The world's last Kodachrome processing lab has developed its last roll of film and marked the end of an era for photography enthusiasts.

This video explains into depth how to create a photograph that offers an increase in the dynamic range (or higher dynamic range) that is done by using your camera's Multiple Exposure alone rather than using Photomatix HDR (High Dynamic Range) photographic image software, which usually result in unusable garbage due to lack of knowledge in tone mapping.

Since doing this in-camera offers realistic higher dynamic range than garbage results coming from Photomatix.

No, you cannot use Auto Exposure Bracketing while Multiple Exposure because with AEB enabled, the Multiple Exposure will be disabled. Enjoy.

Photo retouching: Make HDR (High Dynamic Range) pictures - HDR Tutorial

HDR technique enhances details in a picture and allows achieving truly unique results. It can be carefully used in order to produce most natural results, while a heavier processing would lead to more particular creative results.

Tools

The software tools needed to produce HDR images are a RAW file processor (Photoshop is ok), and an HDR specific software, the most famous one is PhotoMatix.

How to shoot the pictures

There are two ways to get source pictures for an HDR processing.The first one relies on the AEB (Automatic Exposure Bracketing) function of the camera: it allows setting the camera to automatically shoot three pictures of the same subject, each with a different exposure level.

The second one requires a single RAW shot, which will be used to produce three or more images during the post-processing phase.

Tutorial HDR Photography - How to realize HDR photographies

High Dynamic Range, technichally speaking, means achieving as a result a very wide dynamic range, exceeding the physiscal limits of the sensor, thanks to the possibilty of easily combine digital pictures each having exposure settings optimized for the different areas of the scene.

From this definition follows that it is impossible to achieve a true HDR picture from a single shot, because a single shot has a dynamic range inside the sensor's limits.

The HDR technique has some limitations, as all techniques, the main one is that it can only be applied to static subjects and scenes, with the camera mounted on a tripod.

Sometimes the term HDR is referred not to a photo-editing technique, but to pictures showing very saturated colors, high contrast and diffused brightness allover the image, whose can be obtained from a single shot with some post-production job. But this is not a true HDR in the sense we meant in this paper, it is just post-production.

The main characteristic of a true HDR picture is a very wide dynamic range, wider than the sensor can phisically capture, and therefore with "opened" shadows and "limited" highlights even when the contrast is high, in those situations where a sensor would tipically close shadows and/or burn highlights. Situations where a single shot (whatever the RAW file is processed) cannot contains complete information. Therefore, it is obvious that it is impossible to get HDR images from a single RAW file.

Comparison among Nikon D7000, Canon EOS 60D and Canon EOS 7D. Three cameras really great, but which one is better? You will absolutely determine which one best fits your needs after I have presented all the details on these cameras.

Here are the technical characteristics compared schematically

It is to make a clarification, the 19 autofocus points of 7D are all cross, the D7000 has only 9-point cross, the central ones.

The 7D and 60D both have the same sensor size 18 MP and the D7000 has 16MP. Realistically I'm going to say that neither the one nor the other really have an advantage in this area. Canon 18MP image is 5184 pixels wide and an Nikon 16MP image is 4928 pixels wide. Only a difference of 256 pixels in width; in my opinion the difference is small, especially for what all the amateur photographers do.

The D7000 has 16MP vs 18MP of the 7D and 60D; this fact has little relevance on the resolution but will have a beneficial effect on performance at high ISO. As with many of their cameras, Nikon has decided to offer a lower density of pixels in order to generate less noise per pixel. The D7000 has the ISO expansion to ISO 25600, and Canon up to 12,800.

Nikon has improved in terms of video recording. We finally have 1080p although strangely only 24p. While Canon may register at 1080p 30 frames per second, and so Canon still has the record for this category. Nikon offers 30 to 720p which suggests that 30 to 1080p was simply too much to handle for the processor Nikon. Both the 60D and 7D offer 50/60 fps at 720p. About frame rate then Nikon has only improved its cameras and still does not come close to Canon.

But these are just words that are based on technical data. I think that a video that I found online is much more useful to decide which of these cameras are more suited to our needs.

The video of DigitalRev shows the comparison between the 7D and D7000. Let's see this video.

There is also the price to be considered: the Nikon D7000 camera only costs from 1100 to 1200 €, while the Canon EOS 60D and 7D camera only cost respectively from 1300 to 1400 € (7D) and from 1000 to 1050 € (60D).

