Happy Day Digital Photography

Happy birthday, Mac!

2014-02-19T13:19:00.001+08:00

Thirty years ago Macintosh promised to put technology in the hands of the people. To celebrate Mac's birthday, Apple shot the film around the world in one day, entirely on iPhone 5s .

The behind-the-scene footage is equally touching:

Predicting the future of digital photography

2014-02-11T12:12:00.000+08:00

This is one of the most insightful articles that I've read in the last couple of years on the future development of digital photography. I agree on most of the points that Roger Cicala raised.

Roger tries to predict what we'll see in digital photography in the next few years. Let me also say a few words:

1. He says either on-sensor phase detection or contrast detection autofocus will become fast enough for most photographers. On-sensor phase detection is nothing new, as we first saw it in the Fujifilm F300EXR back in 2010. Its most successful implementation coming in Nikon's 1 System mirrorless models, which uses a "hybrid" AF system that incorporates contrast-detection AF with phase-detection technology. While the Nikon 1 V2 is not yet ready for the next Olympic Game, it's certainly more than adequate for soccer moms. However, I won't say that all forthcoming cameras will use the hybrid system, because just a single contrast detection autofocus systems found on many mirrorless cameras (such as Panasonic GM-1 that I'm using) are already adequate for social functions. Hence, I'd say that in the next couple of years, all entry-level cameras will use only the contrast detection autofocus, and most mid level (Canon EOS 70D. Only the high-end enthusiastic and professional cameras will use the traditional phase detection system.

2. Roger says modular designs will become widespread, but he doesn't refer to Thom Hogan's type of modularity. He just refers to the design of the internal parts. I would say it's likely to happen, due to every manufacturer's attempt to reduce cost.

3. Roger says electronic viewfinders will become good enough for most photographers. I'd say this will probably happen in 2017. At present the best e-viewfinders are still a mile away from optical ones. They lack the depth and the three-dimensional feel.

4. Electronic shutters will become a viable reality. Roger says it may be a few years away, but I'd say it will happen in 2016. Every manufacturer must find ways to reduce cost to stay alive.

5. Roger says modularity and ‘exchange repairs’ make good service possible for even a startup company. However, Id say it won't happen, because startups don't invest in the camera business, and also because of the horror story of Lyto (to investors).

6. Roger says third-party lens manufacturers will continue to make excellent optics at lower prices. I'd say definitely third-party lens manufacturers will continue to make excellent optics, like Zeiss, Voigtlander, Sigma (the "Art" line), Tamron (the "High Speed Zoom" series), Samyang and so on. But I don't know if they will continue to make them at lower prices. I think they tend to make value-for-money lenses, but somehow they need to focus more on exotic lenses to get a nice profit margin, such as what Zeiss (eg Otus 55mm f/1.4) and Voigtlander (remember their f/0.95 lenses?) always do, and Sigma has recently tried very hard to do (eg 18-35mm f/1.8).

Let's revisit this page in a couple of years to see if the prediction will come true!

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2014/02/disruption-and-innovation

Recommended lens review sites

2013-10-18T23:17:00.003+08:00

Here are the recommended lens review sites:

Lensrentals.com (using Imatest)

Photozone (using Imatest)

Lentstip (using Imatest)

ByThom

DPReview (using DxO Analytics)

DxOMark (using DxO Analytics)

SLRGear (using DxO Analytics)

各族的臉譜

2013-09-26T10:56:00.002+08:00

蘇格蘭格拉斯哥大學的心理學系對各種族的臉譜進行研究，大量搜集各地人的照片，以電腦融合成每個種族的「常見」面容。看來研究人員在搜集「樣本」時都傾向找年輕貌美的，因此最後以電腦合成的圖片，每位都是可人兒。與其說這是世人樣貌的「平均值」，倒不如說這是模擬未來天堂人口檔案的照片！

另見此研究的介紹文章。

六種必定要懂的人像攝影基本布光

2013-09-24T23:12:00.000+08:00

這是六種必定要懂的人像攝影基本布光 (打燈) 技巧：

(原文： Photoblog.HK，來自攝影師 Darlene Hildebrandt 的分享)

A geek’s tour of Sigma’s Aizu lens factory: Precision production from the inside out

2013-09-22T18:22:00.001+08:00

An exceptionally informative article by Dave Etchells at Imaging Resource, who has just posted a story about his visit to Sigma's factory in Aizu, Japan!

