When a hard drive fails, it can be an incredibly difficult experience – especially if you haven’t backed up all of your photos. Hard drive failure seems to come out of nowhere, but there are usually a few indicators that you can find if you’re listening for them. The folks over at DataCent have put together a list of common hard drive failures and recordings of the sounds that they make. It’s a tremendous help if you’re hearing something strange going on with your hard drive, or as a way to keep an ear out for problems in the future. Keep in mind, you’ll want to back up your photos and data as soon as you hear any of these noises. (via PetaPixel ) . . . → Read More: Learn Hard Drive Failure Sounds to Predict Problems
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 Copyright Michael Oh For many of us vacations, or holidays, can be a stressful time, photographically speaking. The types of trips I’m talking about here are the ones flying to a location with solid photography potential and the whole family is in tow. These trips often call for a certain level of compromise on the part of any picture taking parent. Balancing the desire to grab my full photo kit and still manage to have enough room for all the family essentials. I have been on multiple trips with my nine year old daughter and I can attest to the learning curve and how the balance can change with every trip. Not only is gear space and weight important, the shooting potential when on a family trip can often be limited, and for good reason. It’s not a solo trip where I get to decide when and where I travel, it’s a family trip and everyone’s needs and desires come into play. Finding that balance with family time and shooting time is way beyond the scope of this post, but I do hope to help you lighten your gear load by only packing what is truly needed given the compromising structure of any family vacation. Items To Pack Lenses Bring, at most, two lenses. A telephoto zoom and a wide angle zoom are all that is needed. That 400mm monster? Leave it at home. Yes, you might miss out on some great birding photos, but if this is a family trip, it’s going to be about compromise. Maybe find a simple, easy lens for a trip like this. Remember that you may be handing the camera over to other family members, depending on age, to shoot some shots. Keep it simple and easy. An 18-200mm lens works well as an all around travel lens, for those with a 1.6x crop factor camera, and there are some quality options available for most any manufacturer. If you must bring multiple lenses, try to pack them in a bag that handle double duty for daily snacks and water when out and about during your daily excursions. Polarizing Filter If you were to bring just one filter on a trip, bring a polarization filter. From cutting down glare of the ocean waves to removing pesky reflections on buildings to increasing contrast and saturation in other situations, a polarization filter will serve you well. I would suggest keeping it in its original container (see below when you’re not bringing your full filter wallet) for protection. UV/Haze Filter Chances are you have one of these on your camera already. It will help protect your lens from spray and all that sand you’ll encounter while lounging on the beach. Shot List Many of us travel with a shot list, be it a prescribed list for any trip or something specific for the location of intent. The most important reason to have a shot list on a family trip is to share it with everyone. This serves three purposes: 1) It lets everyone know what is important for you to see on the trip. 2) It gives others a chance to offer input and make photography more fun for everyone (ask for suggestions to help everyone feel involved, especially if your kids have favorite things they like to have photos of) 3) It helps keep you sane and limited. Don’t make the list too gargantuan, keep it limited to the most important items so you don’t feel constantly torn between family time and shooting time. Extra Cards Don’t run out of space!! You’ve made your checklist in the item above, but did you include all the photos of your kids and spouse playing, goofing off and just generally being a family? Not only that, if you are like me, you may hand your camera over to get a kids perspective on the world and they will surely suck down a lot of card space. On top of that, with many cameras offering video, something you may use lightly or not at all when traveling and shooting solo, it can be a great way to bring back some fond memories. But video also chews up a great deal of space. Cards are light and relatively cheap these days, don’t be caught frantically deleting photos to make room! Your time is better spent enjoying your trip. Items To Leave At Home (And Why) Full Tripod A full sized tripod is nice, but the bulk and weight can be a killer on a family trip. Sure there will be times when you may want to snap a family photo in front of a scenic spot, but there are other options to a space hogging Goliath of a tripod. For instance, I prefer to carry the Trek-Tech GO! Pro tripod. It is a bit of compromise in the batter of space and weight over solid stability, but it does get the job done well for this type of situation. And it can be used as a walking stick, handed over to one of your children as a handy means of distraction when the time is right. Not only that, it will fit in a carry-on bag, possibly saving you on checked baggage fees. Every Strobe You Own Unless there is a specific photo you know you want to capture that will require more than one strobe, leave the weight, and the batteries, at home. If your camera has a pop-up flash, you won’t need to bring an external strobe at all. I know it may be blasphemy to some, calling for a ban on external strobes, but the weight and space saved can make the trip more enjoyable for all. Depending on the size of the little ones, you may be over burdened with snacks, toys, books or other forms of entertainment, don’t add to the stress on your back by adding in unneeded weight. Every Battery You Own (You Know, Just In Case) Bring one battery for the camera and one spare. That’s all you will need, really. Bring the charger as well and give the day’s battery a charge every night, replacing it with the spare. If you burn through two batteries in a day, you might be shooting too much and spending too little time enjoying your family. Depending on trip length and your shooting habits, you may be able to simplify even further and bring only the batteries and no charger. Simple = easy = more enjoyable vacation. All Your Other Filters You have a fancy wallet with a ton of filters. Maybe you don’t think it’s a ton. Maybe it’s only 10 or so. If your significant other thinks it’s a ton, you might want to consider leaving the wallet at home. It’s bulk, it’s (minor) weight and it is one more thing to keep track of while juggling other family gear. Simplify. Did I mention that? See what you can shoot without the filters. Sure, there may be times when you lament not bringing them all, but this is a family trip and you family would certainly enjoy you spending more time with them than the filters. Ok, bring the graduated neutral density filter. Maybe you can’t live without that one. ———— My point is packing a minimal amount of photography gear will often have the biggest impact on fun for everyone. I have over one it in the past, carried over 15lbs worth of gear and got so caught up in photos that everything else falls away. I found this isn’t always the best way to handle a trip. One last bit of advice: Schedule time to just shoot. Work with your spouse and kids to have some time when you can get out, by yourself, and shoot until your heart is content. If the pull of photography is too great, communicating about your desire for photography time alone can go a long way to smoothing the bumps any family can have while traveling. Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips . Check out our resources on Portrait Photography Tips , Travel Photography Tips and Understanding Digital Cameras . 5 Photo Items To Pack and 4 To Leave At Home For Your Next Family Vacation . . . → Read More: 5 Photo Items To Pack and 4 To Leave At Home For Your Next Family Vacation  A Guest Post by Andrew Mills from Andrew Mills Photography . Many of us spend a small fortune on our camera equipment trying to get the best quality we can, yet so many of us miss out on an important step that can make a huge difference to our photos. That step is to calibrate your monitor. You can view the same image on the same computer, and just swap the monitor for another and that image will look different on each monitor you try (even monitors of the same brand and model may not be exactly the same). As a result, you can’t be 100% sure that your images’ colour balance, hue, contrast and brightness are set correctly. You may be lucky in that your monitor is set up fairly well by default, but this can not be expected. The image below is a photo of a section of my laptop screen (it is an actual photo, doing a screen grab won’t capture the effect the monitor has). Actually, it’s a composite of two photos – the upper right half is with no monitor profile, the lower left half is with the profile active. As you can see, by default, my laptop screen is a tad too dark and has a horrible blue cast – this is something I had not noticed until I had calibrated it. If I edit an image, set its colour balance and brightness and contrast with the uncalibrated screen, I will be unwittingly compensating for that extra blue I see, so I will end up adding yellow, or taking blue away to make it look correct – this means that any resulting prints will have a yellow cast. You will then spend ages swearing at your printer, fiddling with its colour profiles and wasting loads of ink and paper (and money). If you’re lucky, some labs will colour correct images for you – but don’t expect professional labs to do so as they expect you to make sure it’s correct beforehand (unless you ask – they won’t change an image in case they “mess up” and intentional effect). So, by calibrating your monitor, you are “standardising“ it – any photo you edit on your calibrated monitor should look the same on any other calibrated monitor, and should also print with little or no adjustment, and it should come back from the lab and look as you expected. So how do I calibrate my monitor? Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro both have utilities built in where you can do a basic calibration. To be honest, in my experience they are next to useless (but possibly better than nothing). Look in your editing application’s manual to see if it has this built in, and how to use it. The best option is to get a colorimeter – I use X-Rite’s (AKA GretagMacbeth) i1 (AKA Eye-One) display 2 (supports both PC and MAC), which looks a bit like a computer mouse. Once the software is installed, you plug the colorimeter into a USB slot, fire up the software and place the colorimeter on the screen. Step 1: You’ll be asked whether you want “Easy” or “Advanced” – most people will only need “Easy”. Step 2: You’ll be asked what sort of monitor you will be testing – you will have a choice of “LCD”, “CRT” and “Laptop”. Even though your laptop has an LCD screen, you still choose Laptop. Click the right arrow. Step 3: Place the colorimeter onto the screen as shown. Click the right arrow. Step 4: There’s no screen grab for this bit as this is where the software does its thing – it will “find” where the colorimeter is on the screen, then will display blocks of colour for the colorimeter to read and analyse. This will take a few minutes and you won’t be able to use the computer while it’s going on, so now’s your chance to go and have a cuppa. Step 5: The software takes the info from the colorimeter and builds a custom monitor profile that will be loaded at startup. You can change the name if you wish, but all you have to do now is click “Finish calibration” or the right arrow to save the new profile. And that’s it – the whole process only takes a few minutes and is well worth it. In most cases you will only need to do this once a month, so it’s not a great burden. Although, CRT users may want to calibrate their monitors more often as they tend to vary more with age and environment. Windows Vista and colour profiles There is a problem with colour management that affects some people, but not others, in Windows Vista and, it seems, still persists in Windows 7. On my desktop PC I don’t have any problems, but on my laptop the correct profile is not always loaded when it boots, and whenever the UAC requester pops up, the current colour profile is lost. To counter this, I use LUT Manager to manually load the correct profile. What else can I calibrate? The particular model of colorimeter I have only does monitors, which will suffice for most people. But you can build calibration profiles for you camera, scanner and printer. I don’t know of many people who use calibration targets for their cameras and scanners (although there are people who do who need that level of consistency), but if you do a lot of your own printing, especially on non manufacturer specific papers (a HP printer will have its own profiles already included with the printer driver software for its range of papers), then you may benefit from building your own printer calibration profiles for each paper type. Read more from Andy at Andrew Mills Photography . Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips . Check out our resources on Portrait Photography Tips , Travel Photography Tips and Understanding Digital Cameras . How to Calibrate Your Monitor . . . → Read More: How to Calibrate Your Monitor  If you’re on a quest to improve your photography one of the best things to do is to take stock of where you’ve been and where you want to go. A couple of years ago on DPS I discussed How to Top Your Best 2008 Photos and the methods discussed there are as relevant today as they were then. A year end review is an incredibly powerful exercise as it shows you where you’ve made improvements, need work and the act of choosing favorites hones your photo editing skills. As is a tradition on my blog I ask my readers to review their years photos and share their Best Photos of 2010 as an exercise to take stock and improve. This year there was a record turn out of 162 participants who spanned a spectrum of skill levels from hobbyists to professionals and covered a wide variety of genres including landscape, macro, nature, photojournalism, portraiture, event, wildlife, fine art photography and more. I highly recommend visiting each entry as I have. Even after 4 years of running this blog project I’m blown away by the talent of those that take part. It is truly inspirational to see so much creativity and beauty. If your curious to see photos I particularly enjoyed look out for the entries with *** next to them. If you have not yet taken stock of your 2010 photographs it’s not too late and if you have a best of 2010 photo set on your blog or Flickr be sure to add it in the comments. ——- Best Photos of 2010 via JMG-Galleries and Borrowlenses.com Lens Rentals Best Photos of 2010 by Jim M. Goldstein – JMG-Galleries Best Photos of 2010 by Matthias Wassermann – Mawpix.com Exploring Light -Top Photos 2010 – Chris Moore My Top Ten Photos for 2010 – Tom Varden My Top Ten Photos of 2010 | Craig’s Musings – Craig Vitter Top 10 Photos for 2010 | Dobson Central – Ken Dobson Best Photos of 2010 – Carol Bauer My Best photos from 2010 – Janis Janums My Best Photos of 2010 – David Taylor | SixtyOneNorth.com 2010 – Year In Review – Jon McCormack Photography – Jon McCormack S Zacharias: Best of 2010 – Stephen Zacharias 2010 Photos – David Hernandez Iceman Photography – Top 10 in 2010 Best of 2010 – Dave Wilson Skolai Images – Bears of 2010 – Carl Donohue My Best Photos From 2010 – Art Kuntz 2010 in Review – Jay Goodrich My Favourite Images of 2010 – Sven Seebeck *** Lunchisoptional: Favorites of Year: 2010 Edition — Ken Trout My ten favorite photos of 2010 – Stefan Bäurle Top 10 of 2010 – Behind The Clicks – Mohammad Noman Top Ten Photos Of 2010 – Jed Link 2010 in Review – kRiZ cPEc Photo Blog Chuqui.com- Best Photos 2010 – Chuq Von Rospach My Favorite Photos of 2010 – Ed Rosack 2010 Favorites – Pat Ulrich | Pat Ulrich Photography *** Favorites of 2010 – Kevin Moore Top 10 of 2010 from BlazingB Photography – Bill Pennington *** My Favorite Photos of 2010 – Mike Criss *** My faves from 2010 – Matt Smith My favourite shots of 2010 – Catalin Marin | Momentary Awe *** 2010 a Year in Review, My Top 10 Memorable/Favorite shots – Mike Criswell Craig Ferguson Images – A Year In Photos – Craig Ferguson Top 50 Images from 2010 and Goal Setting – Mike Cavaroc Jim’s Photography – Jim Wheeler Sharpimage.net – The best of 2010 – David Sharp StephenWeaver Photography/Earth Systems Imaging -Stephen G. Weaver Best of 2010 – Changing Perspectives – Jenni Brehm katzekotz.de – best of 2010 – Thomas Kneppeck 2010 Favorite Images – Alpenglow Images – Greg Russell Best Images of 2010 – Peter Cox Photography – Peter Cox Best of 2010| Simon Says – Simon Ponder My Favorites Shots of 2010 – Fine Art Prints – Jeff Colburn Mountain and Climbing Photography – Alexandre Buisse Siam In Contrast 2010 – Adrian Young Olivier Du Tré | 2010 in review (black and white) | 2010 in review (colour) – Olivier Du Tré John Dunne Photography | My Top 10 Favourite Images of 2010 – John Dunne Best of 2010 Flickr Set – Tony Rath Top 10 from 2010 – Behind-the-lens-lukey – Luke Weymark Evan Gearing Photography’s Top 10 of 2010 – Evan Gearing 2010 Photos in Review: Water – Rebecca R Jackrel *** Justin Korn [dot] com – Best of 2010 – Justin Korn My Best Photos of 2010: Learning and Growing> – D. Travis North Uncommon Depth – Roberta Murray Organic Light Photography Best of 2010 – Youssef Ismail / Organic Light Photography The Best of 2010 – blackandwhite.ie – Neil McShane My Best of 2010 – Larry Rosenstein Will Wohler Photography: 2010 A Year in Review – Will Wohler digitizedchaos – best of 2010 – rian castillo My Top 10 from 2010 – Chaz Curry Photography *** My best underwater photos 2010 – Suzy Walker *** Favorite Photographs From 2010 – Fine Art Landscape Photography of Seung Kye Lee *** Best photos from 2010 – Amanda Herbert Wrapping Up 2010: My Favorite Photographs – Ivan Makarov Photography Graf Nature Photography | Reflections on 2010 photographs – MARK GRAF VACANT SHOP IN DOWNTOWN SANTA BARBARA – G. Kaltenbrun Pat O’Brien Photography – A Look Back at 2010 – Pat O’Brien G Dan Mitchell – 2010 Favorites – G Dan Mitchell *** Favorite Photo of 2010 – Naturalvision-photo.com –Derek Griggs Crest, Cliff & Canyon – Jackson Frishman 2010 In Review – Photoimagery.net – Peter McCabe *** Favorite Photos from 2010 – In the Field Photo Blog – Richard Wong *** Year in Review Best Photos of 2010 – Matt Graham Photo Blog – Matt Graham Elizabeth Brown Photography PhotoBlog: Ten Favorite Photos of 2010 – Elizabeth Brown My Top Photos of 2010 – Jonesblog – Bryan William Jones latoga photograph: My Favorite Photos of 2010 – Greg A. Lato Best of 2010 Images – Rob Tilley Living Wilderness: 12 Best from 2010 – Kevin Ebi *** Highlights of 2010 – TO KNOW MORE WEB JOURNAL – KENT MEARIG *** My Best Photos of 2010 – Michael Russell | Michael Russell Photography Best Photographs of 2010 – Chuck Goolsbee Favourite Photos from 2010 – Tim Smalley My Best 10 Photos 2010 – A Reconnection to Nature – Mark Fenwick Best of 2010 – Quotidian Photography – Jessica Sweeney My Top Images of 2010 – ANDREW KEE A Photo A Day… Done! – WelliverPhotography – Beth Welliver Batsto Village – Louis Dallara Photo Blog – Louis Dallara Best 10 of 2010 – John Wall’s Natural California *** 10 from 2010 on the Ann-alog – Ann Torrence *** Favorite Photos from 2010 – My Photo Blog – Ron Niebrugge *** My favorite photos 2010 on Flickr – Markus Heinisch *** My best photos of 2010 – Mike Hellers Dave Reichert’s Best Of 2010 – Dave Reichert Photographs: 2010 Revisited – Joseph Szymanski Best Pics 2010 on Flickr – Michael Rubin My 10 Best Shots of 2010 – ROBIN BLACK PHOTOGRAPHY – ROBIN BLACK Top 10 from 2010 – Anne McKinnell Vanilla Days – Best of 2010 – Pete Carr Top Photos of 2010 – Gary Crabbe / Enlightened Images *** Top Images from 2010 – Russ Bishop | Nature Photo Blog Favourite photos from 2010 – Bryn Tassell *** 10 Best Photos of 2010 by Scott Thompson – Scott Thompson My Top 10 photos of 2010 – Alexander S. Kunz *** My 10 Best for 2010 – Dan Baumbach *** Unified Photography – Best Photos of 2010 – Ken Snyder 5 From 2010 – Contemporary Wildlife Photography – David Lloyd Top 10 Photos of 2010 – Steven Bourelle Digital Arts 2010 Top Ten Photos – Andrew S Gibson 2010 Reflections – Dru Stefan Stone – Dru-Color My World Best of 2010 – Dave Hammaker Top 20 of 2010 – Jenna Stirling LandLopers.com Top Travel Photos of 2010 – Matt Long Best of 2010 – Stephen Davey Landscape Photography Blogger My Favorite Photos of 2010 – David Leland Hyde *** Views Infinitum – Best of 2010 – Scott Thomas One Per Trip – Favorite Travel Photos From 2010 – The Carey Adventures – PETER WEST CAREY Best of 2010 – I Love It, SF – Kara Murphy My top 10 pictures from 2010 – Duffy Knox Burrard-Lucas Photography – Will & Matt Burrard-Lucas *** Hank Christensen Photography Top 10 2010 – Hank Christensen My Best Photos from 2010 – 365-1/4 Sra Top Ten Images of 2010 – Michael Frye *** Jono Hey’s Best of 2010 on Flickr – JONO HEY My Favorite Photographs from 2010 – Stories