So which of these cameras to buy? As I've said it all depends on your needs, if you are interested in video take a Canon, from the perspective of photography are all 3 great, and I think few photographers manage to make the most, after all the differences are small details.

I advise you to pick them up and try.

Facebook is not just a popular social network. It’s a company with several cool offices around the world. With 500 million members, Facebook can allow its workers to work in a friendly and pleasurable atmosphere that most of us can only dream of.

How to take successful photos at night, by Gordon Laing.

Photos taken at night can produce spectacular results – in fact many cities present their best views after dark. Night photography can also be very forgiving in bad weather, so if rain’s prevented you from grabbing the shots you want of a city, it’s well worth trying again after sunset.

A four minute video tour around the Nikkor 18-200mm VR zoom lens by Gordon Laing, Editor of www.cameralabs.com.

The Nikkor DX 18-200mm VR II is an 11.1x super-zoom lens designed for Nikon's range of DX format DSLRs. Announced in July 2009, it's the update to one of the most popular lenses for the Nikon system, now equipping it with better protection against zoom creep, where the lens barrel can inadvertently extend or retract under its own weight.

Thich Quang Duc, as a layman Lâm Văn TUC (Hoi Khánh - French Indochina, 1897 - Saigon, June 11, 1963), was a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk that set himself on fire in Saigon in 1963 to protest against the administration of President of South Vietnam, the Catholic Ngô định Diem, and his policy of oppression of the Buddhist religion.

Thich Quang Đức became famous all over the world thanks to the famous photograph of his self-immolation, taken by Malcolm Browne earned him the prize World Press Photo of the Year for 1963.

After his death, Thich Quang Đức's body was cremated again. The fact in the ashes hi heart was found intact, finally convinced the Buddhist of the value of compassion and ever since he has been revered as a bodhisattva.

This amazing software,that works either on Linux platforms or Windows ones,enbles us to ''explore'' our planet thanks to satellite imagery. As you can see by opening the sotware, a tridimentional globe will be displayed, you can zoom in on it until you get to see your home too.

Click on this link to download the software: http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en_uk/earth/download/ge/agree.html

The most wonderful thing is that besides satellite imagery images from Panoramio useres are included too. Panoramio is a community were every user has his own photogallery. Photos meeting certain criteria are displayed for the place that the user is exploring on google earth.

It's a great way to acquire visibility and compare yourself to other photographers. I've learned a lot from this website.that's the link where you can sign up to Panoramio: http://www.panoramio.com/

The wonderful picture shown here has been taken from this link: Amzing_HDR_Collection-martin2106

In a previous paper on this topic: "Photo retouching: Make HDR (High Dynamic Range) pictures - HDR Tutorial", I have briefly explained which softwares and procedures are better in order to achieve this kind of pictures.

This paper continues the tutorial and goes deeper in the topic.

High Dynamic Range, technichally speaking, means achieving as a result a very wide dynamic range, exceeding the physiscal limits of the sensor, thanks to the possibilty of easily combine digital pictures each having exposure settings optimized for the different areas of the scene.

From this definition follows that it is impossible to achieve a true HDR picture from a single shot, because a single shot has a dynamic range inside the sensor's limits.

The HDR technique has some limitations, as all techniques, the main one is that it can only be applied to static subjects and scenes, with the camera mounted on a tripod.

Sometimes the term HDR is referred not to a photo-editing technique, but to pictures showing very saturated colors, high contrast and diffused brightness allover the image, whose can be obtained from a single shot with some post-production job. But this is not a true HDR in the sense we meant in this paper, it is just post-production.

The main characteristic of a true HDR picture is a very wide dynamic range, wider than the sensor can phisically capture, and therefore with "opened" shadows and "limited" highlights even when the contrast is high, in those situations where a sensor would tipically close shadows and/or burn highlights. Situations where a single shot (whatever the RAW file is processed) cannot contains complete information. Therefore, it is obvious that it is impossible to get HDR images from a single RAW file.

Digital cameras behave like film ones: the correct exposure allows achieving the widest tones extension, with the best rendering of lights and shadows. Every variation from the correct exposure means loosing something from one side or another. Moving away from the equilibrium condition always leads to a more or less noticeable loss of information. As an example, suppose you have done a first shot where you exposed for highlights, a second shot with an average exposure and the third one exposed for shadows. By merging theese three pictures you should get a single image richest in colors and details than each of the original ones.

