Photoded

In the semi-viral, Webby-nominated short film “School Portrait,” a grumpy school-portrait photographer berates his lovable subjects with his cynical views of the world, sadistically trying to elicit frowns for his photos. It’s a simple concept, but the kids reactions make the film stand out. “We only needed a few beats of a genuine reaction” to make it work, says director Nick Scott. To get those little moments, Scott cherry-picked the kids’ responses to events and conversations not in the film, and then spliced them into actor Jonathan Rhodes’ dialogue. The best reaction, where the girl listens to Rhodes say “there isn’t a pet heaven,” was actually just something that happened when Scott was talking to the girl and then suddenly turned around. Scott says the kids are not professional actors but instead participants in a regular drama class at a London school. He purposely wanted amateurs, he says, because he knew their reactions would be more genuine. “It was very important that we had regular kids because we didn’t want them to overdo it,” he says. So far the film has over a million views, a success that can be attributed, at least in part, to seeing the seriousness of the world’s problems through the refreshing lens of young kids. “At the present moment there are a lot of reasons to feel depressed,” says Scott. “The economy, the climate. But with these kids we see their belief that things will get better.” Even though that belief is manufactured and stitched together in the film, it feels true. Scott says he and the rest of the crew didn’t want to expose the kids to everything that Rhodes says in film because they didn’t think it was necessary to spoil the enthusiasm the film so cleverly captures. “We wanted to make sure their purity and hope still shined through,” he says.

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Kids Triumph Over Gloomy School Photographer in Clever Short Film

The name Leica carries considerable cachet for many photographers, regardless of whether they’ve ever had a chance to shoot with one of the company’s rangefinders or used with one of its lenses. The fabulous cost and continued adherence to a near-obsolete, manual-focus, rangefinder design can be off-putting, making it easy to wonder whether the brand’s proponents have bought into marketing or mystique. So just what is it like to shoot with an M9-P? We put the camera in the hands of four photographers with different backgrounds and shooting styles to see what the ‘red dot’ meant to them.

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Article: Shooting with the Leica M9-P

Accessory maker LockCircle has announced it will offer its ‘LockPort’ durable HDMI socket bracket for the Nikon D800. The LockPort800 combines a mounting plate that secures to the base of the camera with a miniHDMI-to-standard HDMI adapter that bolts onto it. This provides an easy-access full-size HDMI connector while also protecting your camera’s miniHDMI socket from damage. The mounting plate is designed so that the camera can still be used with other mounts, tripod plates and accessories, in tandem with the LockPort. The LockPort800 will be available from June 2012 at a cost of $199/€99.

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LockCircle brings LockPort secure HDMI ports to Nikon D800

Vanguard USA has announced mail-in rebates on two of its series of tripods and camera bags. Read more and comment

The Lomographic Society has launched a range of limited-edition La Sardina film cameras. Read more and comment

Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally posted by PhotoShelter Chairman and co-founder Allen Murabayashi on the PhotoShelter blog . Murayabashi was kind enough to share it with Raw File readers. Although everyone has an opinion on Facebook’s purchase of Instagram for $1B, I think we can all agree: Instagram is terrible for photographers. (gotcha) Why? Let’s count the ways. Why Instagram is Terrible for Photographers… The rights grab Let’s look at the Terms of Use: …By displaying or publishing (“posting”) any Content on or through the Instagram Services, you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, worldwide, limited license to use, modify, delete from, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and translate such Content, including without limitation distributing part or all of the Site in any media formats through any media channels, except Content not shared publicly (“private”) will not be distributed outside the Instagram Services. …You represent and warrant that: (i) you own the Content posted by you on or through the Instagram Services or otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth in this section, (ii) the posting and use of your Content on or through the Instagram Services does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights, intellectual property rights or any other rights of any person, and (iii) the posting of your Content on the Site does not result in a breach of contract between you and a third party. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owing any person by reason of Content you post on or through the Instagram Services. Like many businesses on the web that deal with photo assets (from Facebook to Pinterest), the Terms of Use are encompassing, and grab rights from photographers as a condition of participation. Brad Mangin recently wrote about using the iPhone and Instagram . He spends most of his time shooting peak baseball action with high end Canon DSLRs and 400mm f/2.8 lenses, so he sees Instagram as a cool way to show life around the ballpark and behind the scenes moments. Photos by Brad Mangin The problem with this wonderful dugout photo with the Gatorade coolers is that Instagram could, in theory, license that image to Gatorade without compensating Brad. Would they? Probably not, but more and more companies are finding utility in using Instagram to create user interaction and build their content-based marketing strategies, so it does fall within the realm of possibility. This is the main reason Darren Carroll has resisted the urge to jump on the Instagram bandwagon, and prefers sticking with apps like Hipstamatic, which have friendlier terms. The quality sucks Director Nick Knight recently used Instagram to photograph model Cara Delevinge posing with a bunch of animals in a series that was “inspired by Internet memes, animal GIFs and Autumn/Winter 2012′s taste for grown-up, blown-up overdressing.” There is clearly a sense of parody here, so I think this was more of a way to generate publicity than to take beautiful photos. But the point is pretty clear, the quality leaves something to be desired in low light situations. Photo by Nick Knight Motion blur, poor dynamic range, pixelation, and the list goes on. The beautiful model wearing stylized clothing while holding cats is done a major injustice by taking an image with the quality you might get if you photographed an old television set. Art filters Tell me why the masses believe that applying an art filter to an image instantly makes it better? Oh look, it’s blue! It has a fake lens flare! Is that polaroid edge real?!!?! It’s strange to me that we fall back on these anachronisms of the analog world. Kids don’t even know that these art filters were based on real analog phenomenon, and now they use them because they think it looks cool. Damn kids! DC Stock Images photographer Randy Santos uses Instagram and DSLRs. There’s no comparison in my opinion. Which Randy Santos image do you prefer? Instagram below, or DSLR above? Instagram is a repository for cute animals While you’re trying to build a serious body of work, Instagram is being dominated by people who take photos of their pets. And these people are simultaneously amassing huge followings. In the same way that our societal love of America’s Funniest Home Videos was supplanted by the viral video on YouTube, I feel like we’re being suckered by this most basal response to want to say “awwww.” Do we lack any power of discernment and taste? …And All the Reasons You Should Be Using It The rights grab is a theoretical threat Brad Mangin has used many photo apps on his iPhone, but the Instagram hook for him was the social networking aspects. Not only does he build followers through the mobile-only Instagram network, but he also publishes images onto Facebook – thus, he reaches two distinct demographics. We’ve constantly preached the need to go where your customers are, and to also understand that different demographics hang out in different places. By building an audience through multiple social networks, Brad is teeing up the ability to 1) continue providing his legacy customers like Sports Illustrated and MLB with sports action, while 2) creating a consumer-based audience that might purchase a book or photo or attend a workshop with him. Is the Gatorade threat real? Maybe. But using Instagram in an ad campaign is a visual gimmick in the same way that the heavy handed HDR might be used. It’s less likely that a pro photographer’s image would be misapporpriated for commercial purposes than user-generated/submitted content being used as part of a viral campaign. The quality is good enough and only getting better Getty Images thought it was good enough Foreign Policy and Newsweek thought it was good enough  (Hipstamatic) Pictures of the Year International thought it was good enough (Hipstamatic) updated : Sports Illustrated  thought it was good enough (Hipstamatic) Sports Illustrated chose Greg Foster's Hipstamatic portrait over the images shot with a Canon DSLR for this feature spread. Maybe art filters do make the world look better Have you ever watched Steven Sodebergh’s Traffic ? Depending on which storyline he’s telling, you get a different film tint. Lots of people have commented on Hollywood’s obsession with this banal color correction, and how it makes every movie look the same visually. But it’s kind of like getting a polaroid camera. There’s something about that look that is so compelling, and it never gets old when you’re  the one doing it. Don’t get me wrong. It is a shame that bad photography suddenly seems better. But we can’t stop our visceral reactions from happening. Why do you think Jersey Shore is so popular? Karen Rosenberg had an insightful piece in the New York Times  about the retro look that is enabled by apps like Instagram: Why do we want to tweak our photos so conspicuously? Why do we suddenly want them to look as if they came from old analog cameras?…Nostalgia is certainly a factor; parents, for instance, may want their children’s photographs to look like the ones in old family albums…The photograph itself, even an artily manipulated one, has become so cheap and ubiquitous that it’s no longer of much value. But the experience of sharing it is, and that’s what Facebook is in the business of encouraging us to do. Instagram is a repository for cute animals This is still true. Don’t do this. Ok, do it. Don’t hate the player Photojournalist Teru Kuwayama doesn’t hate the player, nor the game. In a piece in The Telegraph , he said: “You could make an analogy to the advent of the electric guitar or electronic music. Much to the annoyance of classical musicians, those things made ‘everyone’ a musician. I grew up on punk rock, hip hop and death metal, so I welcome the post-classical age of photography, and the explosion of amateur expression that comes with it. Obviously, it sucks to be a professional photographer, and it’s personally inconvenient to lose your pedestal and your livelihood to a $2 app, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing for photography.” Photos are the glue and currency of social networks. They are fantastically “sticky” but as we’ve seen with Pinterest, the photos are great when they depict your product, not when they are  your product — at least not in the traditional world of photography. But in the new world, this golden age of photography as I like to call it, photographers need to find how to leverage the distribution and “any one can do it” capabilities of the photo “app” to sustain and expand their business. Alternately, you could invent Instagram. (By the way, you don’t need $400m to party in Vegas until 4am ). ———————————————— Allen Murabayashi is the Chairman and co-founder of  PhotoShelter . Allen authors PhotoShelter’s  free business guides  for photographers and marketing professionals, including topics like email marketing, search engine optimization, and starting a photography business. Allen is a graduate of Yale University, and flosses daily.

