This one goes out to all of our strobist friends out there. Peace.

[photopress:DSC_0242x.jpg,full,alignright] The right tool for the right job. Said it once or twice.
Love the great shadowless light that a ring light can give you. Essentially, it’s a circular flash tube whose output is shaped by reflectors, dishes, or shot full frontal.

When this item came up, the RayFlash, there was now an option for a ring light with no wires, using your Canon 580 or Nikon SB800 flash. Same TTL exposure control as your portable flash, but a series of light baffles and reflectors to distribute the light in a circular pattern, with no electronics involved, except the burst coming from your unit. All you lost was 1 f/stop of exposure.

Great idea, not as great in execution.

OK, this is what we used: used a Nikon D200 with an SB800, and shot with, and without the RayFlash unit.

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Here is what we found: Continue Reading »

OK, we love 3D. Truly.
And photomerging is one of the most fun things to do when it happens right. there is a certain satisfaction when it appears to be a seamless stitching of multiple images.
But this is a whole new animal.
Yep it one of those 93% applications ( meaning PC) but check out the vid here to get a sense of it.

And it’s now available to consumers. You. Anyone. With about 20gb of onlinestorage. Of course you will have to shoot min. 85 pix of any one scene to get the full experience and more is better.
Let us know what you think. It felt a little dizzying to us, physically, but maybe we should see what everyone comes up with

Here is the press release:
“Welcome to Photosynth
Posted Wednesday, August 20, 2008 7:20 PM by synthy
We’re pleased to announce the first full release of Photosynth, available now at photosynth.com. Photosynth takes a collection of regular photographs and reconstructs the scene or object in a 3-D environment. For those of you who have seen the videos or tried our tech preview, you could experience synths that we made in the lab and get a feel for what Photosynth is and how it works. But now, for the first time ever you can create synths from your own pictures and share them with your friends. Explore great synths from others or create a few of your own.

Don’t know where to start? Check out these great synths available today:
(by the way, the site was so overwhelemed when we checked it out, these were not available yet)
National Geographic did an a great synth of Stonehenge. Normally you are not allowed inside the center ring of Stonehenge, but their photographers got special permission so you can experience it here. Can you find the rabbit living at the base of one of the stones?
Ever wanted to check out a Ferrari 575 Superamerica up close? We snuck into the local dealership and shot a synth just for you.
You don’t need to go to all the way to London to see the London skyline—you can see it right here at Legoland
Imagine stumbling across a guy proposing to his girlfriend right in the middle of Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Now imagine making a synth of it.
While there are plenty of interesting synths to check out already, the best ones will come from you. If you need help creating a killer synth, check out our photography guide for some tips. Or just watch our short how to synth video which gives you a quick overview of the best way to take pictures that will make a good synth.

Because Photosynth is so new, you will probably run into an occasional bug or hiccup. Whether you have a brilliant idea or find a bug, please let us know. We’ll do our best to address them.

And be sure to keep watching this space, where we’ll share what we’ve learned about making great synths, talk with some members of the Photosynth team, provide synthing suggestions for advanced users and point you to some of the cooler synths that people are building.

Former New York Jets Quarterback Joe Namath once said “When you have fun, you can do amazing things.” We sure hope you have as much fun using Photosynth as we’ve had building it. ”

Remember that Cloud reference in the video. We’ll be talking about that new word in our lexicon next week.

Can’t believe the summer is gearing down already as the vacationers have left for the last bits of sun worshipping, splashing or just seeing the warm months of relationships outdoors start to wane.
Yep, soon all of the still photos of the fun will be headed to the memory banks, and we’ll be there to help you preserve these with some pretty cool options.
But it ain’t over yet. So chill.

There is one photographer, though, that has taken some iconic images of a summertime from the past. A hot night shared in a convertible, or swimming in a local watering hole.
These are not my summer memories, but one that belong in the world of O. Winston Link, perhaps the greatest train photographers, that ever lived. Click the link to take you to the museum dedicated to his work.

Trains and summer? Whaaat?

Yes, that’s right.
Take this classic photograph: Hot Shot Eastbound

[photopress:NW_1103.jpg,full,centered]© O. Winston Link

Sure, planes, trains, and automobiles, but this was live, not photoshop.

Winston once stated, “Since I could only see the headlight of the locomotive in total darkness, I did not know until the flash was fired that I had captured this prize.” The couple in the foreground sits in Winston’s 1952 Buick convertible. The image on the movie screen is from the 1955 motion picture “Battle Taxi”, which was being shown that evening.
You can almost feel the heat of the night, and the smell of popcorn as the train came by. You have to wonder what that train did to the sound,even though the speakers was set into the car.

