TinEye Finds Your Photographs On The Web
Just received a Beta invite to a new image search engine called TinEye.com by Idee. "TinEye is a brand new image identification-based search engine currently in private beta." You can request an invite from the site, which is what I did.
There are a lot of search engines for images including Google, but this is different and if it works as advertised can be a great boon for photographers whose work was scraped off their web sites and used without permission elsewhere on the web. I was surprised to find one of my copyrighted images was used on a fan site. Martin Bailey of the Martin Bailey Photography podcast, mentioned it in his podcast (a very good photography podcast by the way) and used it to find one of his images posted on a site without permission as well.
Submit your site(s) for crawling to TinEye.com and install the Firefox add-on for the easiest searching. It seems to work well so far. Check it out, I received an invite the day after requesting one.
There are a lot of search engines for images including Google, but this is different and if it works as advertised can be a great boon for photographers whose work was scraped off their web sites and used without permission elsewhere on the web. I was surprised to find one of my copyrighted images was used on a fan site. Martin Bailey of the Martin Bailey Photography podcast, mentioned it in his podcast (a very good photography podcast by the way) and used it to find one of his images posted on a site without permission as well.
Submit your site(s) for crawling to TinEye.com and install the Firefox add-on for the easiest searching. It seems to work well so far. Check it out, I received an invite the day after requesting one.
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SI Photographer Tackles Mexican Wrestling
SportsShooter.com has a fun 3 part video series of Peter Reed Miller shooting Mexican wrestling for Sports Illustrated.
Click the image to see the videos on SportsShooter.com
Drool Worthy...Nikon D700
Nikon announces the new D700. Looks like it will go head to head with the Canon 5D. Hope Canon has the 5D Mark II in the pipeline soon as I know Canon users who are thinking about making the switch.Scott Bourne of TWIP (This Week in Photography) announced today on Twitter that he is making the switch to the D3!
Here are some D700 links:
TWIP: The Nikon D700 is Real
The Travel Photographer: Nikon D700 Announced
The Online Photographer: Nikon D700 is 'D3 Lite'
Photoshop Insider: New Full Frame Nikon D700 (and new SB-900 Flash) Announced
Here are some D700 links:TWIP: The Nikon D700 is Real
The Travel Photographer: Nikon D700 Announced
The Online Photographer: Nikon D700 is 'D3 Lite'
Photoshop Insider: New Full Frame Nikon D700 (and new SB-900 Flash) Announced
Canon G9...Just what I am looking for?
I have been pondering the idea of a point and shoot for photos and video. I try to carry around my beloved Canon 20d, but it isn't always practical. I use my iPhone for quick shots straight to my family blog, but never have been satisfied with the quality. I also have a video camera, that I never use and when I want it, it is never charged.
Here is what I have been thinking: Get rid of the video camera, buy a Canon G9 to replace it and use the Eye-Fi SD card to send the pictures directly to the blog. Just a though, what do you think?
Here is a good video produced on the G9 by MostlyLisa.com:
Mostly Lisa takes the Canon G9 for a spin from Lisa Bettany on Vimeo.
Here is what I have been thinking: Get rid of the video camera, buy a Canon G9 to replace it and use the Eye-Fi SD card to send the pictures directly to the blog. Just a though, what do you think?
Here is a good video produced on the G9 by MostlyLisa.com:
Mostly Lisa takes the Canon G9 for a spin from Lisa Bettany on Vimeo.
Photomatix Pro Walkthrough
Wednesday, May 28 2008 10:48
| hdr, walkthrough, software
| Permalink
High Dynamic Range Imagery or HDR imagery has been catching on lately and allows photographers to create images that reach beyond the exposure range of typical digital camera sensors. I say create, because the most common techniques typically involve shooting multiple photographs with bracketed exposure settings and then merging them with specialized HDR software and/or Adobe Photoshop. The final images can sometimes look extremely saturated and surreal, while others are processed following a more True Tone process that looks more realistic. Both can look good depending on how well the image is processed after combining the images. HDR images contain a dynamic range that is to wide for a standard computer screen, so photographers must use a process called Tone Mapping in the software to prepare it to be viewed and printed.
It can get fairly technical here and there are a lot of different techniques and tutorials on how the various processes work. One of the best known HDR photographers is Trey Ratcliff of Stuck in Customs. An example of his work can be seen below:
At the moment, Photomatix Pro is arguably the most popular HDR software on the market, though new software is cropping up all the time to keep the competition steady.
It is free to use, though all images will be watermarked until the application has been purchased and registered. I practiced for a month with the watermarks, was hooked and purchased a license.
It is important to understand right off that most people will not get results like a pro. I certianly have a long way to go, but learning the application is not very difficult. Refining your technique will take time. Many people use Photomatix as a starting point and continue editing in Photoshop until they match their creative vision.
