ImageRights International – Helping Artists Fight Image Piracy

July 19, 2010 By PictureSoup 1 Comment

By Diane Berkenfeld

imagerights logo for article on image piracy on picture-soup.comWhen Ted VanCleave, a fine-art photographer and illustrator found some of his images on websites that were not authorized to use them, he did something about it. VanCleave co-founded ImageRights International with Joe Naylor, a specialist in designing, developing and marketing communications and internet-based services.

ImageRights was designed to help both photographers and illustrators discover the illegal use of their intellectual property on the web. The company created web crawlers that roam the world wide web, indexing millions of images each month, and comparing those images to customers’ images using powerful image recognition technology.

If the ImageRights system detects that a customer’s image is indeed found, the customer will then receive a report that includes a picture of the original image, its use online and the URL and ownership information for the website where the photo/illustration was found. The system can even find illegal uses of images where they are cropped or altered.

ImageRights offers three fee-based package levels: Basic with a monthly fee of $9.95, Standard for $19.95 per month, and Pro for $39.95 a month. Users of the three packages can upload up to 250 images, 1,000 images and 10,000 images respectively. Earlier this summer, ImageRights announced a free service, which will let users upload up to 10,000 images at no cost.

ImageRights homepage for picture-soup.com article on image piracy

ImageRights homepage.

Recovering Damages

Later this month, ImageRights will be launching an optional Recovery Program. For photographers and artists who are part of the paid program, and opt-in to the Recovery Program, they will receive 65% of recovered fees while ImageRights will take 35% of the recovered fees. For photographers who utilize the free service, and opt-in to the Recovery Program, there will be a 50/50 split of recovered fees. Photographers don’t have to use the company’s Recovery Program. At any time, they can pursue compensation on their own.

“The only difference between the paid and unpaid service is the recovery split between the customer and ImageRights. Customers are not required to use our recovery services, but we believe that once they do, they will find our recovery process to be much more efficient and cost-effective than doing it on their own. We can usually recoup image piracy fees without going through the court system and, although legal fees are always included in judgments, few photographers have the money to front those costs, nor do they have the time to deal with the paperwork involved,” explains VanCleave, co-founder and executive VP.

“We know there is a demand in the photo industry for a service that helps identify image theft and recoup image use fees as a result, and we are providing an easy, affordable and effective solution to those who choose to use it,” VanCleave adds.

The company notes that customers of all sizes have signed up, from individual photographers and illustrators, to larger studios and stock agencies.

For information about ImageRights, go to www.imagerights.com.

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Book Review: Virtual Reality Photography

July 19, 2010 By PictureSoup 1 Comment

Creating Panoramic and Object Images

vr photography book cover by scott highton for picture-soup.com book review

Virtual Reality Photography, Creating Panoramic and Object Images (ISBN 978-0-615-34223-8) is written by Scott Highton, an expert in virtual reality (VR) photography. There are two types of VR photographs: panoramas that show a 360 degree view (outward view of your/the camera’s surroundings) and object photographs that show 360 degrees of an object. Think of websites you might have visited where you can “turn” a product to see it from all sides; or a website that lets you “walk into” a room and view it as if you were inside the building—those are examples of VR photography.

The author is one of the pioneers of VR photography, and as such has both the experience and knowledge needed to not only understand, but, educate readers about the principles and techniques of VR photography. Highton has produced the definitive book on VR photography. Not only does he explain the principles behind the different types of VR photographs, but he goes into further detail explaining the nuances of creating the images, from the planning stage through to completion.

The book is separated into four sections, the first on basic photography principles and techniques, the next two sections on panoramic and object imaging respectively, and lastly a section on business practices.

Equipment is discussed in detail, both the equipment needed for capturing images as well as the software to create the final VR images. In addition to equipment that may need to be purchased, when possible, Highton includes items that a photographer can fashion himself; as well as inexpensive items that can be used in a studio situation and which may already be lying around your home or studio.

Folks who capture VR—panoramic or object photography—may be pro photographers, but odds are they’re likely also realtors, web designers or others in interactive media who have varying levels of photography understanding. Pro architectural or commercial product photographers, who never had the need to study VR photography and now have to ramp up their knowledge and produce panoramic and object VR imagery are also target readers of this book.

For this reason, Highton felt it was necessary that he include a basic photography section in the book. “This book is intended to help all of them [VR photographers]—as a reference resource providing specific information they might need at a given time, rather than as an intended cover-to-cover read. The book includes technical notes for those who really want to delve into the math or physics of how things work in photography, but is otherwise written and illustrated in a straightforward manner intended to help photographers at all levels better understand their craft and techniques,” says Highton.

