Book Review: Nighttime Digital Photography With Adobe Photoshop CS3 By John Carucci
Posted on September 17, 2007 - Filed Under Culture, Photo | Leave a Comment
Have you ever looked at some nighttime images and wondered how they were able to achieve such good results? Did you try to take the same kind of pictures, but they came out too dark or overexposed where there were lights and underexposed where there were shadows? Nighttime Digital Photography With Adobe Photoshop CS3 was written with the intent of showing you how to take nighttime photos and how to do it effectively.
What you will need to work with this book is of course a camera. While using a Digital SLR camera is recommended to take nighttime photos, a less expensive point and shoot model will work as well if it either has a nighttime mode or slow shutter speed capability. If you register your book, you can download the images used in the lessons. CS3 is the version of Photoshop used in the book, but older versions can be used for most of the techniques.
Nighttime Digital Photography is 230 pages long contained in 12 chapters and three parts each four chapters long. The first part, “Basic Components for the Night Circuit,” begins with talking about your camera, accessories, and what is required to shoot nighttime photographs. The computer options are explained with regard to hardware, following up with two chapters on Adobe Photoshop. The first is an overview of the basics of Photoshop and the second is about working with Layers within Photoshop and why this is important.
Part two, “Digital Nighttime Photography Techniques,” focuses on how the camera can get the technical aspects correct, but the photographer must still be there to get the vision. This part begins with a discussion on how to compose night images and nighttime perspectives. The use of shadows, reflections, and color can bring out amazing shots. You will learn of the creative use of length of exposure, weather conditions, and the use of electronic flash.
You will learn how to use Photoshop to fix exposure problems using Adjustment Layers that lighten certain areas without changing others. You will learn how to work with blending layers to correct tonal issues. You will also learn how to adjust to the different kinds of artificial light sources found in the night. Again, techniques to adjust these from within Photoshop are discussed. This part finishes up with a discussion on photographing people. Capturing these living, breathing subjects is not always easy especially in demanding lighting situations. Here, situations like sports, theater, and concert photography are included.
Part three, “Beyond the Basics at Night,” begins with camera effects that can be done to catch an image. By doing things like long exposures, you can catch random actions of light, just as by adding illumination you can manipulate the light and shadows on a subject.
You can also use Photoshop to create advanced effects to your images. Things like filters, black and white conversion, and tools such as Vanishing Point can create unique images.
Throughout the book, the author presented projects you could work on to enhance your learning experience. Chapter eleven adds more projects that can be used to further enhance the techniques you have learned. These include creating a movie theater scene, creating a movie poster, and working with a patterned background. Chapter 12 explores the various methods of output. These include print, PDF, and web presentation.
What I like about Nighttime Digital Photography is the projects included within the individual chapters that show how to work with a specific technique. There is a Blend project that shows how to fix an image when the lighting could not be controlled because of changing light conditions. The only thing I didn’t like were projects in chapter 11. They didn’t seem to fit the flow of the nighttime techniques as well, other than having used nighttime shots.
If you want to get into nighttime photography and have always wanted to know how to get there, then Nighttime Digital Photography With Adobe Photoshop CS3 is a very good start. It covers all the bases and will give you a lot of information to get you started.
Canon Digital IXUS 750 review
Posted on September 17, 2007 - Filed Under Cameras, Reviews | Leave a Comment
Canon IXUS 750 digital camera review : During a press-conference August of this year, Canon introduced a new line of digital cameras, among which the new Canon Digital IXUS 750 digital camera. This camera is the latest top model in the successful IXUS line of digital cameras. The Canon IXUS 750 succeeds the IXUS 700 and has an attractive stainless steel body. As far as looks are concerned, the Digital IXUS 750 does not differ much from its predecessor. It’s safe to say that a digital camera from the IXUS line virtually always ensures a successful sale. The model has become a brand name in itself, an impressive achievement!
Canon Digital 750 – Big LCD display & DIGIC II processor
The biggest difference compared to the Canon Digital IXUS 700 is the large monitor on the back of the camera. The Canon IXUS 750 now comes with a 2.5-inch monitor. The CCD resolution of 7.1 Megapixels is big enough to make a good quality A3 print. The DIGIC II processor, one of Canon’s strongest products, also clearly contributes to this. It is the same processor that can be found in Canon’s other models, including the EOS 1Ds Mark II. The DIGIC II ensures short start-up times, short shutter release lag time, fast image processing and good image quality. That is not an advertising slogan, the processor has already proven itself more than once. The fact that Canon is capable of introducing innovative developments from the professional digital reflex world to the amateur product line, is evidence of great progressive drive.