In less photographic terms, when we set the exposure and the ISO values, we actually choose how much the sensors signal is aplified by the camera electronics. The amplifications acts both on signal and noise. If we set a high ISO value, that is a high amplification factor, in order to achieve higher details in shadows, the consequence is that highlights will be burned out. Conversely, if we set optimal exposure for lights, shadows may appear as uniform black areas without shadings. Depending on the image, such effects may be more or less evident and more or less recoverable.

HDR technique enhances details in a picture and allows achieving truly unique results. It can be carefully used in order to produce most natural results, while a heavier processing would lead to more particular creative results.

The software tools needed to produce HDR images are a RAW file processor (Photoshop is ok), and an HDR specific software, the most famous one is PhotoMatix.

There are two ways to get source pictures for an HDR processing.The first one relies on the AEB (Automatic Exposure Bracketing) function of the camera: it allows setting the camera to automatically shoot three pictures of the same subject, each with a different exposure level.

The second one requires a single RAW shot, which will be used to produce three or more images during the post-processing phase.

In order to achieve the HDR picture, open the three source shots in RAW with PhotoMatix. Select HDRI - Generate HDR. The software will ask you to confirm exposure for the three images and will suggest values that can be used in most cases.

When the processing is over, with the function Tone Mapping it si possible to adjust the image tones.

The tone mapping is the most creative step of the procedure and allows giving the own personal imprint to the final result.

By adequately setting brightness of shadows, the intensity of local contrast, the color saturation, white and black levels, the micro-smoothing and the micro-contrast (the enhancement of local details), very original results will be achieved.

Starting from the CS2 version, it is possible to make HDR pictures with Photoshop, even if results are not so good as with PhotoMatix.

The procedure is the following: select File -> Automate -> Merge to HDR, and then select a series of 3-5 pictures of the same subject, with different exposure levels, and click OK (it is highly recommended to tick the option to auto-align the images).

Photoshop will process the source images and produce an HDR picture. Then the Tone Mapping can be adjusted: go to Image -> Mode and select "8 bits/channel", a dialog window will appear, here set "Local Adaption" and configure as you like.

Qtpfsgui is a free software (Open Source) that allows creating HDR pictures.

This is the D7000 firmware upgrade download. This service provides software for upgrading D7000 A firmware to Ver. 1.01 and B firmware to Ver. 1.01. This software allows for simultaneous update of both A and B firmware to the latest version.

If this latest firmware version is already installed in your camera, you need not proceed with download or installation of this Firmware Upgrade. Current firmware versions can be verified from the Firmware version item in the camera's setup menu.

- Bright spots were sometimes noticeable with live view mode or movie recording of especially dark scenes or subjects. Occurrence of this issue has been reduced.

1. Download the application, and either click Save to save the executable file to your computer or Run to autoexpand the file into the D7000Update folder, which contains the D7000_0101.bin file.

2. Format an approved SD card in the camera

3. Use an SD card reader and copy the D7000_0101.bin file to the top level of the card and outside of the DCIM folder.

4. Insert the SD memory card containing D7000_0101.bin into the camera's memory card slot 1, and switch on the camera.

5. Select Firmware version from the setup menu and follow instructions displayed to upgrade the camera’s firmware.

6. DO NOT turn off the camera until the instructions indicate it is safe to do so. After the firmware is completed, switch off the camera nd remove the SD memory card.

7. Switch on the camera, and access the Firmware version item in the setup menu to confirm that the camera's firmware has been upgraded. Switch camera off, re-insert SD memory card.

8. Format memory card in camera for use.

The unknown rebel, or "tank man", is the nickname of an anonymous man who achieved widespread international recognition due to the films and photographs taken of the incident in Tiananmen protests of 5 june 1984. Many photos were taken of the boy, who was standing in front of the Chinese Type 59 tanks, blocking their way.the most common version of the photo is the one taken by Jeff Widener (Associated Press) from the sixth floor of the Beijing hotel,to a distance of more or less 1 km, using a 400 mm lens.