He follows the process from shaping the lens surfaces, to polishing, assembly and testing. It is really rare that a manufacturer let's a journalist to visit factories AND shoot photos there.

Click here for the full article on Sigma lens factory visit!

顏色理論

2013-09-18T14:12:00.002+08:00

顏色理論多如天上繁星，實用的卻不多。最近見過「株式会社日本カラーデザイン研究所」(Nippon Color & Design Research Institute Inc.) 的一些顏色理論，分析仔細，值得參考。不過，他們大部份的出版物都是以商用為主，而且有些只有日文版，只有少部份有英文和中文版。

Rosie Hardy 自拍

2013-08-07T09:39:00.003+08:00

英國17歲的 Rosie Hardy 每天自拍一張相片，連續堅持一年，風格可以維持，但又不重複題材，值得愛美又只懂用手機自拍的人好好反省！

大家可以留意一下，場景佈置，化妝，找道具，後期製作…..每一張相片起碼要花上二個小時，未計外景的交通時間 (因為我不知道她是否在家的附近拍照，很難估計)。

請大家欣賞：

http://www.rosiehardy.com/1145-self-portraits

兩個世紀的相機歷史

2013-03-06T17:23:00.001+08:00

相機的歷史已接近二百年。每個發展階段，都有其里程碑，你是否同意以下這個圖表呢？

Source: http://spacechimpmedia.com/design-project/pixntell-the-history-of-the-camera-infographic/

Five Things Brides Wish Their Wedding Photographers Knew

2013-02-27T18:48:00.005+08:00

結婚的主角總是新娘子，攝影師無論如何都必須照顧新娘子的意願。來自紐約 Lempa Creative 的夫妻檔 Dale 及 Jill Lempa，他們是一對婚禮攝影師，提出了五個建議，從新娘子出發，對婚禮攝影師很有幫助。

http://fstoppers.com/5-things-brides-wish-their-wedding-photographers-knew

布列松談構圖

2012-10-19T13:47:00.000+08:00

Henri-Cartier-Bresson，布列松 (1908年8月22日－2004年8月2日)，又譯「亨利·卡蒂埃－布列松」或「亨利·卡蒂爾－佈雷松」，法國著名的攝影師。

1952年，布勒松的著作《決定性瞬間》(法語：Images à la sauvette/英語：The Decisive Moment)出版。他的「決定性瞬間」攝影理論影響了無數後繼的攝影人。

偏愛黑白攝影，喜愛萊卡(Leica)135相機與50mm標準鏡頭，反對裁剪照片與使用閃光燈，認為不應干涉現場光線，被譽為20世紀最偉大的攝影家之一及現代新聞攝影的創立人。

Charlie Rose曾在巴黎訪問布列松，問什麼是好的照片構圖，布列松毫無思考的回答：「幾何圖形。」

下文會看到布列松如何運用透過關景窗看到的所有人事物，以「幾何圖形」的特性去構成他大部分的重要作品。

http://www.adammarelliphoto.com/2011/09/henri-cartier-bresson/

Using colour harmonies in photography

2012-09-12T18:36:00.002+08:00

An excellent article on colour harmonies for beginners!

