living through my lens

GIF Animation

2014-08-25T10:44:00.001+03:00

those Gif format files were very famous back on the on the early 90's. it was the only format that could animate a picture sequence.
Now we use mostly flash format files for web animations, however these gif files started popping up again on the net. the files now are used in very different ways, from art to wedding photography. I think that it is because all the mobile devices that can't ready flash format.

I tried doing my own:

Also check these wedding (gif) photography

Street Photography

2013-08-25T10:33:00.001+03:00

Well Hello :)

After a very long time, I decided to write again..
I've been in photography for more than 10 years now, all of them as non professional photographer.
I think that the line between professional and non professional photographer is very thin,is all about passion, practice and knowledge.
I call myself non professional photographer because i don't really make money from my photos and I don't work as photographer.

Lately i do a lot of portrait photography and street photography.
I started a new profile in 500px http://500px.com/JoeHabib check it out.

These days I'm trying to read a lot about street photography, how to communicate with the environment, how to take pictures without disturbing or in Interfering people on their day-life.

Anyway here are two youtube videos i'd like to share with you. Enjoy

My new lenses - Canon 24-70L 2.8 & 70-200L 2.8 IS

2012-04-03T11:16:00.000+03:00

Hello everybody,

I'd like to share with you my new Canon lenses
1. 70-200L 2.8 IS
2. 24-70L 2.8

I bought these lenses from second hand but in almost new condition.
Leave comments about these lenses

Thanks

Sony HDR-PJ50 is both a camcorder and projector

2011-09-08T11:29:00.000+03:00

When I saw this pic of the Sony HDR-PJ50, I was not surprised. After all, it isn’t the first time I have seen a projector on a camera. Nikon did this with the Coolpix S1000pj, and 3M did this withShoot and Share camera as well.

The projector of the HDR-PJ50 is able to project an image of 60-inches on any flat surface, but you are probably going to have to be in a very dark room.

Then there is the usual feature of a 1920 x 1080 HD video and an unusual feature of a built-in 220GB hard drive. As you might have guessed, it is good for memory sticks or SD cards. It also has a built-in 220GB hard drive, so you can catch a lot of video.

Other features include a 12X Optical zoom, and stills that can be captured at 7.1 Megapixels. Audio is captured at Dolby Digital 5.1, and it has a stereo camera mounted microphone.

I’m not certain how successful the Sony HDR-PJ50 will be, as I have heard that theCoolpix S1000pj didn’t do so hot as far as sales are concerned. However, I could be wrong.

I also don’t see any reason why a camera shouldn’t have a projector, but it definitely has to be at a price that consumers can afford. In this case, the HDR-PJ50 is about $1,201.95, which is a little out of my price range.

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com

Bet Oren (Haifa) - few months after the big fire

2011-04-17T14:04:00.000+03:00

Fahed Khoury (friend)

Fahed Khoury

Where photographers are inspired?

2011-02-07T13:59:00.008+02:00

1x.com - http://1x.com
1x is a photo community with a difference. Take the work of the most talented photobloggers, various famous photographers, and many serious amateurs, select their best work and collect it all in one place - that is 1x. Everyone is welcome to contribute, but every photo is screened, which means it has to be approved by an editor (screener) before being published. 1x is a photo gallery with a constantly evolving exhibition. We publish dozens of new images every day.
Our screeners do not take it upon themselves to decide what is good or bad photography or what is art. However, we publish only a small fraction of the submissions. Many of the excellent images that don't get published simply do not fit our vision for 1x in terms of style or subject matter.
To be able to show images not published, 1x also offers a premium membership, which includes your own professional homepage with complete control over what photos to display.
We created 1x because we saw a need for a collection of pre-screened high quality photos without the vacation shots, pet portraits, and other snapshots that make up the bulk of other photo sites. We also wanted to provide a forum for more detailed photo critique than what other sites offer. And finally we wanted a site that was elegant and easy to navigate. Our mission is to find the sublime together, but even if this turns out to be too difficult, we hope that 1x can be a source of inspiration, a tool to help us develop as photographers, and a place to make some friends along the way.

Strobox- http://strobox.com/
Strobox is a place for all types of photographers to share how they set up that amazing photo! The easiest way to learn is to look at photos and their lighting diagrams so you can see for yourself how they were created.

PhotoSIG - http://www.photosig.com
photoSIG is a community of photographers and photography enthusiasts, ranging from amateurs to working professionals. photoSIG members who submit photographs are expected to write critiques for others .

photoSIG is designed to be self-maintaining. The worthiness, or unworthiness, of photos and critiques submitted by users is determined by the user community. Users have the opportunity to comment and critique, favorably or unfavorably, on photos and on critiques submitted by other users. In addition to the editorial control exerted by the community via the rating system, photoSIG itself also attempts to encourage high-quality critiques by only allowing critiques that conform to photoSIG's quality standard to affect a photographer's rating.

photoSIG opened to the public on December 7, 2001. It is the sister site to artSIG, but while artSIG covers all types of visual art, photoSIG deals exclusively with photography. Information on photoSIG can be found on wikipedia.com.