Canon IXUS 750 – Lens & Artificial intelligence Autofocus
Thanks to the 7.7-23.1 mm lens, comparable to 37-111 mm with a 35mm camera, both close-ups and portraits can be made. The Canon Digital IXUS 750 has an auto focus system that works with artificial intelligence, AiAF (Artificial intelligence Auto focus). This ensures accurately focused photos; even in low-contrast settings the Canon 750 can focus effortlessly.
Canon Digital IXUS 750 review
The IXUS-series of digital cameras has been a highly popular line for years. The new Canon IXUS 750 seems to fit in perfectly. Design enthusiasts in particular take a keen interest in the IXUS line. Specifications will have to prove that the IXUS 750 is more than just hot air. The camera has some impressive features, at least in theory. We have had the opportunity to test the Canon Digital IXUS 750 in practice during a considerable amount of time. Our results can be found in the following Canon IXUS 750 review.
6 Months Free Wi-Fi with Nikon S51c
Posted on September 17, 2007 - Filed Under Art, News, Photo | Leave a Comment
Nikon has partnered with T-Mobile USA to provide Coolpix S51c customers with a six month subscription to T-Mobile’s HotSpot Wi-Fi service for digital cameras. With nearly 8,500 T-Mobile HotSpot locations available in the USA, owner’s can use Nikon’s new “my Picturetown” sharing and setorage service from nearly anywhere. “Nikon’s all-new ‘my Picturetown’ service allows S51c users to email their images to family and friends across the globe or upload them to Nikon’s photo archiving service. The partnership with T-Mobile USA provides customers with the opportunity to share their images easily and seamlessly from a variety of locations.” said Bill Giordano, General Manager, Marketing, COOLPIX, Nikon Inc. This special offer expires on August 31, 2008.
Nikon USA Press Release
Nikon Offers Consumers T-Mobile HotSpot Access for the New COOLPIX S51c Digital Camera
T-Mobile(R) Provides S51c Users with Complimentary Six Month Subscription to HotSpot(R) Wi-Fi Service
MELVILLE, N.Y., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/—Nikon’s newly announced COOLPIX S51c and my Picturetown(TM) are set to revolutionize the way in which consumers share and store images. my Picturetown, Nikon’s new photo sharing and storage service, allows the consumer to email pictures to friends and family, send their pictures to a Blackberry(R) device for viewing, or post them to a blog or social networking site. Adding to the convenience of this camera, Nikon has partnered with T-Mobile USA to provide COOLPIX S51c customers with a complimentary six month subscription to T-Mobile’s(R) HotSpot(R) Wi-Fi service for digital cameras, allowing the user to send images and videos to friends and family from the nearly 8,500 T-Mobile HotSpot locations nationwide*.
“Nikon leads the photographic industry in wireless technology,” says Bill Giordano, General Manager, Marketing, COOLPIX, Nikon Inc. “Nikon’s all-new ‘my Picturetown’ service allows S51c users to email their images to family and friends across the globe or upload them to Nikon’s photo archiving service. The partnership with T-Mobile USA provides customers with the opportunity to share their images easily and seamlessly from a variety of locations.”
The T-Mobile HotSpot service is available in Starbucks(R) coffeehouses, Borders(R) Books & Music stores, FedEx Kinko’s(R) Office and Print Centers, airports, and the airline clubs of American(R), Delta(R), United(R), and US Airways(R).
“Through this partnership with Nikon, T-Mobile HotSpot is expanding the ways customers can stay connected,” said Joe Sims, Vice President of New Business at T-Mobile USA. “Now Nikon COOLPIX S51c customers can store and share pictures with friends and family by connecting at thousands of T-Mobile HotSpot locations across the country.”
In addition to having this innovative Wi-Fi feature, the COOLPIX S51c is an 8.1 megapixel camera with a 3x Zoom-Nikkor Optical VR Image Stabilization lens with high-quality imaging performance, and advanced sharing technologies.
The COOLPIX S51c digital camera will be available nationwide in September 2007 with an MSRP of $329.95. For more information about this and other COOLPIX cameras, please visit http://www.nikonusa.com.
