Monday, March 12, 2007

Selfless love

The Dalys of Astoria were the perfect '50s family: Their home was modern and neat; Dad was an executive at a cannery; Mom socialized with the other smart ladies in town; and they had two beautiful kids -- bouncy big boy Jeff and Molly, the little sister he adored.

But the picture book dream was shattered when it became clear that something was wrong with Molly's development. And so, following the best medical advice of the day, Molly was institutionalized at the Fairview Hospital and Training Center in Salem. What's more, the girl was, by Mom's edict, forgotten; the Dalys had another child -- a healthy boy -- and Molly receded into memory.

Well, Jeff never entirely forgot his sister. And after his mother died, and then his father, he discovered evidence of her whereabouts and set about tracking her down and, finally, reuniting with her.

His story of loss, confusion and reunion is told in "Where's Molly?" -- a handsome and overwhelmingly emotional film that played at the recent Portland International Film Festival and returns for a regular engagement at Living Room Theaters. And I don't care who you are or how tough you think life has made you: This film will get you blubbering like a baby.

Although Jeff's own quest is moving, it's the story of his dad, Jack, that most amazes. He looked like a stereotypical square peg, and he seemed to acquiesce to his wife's edicts against the mere subject of Molly. But he frequently drove from Astoria to Salem to visit his daughter. And when authorities asked him not to come back because the visits upset the girl, he devised a means to see her anonymously: as one of a troupe of traveling clowns. The notion that this white-collar, straight-arrow man would don makeup and a wig and crazy clothes just so he could stand and see his little girl is a titanic instance of selfless love. And the film hits you with more than one such shot to the gut.

Rendered in truly gorgeous photography (Daly is a professional video cameraman), the film in its final passages gets a little bogged down in advocating the rights of family members of the institutionalized. But it never stops wringing your heart. It's the rare movie that makes you want to rush out and hug everyone you love.

http://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1173317144211610.xml&coll=7

Established photographers open new studio

Some people tell stories through words.

People like Shannon and Colleen Graham tell their tales through photographs.

Instead of adjectives, the Grahams use lines and light to capture the story behind the pictures.

The couple recently opened S&C Graham Foto Design on Main Street after operating a photography and design studio out of their home for several years.


"We have been waiting for this space to come available," Shannon said.

The building offers a perfect opportunity for the Grahams to do their work and showcase fellow artists' work in the front windows and intimate waiting area.

"We are photographers first, but we are also art lovers," Shannon said. "So we are artists for artists. Being a studio owner gives us the opportunity to showcase their work."

It is their passion for the work that kept them motivated, even through lean weeks and months. During college they perfected their skills shooting weddings and senior pictures. Now they focus their attention on commercial work and fine art, though the occasional high-end East Coast wedding sometimes makes its way onto their calendar.

Their work in photography has led them to explore other artistic talents in both Web and graphic design. They use those skills to create Web pages and television spots for clients across the country.

Though their studio is located on Main Street, many of their clients hail from both coasts. After attending Hawkeye Community College the duo moved to New England to hone their skills with photographers there. They worked continuously and eventually had enough of a client base to branch out on their own.

But, the tug of returning to Shannon's hometown never quite subsided. Finally, they consulted their clients about the possibility of a move and received the blessing of every one.

"They didn't mind. It's still easy for our clients to send us to California or the East Coast from here. And they get a cheaper rate because our cost of living is lower," Shannon said. They do keep a home in Maine to use when shooting in New England.

Today, they continue to shoot and design for those companies while building a Cedar Valley and Iowa clientele.

Their work isn't limited to the United States. Recent assignments have taken them to Mexico to document the tequila industry and more recently to Canada to shoot a whiskey distillery.

When they are at home, Shannon said, they spend most all their waking hours in the Main Street studio. There is nowhere else they would rather be.

The Grahams have been shooting for as long as they can remember. Shannon credits his passion to his father, who wouldn't let him use a gun while hunting at age 13 but instead gave him a camera to capture the trips on film.