For those photographers who know the basics, simply jump ahead to the sections you need to learn about. Then again, if you flip through the basic photography section you might even pick up something you hadn’t known before. Highton has put together one of the most comprehensive sections on basic photography that I’ve come across.

Highton explains further, “There are so many foundations of photography that need to be understood, if not mastered, before one can create effective panoramic and object VR imagery. It made sense to provide those foundations as a separate section in the book, which is also regularly referred back to throughout the book. For example, it is important to understand the basics of photographic exposure in order to be able to calculate an effective (and consistent) exposure for an entire 360-degree panoramic sequence, which could have illumination levels varying by 10 or more stops (between sunlit and shadow sides of a panorama). Similarly, it is important to understand the basics of focus, depth of field, sharpness, hyperfocal distances, etc. in order to maximize sharpness throughout a 360-degree panorama. Without having these basic photography foundations available, many readers of the book would become lost as they delved into the more complicated technical demands of creating interactive photographic VR.”

The sections on creating panoramic and object photography offer a wealth of education. Photos and diagrams accompany the text throughout, to help explain the various techniques. Where appropriate, the author includes creative options that VR photographers can use to take their imagery to the next level. He also discusses shooting panoramas underwater, and includes a chapter on aerial photography.

The business practices section is a great addition to the book, especially for photographers who have never had to quote or shoot VR photographs in their career before. In addition to basic principles that the author includes in the book such as a glossary of business/legal terms, he also explains the nuances of a commercial VR photography shoot and the added costs, both in the capture phase and post-production, so photographers reading the book won’t end up undercharging for their services. He also includes a case study of a shoot, complete with estimates from multiple photographers showing the differences in how they shoot/bill jobs. If you’re just getting into this type of photography, the business section alone is a must read.

To purchase Virtual Reality Photography, Creating Panoramic and Object Images, go to http://www.vrphotography.com/bookpromo.html.

— Diane Berkenfeld

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Book Review: Rick Sammon’s HDR Photography Secrets for Digital Photographers

July 9, 2010 By PictureSoup 3 Comments

By Diane Berkenfeld

Rick Sammon HDR book cover for picture-soup.com book reviewRick Sammon’s HDR Photography Secrets for Digital Photographers (ISBN 978-0-470-61275-0) published by Wiley (www.wiley.com) is the 36th book penned by the author.

The author has a great statement about halfway through the book: “While you are playing, here is something to think about: When you remove the true color from a scene, you remove some of the reality. The same is true when you increase or decrease the sharpness of an image; you alter a viewer’s sense of reality. When you remove or alter the reality in a scene, your images become more artistic.”

HDR for those who aren’t familiar with the technique, stands for High Dynamic Range. Basically, the concept of HDR Photography is this: you’re photographing a scene and bracketing the exposure, over- and under-exposing the scene, and merging the images into one photograph that shows an extreme dynamic range, with detail in the highlights and shadows and every tone in between. HDR photographs are extremely artistic, often looking more like a painting than a photograph.

In addition to discussing “real” HDR photography techniques, Sammon also includes direction for creating HDR-like images from a single exposure.

I like the fact that the book is filled with a myriad of bite-sized tips and techniques—most are only a few paragraphs to a page in length. A book written in this casual style is much more easily comprehendible than an encyclopedic tome that feels more like a college reference text that a book of tips. Sammon even mentions early on that the book can be read straight through or piecemeal.

HDR Photography Secrets is packed with images—examples and explanations of the techniques used to create them. Sammon usually includes a normal (non-HDR) image along with the HDR version. He also includes screengrabs showing the different exposures he made at the time of multiple-expsoure shoots. And when it comes to explaining the exact directions for using specific software titles, Sammon includes screengrabs of the dialog boxes, etc. which is a great help, especially for those who may not be familiar with these programs.

In the sections on HDR software, Sammon goes into great depth discussing the differences between the programs, what they are all capable of, and what his exact workflow is for using each of them.

The book discusses the pros and cons of manual vs. automatic exposure, how many f/stops to over/under expose, whether to shoot in Raw vs. Jpg, and which software program is best to use. HDR panoramic photography is also discussed, with Sammon showing the reader how to create these images by shooting multiple images and stitching them together.

He also spends a chapter on B&W. One of the great things about that section is that the images that are used as examples are ones that the reader sees earlier in the book, so you can see the transformation from a normal view of a scene, to an HDR photograph, to a B&W conversion of that image.

At the end of the book, Sammon includes cool websites that readers can visit for more information on HDR photography, as well as the websites of the software programs he describes in the book.

A great section of the book is one of the last chapters where the author shows images and asks the reader to figure out what technique was used. Are the images real HDR or HDR-like, and what exactly did he do to alter the photos shown. Readers are directed to a website to see if they were right.