* Six months of complimentary T-Mobile HotSpot service begins from the first time you automatically connect your COOLPIX S51c digital camera to the T-Mobile network at a T-Mobile HotSpot location within the U.S. The T-Mobile HotSpot promotional offer does not include access to T-Mobile HotSpot roaming locations from the COOLPIX S51c. This offer expires on August 31, 2008.
About Nikon
Nikon, At the Heart of the Image(TM). Nikon Inc. is the world leader in digital imaging, precision optics and photo imaging technology and is globally recognized for setting new standards in product design and performance for its award-winning consumer and professional photographic equipment. Nikon Inc. distributes the Nikon Total Imaging System of consumer and professional digital SLR cameras, Nikkor optics, Speedlights and System Accessories; Nikon COOLPIX(R) compact digital cameras; COOLSCAN(R) digital film scanners; 35mm film SLR cameras; Nikon software products and Nikon sports and recreational optics. At the heart of every Nikon camera are Nikon’s In-Camera Innovations, making it easy for anyone to take amazing digital pictures. Through the Nikon Spirit Initiative(TM), the company plays an active role in supporting aspiring and advanced photographers through a variety of philanthropic organizations, educational programs, events and workshops. For more information, dial (800) NIKON-UX or visit http://www.nikonusa.com, which links all levels of photographers to the web’s most comprehensive photo learning and sharing communities.
About T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile USA, Inc., is a member of the T-Mobile International group, one of the world’s leading companies in mobile communications, and the mobile telecommunications subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG. At the end of June 2007, nearly 112 million mobile customers were served by companies of the Deutsche Telekom group—more than 26.8 million by T-Mobile USA – all via a common technology platform based on GSM, the world’s most successful digital wireless standard. T-Mobile’s innovative wireless products and services help empower people to connect effortlessly to those who matter most. Multiple independent research studies continue to rank T-Mobile highest, in numerous regions throughout the U.S., in wireless call quality and wireless customer care. For more information, please visit the company’s Web site at http://www.t-mobile.com. T-Mobile(R) is a federally registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG. Stick Together, myFaves, and the myFaves design are service marks of T-Mobile USA, Inc.
PhotoShelter Launches Online Stock Photography Platform
Posted on September 17, 2007 - Filed Under News, Photo | Leave a Comment
The photo marketing and archiving service PhotoShelter will launch a new online marketplace for stock photography on September 15, 2007. The PhotoShelter Collection will allow photographers to set their own prices for images accepted by a team of professional photo editors, and will pay photographers 70 percent of each transaction’s proceeds. The Collection complements PhotoShelter’s Personal Archive service, which provides a platform for individual photographers’ image archives and portfolios, and includes e-commerce tools.
Although the PhotoShelter Collection offers an alternative to existing microstock sites such as iStockphoto and SnapVillage , it represents a departure from typical microstock pricing schemes, which limit image prices to very low dollar amounts and pay commissions of 30 percent or less. Instead of capping image prices, the PhotoShelter Collection imposes a $50 minimum price per photo. PhotoShelter CEO Allen Murabayashi has called the company’s approach the “antithesis of microstock,” emphasizing its desire to drive a shift in the online stock photography market by providing photographers at all stages of their careers with an avenue for reaching commercial buyers without artificially lowering the market value of their images.
Popphoto.com got an advance look at the Collection’s online platform for photographers, and we can attest to its efficient and attractive design. A combination of tabbed sections, drop-down selection menus, and drag-and-drop functionality makes the interface simple and intuitive, while a flash-based uploading tool obviates any need to download desktop software in order to use the site. The platform is supported by the Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari browsers, and PhotoShelter has also developed a plug-in for Aperture integration.
The interface also includes a handy loupe tool, which allows users to view any part of a photo at 100 percent magnification in a small window by mousing over the image. Also available in the buyer interface, which will launch in November, this tool will allow purchasers to quickly check image sharpness and detail before buying a photo.
PhotoShelter has given considerable attention to the Collection’s image-search functionality, hiring a linguist to oversee the development of keywords. Photographers enter these with each photo, and buyers can use them to search for images. When a buyer enters a search term that has more than one meaning, a set of definitions is presented to narrow the search and prevent buyers from having to sort through images that are unrelated to what they’re looking for.