"Since then, photography has been my life," he said. "When I am not shooting, I am talking about it. When we are on vacation, it's not really a vacation. We are constantly shooting."

Colleen said her passion comes from a desire to turn the mundane into "something immaculate."

If it weren't for the need to pay the bills, Shannon said, he would focus on fine art --- like the motion study he just completed using dancers from Kinetic Energy on Main Street --- or editorial photographs --- like those he took of the boat builders on the East Coast or the Irish community in south Boston.

Colleen, however, would focus her attention on architectural studies and conceptual digital image creations. She has a degree in digital photography.

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/03/11/business/local/41b7abeef5f316bd8625729a0058589d.txt

Kite Aerial Photography

Photo Technique

I've been interested in photography for longer than I'd like to say, mainly landscape of Scotland's mountains when I was younger, and I've come back to landscape with KAP.

Cairnpapple prehistoric burial cairn, Bathgate Hills, ScotlandThis page consists of a number of KAP and landscape images illustrating various photographic points. These look like a set of rules, but at the outset I'd like to place these rules in context. Photography is an art, with some craft. For me the rules set a framework of what tends to work and what doesn't. They are not there to be blindly followed, in fact breaking them can make a picture. However over the years I have found that understanding the rules, helps get a better picture. The idea is to get to the stage that you do some of these things instinctively, and that's when you start to move away from the rules and become creative!

One final point. Most photographic books or web-pages I read assume you have a stable tripod for landscape work. In a similar way to the still life boys you spend a long time selecting the scene and composing the picture. Even with the most stable suspension system in the world this just isn't going to happen with KAP. So my premis is that when you compose the picture you do the best you can then shoot off lots of digital images. Once back on the computer you can use your instinct to select, crop, edit and stitch an image. Purists will argue that this post-processing on the computer isn't in the spirit of photography, but I see it all as part of the art, craft, and fun of KAP.

Why bother?

KAP isn't easy, as well as all the normal photographic considerations, you need a rig, a kite, the right wind, a kite launch site, and a greater consideration for the safety of others - why bother?

I believe that low altitude photography can give a unique perspective on the world. In order to demonstrate this consider the following four images of Warkworth Castle in Northumberland:

From the Car Park, Warkworth Castle (English Heritage) maintains a formidable entrance across the dry-moat.

This is the wide-angled view that every visitor gets of the castle from the south, with a limited view of what may lie inside.

c James Gentles 2003

Click for higher resolution... From the kite, some of the castles secrets are revealed. The moat and walls still guard the interior, but the layout of the various buildings within becomes more obvious.

Strong oblique sunshine accentuates the ramparts, and the earth mound the castle sits on. This makes the castle stand-out of the foreground.

c James Gentles 2003

Click to find out more about Aerial Photography... From an airplane a further dimension is seen, with the castle's prominent defensive position on a loop on the River Coquet.

In addition the village of Warkworth can now be seen nestling behind, and filling the loop in the river.

Thanks to Airimages, based in Northumberland, for allowing the inclusion of this complimentary view.

c airimages at www.airimages.co.uk

Finally this shot has a different appeal, more of a living map than a photograph.

The strategic position of the castle is demonstrated, however much of the impact of it's dramatic location is lost as all relief disappears due to the height of the camera above ground.

Additionally, unwanted elements in the picture (like the two bridges above the town) become a distraction.

c Getmapping served directly from www.multimap.com

My conclusion is that KAP, aerial and satellite images can all play to their strengths, depending on the subject matter. Each one has it's own technical difficulties, however there are rewards for those who overcome them. Another important lesson is that you don't need 1000' of line to take a good picture, in fact I would argue that since KAP fills the low-altitude aerial photography niche, you should stick to below 500' (local legal restrictions permitting), and play to the strength!

There is however no excuse for poor photographs, so both a technical and artistic challenge requires to be overcome...

Places and Patience

So, first of all what do I take pictures of? You may have started KAP with a view to taking particular pictures, however they have to meet photogenic as well as practical rules.