My vision found me under a pier in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. I shot three photos of the pier from a tripod, each with different exposure settings. I set my aperture for the depth I wanted and accepted the camera's exposure for shutter speed (0). I then bracketed up 2 stops (+2) and down 2 stops (-2). The results were f/9 at 1/40 (0), 1/160 (+2) and 1/10 (-2).
1/40 1/160 1/10
When I opened Photomatix Pro, I was greeted with the Workflow Shortcuts dialog box. I selected "Generate HDR Image" and browsed to my three canon raw images.
This is where you start making choices based on the content of your photographs. In my case, there is water in motion and the wind was blowing the camera. The tripod helped, but a slight shift may have occurred during the exposures. I have two options to align and reduce ghosting, but would have to experiment to find what works for me.
Click OK and the result is, well less than appealing. This is where the display cannot handle the range of color, so it is time for Tone Mapping. There are quite a few options here and more than I can cover in this walkthrough. Good news is that there are some very good tutorials to get you started at Stuck in Customs, Vanilla Days, PhotoWalkPro and This Week in Photography (TWIP).
After tinkering with the settings for a bit, I finally settled on a result. Saved it out as a 16 bit TIFF and moved it to Photoshop for some sharpening. The final result:
Photomatix Pro will be a fairly intuitive program for those with experience in Photoshop or the like, but will have a steep learning curve for those of us new to the game. The interface is easy to use and the included tutorial a good start. I gave Photoshop CS3 a go at it initially, but quickly moved to Photomatix once I discovered it. Give it a try. If you don't mind the watermarks, then you can use it free indefinitely to hone your skills.
Developer: HDRSoft
Cost: $99.00 (Academic Pricing is 60% Off )
HoudahGPS Walkthrough
Monday, May 19 2008 09:17
| walkthrough, software
| Permalink
In my current obsession with GeoTagging (aka GeoCoding) my photos, I stumbled upon another tool for the digital darkroom. HoudahGPS is a simple open-source app that has at least one great attraction for me, it is free! Now I am not opposed to paying for a finely crafted application; I do it all the time, but when I find one that fits the family budget, it is all the better. It is based on the open-source command line tool called GPSBabel and they clearly give credit where it is due in the application window.
That in mind, I started to walkthrough HoudahGPS expecting it to, shall I say, "hit the post or just miss the net." Sorry, I for the hockey reference, but as a hockey fan, it shares my brain-space with photography this time of year. Anyhow, I find that many freeware apps are nice, but miss out on some of the important features and ease of use that I prefer.
Here is why I found it useful. My GPS is a Garmin Rino 120 and came with a serial cable. Now, I know I can get a USB Serial Adapter for it, but have been lazy and haven't dropped the money for it. In the mean time, I used a Dell laptop with Windows Vista (I know, bad MacImager!) to save the Garmin track logs from my photo excursion as a GPX file. Tossed it on a flash drive and put the laptop back in the closet until I am forced to use it again.
Back on the trusty MacBook Pro, I wanted to convert the GPX file to the Google Earth supported KML format. HoudahGPS is a simple way to quickly make the conversion. Likewise, if I had the USB cable, I could use HoudahGPS to acquire the track logs directly from my device. Garmin, Magellan and Sony devices are supported as well as NMEA and KLM file formats.
For my purpose, I opened the app and selected "file" and the GPX format. Choose "Both" for tracks and waypoints and KML for my conversion. Click "Convert" and in a moment I had a Google Earth compatible file. A simple app with a simple function that worked perfect for the quick conversion.
Will I still use it after I get a USB cable? After all, many GeoTagging apps will acquire the track logs and do a whole lot more. My thought is yes and no. I will likely use Ovolab's GeoPhoto for all my work, but the KML files work in a variety of other apps for runners, hikers, etc. For this reason, I will leave it in my application folder.
Flash Photography in the Desert?
Couldn't resist posting this one. Joe McNally and David Hobby show you how to shoot flash in the desert. These guys are great and have a wealth of information to offer. For more than the video, go to the Strobist.com post.
Gotta love the flash christmas tree setup!
Gotta love the flash christmas tree setup!
Viveza Plugin Released for Aperture 2.1
Nik Software has released Viveza as a plugin for Aperture 2.x. Viveza has gained a lot of attention for the new methods in selective color correction using their patented U-Point technology. Very cool stuff. Check out some videos of it in action.This is definitely on my wish list, but as an ex-Aperture user and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom convert, my hope is that it comes out as a Lightroom plugin as well. I can use it with Photoshop, but I try to stay away from Photoshop and do most of what I need in Lightroom. A Viveza plugin would be the perfect compliment.