Another version is the one shot by the photographer Stuart Franklin (Magnum photos). his photo is wider then Weider's one, and it shows many more tanks in front of the boy. In 2003, it was published in Life's magazie's ''100 photos that changed the world''. many versions of the photo were shown all over the world by BBC and CNN. In 1989 the Newsweek photographer Charlie Cole won the World Press Photo award for the shot that became the symbol of the rebellion against Chinese government.

That immortal shoot reached the whole world in a while.it became the headline of every newspaper or major magazines,and the boy became the protagonist of countless articles around the world. in april 1998, Times magazine included "the unknown rebel" in its list of  ''20th century's 100 most influential people''

The accident happened on july 5th, 1989, in Chang'an avenue, next to Tiananmen square, which is on the way to Beijing's forbidden city. The morning after the Chinese military forcibly removed protestors from in and around Beijing's Tiananmen square. The man stood in the way of the tanks, challenging them. He was holding two bags, one in each hand.as soon as the tanks reached the stop signal, it looked as if the boy wanted to chase them off. In response, the tanks started to wheel around him, but the guy blocked them many times by repeatedly facing them and using the passive resistance techinque.

If you take a closer look at the photo, and assume the zebra crossing as reference point.it's clear that the tanks had moved forward.After blocking the tanks, the boy climbed up to the top and said something to the driver. No verified proof exists of what they told to each other,maybe ''Why you're here? My city fell into chaos because of you'', ''step back,turn direction and stop killing my people'' or ''Go away!''.

An British newspaper spread the news that the boy was executed some days after the event, but rumors haven't been confirmed yet.

Steve Huff is one of the very few “professional reviewers” that tested the Ricoh GXR: “So all in all, the Ricoh seems like a misunderstood camera. Those who own one LOVE it. Those who don’t dismiss it because it is different. Me, I like it and I am having a blast shooting with it. The camera really is for those who put quality photos first. For $1000 or so the body and 28mm would make a great starter set. Adding the 50 makes it much more versatile.“

In order to make a photography portfolio, a photographer needs to edit down their best 20 to 30 photographs. Make a photography portfolio that is cohesive and shows a personal style with tips from a professional photographer in this free video on photography.

Is photojournalism dead? The debate has been raging for decades, and, ever since former Magnum Photos director Neil Burgess called time of death, it has taken the web by storm. But do young and emerging photographers really care?

The shutter is usually made by a fine metal curtain, extremely thin and delicate (you better not touch it!) that when lifted, lets the light in (juts like your home's curtains) and when down, stops the stream of light. In some reflex cameras, and some compact point and shoot there is no shutter , whose presence it's simulated by the light turned on and off of the sensor. Now that we know what it is let;s have a look at its use. The exposure time is another parameter useful for us to decide how much light we want to use. With the same aperture, a slow exposure time will allow more light in compared to a faster exposure, like for example if we leave the faucet open in our bathtub for a longer time we'll obviously end up having more water in the tub and the opposite happens if we leave it open for a shorter time.. To have a correct exposure we should leave that faucet open only for the right amount of time.In these three pictures below, we can see how, with the same aperture, the level of light (i.e. water in the tub) is more or less according to the shutter speed (i.e. the faucet). Usually the times are indicated by fractions of seconds, typical times (in seconds) are as follows:

4 - 2 - 1 - 1/2 - 1/4 - 1/8 - 1/15 - 1/30 - 1/60 - 1/125 - 1/250 - 1/500 - 1/1000 - 1/2000 – 1/4000

Cameras usually allow to use also intermediate fractions so we can have 1/100 or 1/750 time.Very often, there is the wrong habit by camera's manufacturers to put only the number in the viewfinder without the fraction sign and this could lead to confusion. Very rarely shutters can offer time frames shorter than 1/4000 sec, while all the dslr have the B or T modes which are very useful especially for night shootings.

Choosing the correct time

Let's see how to choose the exposure time that best serves our needs! If we gotta shoot a fast subject, we will need a fast shutter speed to capture it.

A good rule of thumb when it comes to exposure time is: To photograph a subject in manual mode choose a time that it at least the opposite of the focal length we are using.

For example: if we are shooting with a 300mm focal length, in manual mode, we should use at least 1/300, whereas if we are shooting at 28mm, we will choose a speed of 1/30. This rule works with still subjects or rather slow subjects, of course things becomes complicated if the subjects moves fast or diagonally in which case, especially for the first case, better use the fastest speed we can afford. If we use a digital camera with a reduced size sensor like APS-C, the time cannot really be controlled. So if we need a really slow speed how could we avoid to have a shaky picture? If we cannot control the aperture and we cannot increase the Iso to slow down the speed we can use other ways such as the use of a tripod or we can rely on any kind of support that could allow us more stability.