Rick Sammon’s HDR Photography Secrets for Digital Photographers is definitely a book that has a place on my reference shelf. The book is informative, easy to read and well written.

For more information about Rick Sammon, go to his website at www.ricksammon.com.

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Lensbaby Shooters Get Appy

July 7, 2010 By PictureSoup 4 Comments

Creative Aperture Kit Contest Winners Announced

By Diane Berkenfeld

muse, composer, and control freak lensbaby models for picture-soup.com article

(l. to r.) Muse, Composer and Control Freak models of Lensbaby, selective focus lenses.

Lensbaby (www.lensbaby.com) recently posed a challenge to the photographic community— come up with a new shape for their Creative Aperture Kit. The grand prize winner’s image would be showcased on the packaging, while the winning aperture and those of the runners-up would be included in the new Creative Aperture Kit for photographers around the world to use.

For those who don’t know what a Lensbaby is, it’s a selective focus lens. The Lensbaby is the brainchild of pro photographer Craig Strong, who launched the creative effects SLR lens system in 2004. Many photographers credit the Lensbaby for bringing creativity back into their work, myself among them.

The grand prize winner is professional photographer Troy Eiffert. Four runners-up were chosen too; they are Ivan DeWolf, Jerrid Jones, Andrew Kua and Bjørn Rannestad.

Creative Aperture Disks

Lensbaby Creative Aperture Disks are blanks that users can cut custom shapes into, in order to add one-of-a-kind effects to their photos.

The shape of the cutout, like a regular lens aperture—allows specular highlights (in the shape of the aperture) to be seen, out of focus in a photograph. Bright points of light, like street lights or the sunlight on a lake, are examples of specular highlights

It is easy to cut your own shapes into the aperture disk material with an X-acto knife or craft store hole punch.

The Lensbaby Creative Aperture Kit 2 will feature nine disks in total, including the five winners’ designs and the following four which were designed by the Lensbaby staff: heart, star, bird, and sunburst.

The new kit are scheduled to be available by the holidays for $14.95 MSRP. The Lensbaby Creative Aperture Kit Blanks are available for $9.95 MSRP.

The aperture disks are compatible with the Muse, Composer, Control Freak, Lensbaby 2.0 and Lensbaby 3G lenses and with the Double Glass, Single Glass, Plastic and Soft Focus Optics.

And the Winners Are…

Each of the winners are excited that other photographers will soon be able to create their own photographs using apertures they created.

Troy Eiffert

troy eiffert slots winning lensbaby contest image for picture-soup.com article

Troy Eiffert's grand prize winning image which will be reproduced on the packaging for the Creative Aperture Kit, along with his "slots" aperture disk. Photograph © Troy Eiffert.

Troy and Heidi Eiffert (www.studioUphotography.com) are award winning professional photographers. Their Lensbabies of choice are the Original Lensbaby and the Lensbaby Composer. In addition to those lenses, the Eifferts also own the wide-angle and telephoto adapters, app kit and the optics kit.

“I created the slots aperture to achieve a vertical, horizontal or diagonal painterly effect depending on how it was placed in my Lensbaby Composer,” said Eiffert.  “This is by far my favorite and most versatile aperture I have cut from the blank disks.”

“We use it for our personal art and quite a bit at weddings and with seniors,” he says.

“We love learning and sharing, and have recently begun teaching,” he explains. The couple is AfterDark Education (afterdarkedu.com) mentors and will both receive their PP of A Craftsman degrees this year, to add to their Masters degrees from the association.

Jerrid Jones

Soft Focus with Step Up ND filter jerrid jones aperture and image for picture-soup.com article

Runner up Jerrid Jones' image along with his "diamond" aperture disk. Photograph © Jerrid Jones.

Jerrid Jones (http://web.me.com/jonesyjerrid and www.mudbrickmusicvideos.com/) is a semi-pro photographer; and audio/visual engineer. While he specializes in recording musicians he also creates music videos.

He currently owns the Lensbaby Muse and Composer models, and is looking forward to adding the Control Freak to his gearbox.

“I first was introduced to the Lensbaby about nine months ago, and I’m having a hard time taking it off my camera; in fact, the only time I take it off is when I’m switching from Composer to Muse and visa-versa,” says Jones.

“It’s been really exciting having my app chosen; I never thought out of all the photos submitted that I would have been in the top five,” he adds.

Andrew Kua

Runner up Andrew Kua's image and "swirly" aperture disk. Photograph © Andrew Kua.