From Home –David Patterson *** My 2010 Best Images of California and Arizona – Steve Sieren *** My Top 10 Landscapes of 2010 – Andre Leopold Best of 2010 set on Flickr – Erik Turner This was 2010 on Flickr – Jeffrey Van Daele Top 10 of 2010 – Brian Mangano Best Photos of 2010 – KBTImages – Kevin Thornhill Best Photos of 2010 – The Sun Shines & The Igloo Melts Top 10 of 2010 – Chad Griggs Best Photos of 2010 – WASEEF AKHTAR My Favorite Images from 2010 – Outdoor Exposure Photography by Sean Bagshaw – Sean Bagshaw *** My Best Shots of 2010 – Annika Ruohonen Photography – Annika Ruohonen Top sights from 2010 – Mariana Travieso Bassi Year 2010 in Korwel Photography – Iza Korwel WISCONSIN SUMMER – Jarrod Erbe Best Photos of 2010 – Jim Stamates Top 10 of 2010 – Younes Bounhar Light on the Landscape Photoblog/My Favorite Images of 2010 – WILLIAM NEILL *** My Best Photos of 2010 – Itsa a greyt day for a photo – Terri Jacobson Listening to Nature Photography Blog by Rhoda Maurer – RHODA MAURER *** My favorites of 2010 – David Richter Best of 2010 – View from the Little Red Tent – Edie Howe tmophoto best of 2010 – Thomas O’Brien Best Photos Of 2010 – Dawnstar Australis – Daniel McNamara Top 10 of 2010 – Cranial Aperture – Jeffrey Yen 10 Best Favorites of 2010 – Sudheendra Kadri *** Flickr – Best of 2010 – Chris Arts Flickr: Best of 2010 – Heidi Donat Best Photo of 2010 – Anton Huo Best of 2010 – Travel & Landscape – Eugene Cheng Preetalina Photography: 2010 Favorites – Preeti Desai Hidden Light Photography 2010 Favorites – Alan Williams 5Mae 2010 Favourites Flickr Set – Sarah-Mae Best Photos of 2010 – John Fujimagari *** Best of 2010 – Paavani Bishnoi Best Photos of 2010 – Phil Colla *** 100 Favorites from 2010 – Patrick J. Endres *** Top Ten Of 2010 – Steve Cole Photography Some of My Favorite Images From 2010 – Clark Crenshaw Photography*** Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips . Check out our resources on Portrait Photography Tips , Travel Photography Tips and Understanding Digital Cameras . 162 “Best Photos of 2010″ Blog Posts . . . → Read More: 162 “Best Photos of 2010″ Blog Posts This week your photography challenge is to take and share an image that shows us something about where you live. This theme came out of a number of people suggesting on our facebook page that we do something about our country of origin. I thought we could broaden it slightly to give people scope to do something about anything to do with where they live. You might choose to do something to show us something about your country – but you might also choose to show us something about your house or something else that symbolises where you call home/live. There’s lots of scope here for different types of photography – so be creative and get to work! Once you’ve taken your ‘Where I Live’ photos – choose your best 1-2, upload them to your favourite photo sharing site either share a link to them even better – embed them in the comments using the our new tool to do so . If you tag your photos on Flickr, Twitter or other sites with Tagging tag them as #DPSWHEREILIVE to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun. Also – don’t forget to check out some of the great shots posted in last weeks Beauty challenge – there were some great shots submitted. Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips . Check out our resources on Portrait Photography Tips , Travel Photography Tips and Understanding Digital Cameras . Where I Live: Weekly Photography Challenge . . . → Read More: Where I Live: Weekly Photography Challenge New plugins for your photo editing program can be as inspiring as new gear to some photographers. They give you a whole new way alter your photos and they can really change things up. If there’s one thing that’s better than a new plugin, it’s a free new plugin that’s compatible with Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, PhotoImpact and plenty of other programs. That’s exactly what you’ll get from Harry’s Filters version 4.0. You can choose from 69 different image effects in nine different effect groups. Harry’s Filters can add artistic effects, patterns, paint effects and even things like lightning, tornadoes and polar lights. Harry’s Filters can be download absolutely free from That Plugin Site . via PMA Newsline . . . → Read More: Harry’s Filters Now Available From That Plugin Site  Oh smartphone photographers. We all know them, and we might even be them from time to time when we don’t have our cameras with us. We also know that taking a picture with a smartphone is a very limited experience, but don’t tell the makers of this smartphone camera lens. For just under $50, you can pick up a lens made for various smartphones that gives you a 6x zoom on your photos. It also makes your camera look ludicrous and makes you look more than a bit silly for holding it. Is there a practical purpose for owning an attachable 6x zoom lens for your iPhone? We can’t think of one, but if you can then swing over to Geek Stuff 4 U to pick up one for yourself. via PetaPixel . . . → Read More: Improve Your Smartphone Pictures With a Ridiculous Lens  A Guest post by by Annie Tao Whether you’re a newbie or you’ve been a pro for years, there may be a point when you need a little help tapping into your creative mojo ! Hey, even us right-brainers need to refresh our creativity from time to time! Here are a few ideas to help boost your creativity: Your camera is your friend So take him (or her) everywhere with you!I know you’ve heard this before, but here’s the thing:it is easy to remember to bring your camera to scenic places or special events.Try taking it to places that aren’t obviously photogenic.This will train your eye to look out for beautiful things – light, patterns, mood, expressions, compositions – no matter where you are. Finding the best way to photograph different kinds of scenes, light and people is a great experience. A 365 Project (one photo a day) or weekly photo project may be a great way to do this. Here are some tips , if you want to get started. There are also many dedicated websites, such as . . . → Read More: How To Tap Into Your Creative Mojo Our full hands-on review of Nikon’s latest D-series dSLR entry has been published. The D7000 is a very appealing mid-level, professional camera that unitizes an all new 16-megapixel APS-C (DX-format) image sensor. This camera is loaded with impressive specifications, many of which will appeal to a wide range of photogs, including a fast 39-point AF system, burst mode shooting at up to 6fps, and a versatile sensitivity range from ISO 100 – 6400 (expandable up to ISO 25,600). To see how well the D7000 performed, check out Steve’s Conclusion as well as our unedited Sample Photos . . . . → Read More: Just Posted: Steve’s Nikon D7000 Review Large format photographer David Ward considers how photographs communicate meaning to the viewer. Read the article . . . → Read More: How to Convey Meaning in Your Photos  The Olympus XZ-1 is a brand new premium compact camera targeted at photographers, offering an appealing combination of a fast f/1.8 lens and sensible 10 megapixel 1/1.63 inch CCD sensor. Ahead of our imminent Olympus XZ-1 review, we’ve provided 21 JPEG and 21 RAW sample images for you to download and take a closer look at. Read the preview . . . → Read More: Olympus XZ-1 Photos  No matter what your artistic interests, whether photography, drawing, painting, sculpture, etc., the underlying force behind your work is creativity. It’s much easier to talk about technical aspects of photography as it’s a tangible skill, unlike the more mysterious intangible skill of creative thought. While every art form is unique unto its own, harnessing one’s creativity is a universal skill. There are some that might say you either have it or you don’t in relation to creativity, but the truth is we’re all creative. Every child makes believe at some point and lets their imagination run wild, and if I’m correct you were once a child. Creativity is a thought process and one that can be strengthened with practice and exercise. Below are 6 ways I like to get my creative mind working. If you have techniques that work for you be sure to add them in the comments. 