The Corner Blog

Video Corner #36: Converting Photos to Blank & White

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:23:10 -0500

While all but a select few photographers take their photographs in color, black & white photography is as popular as ever. Today’s “Photoshop Monday” Video Corner walks us through 4 different tools to create black & white photographs from color photos: grey scale, desaturation, the channel mixer and the black and white conversion tool. While this tutorial is done in Adobe Photoshop CS3, only the black and white conversion tool is unavailable in earlier versions - in fact, grey scale, desaturation and the channel mixer are probably black and white converstion methods that can be used in almost any post processing program (like Paint Shop Pro or Gimp).

SmugMug Corner #55: John Chapman

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:55:44 -0500

I can't believe it's time for another SmugMug Corner interview. Every other Friday, we feature a photographer that uses SmugMug.com to share and sell their photographs, and today we meet retired, self-taught photographer John Chapman from Aberdeen, Scotland. Make sure to scroll all the way to the bottom - there are 11 photographs posted with this interview, and all 11 of them are spectacular.

Video Corner #35: Photographing a Badger - Part 1

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:15:11 -0500

Today’s ‘Photography Monday’ Video Corner looks at photographing wild, nocturnal animals - specifically the badger. While the subject of todays video is the badger, a lot of the techniques discussed can be applied to other nocturnal animals as well. Next week we’ll take a look at some of the photographs captured from the shoot in today’s video.

Lake Little Tso-Moriri by Soumen is the November 2009 PotM

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:33:55 -0500

The voting was extremely close this month - in fact, soumen’s photograph “Lake Little Tso-Moriri” beat out masoud’s photograph by only 1 vote! Check out the full voting results here.

From the 14 nominated photographs (check them all out here in the November 2009 Photograph of the Month Photo Gallery), “Lake Little Tso-Moriri” squeaked out a victory with just under 15% of the votes. This marks the first PotM victory for Soumen from West Bengal, India. The contest was sponsored by DayMen Photo Marketing, and for winning, Soumen received a Lifetime, Level I Premiere Membership.

Make sure to drop by the award thread to check out the full-sized winning photograph, and to congratulate Soumen on his win!

Video Corner #34: Creating an Orange Sky in Adobe Lightroom 2

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:20:13 -0500

In just a few easy clicks, today’s ‘Photoshop Monday’ Video Corner walks us through how to create that trendy dark/orange sky in our photographs. Instead of using Adobe Photoshop CS4, today’s video is actually an Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 video tutorial (Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 is a fantastic pieces of software that costs less than half the price of Adobe Photoshop CS4).

Take a Photograph of Packaging for CCC#69

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:23:25 -0500

Pretty much everything we buy has some sort of packaging. Packaging is meant to look good before you take the product out of the packaging, but once it’s out, we usually throw the packaging away (or recycle it). For Contest Corner Challenge #69: Packaging, your challenge is to photograph packaging without the product inside. We want you to capture the packaging just before it hits the trash or recycling bin. Packaging is pretty low on the list of things to photograph, so we’re expecting a lot of creative shots for this one!

The contest is sponsored by DayMen Photo Marketing - since it’s inception in 1981, DayMen Photo Marketing LP has enjoyed an exceptional reputation in the photographic and consumer electronics industry as an innovative manufacturer and distributor of high quality imaging products and accessories. If the winner is a Premiere Member, they will receive a Lowepro Nova 180 AW Camera Bag with a bunch of PhotographyCorner Pens. If the winner is not a Premiere Member, they will receive a Lifetime, Level I Premiere Membership.

Entries are due in by Sunday, November 15th, so get your entries in ASAP. Get all the contest details here in the Corner Forums: http://www.photographycorner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88365.

Video Corner #33: Photographing a Red Deer - Part 2

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:17:18 -0400

This week we take a look at some of the photographs taken during the Video Corner #31: Photographing a Red Deer - Part 1 photo shoot. If you haven’t already, be sure to pop back to watch part 1 from last week.

Forget the Paper - Read the October 2009 Corner Newsletter

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:34:07 -0400

Forget the morning paper. What you’re going to want to read is Volume 6, Issue 10 of the Corner Newsletter. The October 2009 edition is hot off the press and waiting for you in your inbox. This issue is packed full of video corner’s, resources, contests, forum discussions, challenges, info on the new Lensbaby optics, and lots, lots more! If someone stole your newsletter from you inbox, you can always read it online here in the Corner forums: Volume 6, Issue 10 - October 2009.

