Pentax Releases ‘Affordable’ Medium Format DSLR
Pining away for a medium format DSLR camera but can’t bring yourself to drop 20 large for Mamiya’s DM40? Maybe Pentax has your number, who just introduced its 645D camera for the comparatively bargain-bin price of $9,400.
It’s the company’s first medium format DSLR, which comes with a high-performance CCD image sensor produced by Kodak. The sensor measures 44mm by 33mm and boasts 40MP shots.
Other features include a 14-bit A/D converter, lightweight body, dual SD/SDHC memory card slots, the company’s DR (Dust Removal) II mechanism, 11-point wide-frame AF sensor, 77-segment multi-pattern metering, 3.0-inch color LCD, HDR function, HDMI output, and whole host of other goodies.
Get the full scoop here.
Image Credit: Pentax
31 Stunning Black and White Subject Study Photos on Imagekind
Black and White photography is among one of the most striking forms. Photos sans color require an enhanced use of lighting, shadows, and subject focus. Black and white photography brings out details usually overlooked in standard color photos. Subject studies is the discipline of concentration on one particular subject. Not quite still-lifes, though they share some similar qualities, subject studies focus on one particular object in view.
Take a look below for 31 stunning black and white subject study photos on Imagekind.
Pear in Porcelain by Dawn LeBlanc
Baby´s got Back by Andreas Stridsberg
Ready to Bloom by Tim Zeipekis
Resilience by Ari Bixhorn
Mount Rainer by Frank Melchior
Feather Study by Keith Dotson
Cotton-top Tamarin by Mihkel Maripuu
salute to the sun by Antje Bormann
Beach Ballerina by Nina Bradica
Subtle by Terry Shuck
Lonely Tree on a Barren Hill by Keith Dotson
Cool Chick by Dapixara Black White Photography
Column by Jean-Francois Dupuis
Flower on My Bedside Table by Ricardo Segovia
Pelican Model Behaviour II by Diana Claxton
Egret by Scott Hansen
You said you loved me by Anna Theodora
Elk Crossing by Santomarco Photography
End of the pier by David King
Sad Labrador by Justin Paget
The Wait by Maggie Dee
Giants Ring, Belfast by Chris McKeown
Wellington by Ben Ryan
Calla Lily by Chris Anderson
The Will of the King by Larry Bohlin
Stardust I by Gigja Einarsdottir
Wet Shaking Labrador by Justin Paget
My Lost Love by Lynsey Weatherspoon
Hunter from the Deep by Myles Teo
old elephant, amboseli national park, kenya by Konstantin Kalishko
Wild Horses by Heather Rivet
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
31 Stunning Black and White Subject Study Photos on Imagekind
Section 44 or Section 58A will not stop people taking photographs says minister
Policing and crime minister makes statement regarding stop and search powers.
Amateur Photographers visit the House of Lords
Nikon Press Photographer Makes History with first ever photographic workshop held inside the House of Lords.
Pentax 645D Medium-Format Digital SLR Camera
Today sees the Japanese launch of the Pentax 645D Medium-Format Camera.
How to Pop Color Selectively Using Channel Mixers and Layer Masks in Photoshop
By Jodi Friedman of MCP Actions: Photoshop Actions and Training
There are literally dozens of ways to saturate your colors in Photoshop. For this post I am going to focus on one way to pop colors using “Channel Mixer” adjustment layers.
To start with, locate an image that could benefit from more vibrant color, overall or in selected spots. Of course, you likely will want to correct exposure and white balance prior to working on color. At this point, we will pull up a “Channel Mixer” adjustment. In CS4, you can use the adjustment panel – in CS3 and below, use the layers palette and go to “Channel Mixers.”
Once you pull up the adjustment layer, you will adjust settings in the dialog box. You will adjust all three output channels: Red, Green, and Blue. Use the same relationship for each. You want all numbers to total 100%. The higher your number for the output channel you are working on, the more saturated the colors will be.
For example, if you start with red, and put red at 150%, then you would split the difference to = 100%. So green would be at -25% and blue at -25%. Then you would drop down to green for the output. For this channel, you would do 150% for green, -25% for red, and -25% for blue. Lastly, you would drop down to the blue channel and do the same. Blue would be 150%, green -25% and red -25%.
Remember, all three outputs need to be treated the same. The output gets the high number in all three channels. The other two equally subtract the same amount so that the total is 100%. Using 150% is rather high, but if you will be painting your color on, as I am here, or if you want a lot of pop, this number may work well. You will want to experiment on your image to find the best settings. I recommend 116-120% for the main output channel light pop, 122-140% for medium pop, and 142-160% for intense pop.