1. Never Stop Thinking About Photos Whether your camera is in hand or not conduct mental exercises to find subjects, mentally frame images and think through how you would capture the subject. Keeping photography constantly in mind is important in training yourself to think creatively. If your mind is primed for creative thought, creativity will have an easier time striking you. 2. Embrace Your Mistakes & Chance It’s OK for chance or mistakes to bring something new to your attention. Always take a second look at your mistakes and see if it presents something new to the scene that perhaps you hadn’t thought to try. Not every mistake is a creative epiphany, but you’ll never have one if you never look. 3. Find inspiration Whether viewing artwork at museums, in photo books or immersing yourself in nature, embrace the work of others including Mother Nature to help you see or think in new ways. When our minds are introduced to new techniques or ways of seeing our mindseye begins to expand its view fostering creative thought. 4. Break the Rules Rules are great as they provide a roadmap of how things can be done or explain why we find something visually appealing. Once you know or have mastered the rules its time to break them. Creativity knows no bounds. A great creative exercise is to intentionally break a rule to see how you can find a new way of viewing something in a manner that is otherwise “taboo”. 5. Have No Fear Free yourself from the fear of what others might say if critical of your creative experiments. People by nature almost always have adverse reactions to new things particularly when they’re entrenched in thinking a more common practice is the “right way” or “norm”. Creativity is the antithesis of a “norm”. Creativity brings a new way to present and see things. Never let norms and the attachment others have to them sway you from your creative exploration of the world before you with your camera. 6. Extract Yourself Remove yourself from familiar routine and locations. Taking time to be away from the things that normally fill your day is a great way to obtain freedom for your mind to wander. Distraction free time allows for new thoughts and ideas to surface and most importantly it allows you to shape them into actionable projects. Post from: Digital Photography School . . . → Read More: 6 Ways to Enhance Your Creativity Image by FleeCircus This week your challenge is to take and share a photograph with that fits into the theme of ‘Beauty’ (inspired by Monica Marinez on our Facebook page). It’s a very broad theme and is one that is open to a lot of interpretation and creativity. Show us something that is beautiful to you, critique a ‘beautiful’ social norm, capture a beautiful landscape – the possibilities are endless – after all…. beauty is in the eye of the beholder (or beerholder as we used to say). Once you’ve taken your ‘Beauty’ photos – choose your best 1-2, upload them to your favourite photo sharing site either share a link to them even better – embed them in the comments using the our new tool to do so . If you tag your photos on Flickr, Twitter or other sites with Tagging tag them as #DPSBEAUTY to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun. Also – don’t forget to check out some of the great shots posted in last weeks Windows challenge – there were some great shots submitted. Post from: Digital Photography School . . . → Read More: Beauty: Weekly Photography Challenge  The problem with being the first to get a new product is that the ins and outs haven’t exactly been perfected yet. That’s certainly the case with the Pentax K-5. The original shipment of K-5 cameras included cameras with a stained image sensor that may create spots on your photos under certain conditions. Pentax says that the problem was caused during manufacturing and that the problem isn’t something that consumers can fix themselves. If you happen to have purchased one of these early K-5 cameras, the good news is that you’ll be getting a free fix from Pentax. It’s nice to see a problem acknowledged and then rectified. Pentax says that they “apologize for any trouble and inconvenience this problem may have caused,” and that they “promise to do all we can to achieve the highest level of quality control in the future.” . . . → Read More: Pentax Apologizes for K-5 Sensor Stains  I think my heart must’ve skipped a little beat when I happened to catch that ‘edit in > photoshop’ option when I was first getting to know and love Lightroom. This was also the same time at which I was falling in love with layer editing, applying textures and other ways to fab up your photos in Photoshop. And even though LR doesn’t have all the capabilities of PS, you can have the best of both worlds with this feature. There’s a video below to actually show you how to use ‘edit in photoshop’ in LR3, but if you’re already pretty sure about what you’re doing in LR, here are the steps: Right click on your image and select ‘edit in > photoshop’. It will allow you to select from whatever PS version(s) you have installed, for example mine lets me choose PS4 or PSE. Your image will open in Photoshop. Now, these are very speed/space hogging programs. Your computer might not be configured to run both programs side-by-side but give it a go and see what happens! Edit away. When you’re done, just click ’save’ and then when you toggle back to LR, it’ll be there! Note: I’ve experimented a bit to see if there’s a way to do this and save on space by closing down LR as soon as the image opens in PS. It seems that you have to actually have both programs running side-by-side for the image to pop up when you toggle back into LR after the edit. Post from: Digital Photography School . . . → Read More: Using Lightroom’s ‘edit in photoshop’ feature  One thing that makes a great photo is its ability to convey emotion. Emotion in a photograph, or any work of art, is what helps a viewer connect with a piece if that emotion is prevalent in the viewer. Happiness and joy, sorrow and despair, these are some of the easier emotions as they are universally felt, at one time or another, by all on this planet. Emotion, or a feeling, is