Articles: Blog
Found: 38 articles
(Page 1 of 2)
Pages:
1
2
In this article I want to share my experience with using Aperture 3 book tool and Apple printing service that actually crafts those books and delivers them to you.
Nov. 3, 2010
Chances are high that you already know one of red wines produced in Tuscany - Chianti. Indeed, Chianti is one of the most recognized names of red wines in the world. I've met people for whom Chianti was synonymous to red wine. However, Tuscany, as the wine producing region can offer much more. Do not get me wrong. Chianti with all its varieties is a good wine. But if I am to tell you about Tuscan wine, I start with Brunello di Montalcino.
Oct. 12, 2010
What puzzles me sometimes is why some obvious things are ignored by many people. The same way I ignored a simple, inexpensive and at the same time effective solution for shooting video with DSLRs without tripods. Indeed, I was ready to pay almost $900 for Zacuto Striker, a hand-held support kit, but did not want to try more effective and cheaper support systems.
Sept. 10, 2010
Do you believe that there is such thing as a perfect photo camera bag? Well, I still do not, but my belief has been seriously shaken when I started using Billingham 335 Photo Camera Bag. What surprises me most is the attention to details in this bag; it seems like each and every element of its design, including seemingly unimportant things, turn out having their purpose.
July 25, 2010
Originally, I did not plan to write about Hahnemuhle Gallerie Photo Wrap Frame, the entry level wrap frame from Hahnemuhle. Although idea is good, the details of its implementation make it completely unusable. So, instead of writing a negative review, I submitted a brief feedback to B&H store (New York, USA) (where I originally bought the product for testing and evaluation). Unfortunately, it appears that B&H customer review moderators decided that my feedback was too negative and could undermine their sales numbers - my brief explanation why the product is not good has never shown up on B&H site. Well, at this point, I decided to publish more extensive review on Naviquan.com.
Hahnemuhle Frame Systems - Part 1: Gallerie Photo Wrap Frames
Hahnemuhle Frame Systems - Part 2: Standard or Professional Gallerie Wrap Frames
July 5, 2010
Let me start with saying that Hahnemuhle Gallerie Standard and Professional Wraps are a better solution for wrap frames than their Gallerie Photo Wrap sibling covered previously. I would highlight the following advantages of "standard" and "pro" wraps over "photo" ones: (1) Significantly lower costs of supply materials, (2) More professional look of finished frames, and (3) Easier positioning of the frame.
Hahnemuhle Frame Systems - Part 1: Gallerie Photo Wrap Frames
Hahnemuhle Frame Systems - Part 2: Standard or Professional Gallerie Wrap Frames
July 5, 2010
In one of the previous articles dedicated to Zacuto family of DSLR products I described its basic components: Z-Finder and Gorilla Plate. This time, we make one step further and explore Zacuto Striker, a DSLR camera support kit offering four points (assuming that you use Z-Finder attached to Gorilla Plate) of contact/support: (1) a hand on the handgrip, (2) the gunstock against your shoulder, (3) another (focusing) hand on the lens and (4) additional point of support by placing Z-Finder eyecup against your eye. Unless you dare to shoot video with DSLR without any support, you will discover that the Striker is the most essential support kit for its purpose.
July 5, 2010
With skyrocketing popularity of DSLR for shooting video many traditional photographers are expanding their aspirations into videography. Indeed, recent DSLR cameras that shoots High Definition (HD) video can produce remarkably high quality footage at a fraction of costs of professional cinema equipment. However, as often the case, good news comes with bad news: since DSLR cameras are built primarily to take pictures, their ergonomics and design present serious challenges for the new generation of "video" photographers. The most immediate and obvious ones are the stability of DSLR cameras and lack of adequate viewfinder to shoot video. Fortunately, there is a growing number of manufactures offering solutions to such problems.
June 24, 2010
Americans love their grills and grilling! What can be better than the BBQ flavors spreading around from your deck where you do your magic in front of a grill with a piece of meat on it slowly transforming into a mouth-watering awesomeness to be served soon to your family and friends. So, when a new season comes, in your neighborhood friendly Home Depot or Lowers grills go fast . The problem is that they are not born equal. Different sizes, different fuel, different BTUs, different appearances - aren't we all slightly confused deciding what to buy? I am going to tell you about PowerChef Convertible Electric Grill I found. It's far from perfect, but if your needs are similar to mine, this grill may deserve your attention.
June 2, 2010
Exited with the new generation of DSLR cameras offering impressive video capabilities, I felt that it was time to get rid of my old Mac G5 and move to Intel-based Mac Pro with Mac OS X Snow Leopard (version 10.6). I was a novice videographer, but I knew that video editing, transcoding and compression require a lot of computing power, and I anticipated a need for a well equipped computer system capable of doing in reasonable time all these new exciting things. However, a visit to Apple store gave me almost an electric shock when I realized how expensive it would be to purchase a new Mac I wanted at Apple. To be precise, $8,489.58 including Virginia taxes (prices Feb., 2010).