Using Color Harmonies in Photography

# 1 of 9: Monochromatic Color Harmony

by
Alain Briot

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/color_harmonies_1_monochromatic.shtml

色調流行演變

2012-06-19T13:56:00.003+08:00

軟件工程師 Vijay Pandurangan 收集自從1914年共35,000張電影海報，排列如下圖，每一橫行就是一年的份量，發現每個年代採用色調的趨勢，竟然像時裝一樣，有大周期的起伏，也有大趨向的演變。從下圖看，大半個世紀以來的大趨勢是冷色越來越流行，但流行的是較淺的冷色，而較深沉的冷色其實大約保持不變。中間至中間偏暖的色調，由兩次大戰到現今減少了許多，但如果只由嬰兒潮的人踏入青少年期起計，即由七十年代初起計，則一直至今也改變不大。

如果可以有人收集大家日常拍攝的相片做個統計便好了！不過相信只可由六、七十年代做起，因為以前大部份都是黑白照！

原文出處按此。

Dirty lenses

2012-05-10T09:15:00.002+08:00

Don't be afraid of "dirty lenses"! See:

http://kurtmunger.com/dirty_lens_articleid35.html

A course on digital photography by Stanford

2012-04-07T23:00:00.000+08:00

This is a course on digital photography (CS178) by Stanford University. See the course schedule and the course home page. The best of all, see the applets designed to supplement the course lecture materials.

Adobe Lightroom 4

2012-03-31T12:33:00.002+08:00

Updated on 10 May 2012

Finally Lightroom 4 is available, and the big news is its price! Definitely all existing users will upgrade.

At the moment, the best resources that I can find at the moment about Lightroom 4 are:

(A) Resources for experienced users of the previous versions:

Tonal adjustment in the Age of Lightroom 4

(B) General Introduction for general users:

http://thelightroomlab.com/ (There are just a few Lightroom 4 tutorials. Perhaps more will come. Meanwhile, you may read the very comprehensive "Tutorials Roadmap" for Lightroom 3 first: http://thelightroomlab.com/our-photoshop-lightroom-tutorials-roadmap/)

http://www.peachpit.com/promotions/promotion.aspx?promo=138777

http://kelbytraining.com/online/freetrial/

http://lightroomkillertips.com/2012/lightroom-4-presets-hdr-effect-part-2/

http://www.lynda.com/allcourses

(C) A collection of various other resources:

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials.html

Enjoy!

與背景融合的時尚人像攝影

2012-03-08T09:22:00.000+08:00

有不少時裝攝影或所謂「時尚人像攝影」(glamour photography)，其實都只是攝影師叫女模特兒騷首弄肢，只要把燈光、調色和反差等基本技術弄好便成，根本與攝影藝術扯不上任何關係。

來自莫斯科的攝影師 Mercuro B. Cotto，職業是時尚攝影師，原本也可以單靠叫模特兒騷首弄肢混飯吃，但他卻願意花時間思考如何配合模特兒與背景之間的構圖，增強作品的感染力，算是把「時尚人像攝影」添上些藝術色彩。見他的網頁。

The Most Important Developments in Photography

2011-12-23T14:30:00.001+08:00

I haven't posted any new article for quite a while, partly because I'm busy with another project right now, and partly because I've found a photography blog that I like very much. That's the blog under LensRental.com.

This is the most recent post on LensRental.com. I think their choice of the 19 most important developments in photography is sensible and comprehensive. If I were to add the 20th one, I would say smartphones, which allow us to take photos and share them instantly on the internet. The idea of sharing and storing photographs in the cloud will probably become the most important development in photography in the next decade.

The Most Important Developments in Photography

Source: LensRental.com

1. Invention of the camera. Daguerre. 1837.

Without the camera, nothing else really matters, so this has to go first. Although you could argue a bit over how much it was Daguerre’s invention.

2. Collodion wet plate process developed. Archer, 1851.

Without good negatives and prints, photography only mattered to a few people. Even before the internet photographers wanted to show everyone their photographs.

3. Optical crown and flint glass. Abbe and Schott (Zeiss), 1880s.

If you don’t have good glass, you can’t have sharp lenses. How can you have sharp lenses if you don’t have good glass?