Andrew Kua (www.ndroo.com) is a photography enthusiast who migrated from digital cameras to toy/plastic/analogue cameras. He first discovered the Original Lensbaby a few years back. “It was a result of my search for something more fun and versatile than the usual lenses in the market,” he says. As the Lensbaby line grew, Kua upgraded—to the Lensbaby 2.0 and then 3G. Now that he’s got the Composer and Muse, together with the optic kit, wide-angle lens and fisheye optic, he’s given the older models to friends.

“It has always been an obsession with things less perfect (in photography) and thus my love for toy/plastic/Lomo cams …  [which] led me to the idea of creating an aperture disc that is less than perfect. The rough curvy design was ‘born’ out of this idea,” Kua explains.

Kua hopes more folks will discover Lensbabies and stop trying to “Photoshop” the ‘effects.’ “Nothing can beat the real fun of using the lens itself,” he adds.

Ivan DeWolf

lensbaby winning image by ivan dewolf for picture-soup.com article

Runner up Ivan DeWolf's image and his "dripsplat" aperture disk. Photograph © Ivan DeWolf.

Ivan DeWolf (www.flickr.com/photos/7349106@N06/) purchased his first DSLR (Canon T2i) about a month ago and soon began researching lenses. He owns the Lensbaby Muse and the app kit.

He says, “I was impressed by what I saw of the Lensbaby, and decided I had to try it. The night I bought the lens, I cut two apertures and took the winning photograph.

“I think the thing I like about the lensbaby is it’s imperfections; you have to struggle with it to get a “normal” clean image. Most lenses are a struggle to get something a bit abstract, without resorting to Photoshop. And I really appreciate the tactile nature of the “Muse”, but I’ll probably get one of the other Lensbaby lenses for shooting video,” he says.

“There is a beauty to urban decay and grime, and I wanted an aperture that would imply this in a humorous way. I also really liked the idea of breaking down a photographic image into a literally painterly bokeh,” DeWolf explains.

“I really look forward to seeing great images captured using my aperture, from photographers I’ve never met,” he adds.

Bjørn Rannestad

Runner up Bjørn Rannestad's image and "whirlpool" aperture disk. Photograph © Bjørn Rannestad.

Photographer Bjørn Rannestad (www.fotoaalborg.dk) considers himself more than an enthusiast but not a full-fledged pro. He first discovered Lensbabies with the Lensbaby 3G, then got the Lensbaby 2.0, Muse and Composer to his lens collection. He’s since sold the 3G.

Rannestad says he had a couple of ideas in mind for apertures: “I wanted to make an aperture which made a fuzzy bokeh, but didn’t draw too much attention to the design itself. I also wanted it to be independent of rotation of camera/aperture.” Rannestad is fascinated with astronomy and spiral galaxies, hence the name “whirlpool aperture.”

He says he’s addicted to the Lensbaby. “What I like the most about the Lensbaby is the feel of it. Can’t explain it, but shooting with the Lensbaby becomes a part of you. I like the muse and 2.0 the most. No other technique can compete.”

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Book Review: ProBlogger, Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income

July 6, 2010 By PictureSoup 2 Comments

By Diane Berkenfeld

ProBlogger, Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income, second edition by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett is a great book for the beginner or advanced blogger looking to take their blog or blogging to the next level. The book, ISBN 978-0-470-61634-5 was published by Wiley (www.wiley.com). The authors are well known in the blogosphere. Rowse launched problogger.net with best practices, tips and more for the blogger; Digital-Photography-School.com, which is widely popular with beginning and intermediate digital photographers; and numerous other blogs. Garrett has been working on the web since the mid-nineties. His blog, chrisg.com offers visitors information on new media, blogging and online marketing.

The book is an easy read, which having been written by bloggers is expected, as writing for the web is slightly different than writing for print—its usually shorter, with lots of digestible items. You can easily read through the book in a weekend, or flip through it piecemeal, reading the sections that you’re interested in most.

Both authors are veteran bloggers, and although the subhead of the book reads: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income, they are honest about the fact that it takes years of work to build a blog or website up, to bringing in such revenue. And even with time and hard work, few blogs may reach this pinnacle.

I think ProBlogger is a great book. It offers a lot of tips and techniques for building a blog or website through such tactics as SEO, social media, and more. The authors also explain what not to do to increase your search engine rankings.

The authors spend a lot of time discussing content. Content after all is king, isn’t it? And for a blog to be successful, quality content must be posted on a schedule that visitors want (meaning not posting too often, or too little). Various types of content are mentioned, including article series, guest bloggers, forums, and interactivity between visitors and bloggers via comment areas.

Rowse and Garrett discuss whether or not to place advertising on blogs, how affiliate advertising works, and how to package your site when going the direct route with advertisers. They also talk about buying and selling blogs.