Cottage, Hebridean Island of Tiree, Scotland What looks good from the air is something you have to learn, sometimes the simplest objects can look stunning, and stunning objects can look boring. Look at other people's galleries and translate them into ideas in your locality. One combination I find works is the mix of impossible angle, simple subject, and strong colour, yes the roof really is that shade of green! You will spend several hours on a shoot, so pick your subjects carefully!

This is when the practicalities get in the way. Reconnoiter the site before hand. Where will you launch the kite? What wind directions are favourable? Are there cables or power lines ANYWHERE nearby? What is the best kite to use for high angle or long reach?

Be patient! Wait for the right wind and weather, even the right time of day for sun angles, before returning for the shoot. I keep a list of potential sites, with details of launch sites, wind conditions etc.

Frame and Line

Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, EnglandThere are a number of basic rules about the framing of a picture. Most basic is the Golden Ratio (1:1.618), which is supposed to be the most pleasing to view. Generally landscape format is considered more soothing and portrait more tense.

The Rule of Thirds highlights where areas of interest or lines should be. Interest should lie on these lines, or be centered around the 4 intersections, or hot-spots. It is considered good practice to have the horizon, for example, on one of these lines.

Also on the picture shown is the Golden Spiral. Rather than the static thirds this spiral traces out a dynamic path for the eye to move through the picture, finishing on one of the hot-spots. Does your eye get led into the picture along the spiral? In this case the line between the sand and dunes forms the line, but more conventionally it could be a road, track, fence or wall.

For images with less strong horizontal and verticals you could try fitting the image to the blue lines on the right. Note the right angle of the two blue lines, and how it is close to a hot-spot on the Rule of Thirds which is also included on the diagram.

Remember these templates can be mirrored and inversed to suit your image. Also the lines could be any feature on the image, or indeed they could be features from the foreground and background that happen to be in line.

Southern Black Cuillin from Sgurr Mhadaidh, Skye, ScotlandConsider this final image, look at the red cross shown, formed by the mountains and cairn.

The general principle here is that there is a pleasure in order and symmetry, even if this symmetry is made up of logically unconnected parts of the picture. They do however help lead you between the different parts of the picture. You can take this even further and try to echo the shape in the foreground (the cairn), with the shape in the background (the mountain in the top left hot-spot) which is highlighted in green. With KAP there is less of a concept of foreground and background, however the concept of echoing shapes from different parts of the image still applies.

Sun, Shade and Impossible Angles

Cairnpapple Prehistoric Burial Mound, February 2004. Click for higher resolution...The sun is the KAPers best friend, it accentuates height through casting shadows, and offering shading on vertical surfaces. The two shots shown have not been changed in any "photo package". They were taken less than 60 seconds apart. Try to ignore the better framing of the "sunny" shot, and note it's improved contrast and the 3D property that the strong winter shadow gives it. Try to keep the whole shadow in the frame, and if possible use the morning or evening light for long shadows and richer colours as shown here. Don't be frightened to shoot with the sun at 90o to the camera. With the more interesting angles directly into the sun it's difficult to control exposure. The use of gray graduated and polarising filters is even more unobtainable, c'est la vie.

The Binns Tower, House of the Binns, West Lothian, ScotlandMake the most of what KAP does best - occupy the space between conventional photography and high altitude aerial photography.

The image on the right was taken perilously close to the tower, hence the perspective. A huge flag set against the slender shadow, which is slightly exaggerated by the ground falling away to the left - it's a pity the shadow of the top of the tower wasn't in shot. It is a general photography rule that you shouldn't cut shadows off the edge of the frame, but it's sometimes difficult to achieve.

Take advantage of the incomprehensible human ability to recognise objects from above, and toy with the viewer. Note that horizontal close-ups of this tower don't work on their own, they could just be part of a bigger castle's ramparts. Show enough of a building to set it in context and set the camera's position in an unattainable space. If however you are working on a montage, then these shots can be used once the viewer has had the context set by other shots.