what can bring a snapshot out of obscurity and make it shine. Think of a normal sunset picture from the shores of Hawaii with just the horizon and a bright orange sun dipping low. It’s beautiful for sure and even better when viewed in person. Now pull the zoom back to a wider angle and show a couple in silhouette, sitting on lounge chairs facing the waves and reaching to each other to hold hands. Different people will connect with each photo in different ways, or maybe not at all. Those in a romanic mood will enjoy the photo of the couple and those looking for calm without distraction may enjoy the singular sunset. My point here is you can’t guess which mood people will be in when they view your work. Which is actually a good thing, because the photo should be your expression of what you see and feel through the viewfinder (unless you are attempting a neutrally biased photojournalistic stance). Here then are some tips to help convey emotion and feeling in photographs to help make a stronger connection with viewers. Realize What Type Of Mood You’re In While Shooting Your emotional state has the largest impact on the emotional quality of your photos. When I look back through travel photos I will often noticed a dip here and there in the number of photos taken on a particular day. The quality is also off and I can remember just what I was feeling that day. In most cases, I had that, “Just not feeling it today” blah that comes and goes for us all. And it shows in my work. Ok snapshots of mountains, but nothing to write home about. Other days I feel like the world is my oyster and I’m uncovering hidden gems left and right. It’s important to understand where you are and realize that will likely come through in your photography (while realizing just like anything in life, some people are really good at faking it). Give yourself a break on the down days and be sure to pick up your camera on the upswings. Just remember that neither lasts forever. Tighten The Shot Often a singular emotion gets lost in a busy scene. This goes for photos as well. Simplify the main subject of the image before hitting the shutter release. A wide angle view of a festival in the streets might show the size, which can be impressive in its own right, but the feel of that party is best conveyed on the faces of those dancing or performing in the crowd. Zero in on the action. It may tell the difference between a large crowd who is standing around, bored or a large crowd having the time of their lives. Focus On Faces This is a fairly straight forward bit of advice that may seem obvious, but many of us avoid people photographs when in a new situations with strangers. When possible, always ask permission before taking a picture of stranger, especially head on. Again, remember your mood will possibly influence theirs and if you are trying to capture them as naturally as can be (without being a sniper hiding in the shadows), keep your demeanor as neutral as can be. Simple raised eyebrows while pointing to your camera does work and it doesn’t require a huge smile on your part, as if you are asking your subject to smile back. Chances are they will convey what they wish. If life is hard, they likely won’t smile and their face will often tell the tale of their hardships. If they are joyous, or just young, you may get a beaming smile. And with any good portrait, remember to get sharp focus on the eyes. And share the results with your subject if you can. Set Your Camera Down And Observe I tend to get lambasted when I tell people to stop shooting and set the camera away, so this time I’ll simply tell you to put the camera down for a minute. Forget about shooting and just sit and observe. Your mood has a big part in what and how you shoot, but also realize that being a shooter in a situation often means you travel in a bubble. To break out of that bubble and absorb more from the world in which you are immersed, sit. And observe for 15 minutes. The mood of those around you will often become more apparent with this relaxed stance. Return If You Can If you are shooting a subject which you can return to, do it. The same street or beach or room will have a different feel on different days, especially if the weather changes often. And your mood can shift as well from day to day. Return to a location with an open mind for a second look and you may be surprised to find not only are the characters involved different, the feel of the place is different too. Conveying emotion in photography is a surefire way to help your work connect with those viewing it. It will help lift the quality of your work and give it more punch. Before you hit the shutter release next time, think to yourself, “What emotion am I trying to convey?” Post from: Digital Photography School . . . → Read More: Adding Emotion and Feeling To Photographs  You can use a camera … but do you take great photos? The dream – taking photographs that your friends think you paid someone for, not shot yourself. The myth – that you just don’t have what it takes. You need better gear, you don’t have ‘the eye’ and you’ll never understand the skills needed to take amazing photos. The reality – Great photography CAN be learned. This book is the perfect companion on your journey to becoming a photographer. It will teach you the techniques, tools, and thought processes used by the pros to take gorgeous photos. If you think creative photography is limited to those artistic types – think again. Become a better photographer with Photo Nuts and Shots. This lush, 100+ page pdf ebook is the ultimate creative photography primer – and for a limited time you can grab your copy for 25% off ! Here’s a little video we made about this new eBook (note: the guarantee is 60 days not 30 as it says in the video). Photo Nuts and Shots is perfect if you … look at others’ images and wonder “Why don’t my photos look like that?” want to take gorgeous shots, every single time know your camera, but want to learn the craft of photography long to take more emotive, expressive photos want to take photos that truly connect with viewers. What You’ll Learn Packed with all-new, practical advice from professional photographer Neil Creek, Photo Nuts and Shots has been developed specifically for DPS readers. Learn to harness light to convey emotion. Understand the rules of composition … and know when to break them. Take the sharpest possible photo every time. Learn to adapt the camera’s exposure to produce the shot you want. Master the concepts of shot perception, planning, and execution — in any setting. Tap into your unique creativity to take evocative photographs that reach out to viewers. Why do we think this is the best creative photography guide on the market? Because it’s comprehensive : over 100 pages of all-new content. Because it’ll improve your photography, starting today : Neil’s advice is immediately actionable. Whether you read the whole book from cover to cover, or take snippets from the areas that interest you, you’ll see an immediate improvement in the quality of your images. Because it shows you how to harness your creativity : use your creative instinct to select and apply practical techniques that