In addition to writing about their own blogging experiences, the authors also include examples of successful blogs and explain the best practices that were used to grow them. Throughout the book, the authors include the web addresses of sites that readers should visit for helpful information, some that I had known about but many others that are new to me and I will be visiting in the near future. The authors also share bonus content with readers, by directing them to a web address to access it.

Whether you’re blogging for fun or profit, ProBlogger is sure to provide you with helpful tips to reach your goals.

For more information about ProBlogger, Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income, second edition, check out the website www.probloggerbook.com.

• Some of our visitors might be wondering why we’ve included a review of a book that isn’t necessarily about photography here on picture-soup.com. The answer is because there is a wealth of information that the authors of ProBlogger offer—that would be helpful to anyone with a blog or website—and that includes the many professional photographers who regularly come to this site.  — Editor

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Canon Professional Services Expanded in US

July 1, 2010 By PictureSoup 1 Comment

canon cps logo picture-soup.comCanon U.S.A., Inc., today announced the addition of a third service support center, which will support the Canon Professional Services program. The support center will be located in the company’s Newport News, Virginia facility, with Canon-certified technicians.

Along with the new support center, Canon is extending its CPS hotline service to 24/7 support for all CPS members. A separate international customer number will be made available to US-based pros traveling or working abroad.

Also starting today, Canon will be offering its Professional Rush Repair service with expedited two-day and three-day turnaround for eligible video equipment, a tremendous benefit for professionals working under deadline.

The added support for the Canon CPS program is due to the overwhelming response by qualified videographers, cinematographers and filmmakers, who were invited to join the program this past April.

“This marks the most extensive and comprehensive level of service and support Canon U.S.A. has been able to provide to our Professional customers to date. We take great pride in providing top-notch service and support to all of our customers through our 100-percent US-based customer service and support facilities and we are proud to extend that service around-the-clock to our Pros in the field,” stated Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A.

The Virginia location will service the southeast region of the US, which should reduce turnaround time and shipping costs on repairs. Current CPS members located in a geographic region supported by the new facility will receive a packet in the coming weeks including Professional Rush Repair shipping labels with the address for the new service facility.

Canon Professional Services benefits are offered to individual full-time, working imaging professionals. Levels include Silver, Gold and Platinum. Support includes phone and e-mail support, expedited and discounted service and repairs, service loaner equipment, equipment evaluation loans, equipment cleaning services, onsite support at select events, discounts on Canon Live Learning workshops, and more.

There is no fee for the Silver membership. The Gold and Platinum memberships have an annual fee of $100 and $500 respectively. For details on how photographers/filmmakers may qualify for each level, which products are eligible, and other frequently asked questions, go to www.usa.canon.com/cps.

— Diane Berkenfeld

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Adorama Announces Winners of the First Annual APPOS

June 29, 2010 By PictureSoup 1 Comment

iPhone App Awards Selected from Most Frequently Used Apps in Adorama’s 1st Annual iPhone Photography Contest

by Diane Berkenfeld

Adorama (www.adorama.com) today announced the winners of the first annual APPOS – iPhone App Awards for Photography. The annual APPOS Awards are designed to spotlight the rapid rise in popularity of the iPhone as a new platform for digital point-and-shoot photography and to recognize developers of outstanding photo Apps.
The top 10 winning Apps were selected from among the most frequently used Apps in more than 17,000 images submitted into Adorama’s first annual iPhone Photography Contest.

The winning Apps:

(which are available on the App Store at iTunes)

picture-soup.com photoshop.com mobile app for iphonePhotoshop.com Mobile

http://mobile.photoshop.com/iphone

camerabag appCameraBag

www.nevercenter.com/camerabag

bestcamera app adorama contest picture-soup.comBest Camera

www.ubermind.com

photogene app adorama contest picture-soup.comPhotogene

www.Mobile-Pond.com/MobilePond

tiltshiftgenerator app adorama contest picture-soup.comTiltShift Generator – Fake Miniature

www.artandmobile.com/tiltshift

shakeitphoto app adorama contest iphone picture-soup.comShakeItPhoto

www.shakeitphoto.com

histamaticapp iphone contest adorama picture-soup.comHipstamatic

www.hipstamaticapp.com

photoforge iphone app adorama contest picture-soup.comPhotoForge

www.ghostbirdsoft.com/photoforge

lomob iphone app adorama contest picture-soup.comLo-Mob

www.lo-mob.com

photofx tiffen app adorama contest picture-soup.comPhoto fx

www.tiffen.com/photofx_homepage.html

“Adorama’s first ever APPOS Photo App Awards not only honor software applications and their talented developers, it highlights the endless creative possibilities of using an iPhone as a point-and-shoot camera,” said Ahron Schachter, Adorama spokesperson. “The way users have embraced photo Apps to apply creative enhancements to their photography underscores the widespread acceptance of the mobile imaging platform as a worthwhile photographic tool for sharing images.”

iPhone Photo Contest

Adorama’s iPhone Photo Contest received more than 17,000 image entries taken exclusively using the Apple iPhone, with the stipulation that only iPhone Apps could be used in the editing of the images.