April 18, 2010
It is a fact of life that wine requires breathing (oxygenating) to improve its taste. Actually, this may be an understatement since some wines simply do not taste good when just opened and are very unpleasant to drink. Most red wines, especially full body ones with higher content of tannins, become more enjoyable and less hash with tannins softened. Oxygenating can be done by using decanters, or directly in your glass. The problem, or rather inconvenience, is that it may take from 15 to 30 and sometimes even 45 minutes (and even more) before the wine takes enough oxygen. To accelerate the process you can use wine aerators - one of them is Vinturi Red Wine Aerator.
Feb. 14, 2010
If you like to travel in style for a week or longer and do not mind spending a lot of money for a top-of-the-line luxury bag, consider classic Long Wheeled Garment Bag from Tumi "Alpha" collection. With its size of 23.5" x 24.5" x 12" (HxWxD) it can hold enough suits, dresses and/or clothes for longer trips. This bag is especially convenient for two people traveling together when formal attire is required. I think this bag is an ideal solution for cruise. Tumi's Classic Long Wheeled Garment Bag is an example of a product made right with travelers' needs in mind.
Sept. 8, 2009
Everything has its purpose. When I saw Topaz Detail, my almost immediate reaction was about the purpose behind Topaz Detail - a new Photoshop plug-in from Topaz Labs LLC. I found that it's a good tool for accentuating details and for black and white conversion. As far as its claimed fool-proof ability to sharpen images, all I can say that it's possible, but not practical. Read the article for more details.
Aug. 20, 2009
Actually, I would consider Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X as an alternative to Benro C-068M8 Travel Angel when selecting a really lightweight tripod for traveling. Perhaps because of Gitzo reputation as a manufacturer of high quality tripods including tripods made of Carbon fiber? As we know such reputation does not come by accident. However, the price tag of $600 certainly made me thinking twice. Then, I decided to make side by side comparison: should I say numbers speak for themselves? But in all critical characteristics, folded length, weight and load capacity, Benro C-069M8 has an unquestionable lead.
July 13, 2009
When you have a lightweight monopod like Gitzo GM2561T Traveler (see side bar for specs), you want to complete the system with a similar ball head - compact and light as well as capable of supporting the same load. Unfortunately, to find a ballhead matching Gitzo GM2561T turned out to be a difficult thing to do. I opted for Velbon QHD-51Q Magnesium Medium Ballhead which I have been using for almost two years. My experience showed that although not perfect, the QHD-51Q turned out to be a good compromise which I can recommend to anybody who find him/herself in the same predicament.
July 13, 2009
High Dynamic Range imaging (HDRI or simply HDR) has become recently a very popular technique of post-processing photos to enhance them and achieve a desired artistic effect. It attempts to deal with the fact that photographic pictures are not as powerful as human eye in displaying both dark and light objects in photos since photo cameras have a limited dynamic range. This article is the first in a series dedicated to HDR photography describing general HDR concepts and HDR processing using Photoshop. In future articles I will review most popular HDR software tools.
Part I - High Dynamic Range Photography Simplified
Part II - High Dynamic Range Photography - Photomatix Pro
Part III - High Dynamic Range Photography - "HDR Look" and Pseudo HDR vs. HDR
May 17, 2009
You are back home from your last voyage and you have a lot of pictures. Perhaps, at least some of them you would like to print out in addition to upload them to various hosting sites like Flickr. After all, nothing can give you and your home more than the sweet memories reflected in the cosiness of a nicely framed photo with moments experienced during your adventures. If that's your plan, why not to print for a change on canvas? The texture of this media will surely make the print richer - not really an oil painting, but close to it. Here is how you can do this.
April 12, 2009
Selecting a tripod for traveling may be not an easy thing to do. By my estimate, there more than 600 models from more than 20 manufacturers of tripods. There are many parameters you may want to take into account when making a decision. One of the problems with selecting a particular tripod is the lack of a convenient way to do side-by-side comparison of models available. This article may help you narrow your choice from hundreds of tripods in the market to just several. By using two simple criteria, we have analyzed about 250 tripods usually sold by most retail outlets selling photographic equipment. This step resulted in a spreadsheet summarizing technical data for 30 tripods that we believe may be a starting point for the final selection.
March 11, 2009
No serious enthusiast of HDR can skip Qtpfsgui - an open source graphical user interface application that provides a workflow for HDR imaging. This review of the package is focusing on it main pluses and minuses and provides tips in using it.
Feb. 28, 2009
If you follow discussion groups on HDR, it won't take a lot of time to notice that Photomatix Pro is one of the most popular software tools used for HDR processing. Photomatix Pro provides streamlined and intuitive controls to create HDR images.
Feb. 28, 2009
Pages:
1
2
Article Index
Category: "Blog"