create stunning shots. Because it builds on your existing technical knowledge : whether or not you’ve read Photo Nuts and Bolts , the first book in the series, this practical primer builds on your existing knowledge of your camera with in-depth advice, practical examples, and a wealth of illustrations. Because it will help you be a better photographer : this inspiring guide explores rarely-discussed topics to help you tap into your creative drive, empowering you to be the best photographer that you can be. Early Bird Special: Secure Your Copy for 25% Off This lush, inspiring, practical guide normally retails for $19.99 but as a launch special and for a limited time, you can secure a copy for just $14.99. This 25% off special is for two weeks only – so don’t delay. Order Today and Go in the Draw to Win a Canon DSLR What better way to put into practice what you learn in the eBook than to do it with a brand new camera! To celebrate the launch of Photo Nuts and Shots we are giving one buyer this eBook a brand new Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18 megapixel DSLR complete with an 18-55mm lens. This bundle is worth over $800! To be in the running to win this best selling camera simply purchase your copy of Photo Nuts and Shots before midnight (Eastern US time) on Wednesday 2nd February and you’ll automatically be entered into the draw to win. 60-Day, Money-back Guarantee If you’re not satisfied that Photo Nuts and Shots is helping your photography within 60 days, just let us know and we’ll refund your money That’s how confident we are that this resource will help you become the creative photographer you want to be. Download Your PDF Copy Today – 25% OFF! Photo Nuts and Shots is ready for your download right now for just $14.99 USD – to secure your copy simply click the ‘download it now’ button below and you’ll be taken to a page where you can make your payment via PayPal or Credit card and get immediate access for download. Post from: Digital Photography School . . . → Read More: Photo Nuts and Shots: Tools and Techniques for Creative Photography [Our New eBook]  > Lab owner: Adrian Ensor > View all There were 204 photo printing labs in and around London in 2006, printing images from film stock to paper. By 2009, only six remained. In each of these labs’ darkrooms were photo enlargers, themselves quite large, that projected the images from film negatives onto a piece of photo paper. Richard Nicholson ’s series Analog — The Last One Out, Please Turn On the Light is a requiem for these hulking machines, now gradually wending their way to obscurity and landfill. For over a century, the vast infrastructure of film photography was steadily growing and evolving, but the rise of digital equipment over the last decade has forced it to decay exponentially. In many cases it’s disappearing entirely. Polaroid film has already been discontinued, and just last month the last rolls of Kodachrome were processed at Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas. Just because the use of analog printing tools is shrinking, however, doesn’t mean it will die altogether. As black-and-white printer Jim Margeree has reminded us, there is still a lot to talk about “ beyond the trite ‘analog vs. digital’ clichés. ” There is too much chatter about death in photography, and for photojournalism in particular. Nicholson’s Analog is a celebration as much as it is a goodbye. Nicholson spoke with Raw File about his motives, his challenges, his own use of analog and digital technologies and just what happened to those giant enlargers: Wired.com : Why this subject? Richard Nicholson : I love darkrooms. My father built one when I was a child and introduced me to photography. I’ve always enjoyed printing my own work. In 2006, the hire darkroom I was using became very quiet. Canon had just released the 5D camera and photographers were rushing to switch from film to digital. London labs were closing in quick succession. The writing was on the wall for film, but I didn’t want to let it go. I started looking at the darkroom in a new light. I was most interested in the enlargers — hulking specimens of modernist industrial design. It struck me they had a human scale and form: a neck, head, two armatures. I felt sorry for them. Each craft used to have its own highly engineered machines, but these have been rendered obsolete by the computer. I’m no Luddite. I wouldn’t turn the back the clock, but I think the crafts and these machines deserve to be remembered. The project focuses on the darkrooms of professional printers. I wanted to photograph lived-in spaces. The personal details soften the hard lines of the machinery. Wired.com : Your series is a moment for photo lovers to consider the fall of analog printing. What was loved most about the analog darkroom and what won’t be missed? Nicholson : Many will miss the darkness, silence and privacy of the darkroom: It could be a meditative space. But I’ve always used hire darkrooms and miss the energy of a group of ambitious young photographers trying to outdo each other. There’s a drama to making a print in the darkroom. You’re always working against the clock. I don’t miss the chemicals. I was becoming increasingly allergic to them. It would be hard to go back to the darkroom now — Photoshop is a much more sophisticated printmaking tool. Wired.com : What has been the reaction of the photo community to Analog ? Nicholson : The project has been very popular, especially with young photographers who were brought up on digital. Wired.com : How do you personally feel about the rise of digital? Is it drastic-catastrophic or is it just a progression of technology on the tide of which photographers should ride? Nicholson : I switched to digital shortly after completing this project which I shot on 4-inch-by-5-inch film. I had the usual epiphany — maybe more so, as I had been digging my heels in for so long. At the capture stage, the instant feedback of digital is hugely liberating. Sure, we had Polaroids before, but each Polaroid took two minutes to cook, so you could only do so many test shots. And Polaroids looked like shit. As far as output is concerned, I still prefer chemical prints to inkjets. I don’t like the way the ink sits on the surface of an inkjet print. Wired.com : Would you say that a small number of committed individuals will maintain the analog processes and therefore be as bold to say that darkroom printing will never die? Nicholson : Black-and-white printing will endure. The materials for color printing can only be manufactured on an industrial scale, and I doubt they will be available in 10 years’ time. A shame, as my favorite analog print is the unloved C-type (color print from color negative). Wired.com : Were there any tricky challenges in making the work? Nicholson : Each image was made in total darkness. I would switch off the lights, open the camera’s shutter, and then walk around the darkroom illuminating the scene with multiple bursts from a handheld flashgun. Darkrooms are cramped spaces and I had to be careful not to kick the tripod. Wired.com : Were you a customer at any of these labs, and do you plan to follow closely the fortunes