The contest was judged by well known photographers Scott Kelby, president of NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) and editor/publisher of Photoshop User Magazine; Joe McNally, long time photojournalist; photographer Eric Meola, a Canon Explorer of Light; photographer Moose Peterson, a Nikon Legend Behind the Lens; and Syl Arena, owner of the blog PixSylated.com; as well as Boomer and Carton (Boomer Esiason, former NFL player and radio personality Craig Carton), of the Boomer and Carton Radio Program on WFAN radio.

Awards ranged from the grand prize of a $1,000 Adorama gift certificate, Canon wireless printers, Wacom Tablets, Adorama and Apple App Store gift certificates, photography and iPhone books (The iPhone Book, Third Edition with Scott Kelby and Terry White; and The Best Camera is the One With You by pro photographer Chase Jarvis; all images were shot with his 2MP iPhone) and more.

Adorama plans on future mobile imaging contests that will highlight the rise in creative photo opportunities with all mobile devices including Android, Windows Phone, and more.

For more information about the APPOS award winners and iPhone Photo Contest visit the Adorama website at: http://contest.adorama.com/. You can also view the winning images from the iPhone Photo Contest on the website.

More About Apps and iPhones

Apple iPhone 4. Image courtesy of Apple

There are over 200,000 Apps available to iPhone users, and more than 2,000 of those are photography-related Apps. Utilizing the many photo Apps, iPhone users can capture, edit and manipulate their images on the device itself, no computer needed.

Apps are big business, although many are free while others charge a nominal fee. The most recent stats we found, released by Apple this past January, had at that time recorded more than three billion Apps having been downloaded from the Apple App Store by iPhone and iPod touch users worldwide in less than 18 months. Apps are available in 20 categories, including photography, games, business, news, and reference, among other topics.

According to numbers released by Apple yesterday, the company has sold over 1.7 million iPhone 4 units in the three days since its launch on June 24, 2010. In addition to the 5MP camera with LED flash, the iPhone 4 also features HD video recording at 720p, Apple’s new high resolution Retina display, the iOS 4 mobile operating system and much more. It also features a VGA resolution camera on the front of the device. The iPhone 4 comes in 16GB and 32GB models, in a black model as well as a white model.

The iPhone 3GS, which is still widely in use, incorporates a 3MP camera.

All iPhones use the AT&T mobile service.

For more information on Apple, the iPhone, or the iTunes App Store, go to www.apple.com.

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Book Review: Photographer’s Survival Manual, A Legal Guide for Artists in the Digital Age

June 17, 2010 By PictureSoup 2 Comments

photographer's survival guide book cover, picture-soup.comBy Diane Berkenfeld

Books abound that cover photography techniques, as do coffee table tomes showing off pretty pictures. Few books however, are written on one of the most important subjects a photographer needs to learn about—the law as it applies to photography.

Lark Photography Books (www.larkbooks.com), a division of Sterling Publishing, just released Photographer’s Survival Manual, A Legal Guide for Artists in the Digital Age (ISBN 978-1-60059-420-5). The book was written by professional photographer Jack Reznicki, and Ed Greenberg, a lawyer who specializes in copyright law and represents many top pros in the business. Readers of Photoshop User magazine may be familiar with Reznicki and Greenberg writing on the subject. They authored a column entitled “The Copyright Zone” in that magazine.

The authors explain what copyright is, what exactly is copyrightable, how to go about registering your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office; valuable information on pricing, contracts and invoicing, and much more.

One of the most important features of the book is that the authors dispel some of the myths surrounding copyright and photography, as well as photography and the use/need for model releases.

And, considering the subject matter, you might be inclined to think the book is a dry read, but it offers up information in a readable and easily understandable manner. Case studies are included, as is an entire section devoted to registering your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office electronically. Did you know that you’re charged almost double for copyright registration if you use snail mail as opposed to using the electronic filing system?

The authors also include model/property releases that can be adapted to your uses, as well as valuable information that should be included in contracts and invoices to protect your work.

Copyrighting your images is not just for commercial and advertising photographers, but wedding and portrait shooters too. In fact, if you make your living (or part of your income) through photography, you should be registering your images with the Copyright Office. Do yourself a favor and buy Photographer’s Survival Manual, A Legal Guide for Artists in the Digital Age. It will be the best $24.95 you spend.