DevianART - http://www.deviantart.com/
Deviantart was created to entertain, inspire, andempower the artist in all of us. founded in august 2000, deviantart is the largest online social network for artists and art enthusiasts with over 13 million registered members, attracting 35 million unique visitors per month.

Reverse lens macro technique

2010-12-09T12:16:00.001+02:00

Wish you can shoot macro with your brand new DSLR but haven’t had a macro lens yet?
I found a video for you showing how you can do it with you regular lens.
IMPORTANT! For safety reason — safety for both the lens and camera body — don’t try reverse lens macro if you don’t have a sturdy adapter to mount the lens on the camera body.

Animated Gif from the previous post

2010-11-14T13:51:00.001+02:00

I took the frames from the previous post and made a simple gif animation

click to view (2MB)

8fps

2010-11-09T13:21:00.000+02:00

Location: Akka (Acre)

This is how fast the canon 7d can shoot.
8 frames per second

Family trip - Afek - 23-10-2010

2010-11-09T12:35:00.002+02:00

Saturday,
Great weather for walking trip.
My father suggested to take us to "Afek Park" near Haifa.

Here are some pictures

Panasonic unveils DMC-ZS7 / TZ10 with built-in GPS

2010-09-15T12:42:00.002+02:00

Panasonic has unveiled the Lumix DMC-ZS7 compact superzoom (TZ10 outside the US) with GPS that geo-tags and identifies over half a million locations. The latest in the popular TZ7, TZ5, TZ3 series, it also gains the company's 'Power O.I.S' image stabilization system, claimed to be twice as effective as on the old model. Full P/A/S/M control modes increase its photographer appeal, while the brightness and saturation optimizing 'Happy Mode' helps boost its point-and-shoot potential. The improved Venus Engine HDII processor offers differential image processing based on image content. AVCHD movie recording, SDXC support, high-res 3" display and 12x optical zoom (25-300 mm equiv.) help fill-out the list of goodies.

Canon offers EOS 7D Firmware Update V.1.2.2

2010-08-18T11:33:00.006+03:00

Good news,
Canon has released a new firmware that fixes those issues:

Fixes a phenomenon in which the set aperture moves when shooting movies in manual exposure mode using some Canon lenses (such as macro lenses).
Fixes the AF point-selection behavior of the C.Fn III-7 (Manual AF pt. selec. pattern) custom function when set to [1].
Fixes the AF point display for the viewfinder electronic level when shooting in the vertical position.
Corrects misspellings in the Spanish and Thai menus for applicable products.

download

50 Incredible Photography Techniques and Tutorials

2010-08-17T14:25:00.001+03:00

I found these incredible techniques in "Smashing Magazine" and thought about sharing.
The techniques that the article talks about are:

High speed photography
Tilt-shift photography
Black & white
Motion blur
Infrared
Night photography
Smoke art
Macro
HDR
Raw Processing
Panoramic photography
Special issues

Limassol, Cyprus 2010, A weekend with the office

2010-05-26T15:39:00.000+03:00

On 12/5 we went to a nice weekend to Limassol, and had a great time at the hotel and parties at night.

HDR - Berlin 2010

2010-05-26T15:21:00.000+03:00

These are HDR pictures that i took in Berlin, Germany

Testing light painting

2010-04-10T18:35:00.000+03:00

After reading few tutorials about light painting i decided to try it out.
I wrote my wife's name (Hiam), and tried to make a spiral. It wasn't hard.
The Camera must be on bulb, better with tripod (I didn't use one, just put the camera on table).

try it yourself its fun.
I'll post some better pictures later on

Light Painting Tutorial

2010-04-03T17:16:00.005+03:00

ainting with light is a fun technique that gives great results. It is called painting with light because this is what you are actually doing while taking the shot - painting with light.

You don't need much to experiment with this kind of shot, just make sure you have the following items:

1. A camera capable of long exposures - film cameras will work OK, but if you really want to get the most out of the shooting session, use a digital camera. You will be able to see the results in "real time" and make corrections as you go.

2. A nice tripod. Since you will be doing some long exposures you want to make sure your camera sits still. If you don't have a tripod you can make one in a few minutes (seethis article or this one).

3. A flash light - and by flash light I do not mean flash as in a speedlight, but the flash light or what our British will call a torch.

4. A dark location. This one is tricky. If you are going to shot at home - a dark room will be OK. If you are going to shoot outside - make sure that you are not doing this under a street light, or where a car can come by and "paint its headlight" all over your shot.

Here is how it's done:

Set your camera on the tripod and take a sample shot with flash / lights on. This will help you verify that your composition is OK.

Set the exposure to a relatively long value. Stop down the aperture as much as you need. If you are outside do nothing. If you are inside - this is the time to turn off the lights.