of the remaining labs? Nicholson : Yes, I was a customer at several. But not a good customer, as I only ever wanted my film processed. I’ve always done the printing myself. I hope the remaining labs survive and prosper. A huge number have closed, whilst others have morphed into other fields — inkjet printing, CMYK conversions, etc. There is still a demand for silver-gelatin exhibition prints. Sadly, the remaining professional printers are approaching retirement age, and there isn’t enough work for them to employ and train the next generation of printers. Meanwhile I’ve moved on to other projects. I’m interested in photography that is about photography. Not for any clever-clever postmodern reason, but simply because photography is my first love. Whilst this project can be regarded as a simple historical document, I’m more interested in the aesthetics: I see a melancholic beauty in these spaces. Wired.com : Do you know what has happened to all the equipment from the different labs in your photos? Nicholson : A lot of it ended up in skips. Some got donated to schools and colleges. – – – Analog — The Last One Out, Please Turn On the Light is on show at Riflemaker Gallery , 79 Beak St., Regent Street, London W1F 9SU, until March 11. E-mail: info@riflemaker.org . Video: Richard Nicholson talks about the darkrooms and his project: The dying art of the photographic darkroom . Considering the objects of extinction, it’s no surprise that there are many photographers composing photographic obituaries of the analog craft. Kindred projects to Nicholson’s Analog include Michel Campeau’s Darkroom , John Cyr’s Developer Trays and Robert Burley’s The Disappearance of Darkness . . . . → Read More: Photo Enlargers Loom Like Dinosaurs of the Film Age  Possibly the most eye-catching appeal of the iPad is its vivid display of photos, so a photography magazine designed just for Apple’s tablet seems like a natural fit. 50pm is just that. Launched this month, 50pm is billed as “the first portfolio-based photography magazine for the iPad.” The app is a collaboration between Bite! and Daylight magazines. A free “lite” version is available for the iPhone. “Documentary and fine-art photographers need to adapt to the new economic realities of their trade,” says Diederik Meijer, founder of Bite! and editor-in-chief of 50pm . The iPad gives a promising but uncertain opportunity for photographers to connect with new audiences, he says. With approximately 50 downloads a day from iTunes at $2 per issue, adoption of the 50pm app by iPad users has been slow but steady. Building a loyal readership is an uphill climb for any publication. Since the majority of current photo apps on iTunes are more about filters and social networking, part of the battle for an iPad fine-art photography magazine is just letting people know that such a thing exists. “My feeling is that Bite! and Daylight audiences didn’t run to their nearest Apple store to buy the iPad,” says Meijer, “and that the people who do own an iPad have not been actively following documentary and fine-art photography.” Each 50pm issue is built around a universal theme. The theme for this month’s issue, their first, is “family matters” and includes portfolios by Chris Verene, Hee jin Kang, Mami Kiyoshi and Elizabeth Clark Libert. The next issue’s theme, which comes out Jan. 15th is “sports” and will include the portfolios of two recent World Press Photo winners. We really enjoy this app and recommend checking it out. There’s not much to it yet, but the photos come alive on the iPad and it’s a joy to flip through. Meijer says future add-ons include grid navigation and news-ladder function, and Spanish and Chinese versions are also in the works. Check out a video preview of the 50pm app . Images: Screenshots from 50pm . . . . → Read More: iPad-Only Photo Mag Puts Fine Art on iTunes > About 40,000 young Swazi girls take part each year in the Umhlanga Dance, a rite of passage into womanhood. The polygamous King Mswati III, who already has 13 wives, may choose one of the 40,000 virgins as a new wife. Photo: Krisanne Johnson, from the series I Love You Real Fast . > View all The Magnum Foundation has launched a new initiative called the Emergency Fund to offer support for photographers working on thoughtful, long-form stories around the world. This new resource is a bright spot on a bleak horizon, as traditional media financing for documentary projects dries up. While the fund is not able to pick up the entire tab for a story, it promises to get fledgling projects off the ground. “We’re not giving out cushy grants that people can live on,” says Susan Meiselas, Magnum photographer and president of the Magnum Foundation, “We’re giving a boost that can get an important project started.” Each year, photography professionals will nominate 100 of their colleagues to submit proposals to the fund. An independent editorial board will then select between 10 and 20 projects to support, based on the importance of the issues the photographers propose to address. Completed projects will be distributed widely through traditional and new media, in collaboration with nonprofits or NGOs, and on the Emergency Fund website. Photographers retain the copyright to their work. An early success story for the fund is Krisanne Johnson’s I Love You Real Fast . The project documents the shortened life cycles of girls with AIDS in Swaziland. With the fund’s help it raised well over its original $7,500 goal on Kickstarter, an Emergency Fund partner. Other funding partners that are helping to keep deeper photo projects off the endangered species list include Open Society and Atlantic Philanthropies. Meiselas also hopes the fund will combat the potential conflict of interest of documentary photographers relying on NGOs and other organizations for financing. Aid groups can often influence a photographer’s project, intentionally or not, because they hold the purse strings. “We’re in a strange time,” she says. “With the traditional media not supporting new production, there’s a gap. Some advocacy groups now give assignments directly, but that raises all sorts of complicated [journalistic] issues. We’re trying to find a way to stay balanced in this chaotic environment.” Three years in the developing, the Emergency Fund project extends the philosophy and quality of Magnum Photos –- the oldest photo collective in the United States, beyond the work of its elite membership. The Magnum Foundation is a nonprofit with its own finances and board, operating independently of Magnum Photos. “We’re a charity, and we support the public interest,” says Meiselas. “The Magnum legacy is about supporting important work with an open heart, and passing down generations of experience.” Above are nine photos from some of the younger, less-well-known photographers supported by the Emergency Fund. View the new Emergency Fund Website . Follow the Emergency Fund on Twitter at @EmergencyFund . Connect with the Emergency Fund on Facebook . You can support the Magnum Foundation at www.magnumfoundation.org . . . . → Read More: New Magnum Fund Pays Out for Deep Photo Stories |
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