For more information, go to The Copyright Zone blog at www.thecopyrightzone.com. The website for the U.S. Copyright Office is www.copyright.gov.

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Book Review: Camera, A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital

June 16, 2010 By PictureSoup 1 Comment

By Diane Berkenfeld

Camera, A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital, (ISBN 9781402756566) is an impressive volume tracing photography from the earliest cameras through present day digitals. The book is written by Todd Gustavson, the technology curator for the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, and published by Sterling Innovation, an imprint of Sterling Publishing (www.sterlingpublishing.com). The book, which spans a timeline of almost 200 years, includes photographs of over 350 cameras from the collection, as well as more than 100 historic photos, ads, and drawings, and tops out at 368 pages.

The George Eastman House is the oldest photography museum in the world. The museum’s collections include 400,000 photographs from 9,000 photographers; more than 20,000 items of camera technology; and one of the world’s most comprehensive library of photographic books, manuscripts, and journals. Author Todd Gustavson has been working with the museum’s technology collection of 20,000+ artifacts, for more than 20 years.

“Each camera represents an insight—some by a single inventor, others by a team of scientists and engineers—that there was a way to do things better,” writes Gustavson in the book’s introduction, to the reasoning behind those cameras included. In addition to the history of cameras, from the very first known photograph through modern day, special cameras from the George Eastman House collections that were owned by renowned photographers were also included as well as some of the most iconic imagery by these photographers, using those cameras that are now part of the Eastman House collection.

“While choosing collection items for the book, it was continually exciting to access the Eastman House archives, which feature both the images and the cameras that together tell the story of the history of photography,” said Gustavson. “This is the first time a book has showcased photographic history in this way, illustrating a photograph next to the camera that took the image, either the exact model or in most cases the actual camera.”

The book features the first faint image caught by Niepce’s camera obscura in 1826, Joe Rosenthal’s Speed Graphic, which took the Pulitzer Prize-winning image of the flag raising at Iwo Jima; and two cameras owned and used by Alfred Stieglitz that created his famed photographs of New York City and wife, Georgia O’Keefe.

Camera also features artifacts such as the Giroux daguerreotype camera from 1839, signed by Daguerre; an 1840 full-plate daguerreotype camera owned by Samuel A. Bemis, one of the first cameras sold in the United States; an 1860 sliding-box camera from Mathew Brady’s studio; a 1884 Racetrack camera owned by Eadweard Muybridge; the earliest-known Kodak camera, no. 6 off the line in 1888; and a 1900 Brownie from the first month of production. Also included in the book are Ansel Adams’ own Brownie and Kodak Vest Pocket cameras; the pre-production model from the O-Series Leica; a NASA Lunar Orbiter from 1966; and the first digital camera, created by Kodak’s Steve Sasson in1975, along with an image it created.

Also included are Deardoff and the Sinar P2 large format cameras; Hasselblad, Mamiya and Rolleiflex medium format cameras, Pentax, Minox, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, and Minolta cameras are also included, among other less known brands; Edwin Land’s Polaroid cameras including the popular SX-70; and the Kodak Handle Instant Camera, which was an instant camera introduced in 1977, but was short lived when Kodak lost a patent suit to Polaroid. Early Fuji Quicksnap, the first one-time-use camera is included too.

I think Camera is a wonderful treasure trove of photographic history, however I feel it ends too abruptly in the digital age. Early cameras—both Kodak branded and those made by others—are featured in great length. But when the book reaches film cameras of the late twentieth century and modern-day digitals, I can think of at least a dozen additional cameras that might have been included.

(I will preface the following list by saying I don’t know if these cameras are part of the Eastman House collection.) These include: APS or Advanced Photo System film cameras; the Ricoh RDC-1, an early digital with direct modem access; the Minolta Dimage V, which had a lens that could be removed from the body and attached via a yard-long cable for shooting; the Kodak EasyShare V570 with its dual lenses, and the Sigma SD9, the first camera to utilize the Foveon X3 image sensor. I would even go so far as to say the Polaroid 20×24 camera should have been included.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn about the early miniature and spy cameras of the 1800s. I also enjoyed seeing the actual cameras (in most cases) that were used to capture some of the most famous images. I wonder if the Eastman House collection includes more of these camera/photograph combinations. Also interesting was the included essays by Steve Sasson, the father of the digital camera. For the average digital camera/photography enthusiast, who may have never heard of Sasson, the expanded coverage is a treat.

Camera, A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital would be a great addition to the library of any camera enthusiast or photographer. With the price of $45, the book is well worth the investment.

For more information about the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, go to www.eastmanhouse.org.