When you saturate color, make sure you are not losing details and that your colors are printable. The printer I use handles intense color really well, so I mainly check to make sure I am not losing details or getting any color noise. Also, if photographing people, unless you are using low numbers, your skin tones WILL BE impacted. That is where “painting” comes in.
With masking, you have 2 choices. Either you can show the effect everywhere, white mask. And hide it on parts where you do not want it, such as skin. Or you can hide the effect everywhere, black mask. And you can paint it on specific areas, just where desired.
For this tutorial, I am going explain, hiding the effect and painting it on where desired. Either way would work.
So after getting your channel numbers set, you will invert your mask. The shortcut keys are PC: “CTRL” + “I” or Mac: “CMD” + “I” – which turns your white mask from black. You will not longer see the popped colors.
If you have never used layer masks before, this video tutorial and tips on layer masking will help you.
With the mask black, then select white as your foreground color, and pick a soft round brush. You will vary the hardness of the brush as needed. I usually set my opacity at 30%-35% and paint over the desired items where I want the color more vibrant. You can do this at 100%, but with a low opacity brush, you will have more control as you can build the effect by painting multiple times.
For the before and after image below, I painted on the image with the mask selected, using a 30% brush at 19% hardness. I painted over the entire image once. Then I painted on the truck until 100% of the effect was reached.
The only change in these two images was the channel mixer layer. I hope you learned a lot from this tutorial about using channels to enhance your color and about using layer masks.
About the Author: This post was written by Jodi of MCP Actions, the popular creator of Photoshop actions, training and of the MCP Blog. MCP Actions provides great products and resources for both hobbyist and professional photographers who want to improve their post processing and take their photography to the next level. If you are serious about the quality of your images or your photography business, visit MCP Actions.
You can also find Jodi on Facebook, Twitter, and through her RSS Feed.
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
How to Pop Color Selectively Using Channel Mixers and Layer Masks in Photoshop
Fujifilm FinePix HS10 early review: Long-zooming thirtysomething
The superzoom is the thirtysomething of the camera world: no longer a young, feckless compact, but not yet a wise, experienced dSLR. We inspected the FinePix HS10 for signs of clever features — and hair loss
Win a Bokeh Kit: Competition
Today we’re giving away 6 great little kits to help you create some stunning Bokeh effects from Bokeh Masters Kit. Thanks to Udi Tirosh (follow him on Twitter here) for this offer. Here he is to introduce the concept behind the kits and to introduce the competition.
The Challenge
A while back DPS had an article about creating and using shaped bokeh as a creative drive. Taking that concept forward I built a product called the Bokeh Masters Kit which enables creating “bokeh images” in an easy and convenient way.
When I launched the Bokeh Masters Kit I needed to create a strong image which will clearly show how distant blurred dots become shaped bokeh objects.
Process and Setup
To make the bokeh effect work you need to have some highlights that you can take out of focus. Each such out-of-focus dot takes the shape of the hole on the bokeh adapter. A common way to create those highlights is to use LEDs. This is a great option as LEDs are small, cheap and can be bought in a “string form” for holiday’s home decoration. Indeed I started with LEDs. My first images were of my little daughter using a Christmas LED string as backdrop.
I loved the effect, but wanted something more. I wanted hundreds of little distant blurred dots to become hundreds of little shapes.
While working on another project I noticed that wrinkled tinfoil reflects many, many spots of light. This is just what I needed. It took little time to create a screen made from foam board and tinfoil.
I used a very simple 2 strobe setup to take the image: one flash with a CPU cooler gridspot was placed above R2D2 to light it from above. Another gridded strobe was set on the floor for fill and spilling some light on the background.
This worked out pretty nice and I got literally hundreds of little envelopes.
I did a second image with the same concept only using hundreds of tiny streetlight people.
The Giveaway!!!!
To kick things off, DPS will be giving away six Masters Edition kits.
To enter all you need to do is leave a comment on this post. Make sure that in the email field of your comment you leave a valid email address so we can contact you. One entry per person only please!
We’ll randomly select 6 winners from the comments 2 weeks from today and notify winners via email. If you can’t hold your breath that long, just order the kit here.
Lastly – here’s a quick picture of how the kid attaches to your lens.
Check out more of the type of images that you can achieve with this little bokeh kit here.
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
Ilford continues with black and white products
Iconic black and white brand Ilford Photo underlines commitment to existing product range.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5 early review: Camera with a sense of direction
You’ll never be lost with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5, a compact camera with GPS and a compass