To submit images for inclusion in the Collection, photographers must fill out a brief application and upload three to ten images for evaluation by PhotoShelter’s editors. If approved, the photographer will be able to submit additional images for consideration. Once an image is accepted, the photographer must enter pricing, basic image attributes, and keywords, and indicate whether a model or property release is available, uploading the release document if available. The interface for entering this information pulls in EXIF and IPTC metadata from each image in order to keep data entry time to a minimum. Other image information such as captions and keywords can also be entered. Each image in the Collection is categorized as Editorial, Pro Stock, or Contemporary. The Pro Stock category includes creative images with a traditional stock photography look, while Contemporary photos have a more unorthodox aesthetic.
In addition to accepting and rejecting photos, PhotoShelter’s editors have the option of issuing a soft rejection, which is a sort of “close-but-no-cigar” option designed to encourage developing photographers whose work shows promise but not commercial viability as initially submitted. Soft rejections will be issued with a brief critique, and PhotoShelter is also launching forums and tutorials to help Collection photographers improve their chops. The editors also have the option to designate a photograph as an “editor’s choice,” a category that will be searchable by buyers for quick access to images that the editors feel are stand-outs.
As part of the Collection launch, PhotoShelter will pay an 85 percent commission on work accepted through November 4, 2007, and sold within six months.
This announcement dovetails in with the Photoshelter “Town Hall” tour, which kicks off today in New York. Click here for more information on the Photography 2.0 roundtables and upcoming sessions in 5 other cities.
Canon EOS 40D Review at Cameralabs
Posted on September 16, 2007 - Filed Under Digital, Ratings, Reviews, Tips | Leave a Comment
CameraLabs reviews the Canon EOS 40D and writes – ‘Canon’s EOS 40D features many improvements over its predecessor and finally shows the pesky Nikon D80 who’ boss – albeit one which costs almost half as much again. Canon’s delivered a superb DSLR which handles beautifully, is packed with useful features and delivers great-looking images.’
Best Space Photo captured at Mount Palomar
Posted on September 15, 2007 - Filed Under Digital | Leave a Comment
Best Space Photo captured at Mount Palomar : A team of astronomers led by Cambridge University have taken some of the best space photos of the stars that are sharper than anything produced by the Hubble telescope, at 50 thousandths of the cost. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), used a technique called “Lucky Imaging
Head to Head Review: Nikon Coolpix S50 and Coolpix S500
Posted on September 14, 2007 - Filed Under Cameras, Photo, Reviews | Leave a Comment
Comparing the Nikon S50 ($299.99, street) to the Nikon S500 ($259.99, street), you’d expect the S500 to be the much better camera. It only makes sense, right?
I had to wonder too, since the names are so similar, would people mistake one for the other and if they did, would they be as happy with the camera they thought they were getting? There’s a lot of communal technology shared between these two cameras and in most aspects they are almost identical internally, yet packaged differently. Still, there are subtle differences that can move a consumer to choose one over the other and by researching the differences, you can ensure that what you pay for is really what you wanted.
The confusing nomenclature of these two cameras is only aggravated by the differing S50 models. There’s the S50 and the S50c. The “c” designates the wireless model that allows you to connect, upload and send images from Wi-Fi hotspots. This feature allows the user to locate a wireless network SSID and either e-mail images using the Nikon Coolpix Connect 2 or store them on a photo file server. The S50c also allows the user to use WEP wireless security, which enables the camera to register with secured networks. It’s a great feature that begs the question: Why does Nikon market a “with” and “without” version — with just about a ten dollar price difference (on store shelves, that is — list is about $50 apart). Just give us the wireless already!
Image Quality Shots
• Nikon Coolpix S500
• Nikon Coolpix S50
The 7.1 megapixel S500 is a “Camera of Steel.” The entire body is made of high grade, thick stainless steel that feels rock solid in your hands and has a surprisingly weighty feel to it. The S500 is also considerably boxier than the S50 and is almost utilitarian in its simplistic design. The backside controls on the S500 are also more graphically muted than the S50, having a 2.5 inch (230,000 pixel) LCD viewfinder/screen and button design/function keys that are noticeably larger than the S50. The zoom toggle has a longer width on the S500, but is thinner vertically than the S50, making zoom functions on the S500 more difficult. Yet, even with that one shortfall, the S500 is the overall winner in button placement and design.
