Jul 19 2009
Acme Extends Pre-order Pricing on Vincent Versace’s new DVDs till the 27th of July
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Jul 19 2009
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Jul 13 2009
I asked Syl Arena if I could post this here because I thought it was one of the most insightful looks at technology from someone who is the best there is at translating Nikonian to Canoniese. Here are his thoughts on strobes. If you do not read his blog you should.
My Canon Speedlite Wishlist By Syl Arena
As a lifelong Canon shooter, I’ve been witness again and again to the power of Nikon’s CLS Speedlight system. In fact, most of the inspiration I found to explore the potential of Canon’s Speedlites came to me while assisting on a variety of shoots for Nikon’s leading CLS demo-man, Joe McNally. [If you're thinking "Joe Who?", let me be the first to welcome you to the planet and suggest that you check out his books on small-flash here and his blog here.]
What types of small-flash inspiration? Let’s see. There was the elephant-with-the-slinky-model in the dry lake bed followed by the silk acrobat hanging from the crane at sunset. There was the ballerina hoisted above the field of sunflowers and the bride in the desert gale. There was the girl holding the pool cue in the smokey bar. There was the leathery guy with the full-sleeve tats. And, of course, the Shining-esque model in the bay windows. Most recently, I spent the better part of two weeks in McNallyland a guest instructor at Joe’s One-Day Lighting Workshops in NY (read my review here and check out Joe’s workshop pix here, here and here.) It’s impossible to be witness to the making of so many great photographs and not be inspired.
Now, don’t get me wrong. For the most-part, I’m a happy Canonista. My first Canon, an A-1 purchased nearly 30 years ago, sits in a place of prominence atop the bookcase next to my bed – meaning it’s one of the first and last things I see every day. I think that the 5D Mark II is an amazing value in the DSLR market and praise the brilliance of adding 1080P video to it. There are a lot of lenses for the Canon system that Nikon has yet to make or only recently introduced. So, as I said, I’m a relatively happy Canonista.
But, there is no doubt, after working on location and in the studio with Joe over several years, that Nikon’s CLS Speedlight system is much more intuitive to use. Why does this matter to me? Well, as a creative, I rely upon my intuition a lot. The more intuitive a process is, the more creative I become. The more creative I am, the more interesting my pictures become.
So here’s my wishlist of features that I hope Canon will incorporate into a new generation of Speedlites. Read the full story »
Jul 09 2009
From John Paul Caponigro’s Blog
Blurb highlighted my alumni’s Blurb Group Book John Paul Caponigro’s Next Step Alumni Group on their blog today. Blurb’s Natalie Shahmiri asked me about the project and about my impressions of the state of books.
Here’s an excerpt.
“Books have been essential ways of sharing work for artists. Without them a majority of artists’ works would have remained invisible. Only a few people would have see them, not larger audiences. Even with the advent of the world wide web, books remain important communication and marketing tools. Printed matter offers focussed, localized, persistence while the web offers diffuse, transient, ubiquity. Books can also be the final product, special things in and of themselves.
While I will continue to work with major publishers, print on demand solutions are becoming essential tools for communicating and marketing my own work – specifically Blurb. Stay tuned to johnpaulcaponigro.com for many new Blurb books from me in the near future.”
Jul 08 2009
Blurb books now come in 6 different sizes. Hard or softcover. Standard or premium paper. You’ve got options.
Blurb book previews (the ones visitors can see when they visit Blurb) are Google searchable! That’s right, the text in your Blurb book preview will be picked up by Google’s search engines. Wow!
Now you can use your own graphics layout software to design books and print them on Blurb. Or, you can have someone do this for you. The point is you don’t have to use Blurb’s BookSmart software to make Blurb books anymore. Of course, your designs need to fit standard Blurb book sizes. But after that … the sky is the limit.
Blurb’s easy to use book design software (free online) has been updated.
It’s faster, easier, and more customizable.
Jul 08 2009
Posted by Vincent Versace
KIEL, Germany and SARASOTA, Fla., July 6 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — LaserSoft Imaging releases the new SilverFast 6.6.1, world-wide the first software generating perfect raw data from photos and slides. In order to generate perfect digital RAW data scanned from your originals, LaserSoft Imaging has developed a new 64 bit HDRi format for SilverFast 6.6.1 which not only contains complete image data but also has embedded the dust and scratch information from the scanner’s infrared channel. This new format is the best way to protect your precious memories against destruction, loss or fading!
The 64 bit HDRi file serves as a starting point for all further image editing steps – regardless when, where and how. Other approaches process dust and scratch removal during the scan process itself, without any possibility to control or influence the process afterwards.
In any case, this can lead to final loss of fine image details without the user ever noticing.
The new 64 bit HDRi format from LaserSoft Imaging contains the full dynamic range data of the original plus all image correction data in one file. HDRi surpasses the principle of “Non-Destructive-Editing” since the user can always optimize all corrections over again. Instead of driving the scanner directly, SilverFast HDRi enables the user to read and process raw data with maximum speed, so as if he would have direct access to his scanner.
Read more information at: www.silverfast.com/highlights/hdri/en.html.
About LaserSoft Imaging®:
LaserSoft Imaging was founded 1986 in Kiel, Germany, by physicist Karl-Heinz Zahorsky, the president of the company today. SilverFast is today regarded as the standard software for scanners and digital cameras serving both beginners and professional alike. Today, SilverFast is bundled by manufacturers like Canon, Epson, HP, Leica, Microtek, Mediax, Pentacon (Praktica), Plustek, Quatographic, Reflecta, Samsung, Umax and others.
SilverFast® is the most successful scanning software, with 2 million copies sold worldwide.
SilverFast® was granted the EDP award for the “Best Color Management Software” in 2008.
Further information please find at www.SilverFast.com.
LaserSoft Imaging, Inc., P.O. Box 15949, Sarasota, FL 34277, USA.
All trademarks and service marks are the property of the respective parties.
Jul 06 2009
If you want to know what’s happening in the Nikon world Nikon has created a new area called Nikon Next. You have a choice of languages to view the Nikon Next site in. Worth checking to see what the latest and greatest things are happening for all things Nikon.