4. Anti-reflective coatings. Smakula (Zeiss), 1935.

Without anti-reflective coatings, only a few glass elements can be used in a lens. Do you have any lenses with just a few glass elements?

5. Photographic film. Eastman, 1880s.

“Here come the rabble.” was Charles Dodson’s (AKA Lewis Carrol) remark when he was first told about the new invention, film. He stopped photographing soon afterwards. He was right: the rabble was us — all the millions of camera users who didn’t want to mix collodion and coat it on glass plates.

6. Cooke Triplet Lens. Tayler, 1896.

The nearly perfect lens, it led to the development of more modern lenses (including the zoom lens) than any other lens ever.

7. Image-forming CCD chip. Fairchild Semiconductor, 1973.

Of course there was photography before digital, but digital is the most important camera development since film. At least it is to 98% of us.

8. Mathematical formulas used to calculate lens design. Petzval, 1840.

This could be ranked higher or lower: there were many good lenses designed by trial and error. But all modern lenses (since 1900) are designed by formula and calculation.

9. Phototelgraphy (transmitting photos by wire). Korn, 1902.

Until television was invented (and even after) this was how most people got to see world events. And it made photojournalists and sports photographers employable. The only thing better than being a full-time photographer is being an employed full-time photographer.

10. 35mm photo camera developed using sprocketed movie film. Barnack (Leica), 1914.

It’s still the genre we use, so I have to give some props to that. But it was more a convenience and economic decision than a brilliant innovation. And it’s what started Leica (before there were collectors looking for platinum and ostrich skin cameras).

11. Strobe lights for photography. Edgerton, 1923.

What, you want to use flash bulbs? Really? Well, actually people mostly did for 40 years or so. Bulbs were cheap, strobes were expensive. Come to think of it, strobes are still expensive. Whatever happened to bulbs?

12. First zoom lens (for photography). Voigtlander, 1959.

I guess this was a good thing? It is a good thing! The majority is always right! Zooms for the People!! (Blend in with the herd, Roger, or the wolves will get you first!)

13. Photoshop. Adobe, 1990.

With apologies to those shooting film, digital is today’s photography and Photoshop had a lot to do with making it that way.

14. Autofocus. Minolta (who stole it from Honeywell), 1985.

See comment for number 12. Actually, now that my age starts with a “5″ I’m beginning to think maybe autofocus is a good thing. But for those who claim it’s absolutely necessary, I point out that Neil Leifernever used it, and he probably was the greatest action sports photographer ever. But that was back when men were made of iron and ships made of wood.

15. Exakta SLR camera. 1936

The first SLR. Without this we’d all be shooting rangefinders, looking down at our waist-level finders, or pulling a cloth hood over our heads to see the ground glass.

16. Image stabilization. Canon, 1976 (patented)

IS, VR, OS, or whatever they choose to call it improves the sharpness of photographs in some cases, and improves the bottom line of the camera manufacturer in every case.

17. Multi-layer color film. Kodak, 1936.

Well, it’s not necessary, obviously, but like the song said “Momma, don’t take my kodachrome away”. (Nobody ever wrote a song about Agfa Scala 200X or Ilford HP5 Plus.) Sunsets, tropical fish, and fashion catalogues just lose something in black and white. Zebras don’t though.

18. Bayer filter-mosaic. Kodak, 1975.

See number 17. There are about a million internet discussion about ‘isn’t there a better way to create digital color than the Bayer filter?’, but apparently there isn’t. As soon as someone comes up with one (no, Foveon is not it, at least not yet) I’ll drop it off the list.

19. Tie: Nikon F- SLR, Nikon, 1959. CDS-100 SLR, Kodak, 1991. Canon Digital Rebel (KISS), Canon, 2003.

They all helped shaped the photography we do today. In order they are: the first professional quality film SLR; the first professional quality digital SLR; and the first high-quality digital SLR priced for the rabble, as Dodson would say. None ranks higher than this, though, because all were just ‘first to the market’. Someone else was on their heels and would have released a similar product a year or two later.