Video Training Review – Adobe Photoshop CS3: Camera Raw Workflow Essentials With Matt Kloskowski From NAPP
Posted on September 14, 2007 - Filed Under Culture, Photo | Leave a Comment
Released in June 2007, Adobe Photoshop: Camera Raw Workflow Essentials with Matt Kloskowski is the new video training DVD for those who have experience with a recent version of Photoshop and want to learn how to unlock the power of the Camera Raw workflow. It is hosted by Matt Kloskowski, one of the education and curriculum developers for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, or NAPP. If you are not familiar with NAPP, please read my review on Photoshop User magazine, to gain more insight on what NAPP is all about, and why you might want to join.
Adobe Photoshop: Camera Raw Workflow Essentials is contained on a single DVD that runs 174 minutes and can only be used on a computer based system. It is aimed at users new to Photoshop as well as those who have basic intermediate skills and want to move to the next level. The author goes over the material in 24 lessons which are divided into 3 sessions that will have you unlocking the world of Camera Raw within Photoshop like a pro.
Session 1:
Lessons 1-2 cover what Camera Raw is, and what it can be used for. The lessons explains the differences between Raw and JPEG files and what makes Raw files so much more powerful. It also explains how to open Raw files in both Bridge and in Photoshop, and what the differences are when you do so.
Lessons 3-5 cover the fundamentals of White Balance Here you will learn how white balance affects your perception of an image because "eyes adjust, cameras don't." You will learn how to work with a white balance tool to target neutral grey, what to do when you can't find a neutral grey You will also learn about the white balance presets and how much easier it to do in Camera Raw.
Lesson 6 shows you how to crop and straighten your images. Kloskowski prefers to insert the cropping at this point in his work flow because it changes how the histogram is affected. This way, when he works with the cropped image, he has a more accurate representation of the image. Straightening is explained by showing how to use the straightening tool.
Lesson 7 explains how to set the proper exposure by using the Tonal Controls; Exposure, Recovery, Fill Light, Blacks, Brightness, and Contrast. Here he shows how to adjust from top to bottom. Here you begin with Exposure and Recovery sliders.
Your bonus video focuses on the fact that in Photoshop CS3 you can now open JPEG files in Camera and what the implications are with this ability.
Session 2:
Lessons 8-9 continues the use of the basic tab that began in lesson 7. Here you will work with the Fill Light and Black controls, and how you can use them to adjust the dark areas of your images. You will then will work with the last four settings; Brightness, Contrast, Vibrance, and Saturation to work with the mid-tones of your image.
Lessons 10-12 cover additional adjustments starting with adding contrast by using Curves tab, especially using the new Parametric Curves in CS3. Then you work with the Detail tab by working with Sharpening and Noise Reduction. Finally you work with HSL/Grayscale tab. This is similar to the Hue-Saturation panel in Photoshop.
Lessons 13-14 look at some of the other effects that you can also do in Camera Raw. This lesson begins with how to create a Black and White photo in Camera Raw by using the other half of the HSL/Grayscale tab. You will then learn about the new Split Toning feature in CS3 Camera Raw and how it allows you to create a split tone to your black and white photos quickly and easily.
Your bonus lesson is all about you don't have shoot in Raw + JPEG on your camera anymore.
Session 3:
Lesson 15 addresses the Lens Correction Tab. While this tab may not be used for much anymore, Kloskowski shows what you can use it for if you need to fix Chromatic Aberration.
Lessons 15-18 begin by showing how to process multiple Raw files at once. Then you will learn how to remove dusts and spots on image as well as multiple images by using the retouch tool. From here you will find out how to move your image to Photoshop.
Lessons 19-20, examines Raw/Photoshop workflows. One is for Portraits where you will use Layer Masks, Merging Layers, Spot Healing, and use the Smart Sharpen filter to get some selective sharpening. The second is for Landscape workflows. Here you will work with Smart Objects to reopen a layer back in to Camera Raw to combine multiple images to one.
Lesson 21 examines the topic of DNG; digital negative, to address the problem future non support of a Camera Raw format.
The final bonus lesson is a catch-all with regard to Camera Raw. This covers features such as the Camera Raw database/.XMP files, and how they are used to save changes.
As with all of the NAPP videos, Adobe Photoshop CS3: Camera Raw Workflow Essentials packs a lot of information into a little under 3 hours. Matt Kloskowski has a way of explaining things that make it very easy to understand. Along the way, he shows you a lot of little tips and tricks that will help you take your skills to the next level.