ISO

The last important parameter we can control is the ISO which is the sensitivity of the sensor/film to the light. The International Standard Organization (ISO) is the unit which measures the sensitivity of the film to the light, for any double increase in the Iso we will have a double increase in the sensitivity and the opposite. let's start with an observation: the bigger the Iso, the less light we will need to photograph, but the bigger the noise will be, whereas the smaller the iso, the more light we need and the quality increases. So we will have to find a compromise. Having said that, a good rule for beginners could be to use always the minimum Iso settings for what we want to capture so that we can obtain the best possible quality. We can also leave the Iso in auto mode but of course this is not going to guarantee to us that the camera will choose the correct iso for our picture. If we are shooting in manual mode we will need to choose a value that is enough not to have a shaky picture and often the camera helps us by increasing the aperture, but maybe we don't want this to be too big because we want to use a shallow depth of field.Among the different parameters we can control one is the Iso, where for every double increase in settings, there is plus 1 EV and viceversa, for every half decrease of the settings we will have minus 1EV. For example: with a focal length of 50 mm we will have a shutter speed of 1/30 , with an aperture of f 2,8 and ISo set on 200. On these conditions, by the rule, we would have a shaky picture, but by accepting a slight decrease in quality we can set the Iso to 400 and the shutter speed will go up tp 1/60 (plus 1 EV) or if we have a tripod, we could lower the Iso to 100 decreasing the shutter speed to 1/15. How many Iso does a camera have? It is important to have a minimum of 100 or 200 Iso whereas for the maximum value, the higher the better so that we can shoot without flash even in low light conditions. Generally speaking a dsrl starts from 100 and reaches at least 1600, some recent models even 26500, even if the higher the settings the lower the quality.

What is a light meter? 

A meter is a device that measures light on a scene and tells us what kind of shutter/aperture combination to use based on the Iso settings. It is important to have an idea at least of how it works in order to understand when and how to use it and above all, when do not trust it! Let's see how it works. Normally, a white sheet will reflect a lot of light compared to a black sheet. So since every color reflects the light in their own way, it's been decided to use a grey color with 18% of reflective capacity, but why do we need to know this? If on a scene there are too many over exposed elements the meter will tell us to adjust the aperture/shutter speed accordingly, or if there are too many elements in the dark it will tell us how to light them up. Basically if I wanna shoot a white gown the meter will tell me how to make it grey or if I wanna shoot a black gown it will find a solution for me to turn the black into white ignoring that in this case the colors have to stay like that, white or black. So in this case, what we need to do is pointing the camera to a subject that has a more neutral color and use those kind of settings to shoot the white or black gown or alternatively adjust manually the setting by increasing the speed for a lighter subject or increasing it for a darker one. The meters included in modern dsrl usually adopt 5 standards but only the most expensive models have all the 5 of them:

1. Centre weighted metering: like the name says, the light is measured all over the scene, but the meter sensitivity is concentrated on a specific area , whereas the rest is dispersed around the scene.For years this has been the favorite choice and it still very much appreciated. I prefer this setting for portraits, especially close ups.

2. Zone segmented metering (matrix) the scene has been divided in zones and the light is measured according to standard scenes memorized into the camera. This is the most common measuring setting, reliable almost in every case.

3. Spot metering: measures only a spot area of the scene, and due to this peculiarity it is difficult to calculate the exposure of the whole scene because the shutter/aperture settings are calculated only for that spot area. It could be useful in some cases but it is complex to use.

4. Semi-spot: it's similar to spot metering but the spot has a wider angle (around 9) it's more easy to manage compared to the previous one but still it requires practice.

5. Multi-spot: instead of letting the meter decide which are the important areas of the scene , we choose them by pointing at all the area interesting to us with the spot metering system. The camera then will calculate the average value for a correct exposure.

Let's take a brief look into the shooting modes:

1) manual mode: we choose the aperture and shutter speed. This is the mode that gives more freedom to the photographer, and the camera will advise us when we reached a correct exposure or when this is wrong .

2) Shutter priority : We choose the speed and the camera calculates the aperture accordingly, this is useful when we have a fast subject or we use a bigger zoom or flash.