Tamara's "Perspective Bound" Wins CCC#68: Hit the Deck

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:59:49 -0400

Contest Corner Challenge #68: Hit the Deck challenged photographers to get down and dirty by placing their camera on the ground to take a photograph. It didn’t really matter what they photographed, just as long as the camera was on the ground when they took it. Really the contest was all about changing perspective - it’s amazing how different the world looks from 2 inches off the ground. After a week of voting, tamara’s “Perspective Bound” managed to garner the majority of the votes, giving her a total of three Contest Corner Challenge victories.

For winning CCC#68, tamara picks herself up a LowePro Nova 180 AW Camera Bag (courtesy of the contest sponsor DayMen Photo Marketing) and a bunch of PhotographyCorner pens.

You can check out all the entries (as well as find out which photographer took each photograph) in the CCC#68: Hit the Deck photo gallery (make sure to give the ones you like a “thumbs up” as well!), and don’t forget to congratulate tamara on her win by posting a comment in the award thread.

October 2009 Bling

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:04:25 -0400

Usually a couple of days before each Corner Newsletter goes out, we take a couple of minutes to recognize and award members of the Corner who have hit posting milestones over the past month. With 5 days left in October, we’re cutting it awfully close to get the October newsletter out in October. Nonetheless, we want to celebrate those members of the Corner who are receiving Commitment Awards this month. Commitment Awards are handed out to those who have shown great community dedication & commitment, and have reached a specific post-count milestone (1k, 2k, 5k and 10k). We have three members receiving awards this month: Gems, tealsky and NNYorkie. Thanks for your dedication and commitment to making PhotographyCorner an awesome online destination for photographers!

Video Corner #32: How to Backup Your Photos on Location

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:23:00 -0400

Today’s Video Corner takes an important look at how to backup your photographs while on location (or anywhere, for that matter). Yanik walks us through his backup workflow starting with downloading his photographs to an Epson P-3000 (a 40GB multimedia storage drive, viewer, and audio-video player wtih a 4-inch LCD). He then backs up his photographs to his laptop and uploads “important” shots to an online storage service. Of course, you can always keep shots on your memory cards until you need to use them again as well.

Vote for the November 2009 Photograph of the Month

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:31:03 -0400

We’re already into the last week of October, and around the Corner that means it’s time to vote for next months’ Photograph of the Month. The nominations have been made by the Premiere Members (over 60 photographs nominated this month!), and the nominations have been whittled down to 14. You can check out which photographs made the cut by browsing through the nominees in the November 2009 Photograph of the Month Photo Gallery. Then, before voting ends at approximately 4:00pm EST on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 (9:00pm GMT), cast your vote in the voting thread in the Corner forums (make sure you’re logged into your PhotographyCorner account so you can actually vote!).

The November 2009 Photograph of the Month is sponsored by our friends at DayMen Photo Marketing, and if the winner is a Premiere Member, they will receive a Lowepro Topload Zoom 2 Camera Bag and 10 PhotographyCorner Pens. If the winner is not a Premiere Member, they will receive a Lifetime, Level 1 Premiere Membership.

Congratulations to the 14 photographers who have photographs up for the PotM this month. Make sure you check all 14 of the photographs out and cast your vote before the end of the month!

SmugMug Corner #54: Brian Valentine

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:33:08 -0400

Every other Friday we have the opportunity to interview a photographer from SmugMug.com and browse through some of their favorite photographs. Today we're in for an extra-special treat. Not only do we get an interview, but we also get to browse through double the amount of photographs by UK hobbiest photographer Brian Valentine. The macro and refraction photographs below are nothing less than stunning. Enjoy!

Video Corner #31: Photographing a Red Deer - Part 1

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:28:19 -0400

The ‘Photography Thursday’ video for today’s Video Corner is part 1 of a 2-part look at photographing red deer in the highlands of Scotland. The tips, tricks and techniques can, of course, be applied to other similar animals in other locations. Next Thursday, part 2 of the video looks at some of the photographs taken during the shoot we’ll see in the video below.

Call For Articles, Tutorials and Product Reviews

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:55:03 -0400

In case you missed it, we uploaded a fantastic review of the new Cotton Carrier camera system (written by Scott111184) to the Corner Resource Center last night. In fact, one of the most popular sections of the Corner is the Corner Resource Center, and over the past couple of months, I’ve been working my way through the queue of resources. As of today, we’re officially caught up.

So that means we need more resources!! Almost all of the articles, tutorials and product reviews in the Corner Resource Center are written by members of the Corner. Do you have something you’d like to submit? A neat Photoshop tutorial, or maybe a photography tip or trick? What about a review of that new lens you got? Write something up and submit it to the Corner! In return you’ll pick up a Contributor Award, and the praise and adoration of all the members of the Corner. Check out this thread in the Corner forums for info on how to write and submit a resource for the Corner Resource Center. Get your tips and tricks published on the Corner and help out fellow photographers at the same time!