The retail price of Adobe Photoshop: Camera Raw Workflow Essentials is $69.99 USD. You can get it from PhotoshopTraining for $62.99 USD, an 11% discount, but for NAPP members it is only $54.99 a savings of 22%. There is an online version as well available from PhotoshopVideos, again $69.95 USD Retail and $49.95 USD for NAPP members.
A Conversation with Mitch Epstein
Posted on September 14, 2007 - Filed Under News, Photo | Leave a Comment
Dad, Hampton Ponds III 2002
ME: I don’t spend much time looking at photography on the Internet. I have been using the Internet as a research tool for American Power. I’m astounded by the amount of information at my fingertips on the Web, and I’m aware that a similarly huge quantity of photography exists on the Web. The challenge of distinguishing interesting work on the Internet is fundamentally the same as it is off the Internet. However, the rewards of looking at photographs on a computer screen are limited in comparison to the experience of viewing original prints or photographic books with offset reproductions. I feel the same about drawings or paintings viewed on the computer screen. If I have the choice of looking at a Vermeer painting on my laptop or traveling to the Metropolitan to see the original, I’d get on the subway and travel uptown to see the actual painting. While I’ve been intrigued by photography I’ve discovered on the Internet, I cannot remember having ever been transported by the experience. Images on the computer screen are ephemeral, their scale is limited, and they don’t invite the critical reading and visceral engagement of a real print.
JC: Coming to your own work, there is one question which I like to ask simply because it touches something that many photographers are struggling with: How do you decide what project to work on, what subject matter to pick?
ME: I never pick my projects, my projects inevitably pick me. I don’t mean that glibly. I’ve learned to listen to what moves and troubles me, and that leads me to where I have to go next.
I have been through many hellish periods where I don’t know what’s to follow after finishing a body of work – a kind of post partem. But I’ve learned that it is helpful to remain patient, open, and necessary to allow myself to relax and pursue other interests beyond photography during these periods.
JC: Your project Family Business is very personal work, and I think it might be my personal favorite (if I had to single out a series). I can imagine that that project must have been challenging for you on many different levels. As you write you “became possessed” to find out how your father “ended up a character out of an Arthur Miller tragedy,” something that for many people would somewhat get in the way of taking photos. How did you deal with all the different aspects and motivations that you had? How did you balance the personal and professional; how did you decide what boundaries to set for what to show and what not to show?
ME: Family Business is an example of a project that was not premeditated.
Listening to the cries and worries of my mother over years of distressed phone calls about the woes of my father’s businesses, I initially went home to offer my support, but also to better understand what had happened to my father and my changed hometown. It was never my intention to take on an epic project about something as personal as my father. I quickly realized that there was little I could do to help, but I was spellbound by the dramas, the characters and landscape of my father’s world which I had detached myself from as a New Yorker for 30 years
I worked hard to find a balance between my ruthlessly direct approach to the work and the respect and empathy that I felt for my father as his son.
I frequently made week-long trips to shoot in Holyoke, Massachusetts (my hometown), but at the end of a grueling week I would get to return to the comfort and distance of my own family and home in New York City. This process of “coming and going” enabled me to recover from the emotional and intellectual intensity of my trips, and to assess and gain fresh perspective and strength before I set out again.
Even when I spent two summers in Massachusetts in order to work intensively on Family Business, I chose to rent a house in the neighboring town of Northampton so that I could leave Holyoke at the end of the day and gain some small bit of separation.
The rule that I gave myself was to photograph or film people or situations that related to my father. That was essentially my single restriction.
Only once did my father stop me from filming him while he was collecting overdue rents. Other than that, he placed no restraints on me, and I never felt the necessity to censor myself. I always approached my father from a position of respect, even if I disagreed or didn’t understand him. I’m glad I did this project when I was 50; I couldn’t have had the emotional distance needed when I was younger.
JC: And then when Family Business was done, how did it compare with what you might have thought it would be before you set out to shoot it?
Untitled, New York #11, 1996
ME: I had no idea what Family Business would become before I took it on. As I mentioned, I never planned to take it on. And if I had, it might have subscribed to a set of preconceived ideas that I already had about my father. I was more than two years into the project when I devised a workable structure for the Family Business book: Store, Property, Town, Home. I could never have gotten to that structure without making the work first. And the same could be said for my film Dad, which has its own form drawn from the material I had to work with.