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Virtual Trade Shows: Education, Networking & More At Your Own Computer

June 4, 2010 By PictureSoup 2 Comments

By Diane Berkenfeld

Last week I went to a trade show. And I didn’t even bother to get out of my pajamas. Ok… I did get dressed, but I could have stayed in my P.J.s with bed head and no makeup, and no one would have been the wiser.

How you ask? I attended the Focus on Wedding and Portrait Photography virtual trade show organized by PDN magazine (www.pdnonline.com; www.photoplusexpo.com). The tradeshow was “live” May 24 and 25, but will be archived for the next two months.

On the left is a screengrab of one of the three exhibit halls, on the right is a screengrab of the lobby of the PDN Virtual Trade Show.

Just like normal trade shows in the physical world, this virtual show had a lobby, three exhibit halls and an auditorium where seminars were given. Just like actual trade shows, you could have your badge swiped to receive additional information. You could even put digital information (PDFs) in your exhibit bag, and download them later.

The Focus on Wedding and Portrait Photography virtual trade show focused on weddings and portraits. The range of seminars included those dedicated to posing and lighting, business and marketing, and Photoshop techniques.

I love the idea of a virtual trade show. While I enjoy attending actual trade shows because of the face-to-face networking and true interactivity of presentations, there is definitely a place for virtual events. Especially when you can’t get away from work or afford travel expenses. For a virtual event, just fill out the registration form and attend. What’s great about virtual events is that the seminars begin for each attendee when they enter the auditorium. For example, enter most of the seminars late at a virtual event, and you aren’t conspicuously searching for a seat and missing part of the presentation. When these virtual events are archived (this show is being archived for two months) you can take in all of the presentations at your leisure.

After many of the seminars at the Focus on Wedding and Portrait Photography event, there were live chats with the presenters. Just type your questions and the presenter types his/her response.

How popular are virtual events? They are being attended in increasing numbers and gaining in popularity, according to Champion Exposition Services. Seven out of 10 respondents in their ’survey on the use and adoption of digital tools by the association market’ are actively producing or considering a future virtual event. And these associations aren’t replacing actual shows with virtual events but adding them into their marketing mix.

I found the more interactive booths where video launched automatically, were the more interesting ones over those that only had PDF files that you’d download and read later.

On the left is a screengrab of Doug Gordon's exhibitor booth, on the right is a screengrab of the video that automatically launches when you visit the booth. This was one of the more interactive booths of the virtual trade show.

You could even connect with fellow attendees, via email or chat.

For the most part, the attendees, exhibitors and presenters I spoke with came away a positive experience from PDN’s virtual trade show. One benefit for exhibitors: a virtual event replaces hours or even days of booth set up and tear down with mere minutes of work. Exhibitors noted they were able to connect with new customers, presenters enjoyed the experience, and attendees liked the concept and experience.

Pet photographer Margaret Bryant (www.bryantdogphotography.com) attended this event as well as a previous PDN virtual trade show. Although she didn’t use the chat feature, she did like that attendees were given the opportunity to chat with presenters and exhibitors. “I think [a virtual show] is probably more valuable for those who can’t attend a physical trade show. To me, it is in addition to a physical trade show, not a substitution. I’m a tactile person so I like to touch merchandise at the trade show. I also like the face-to-face contact. But I do think there is a place for virtual trade shows,” Bryant says.

This virtual show was the first attended by photographer Stephanie Natale, (www.natalephotography.com). Natale ‘walked the trade show’ and even signed up with one of the exhibitors. “I think it is a great idea,” she says, adding, “I’d attend another one for sure.”

Darla Achey, marketing communications specialist, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics, (www.mitsubishi-imaging.com) said this was her first virtual trade show. Mitsubishi was an exhibitor and seminar sponsor. “I love the concept,” she says. In addition to new leads, Achey explains, “This was a great opportunity, that was cost effective, and helped us build brand recognition for our photo products.” She adds, “It’s a great way to reach people who might not otherwise be able to get away for a trade show.”

The PDN virtual event was also the first such experience for photographer and presenter Judy Host (www.judyhost.com). She feels the concept has worldwide appeal. “I would love to participate again. There is something to be said about having your program pre-recorded and being able to respond to questions via email afterwards. I don’t think it will ever replace a “real experience” but it sure does give access to those who wouldn’t normally have it.” Host sees virtual events as a great educational tool. “There are so many people out there that want the education that we provide and just can’t afford to travel and/or give up their time. This brings the training into their homes and makes it convenient for them to learn. As an educator, it just doesn’t get any better than that,” she adds.

So the next time an invitation to a virtual trade show lands in your e-mail inbox, why not attend. You won’t have to travel further than your own computer—and you just might learn something new!

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