3) Aperture mode: we choose the aperture settings and the camera calculates the shutter speed. This is my favorite since it allows us to play with the depth of field without worrying about the speed.

4) Various programs : the camera chooses aperture and shutter speed and flash if needed automatically following some standards for the chosen programme.

These are the main ones: 

a) Auto program: the camera chooses aperture/shutter speed/flash based on some information memorized in the camera itself

b) portrait: usually it sets a bigger aperture and favors the focus of the closest subject

c) sport: it sets the fastest speed and usually it is accompanied by autofocus function

d) depth of field: the autofocus will focus on both the closest and furthest subjects putting them both on focus f) Macro: it will set small aperture and will only focus on the closest subject

g): night portrait: it's similar to the portrait but the camera will set a slower shutter speed to better expose the background and will activate flash to expose more the closest subject. This is known as slow-sync technique. If you really want to know how to use a dsrl better to avoid these programs so that you will not become lazy!

Manual focus and auto focus 

Here we are not going to discuss how they work but only how to use them. Modern Dsrl usually have 4 kind of focus modes, names will vary according to the camera manufacturers and brands but the substance will be the same.

1) AF one shot: focus on the subject by only pressing the shutter . It is ideal for still or posing subjects

2) predictive AF the camera knows that the subject is moving so it will adjust the focus by predicting the movements of the subject in the time frame needed to shoot, usually this is useful for moving subjects

3) intuitive AF the camera will switch between the first two options according to the subject

4) Manual focus: the photographer will have to deactivate the autofucs and will have to rotate the ring around the lens to focus on the subject.Old single reflex cameras only had the manual focus, so in the viewfinder you could see a crown made of small squares and in the middle there was a broken image. In order to focus it was enough to rotate the focus ring until the image become clear , or the broken image would be recomposed. It should be noted that the camera focuses on the subject only if this is placed in correspondence to one of the autofocus sensors, usually indicated by a spot that lights up when focuses on the subject. Modern reflex have from 5 to 45 focus points, in order to independently focus on the scene's main subject, but it is always possible to choose what we want to focus on just in case the camera's choosing the wrong subject!

Shutter, times and exposure - second part

This part should be read only if the first part has been clearly understood. It contains information that could be useful , in some specific cases. i would suggest not to ignore it.

The dynamic range

Every device, a film, a sensor or even the human eye, has a limited capacity to distinguish all the details on a subject that either is too exposed or under exposed. I bet everybody happened to be in a dark room and after a while starting to see something, then after we turn of the light being suddenly overwhelmed and unable to see anything. Or if for example at night we run into another car with headlights on full beam, what happens is that of course we are unable to see the road, but if only we turned on our headlights as well, we could suddenly see again. In both cases, we basically went over the dynamic range of our eye and we ended up being dazzled. The same happens to sensors and film, but differently from the eyes they cannot compensate as per the first case, they can only adjust as per the second case and by turning on a second light they will diminish the difference between over and underexposed areas. The dynamic range is infact the ability to correctly capture a scene where there are both underexposed and overexposed area , revealing all the details in both areas. In photography this is expressed by stops or EV. Let's think about a typical scene like a plant in direct sunlight. The part directly exposed to the sunbeams will be very very clear whereas other parts will be probably darker. So if we take for example the exposure of the trunk we will probably read something like 1/15 F8 whereas on the leaves exposed to direct sunlight this would be 1/500 F8 with a jump of 5EV (1/15-1/30-1/60-1/125-1/250-1/500). the digital sensor would not be able to register the scene correctly whereas a negative probably could succeed. Another alternative would be to use a light (ex. a flash) to light up the trunk, so that the difference in exposure would be compensated. In order to give you an idea, the color film each even 6 stops, black and whites 8 stops, diapositive max 2 stop, in the sensors dynamic range is even less than in the diapositive. which means that sensors don't tolerate exposure errors as much as film does. The HDR technique (High Dynamic Range) was born in order to increase the poor dynamic range of the sensors during the post production, even if now, this is often used to obtain pictures with clearly fake colors, even if results could even be somewhat artistic.

HDR (High dynamic range)

In order to compensate the poor dynamic range of the sensors this method has been implemented and it is effective and simple: various pictures of the subject are taken, and the exposure is calculated accurately both for under and over exposed spots of the scene. then all these images are superimposed to the original picture through a software in order to obtain a selective compensation of the exposure and artificially increase the dynamic range of the photo. There are various software that could use this technique like Photoshop CS5 or photomatix.