JC: Both your New York and your American Power series at least in part deal with security (or what we might think of as security). After 9/11, taking photos has been put under restrictions in New York, and if I remember this correctly one can’t just simply take a photo of a power station or an important bridge any longer – something that reminds me of Bernd and Hilla Becher being asked by people whether they were Soviet spies when they were working on their photography of industrial structures. What are you experiences with this? Why did you decide to show American Power when it became increasingly difficult to take those kinds of photos?
ME: American Power is particularly difficult, in part because of its geographic and conceptual bigness, but also because of Homeland Security — I have been stopped more than once on public property for photographing distant coal stacks. Once, in Poca, West Virginia, a total of six law enforcement officers, including two FBI agents, questioned me and my assistant for hours. This project calls into question so much of what I’ve taken for granted. One thing I’ve taken for granted (aside from endless natural resources for me, my children and grandchildren) is my freedom to photograph in public space in the United States of America.
I’m glad that federal and local American governments take my safety seriously. I don’t want to live in a surveillance-addicted world, however, and I don’t believe that rampant surveillance is the key to my safety. I have been most hassled by corporations that use extreme security to protect their questionable activities. It is when our government protects the secrecy of corporations over an individual citizen’s constitutional rights that we have to worry. My experience on the road says we have to worry.
–Jörg Colberg is founder and editor of the fine-art photography blog Conscientious. He works as a research scientist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS review
Posted on September 12, 2007 - Filed Under Cameras, Reviews | Leave a Comment
Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS review : The successful series of digital IXUS cameras brings us the Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS digital camera. This new top model from the Digital IXUS series is equipped with the latest technology, and comes in the trendiest “jacket” of the series. As far as specifications are concerned, the Canon IXUS 800 IS leads Canon’s compact camera range; not only does the camera have the stylish looks that the IXUS line is famed for, it also features a 4x optical zoom and the same optical Image Stabilizer (IS) technology that is used in Canon’s professional EF lenses to reduce blur caused by movement of the photographer’s hand.
Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS digital compact camera
The Canon IXUS 800 IS was introduced early this year, right before the start of the PMA 2006. It did take three months for the camera to actually become available, but as the holiday season approaches, the time finally seems to have come for the Canon IXUS 800 IS to make its mark. Canon find themselves in the middle of a particularly successful period, which seems far from over. IDC recently published a report in which Canon is declared market leader of the Western European market for the fourth consecutive year. Despite the increased competition, Canon easily managed to hold on to their clear number one position in 2005. In the past year, 27 million digital compact cameras and digital SLR cameras were sold in Western Europe alone (as opposed to 25 million in 2004). As the ultimate number one in this market, Canon hold a 16.5% share.
Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS – Optical image stabiliser
The new Canon IXUS 800 IS aims at securing yet another successful period for Canon. It should be said that the specifications of this new camera certainly show promise. Canon’s strength is not only shown by the camera’s attractive design, but also by the fact that each introduction is accompanied by the integration of considerable innovations. New elements, or elements borrowed from Canon’s professional line, are carried through to the amateur line both rapidly and effortlessly. Therefore, it doesn’t come as a surprise that this is one of the most striking features of the Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS; besides a renewed design, the camera comes with first-rate technology, such as an optical image stabiliser, and the powerful DIGIC II processor.
Canon IXUS 800 IS – DIGital Imaging Core image processor
The DIGIC II (DIGital Imaging Core) image processor, designed and produced by Canon themselves, guarantees a swift start-up time, a short shutter release lag, fast image processing and excellent image quality. Although one might argue this comes across as nothing short of a commercial slogan, it should be said that the powerful image processor has already more than proven itself in the past. The fact that Canon are able to introduce innovative developments from the professional reflex world into their amateur product line, shows an impressive degree of progressive effort and perseverance.
Canon IXUS 800 IS review
The Canon Digital IXUS series of digital cameras has been successful for many years. At this time, the new Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS leads the series, and will undoubtedly enjoy a warm welcome from the IXUS enthusiasts. We had the opportunity to test the Canon IXUS 800 IS during a long period of time. Whether or not Canon set a new benchmark for their compact camera line can be read in the following Canon Digital IXUS 800 IS digital camera review.