Whilst talking about angles, a word about the horizon. Keeping it flat is difficult, but this can make all the difference. Although the horizon can be re-set in the computer, gross errors result in severe loss as the picture is cropped back to square. With the horizon in shot, try not to break it with an occasional tree or building unless they are on the horizon.

Even images without the horizon visible there are no excuses, try to keep verticals vertical, unless the content of the picture is abstract and there is no natural sense of "up", e.g. the image is looking straight down.

Neat and Tidy

The Binns Tower, House of the Binns, West Lothian, ScotlandAs well as trying not to cut shadows off at the edge of the shot, try not to have intrusions into the frame either. Keep the edges plain and simple, keep the areas of interest within the frame. In the example here the dry stone wall and gate bottom right is an unwelcome addition to the shot. Paths and roads can be used to lead you into the picture, but here the gate is a distraction.

Although turning the image by 180o would help the Tower shot on the left, the shadow is missing and in the original high resolution image you can see various KAP paraphernalia sitting on a brown bench to the left of the steps. Try to keep the shot tidy so don't leave things lying around! I didn't keep this image after the shoot.

This leads us on to the question of whether the photographer should be in the picture, and what to do with the kite line if it's in shot. I have noted that whilst the photographer's shadow in shot is normally considered unforgivable, KAPers have a different attitude to having either the photographer / kite flyer, or kite line in shot.

So I'd ask a question - do these things add to the image or not? The photographer / kite flyer being in shot isn't an issue if they add some interest or scale, normally they are far enough away to just look like another person.

Cairnpapple Prehistoric Burial Site, Bathgate, ScotlandRemember if you do think you are in shot to look up as you take the picture. As I take the picture I'm normally squinting into the video downlink and appear as a hunched figure (like on the right here), however there is normally enough time to look up as you press the shutter, and look down after the picture is taken. So the picture on the right breaks all the rules, I've called it "Like father like son". It was the test shot at the entrance to the shoot site, you can see the kite and KAP material as well as the operator and his son both looking at video monitors before letting the kite rise.

Back to serious shots - I'm a lot less sure about the kite line being in frame. Does it distract from the picture, or destroy the illusion of the shot? In these cases I would electronically remove it. However if it adds to the image, or the game of "How did they do that?" then leave it in!

The difference between a good and bad photographer,
is that the good photographer doesn't show you his bad pictures!

http://photoinf.com/Golden_Mean/James_Gentles/KAP_Photo_Technique.htm

Panasonic DMC-TZ1

Panasonic DMC TZ1K digital cameraAs the photography world advances, making smaller cameras that have more mega-pixels and a lower price tag is the normal evolution. The Panasonic DMC-TZ1 is no exception to this rule. It sports 5 mega pixels, a 10x optical zoom, the MEGA optical image stabilizer, and a plethora of functions—it also comes in white or black.

The Panasonic DMC-TZ1 features a 1/2.5” 6.37 total megapixel CCD primary color filter. Aside from the 10x optical zoom, the Panasonic DMC-TZ1 also has a 4x digital zoom. The ISO sensitivity ranges from 80 to 800, unless using the high sensitivity mode, which goes up to 1600.

The camera itself looks very sleek, packs a punch and is priced right. The DMC-TZ1 has a self-timer so taking self-portraits is a snap. It has the usual 2.5” LCD monitor, which is crisp and clear. The battery life is reasonable. It will allow you to take roughly 250 pictures—pretty much standard for decent cameras.

As with many cameras today, the Panasonic DMC-TZ1 records audio while snapping photos. It can take up to 5 seconds of audio with each picture. There are other cameras out there that will record more, but this is a good time for recording a quick note about the picture when on a vacation. There’s nothing worse than coming home from the vacation of a lifetime and not being able to describe each picture to interested friends and family. All in all, the Panasonic DMC-TZ1 is a pretty decent camera. It is newer, so time will tell just how durable it is.

http://www.photographersplayground.com/2006/03/05/panasonic-dmc-tz1/

Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D

Konica Minolta Maxxum 5DThe Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D is geared toward a beginner that wishes to purchase an inexpensive digital SLR instead of emptying their pocket for other brands that have a larger price tag. It may be a bit cheaper than the big boys but still does not slight you on its features.

The Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D offers a smooth operation in a lightweight digital camera that is considered to be one of the best high-performance digital SLR cameras around. One of the most popular features is the body-integral anti-shake. With this feature, even the beginner and take quality photos without seeing that blur you get when taking pics of moving objects or if your hands are shaking just a bit. The anti-shake technology that is used with the Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D utilizes a CCD shift mechanism that will compensate the blurring by camera shaking or when taking pics in low light situations, in natural light with a telephoto lens or in Macro shots for that sharp image.

Not only is the Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D a high performance digital SLR camera but it has a compact design that is fashionable and lightweight. The rubberized grips make it easy to handle in all kinds of weather and all situations.

The 2.5 inch color LCD is great for viewing your pictures and has an easy navigation for it’s on-screen menus and the set up options. It even has a unique feature called the Digital subject program selector, which will automatically select an optimum exposure and image-processing program for 5 most popular used photography scenes. The LCD display will automatically switch from horizontal to vertical format when shooting in upright “portrait” format and will allow you to adjust the size of the on-screen text.

Some of the great features of the Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D include the anti-shake performance that will give you superior images in all situations, easy to use, trendy, compact, lightweight, comes complete with 6.1-megapixel CCD and Konica Minolta’s original image processing technology CxProcess™ III, the larger 2.5-inch color LCD monitor, wide range image adjustment and control for your own creativity.

Reliability and quality construction is one plus with the Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D that you will be glad you have in your digital camera. It is made with sturdy glass fiber plastic, which creates a lighter and smaller camera. The rubber grip is based on the new ergonomic design that has been researched to not only provide a great fit for you hand but is also great for the health of your hands and arms.

With the Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D even a beginning photographer can capture awesome shots just like the professionals and enjoy sharing their quality photos with their family and friends.

http://www.photographersplayground.com/2006/03/13/konica-minolta-maxxum-5d/

Vivitar Unveils 6-Megapixel Underwater Digital Camera

Vivitar Unveils 6-Megapixel Underwater Digital Camera Vivitar announced the debut of a suite of innovative digital imaging products at PMA 2007, being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, March 8-11.

Highlighting Vivitar’s exhibit is the 6-megapixel ViviCam 6200W underwater camera — one of the company’s first new products since its November 2006 acquisition by Syntax-Brillian. The stylish 6-megapixel ViviCam 6200W is waterproof to 10 meters, features 4X digital zoom, a 2” LCD display, SD card support, and a rubber-armored exterior for enhanced ruggedness and durability.

In addition to the ViviCam 6200W, also debuting at PMA 2007 are the ViviCam 7388s 7-megapixel digital camera; the ViviCam 6385u 6-megapixel digital camera; the X625 10-megapixel digital camera; and the DVR 530 5-megapixel digital video recorder.

“We’re very proud to debut this suite of exciting new digital products which we feel announces a fresh take on our long heritage of quality and innovation in the photography industry,” said Eric Cole, Vice President of Operations, Vivitar North America. “We feel these new products affirm that Vivitar, in collaboration with Syntax-Brillian, is emerging with a new sense of power and sophistication that we’ll continue to exhibit throughout 2007 domestically and internationally.”

New Vivitar Products at PMA 2007:

ViviCam 6200W - 6-megapixel digital camera, waterproof to 30ft./10 meters

ViviCam 7388s - 7-megapixel, 3X optical zoom, 3" LCD display, MP3 playback

ViviCam 6385u - 6-megapixel, 3X optical zoom, ultra-slim metal body available in 6 metallic colors

X625 - 10-megapixel, 6x optical zoom, retro pop-up flash

DVR530 - 5-megapixel, 640x480 30fps video capture, TV capture/playback, MP3, Webcam

http://www.playfuls.com/news_06475_Vivitar_Unveils_6_Megapixel_Underwater_Digital_Camera.html