Safety times with reduced sensors Aps-c 

These are some notes on how to regulate the security time in order not to have shaky pictures when using manual mode. For example. if we are suing a 50 mm on a full format (24x36mm) we will have an angle of more or less 45degrees instead if we put on a format APS-C the angle will be reduce to 30 degrees. In reality the angle will always be 45 degrees but we will shoot a smaller portion of it. of course this is just a practical rule and should be considered just as a starting point for practice. who has a steadier hand will be able to use a longer speed whereas who has a shakier hand will use a faster speed. Safety times This is a reference table for a focal length of 50mm The shutter speed is considered in reference to a subject moving towards or from the camera. Velocity of the subject/distance of the subject.

If the focal lengths double itself then the time will be reduced by a half.

For example, from the numbers above we know that with 50mm focal length and 3 m of distance we need 1/125 whereas form 100mm for 3 m, we need 1/250. The chosen times should be compatible with the rule expressed before to avoid shaky pictures. The minimum time should be at least 1/focal length so with 50mm we will need at least 1/50 or the closest time to 1/60, whereas with 500 mm we will need at least 1/500, or with 24 mm we will need 1/24 or at least 1/30. If we use a tripod then we will obviously not have this issue we should then just consider the speed of the subject.

The shutter speed changes also in relation to the angle of the subject's movement: 

1) if the subject is moving towards us or from us then the times are the one pictured above

2) if the subject we want to capture are moving in a perpendicular way from us (like the cars if we are on a sidewalk) the the speed should be doubled at least

3) if the subject is moving diagonally from us the we also need to double the speed but if it's moving diagonally towards us the speed above will be enough. Of course the speed described above will decrease as soon as the speed of the subject will increase, you can consider them to be like the minimum speed to use.

What are the EV (exposition value)? 

This will indicate the quantity of light that will reach the sensor/film based on the combination of shutter/aperture. 

The calculation is not simple and it goes like this: EV=log(aperture*aperture/shutter speed)/log2 for example 1/125 F8 equals 1/250 F5.6 which means 13 EV. 

To go from an EV value to the subsequent one we need to make a jump of 1 EV. For example: from F8 1/125+1EV means to pass from F5.6 1/125 or F8 1/60, the same is if we want to obtain -1EV: F8 1/125-1EV means F11 1/125 pr F8 1/250. 

Reciprocity or Schwarzchild effect 

In digital camera this kind of defect does not exist! Film doesn't have a linear behavior for every shutter speed. With fast speeds like 1/8000 or longer than 30 seconds, the conversion between the shutter/ aperture is no longer possible and it is necessary to introduce some modifications, please see also the night photography tutorial. 

Middle gray 18% 

We have already seen what this is, now I am telling you that you can also find this in shops. You are probably asking yourself what this mysterious object is there for?. The light meter will recognize as a neutral color this particular gray , so in case you will find yourself to evaluate exposure on a colored subject you can replace the subject with the gray card, measure the exposure on the card and then shoot the picture. 

Type of light meters 

There are two kinds of light meters, reflecting light metering and incident metering. With the reflecting light metering the lights is read as a reflection of the subject so it is influenced by the colors of the subjects. For example yellow will reflect more light than blue and in this case as a reference value will will use the gray we were mentioning above. On dslr the metering used are the reflecting light metering so when the subject doesn't have a color similar to gray it is difficult to have an accurate lighting. The incident light meters instead of telling you the light reflected from the subject measure the amount of light falling on the subject they are used while turning our backs to the subject so that we are not influenced by its colors. usually these are sold as separate devices and need a certain practice to be used. 

Different kind of autofocus 

Auto focus usually are divided into active and passive: The active autofocus usually sends infrared signals against the subject and when the signal hits the subject it bounces back and this signal is received back by the camera sensors . The camera then measures the time needed for the signal to reach back the camera so that distance can be calculated This method has two downsides: the first is the necessity of a signal that is able to actually reach the subject which means it must be pretty close to it. The second is of more technical nature, but it means that for practical reasons the space in front of the camera is divided into zones and you make an estimation playing with the PDC. this is a system most commonly used in point and shoot cameras. 

the passive autofocus are of two kinds: 

1. If one point is not on focus this will appear as a disc, whereas if this is on focus it will appear as a point. 

2. Contrast measurement: when the image is on focus we have the maximum contrast, in this case the sensor will just move the focus area until it finds the maximum contrast. 

