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Wednesday, March 4. 2009

Travels to the edge with Art Wolfe

Being photographer is much more than just taking pictures.

Often times to make the shot you have to prepare and wait. You have to make a connection with the people you are about to shot. More time can go in organizing the whole process than in actual shooting and postproduction. Its is always great when some photographer reveals parts of this preparation process, too.

Last year , I watched some of Art Wolfe series Travels to the edge.
Recently, I received one of his books as a present, which reminded me of this great guy.

Here is a quote from his site:

Over the course of his 30-year career, photographer Art Wolfe has worked on every continent and in hundreds of locations. his stunning images interpret and record the world's fast-disappearing wildlife, landscapes and native cultures, and are a lasting inspiration to those who seek to preserve them all. Wolfe's photographs are recognized throughout the world for their mastery of color, composition and perspective.

He has published a lot of books and won many awards.
Art also likes teaching and he has passion for what he does. Knowing that, you should not be surprised that his TV series: Travels To The Edge with Art Wolfe are a great success. Sometimes, I have hard times deciding which one has done better job: Art Wolfe or his cameraman

The video is just greatly shot. Some very neat tips are also revealed to you as Art shots some of the most beautiful places on Earth.

If you like nature, wildlife, you will like this videos. If you are a photographer - you will love them.

I strongly suggest DVDs available on Amazon:

For most of us, it is not possible to travel to distant places, have the right gear for the job and knowledgeable guide that will take us to the perfect spot. However, this should not discourage you. Actually, the Travels To The Edge series inspired me for one personal project: to create album presenting the small municipality where I was born. I suggest you to take some similar project. After all, it is those selfprojects that make us progress.

If you have come out with some interesting idea for project,please, share it with us.

Posted by photography-reviews.com in reviews and links at 14:12
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Thursday, December 4. 2008

Books as presents for photographers

I received several emails from readers who wanted me to suggest some good books for photographers. Most of them wanted to buy those as a gift.

I will make some book reviews in 2009, but since it is a christmass / new year season, I decided to help you in some quick and good way. Amazon have whole section with bestseller books in photography category. Here you can see what people usually buy, so you can choose one based on personal preferences of the person that the book is going to

Also, don't forget that National Geographic photography books are always a good choice, especially if the person is just starting or wants to learn a new field.

If you are not sure what the person will like, you can always ask them In case you prefer to make this as surprise - take a look at my article for good ideas for presents for photographers, or the one which is one year old, but still useful: winter presents for photographers

Posted by photography-reviews.com in reviews and links at 16:41
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Thursday, November 20. 2008

How to create nice looking calendar with your photos

New Year is coming. If you are photographer, here is one video which will help you create stylish calendars, which you can print for yourself or even give as presents. This one uses Photoshop CS3 for achieving look of Apple's calendar. But, it also can be used as guideline for creating any calendar.

Posted by photography-reviews.com in starters at 22:06
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Christmas presents for photographers

Take a look at article for winter presents for photographers.

Other than those, here are some new ideas, that might be good if you have some photographer around you and don't know what to buy to that photo geek

Here are few things that are always usefull.

- additional portable and safe storage for photos,
- monitor calibrator (like Spyder 3 Elite),
- 18% Percent Neutral Gray Grey Card,
- Bamboo Black Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics Software,
and why not a Professional Tabletop Photo Studio,
or Light Tent Studio with 2 Lights

And, don't forget about books. Photography books are great for present. There are various levels of difficulty and also an amazing number of topics covered at Amazons store of books for photographers.

Just take a look at photo section of amazon and you will surelly find something for your friend - being that photo backpack, Compact Flash card (memory is never enough) or something small like nice photo album

On the other hand, you can take a look at some other, but still related presents. Like GPS for a travel photographer

Posted by photography-reviews.com in reviews and links at 21:29
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Thursday, March 27. 2008

UV filters

UV filter is probably most used filter of all.
They were more important years ago, but their usage is still useful today.

First, little simplified psychics.
The lights we see is from one specific range of possible wavelengths (light is electromagnetic wave). The shorter the wave length, light is more bluish, the longer - it is more reddish. When the length of the wave gets too short for our eyes to see it, we call that light an ultraviolet light, or UV light. Just because we don't see it, it does not mean that it can't be detected by some instruments. And here is where our problem occurs.

The UV lights and visible light both hit exposure sensors. So, actually, the sensor receives more signal, than we see (because UV is invisible to our eyes, but not to our camera sensor). Recorded UV light makes resulting image to appear brighter and with lower contrast than we see it.

Years ago UV filters were important because film records UV light very well.
The sensor is still sensitive to ultraviolets but not as much. In addition to that, all new lenses have special coatings which filter that unwated part of the light.

You might ask: so, why are there so many UV filters on market today?

The most common reason for mounting UV filter on your lens today is protection. If you are photographing on a field (lots of dust) or at any location where there is possibility that your expensive shiny new lens might be damaged - UV filter is here to help. It might be damaged, but who cares - it's price is like .. hundred dollars, but the price of the lens can be in thousands of dollars.

Theory says that anything that you put between sensor and the object will degrade image quality and probably improve possibility for flare. Same applies to any filter. Degradation is really small and with good filter actually non-existent.

Should you use UV filter or not?
It is a personal decision one has to make. I will tell you mine.

On a location (example when shooting off road rally) - you can bet that my UV filter will be on my lens.
When I am shooting for stock in controlled environment, I usually do the work without them.

Posted by photography-reviews.com in starters at 00:47
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