Make the click. Once the shutter is open use your flashlight to light the stuff that you want to "paint". You can use the flashlight as a brash, and "smear" the light, just like you would have done with brush and paper. Or, you can use the light as a pen, and do precise work. Areas where you go slowly will be more lit then others. Be careful not to linger to much over the same stop - you will burn it. (The machos amongst you will correctly identify this as the "I forgot the iron on the shirt" phenomena).

Once the shutter closes, you are a free person again. Inspect your image and make corrections.

Here are some great ideas to use this technique with:

Product like shot - In a closed (dark) room place your product on a table and paint it's contour. You can use several colors to make a strong effect or to draw different (even imaginary) parts of your object.

Location shot - find a location with some ambient light. Find an object that is less "hit" by that light. now you can use the ambient light to capture the background, while painting the object with light. You will get a nice effect - with some surreal foreground and a "normal" background. Also the white balance will be different on ambient and painted - another cool side affect.

Environmental Graffiti - If you are shooting a wall (or even on thin air...), you can scribe on the wall. Make funny graffiti; Write huge love notes; Make a political statement - there will be no trace left other then the one on your memory card.

HDR test

2010-04-02T17:37:00.001+03:00

After reading few tutorials about the HDR photography style, I decided to try it out.
I will try later to take a better pictures and composition.
these are only testing pictures.
The technique is to take 3 pictures from each frame. one with exposure +2, one with -2 and 0. then merge the 3 frames with photoshop or photomatix pro (or any other HDR software)

EV 0

EV +2

EV -2

HDR

EV 0

EV -2

EV +2

HDR

EV 0

EV +2

EV -2

HDR

Saturday at the beach

2010-03-20T19:58:00.000+02:00

Its always fun to take picture at the beach
1. The car and wife :)
2. Surfer in actions
3. Watching the waves

canon 7d firmware update

2010-03-20T19:19:00.001+02:00

What has been changed in Firmware Version 1.1.0?

The following improvement has been incorporated.

Corrects a phenomenon that in images captured by continuous shooting, and under certain conditions, barely noticeable traces of the immediately preceding frame may be visible.

Are the previous versions of firmware included in version 1.1.0?

Yes, the following improvements from the previous version are included:

(Previous) Version 1.0.9 improvements:

Firmware Version 1.0.9 includes the following fixes:

Improves AF accuracy during Live View shooting.
Corrects a phenomenon where in rare instances, movie images shot by the camera may exhibit abnormal colors.
Corrects a phenomenon that at certain timings, the shutter cannot be released when the camera's built-in flash or an external Speedlite is used for shooting.

How do I check the camera's current firmware version number?

Turn the Power Switch , and press the

button to display the menu. Turn the Main Dial and the Quick Control Dial, and you will see the "Firmware Ver.X.X.X" at the end of the settings shown in "Set-up 3 (Yellow)", which is the currently installed firmware version number.
Note: Select
mode (or any mode other than Fully-Automatic Modes). The version of the firmware will not appear in the Fully-Automatic Modes.

How do I update the firmware?

These are two ways to update the camera's firmware.

Download the firmware file from this web site and install the update as shown in the updating procedure.
Bring the camera to a Canon Customer Support Center and have the firmware updated by the center.

If you choose this method, contact a Canon Customer Support Center in your region.

Do I need any special equipment to update the firmware?

The equipment required is as follows.
(1) Battery Pack LP-E6 (The battery pack must be fully charged.) or AC Adapter Kit ACK-E6 (Optional)
(2) CF card (64MB or more, 32GB or less)

How do I copy the downloaded firmware file to the CF card?

Two methods of copying the downloaded firmware file are provided.

If you have an CF card reader, please copy the firmware file to the CF card via the CF card reader.
Connect the camera to a personal computer with a USB cable and copy the firmware file to the CF card in the camera. Please use the EOS Utility application bundled with the camera to copy the file.

Where to download

Click here to download the new firmware

HDR Photography using Photomatix Pro - by Honez

2010-03-04T12:19:00.000+02:00

Great tutorial for HDR photography

Read at www.geofflawrence.com

Neighborhood cat

2010-03-04T10:35:00.001+02:00

Lovely neighborhood cat that visits us almost everyday ...

She cooked :) My wife cooked !

2010-03-03T13:47:00.002+02:00

Hiam had a day of and she decided to make a thai food for us.
Yummmmy :)

A friend opened a new store

2010-02-20T20:46:00.001+02:00

Ameer and Maha opened a new store in Haifa last week, we went to congratulate them. (Mabrouq)

Ameer & the whiskey (Black Label)

Ameer and his son

Hot Day

2010-02-20T20:22:00.000+02:00

Today was a very hot day here in Haifa..

We went to the beach and it was full of people..

I took few pictures and decided to share, What we see through our sunglasses?

My wife ... she can definitely see me :)

Tony, watching the beach

Just a palm