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Why Instagram Is Terrible for Photographers, and Why You Should Use It

Ladybug & her funny daisy by Antino Cervigni Lady bug traversing flower peddles by Ron Forster Ladybug Portrait by Scott– Ladybug ladybug fly away by Tiffany Brook Pale Ladybug by Susan Wolfe

Bag maker Think Tank has announced an update to its Airport series of camera bags. Designed to meet the restrictions imposed by airlines on carry-on luggage, the series includes a model designed for international flight as well as smaller versions for space-limited short-haul flying. The three bags are all designed with room for an iPad and increasingly large laptops, and give clear indications of the camera bodies and lenses they will accommodate. All three come with a seam-sealed rain covers.

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Think Tank announces Airport line of carry-on compliant camera bags

We’ve teamed up with Manfrotto to give away two fantastic Photo Kits. Read more and comment

> Photo: Jason Lee > View all By now Jason Lee is used to going viral. Last week, Lee’s quirky and inventive pictures of his two young daughters made their third large showing on the internet, driving enough traffic to his website to crash it several times. His mailbox is full of new client requests and he’s been inundated with media requests. “Every time the photos pop up it’s nice exposure, but at the same time it causes a lot of headaches,” says Lee, a Bay Area photographer. Lee says he’s flattered by the attention he got after the photos went up on sites including Bored Panda and Yahoo. But he already has a booming wedding business and not much time to squeeze any new work into his schedule. “I’m looking at my inbox and just shaking my head,” he says. It’s easy to see why the project has enjoyed so much success. Lee’s photos mix well-executed photography with creative concepts and inventive Photoshop work. He’s been shooting the portraits since 2006 and says he never intended for them to get so much public play. They were initially thought up when Lee’s mother started getting chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and couldn’t be around germ-ladened young kids. He says he wanted his mom to be able to see her granddaughters but didn’t want to send the same old boring photos. “I really wanted to be able to show my mom what was going on with the kids but I also wanted to cheer her up a little bit,” he says. “I wanted to make her laugh.” Today Lee says his mom is still sick but holding on. She can be around the kids and even babysat them just a couple of weeks ago. The project itself, however, has taken on a life of its own and Lee continues to find new ways to creatively capture the personalities of his two daughters. The best inspiration, he says, always comes from the girls themselves. The other day, for example, Lee says he was thinking about how to get his kids to sit still so he could get some work done at the house. The idea of taping them to the wall came to mind and within a day he had the picture set up and shot. To make the photo, Lee took one frame of his younger daughter Kayla standing on a table with one piece of tape on each arm and one across her mid section. He then took another picture of his older daughter Kristin by herself that made it look like she was applying tape to the wall. In Photoshop Lee removed the table from under Kayla’s feet, tilted her slightly, cloned the tape so there were multiple pieces and added Kristin into the frame to make it look like it was her handiwork. “The ideas just pop into my head sometimes,” he says. It hasn’t always been the easiest thing to get two small kids to sit still through a photo shoot even if they are quite cooperative. Lee says the secret has always been some kind of payoff. “I figured out early on that bribery really works,” he says. “Any time I’m like, ‘Let’s go take a picture’ the first thing that comes to their mind is treats.” Over the years the lighting and complexity of the photos has gotten more sophisticated, but the soul of the work has always come from the girls themselves. Kristin, 8, is more reserved, and Kayla, 5, more outgoing. Together, however, their dynamic is surprisingly symbiotic. “My older daughter is very calm and my younger daughter is like the wild child,” says Lee. Nowadays Lee and the girls have been doing the project for so long that he says his daughters have started submitting their own pitches. They don’t always come to fruition, Lee says, but he enjoys the enthusiasm. “As they have gotten older it’s nice to see them giving their own ideas and not just being in the photos,” he says. “I’m glad they are still enthusiastic.”

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Creative Dad Works Photoshop Magic on Adorable Daughters

The winners of the April 2012 Photography Blog Competition have been announced. Read more and comment

The Sony DT 50mm F1.8 SAM is a cheap and more than cheerful prime telephoto lens for Sony APS-C sensor cameras. Offering an effective focal length of 75mm and a bright maximum aperture of f/1.8, you’ll hardly notice this diminutive lens in your camera bag. Read our Sony DT 50mm F1.8 SAM review to find out if it’s worth the modest £159 / $145 asking price. Read the review

The Association of Photographers (AOP) has announced the launch of Exposure 2012 , a range of photography related events beginning on 17th May 2012. Read more and comment