The only disadvantage of the passive focus is that it doesn't work very well with poor light conditions, but the advantage is that it doesn't need to calculate the distance from the object. In modern dsrl, apart from the passive focus there is also an active one paired with a built in flash or a separate flash. it is the same principle : the flash will light up the scene for the time necessary to the autofocus to activate itself. Sometimes, there will even be written the quantity of light reflected and the distance from the subject. In some disposable cameras or mobile phones cameras very often they only use one small aperture in order to better use the focal length and save on the auto focus. The tendency is to use a wide angle lens in order to have a faster speed which is usually obtained by turning on and off the sensor without using a real shutter.

A not so brief rambling designed to teach the elusive concept of white balance. Find out how to make your pictures look true to life with these simple concepts. Enjoy and I hope you learn something.


Third video: Photography Course: learn some pointers about using the sun to light your portraits

Fifth video: Photography Course: Learn about light quality the difference between SOFT and HARD light 
 

This video shows you in simple steps how to do close-up using Micro-Nikkor and third-party close-up lenses and how to do 1:1 magnification. Remember, this tutorial is for controlled situations (which means we won't show you how to do bugs, portraits, or pets at 1:1 magnification).

The Panasonic LUMIX G FISHEYE 8mm F3.5 is a fisheye lens for the Micro Four Thirds system of interchangeable lens cameras. Offering a diagonal angle of view of 180 degrees, the Panasonic 8mm lens certainly offers a unique perspective on the world. Read our Panasonic LUMIX G FISHEYE 8mm F3.5 review to find out if it's worth adding to your lens collection.

A character that needs no introductions, looking for news about this picture I found out that this legendary picture has been taken by the photographer Alberto Diaz Gutierrez, also known as Korda, with a Leica, in Avana in 1960, at the commemoration for victims of the attempt to the boat called "La Coubre". But the picture has been diffused quite later , in 1967, after the death of Che, by the italian editor Feltrinelli, that used it for the cover of Che diary in Bolivia and for the famous poster of Che. Is said that Korda gave the picture to Feltrinelli as present, so he didn't take any money from the publication of the most famous picture of the world!

P.s.

This is the picture that has been elaborated for flags, thirst and various gadgets.

Related article: Che Guevara effect - Tutorial Photoshop - Photomontage

Article translated by Giorgia Alba

The third installment of this photography tutorial series. In this episode we learn some pointers about using the sun to light your portraits. We also discuss equipment and how to use it. I hope you learn something from this brief lesson.

 Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Hands-on Review

In this video we take a look at Canon's 50mm f/1.2L USM by taking it out for some street photography. How does the successor to the f1.0L perform? Watch to find out.

In this penultimate video of the season we take a look at the Nikon 35mm f/1.4G, which is the fast 35 that all Nikon fans have been eagerly awaiting. But the crucial question is - is it any good?

In addition to slowly replacing the need for compact cameras, the cameras found on mobile phones will also have a huge impact on how we live our lives in the area of augmented reality. Word Lens is a crazy new free app for the iPhone that translates between Spanish and English in real-time in the video feed, allowing you to read the world in your language through your cell phone. As this technology becomes available for more and more languages, it will change the way people survive in foreign countries.

As the year 2010 approaches its last few days, it's time to look back on the previous 12 months. In the first third of 2010, Millions of gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico, several massive earthquakes wreaked havoc worldwide, Vancouver hosted a successful Winter Olympics, and so much more. Each photo tells its own tale, weaving together into the larger story of 2010. This is a multi-entry story, 120 photographs over three days.

In the second third of 2010, a nearly unpronounceable Icelandic volcano wreaked havoc on European travel, South Africa hosted the World Cup, and while Russia endured disastrous fires, Pakistan struggled with its own terrible flooding, and so much more.

See pictures here: 2010 in photos (part 2 of 3)

In the last third of 2010, Wikileaks released hundreds of classified diplomatic cables, 33 men were rescued from a mine after being trapped for 10 weeks, protesters took to the streets all over the world.

See pictures here: 2010 in photos (part 3 of 3)