Or perhaps this Hawksbill Creek Swimming Hole from 1956 where the heat of the day gave way to the comfort of the night in the local swimming hole with the train intersecting and connecting the world of that time.
[photopress:HAWKSB_1.jpg,full,centered] © O. Winston Link

He seemed to prefer shooting at night and the precision and knowledge of schedules was critical. As you can see.
With custom designed 43 Flash bulb units, he and his assistant, George Thom, would light the night, and capture a part of America, the Steam Engine, that would be nearly gone by 1960.

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These images are from, yes I’m saying it, a simpler time.

However, his life became fairly complex near the end as his ex-wife stole many prints, was jailed for selling stolen property and Mr. Link became a slightly embittered man. Surprising, eh?
The story goes that he died in his car at a railway station while driving himself to the hospital.

OK, that’s one way to look at summer.

Another, a little closer to home for me, is the 4 for a quarter photobooths.
Summer in the city was the opportunities, now and again to escape the concrete and get to the shore. Any shore.
Jones Beach, Coney Island, Asbury Park, Atlantic City, Wildwood.
And all of the shoreline oasis’s had arcades. We’re talking Skeeball, pinball, fortune tellers, and photobooths.
For 25 cents, you and your buddies could pile into a tiny booth, select a brown curtain as a background and time your sunny funny faces into 4 different poses before waiting the 3-5 mins for a slightly damp, slightly curved strip of memories came falling into the steel cage ready for you to retrieve, and fight over who got what shot.
I still have those shots and every time I look at them I remember that summer. And those friends. And that fun.
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So this week we want to share these 2 thoughts with you in the form of books. Steel Steam and Bars by O.Winston Link and American Photobooth By Nakki Goranin and David Haberstich.

The special words for entry into the weekly giveaway will be in the NEWSLETTER this week.

First of all you MUST be signed up for the NEWSLETTER. Then…. on Weds. @ 9:00 AM PST check your email in-box
1. Open the email from damonw@photoinduced.com and Hit Reply
3. Delete the main body of the email (saving server space).
4. Put either “special word” –included ONLY in the email , in the subject line.
5. Add a shipping address.
6. Make sure you followed all of the above directions.
7. Hit send.

And depending which memory bank you want to tap, the specific book will be sent to you. If your reply is the 30th into our mailbox.
What kind of memories are you shooting this summer?

PS : someone did ask Continue Reading »

Do you know who the folks are that are recording it?
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These are the men and women wearing the khaki Kodak vests, serving as their ID credentials, spending day after day picking the angles, carrying the looooong lenses, moving from venue to venue.
Photo Olympians to be sure.

But check out these sites to hear from the shooters on the scene.:
The Star, Beijing 2008, Sports Shooter, PopPhoto

And here is a collection of sites to check out the photos from the games.

A couple of notes: This is also Kodaks last year as a sponsor of the games. OK, who’s next? Canon? HP? Sony? Has to be a really big, well funded company.
And this year we see less white lens barrels than black ones. Nikon has pulled ahead with the D3 this year.

Read some of the stories in the photographers blogs above. What a great job they are doing. Seriously.

Every Sunday, I make it down to the local Farmers Market. It happens to be in Brentwood,CA. home of more than 2 celebrities. And some of them happen to go to the market.
Hey, they have to feel their peaches for firmness, just like you and me.

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Anyway, part of my shopping experience is to also photograph the seasonal fruits and veggies (easy…) as the changing sun hits them, or softly lit under a canopy. It’s kinda like sketching. Every week photographing similar things, in a slightly different way. Maybe a change of lens, perhaps showing up earlier for new light.
Not incredible images, just working things out.

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Well, this week, I was walking around with the latest review DSLR, the Nikon D3, coupled with a very sweet 24-70 2.8. With cameras being on my body for most of my life, it is just another part of me, an extension. Never think about it being there.

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And then while testing the perspective peaches, someone asked me ” So, who’s here today? ”
” Excuse me? “
“You know, you’re paparazzi, right? ”
Holy Moley. I thought I was just taking photos of incredible edibles.
I asked him why he thought that. ” That big camera and your bag says Hollywood on it.” My canvas bag for shopping is from an editorial company based in Hollywood.
For some reason, I felt compelled to explain what I was doing.
But why?
Yes it was true. The concept of being considered paparazzi was a sleight, a diss, a slam.
Oh sure, he wanted to know what celebrities were there, but I didn’t want to be that guy.

Couldn’t I shoot this:
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While carrying this?
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Is this why Leicas were invented? The colors and textures called out for a full up camera.
I told this story to a friend of mine and they said “Of course they thought that..look at that camera in your hands!”

I guess it must be a matter of technique. It was hanging on the shoulder. Perhaps it should stay in a bag till the shot reveals itself. Any ideas? Should I just buy all of the subjects, shoot, and eat?

Yes, Rob Reiner was shopping. No, that shot was never taken.

Ahhhh..Los Angeles.