Video compression, codecs and transcoding

2010-12-16T13:48:00.001+08:00

This is a very useful article on video compression, codecs and transcoding.

http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Guides/Understanding_Video_Compression_01.htm

Digital restoration of old films

2010-12-10T13:42:00.002+08:00

Just find a good book on digital restoration, with practical advice and useful examples. I'm planning to digitise all my films. It's a plan to save the fading films, as well as my fading memory!

Here is the link to the book http://photo-repair.com/DigiRestBook.htm

Top quotes from great photographers

2010-10-27T13:56:00.007+08:00

If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough. — Robert Capa

The photograph itself doesn’t interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality. — Henri Cartier-Bresson

It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter. — Alfred Eisenstaedt

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. — Ansel Adams

Everyone will take one great picture, I’ve done better because I’ve taken two. — David Bailey

A camera alone does not make a picture. To make a picture you need a camera, a photographer and above all a subject. It is the subject that determines the interest of the photograph. — Man Ray

Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures. — Don McCullin

All photography is propaganda. — Martin Parr

The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words. — Elliott Erwitt

Lightroom 3 resources

2010-10-18T13:46:00.004+08:00

There is a huge supply of Lightroom 3 resources. Among them, I found the following extremely useful:

Free video tutorial from Peachpit.
NAPP Lightroom learning centre -- It is not cheap, but many of them are useful.
Jeffrey Friedl's Lightroom plugin page.
The Lightroom Lab.
The Lightroom blog.
Lightroom Secrets.

There is an official Lightroom forum, but I find that the unofficial one is sometimes more useful.

Disk Utility of Mac OS X 10.6

2010-09-09T18:42:00.005+08:00

Everyone seems to say Mac OS X is user-friendly and you need not go through pages of user's manual. Most of the case, yes; but sometimes it isn't. Just now I'm trying to duplicate a non-copyrighted DVD. I opened Disk Utility, choosed File > New > "Disk Image from Folder...". So far so good. Then I created a disk image, burned it, and put the duplicate in a DVD player. It didn't play the DVD. What's wrong? I went to Apple's support page. Here is the answer: You need to choose "DVD/CD Master" before you click "Create" to create the image. Why shouldn't there be a prompt, such that I wouldn't waste my time to burn a few unreadable DVD before I learned of my mistake? Is this because Steve Job wants to discourage pirating? But my DVD is just my friends' non-copyrighted home movie!

iMovie '09 -- tips and tricks

2010-09-01T13:24:00.005+08:00

There are good tutorials on Apple's website about iMovie, but it only tells you how you can follow the Apple's way of doing things -- clueless even if you just deviate from it slightly. For example, I am now trying to re-arrange my iMovie events, iMovie projects and iPhoto libraries to more logical locations when upgrading from my old MacBook to my new iMac 27". But eventually I found that I could not do so manually. It's now a mess, and I think I have to put them into the original folder structure, let iMovie recognise them, before I rearrange them within iMovie. Apple just doesn't tell you that.

Fortunately I've found some informative sites on iMovie '09:

iLife Tips and Tricks -- a comprehensive site
Unlocking iMovie -- it's what the title suggests
iCreate -- the official blog of the magazine
Jim Heid's site as supplement to his book
40 iLife tricks -- where I'm reminded not to move iMovie projects manually
Wondershare Mac iMovie -- it's basically a site selling Wondershare software, but it also contain some useful information

To start with Lightroom 3

2010-08-27T13:50:00.005+08:00

Gone are the days of hundreds-page user's manual accompanying each piece of software. Nowadays you have to rely on the help manual within the software, or the website of the software developer. But a better source is the community on the net, in particular where you need to make decisions. Here is a good "walk-through" guide for Lightroom 3:

Photokaboom, a clear written guide covering all major issues.