn to the hassles of flying with all our gear. We lay awake at night staring at the ceiling, tossing and turning whilst envisaging uncomfortable confrontations with intransigent check in staff. It is the point of no return, that moment when the camera bag containing all those precious optics is threatened with consignment to the hold because it’s too big or heavy. A camera bag stuffed with top of the range DSLRs and expensive glass is about to be manhandled and pilfered ruthlessly by swarthy, tattooed and corrupt baggage handlers initially trained as Ukrainian weight lifters. I’m coming out in a cold sweat just writing this. It doesn’t bare thinking about. I think we can surmise choice of camera bag is critical.
Morraine Lake in winter, Alberta, Canada. Canon 1Ds mkIII, 16-35mm lens. For landscape work a sizeable bag is handy to carry all the gear plus the extra clothing needed.
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