Rupa Media

Wayne Radford’s Portrait Tips And Techniques

2012-10-15T10:18:00Z

Wayne Radford’s – Portrait Tips and Techniques (126 pages, iPod/iPhone/iPad compatible, $24.95) eBook on natural light portraiture is a good resource for black & white and colour portrait photographers and enthusiasts alike.

In this eBook you will learn how to simplify and fine tune the essentials for quality portraiture. Discover how to use facial recognition and what lighting techniques should be used to enhance your subject. Also chapters on window lighting, subtractive lighting, how to find suitable locations, plus techniques for exposure and composition.

Bangkok – Urban Identities iPhone and iPad App

2012-07-05T08:38:38Z

Bangkok is loud. And quiet. Bangkok is dirty. And clean. Bangkok can be experienced for 30 Euros a day. And for 3.000 Euro. In cheap guesthouse. And in the posh ‘Oriental’. Bangkok is a Moloch. And still, each alley is a village unto itself. Bangkok is perhaps not exactly beautiful, but a pleasure and an experience for the senses.

“He doesn’t try to aestheticise, … but he also doesn’t focus on the strikingly inadequate. Neither does he try to create any kind of phony effects, as it were. And that’s what makes his work so unique.” – Roman Rahmacher, GEO Epoche

Peter Nitsch’s photographs in Bangkok Urban Identities document urban life on the streets of Bangkok with an individual and virtually intimate look at the city: The central theme is mankind within the urban environment of the metropolis. The pictures show scenes, gestures, characters: an old hairdresser, a frame-maker, a traditional soup kitchen and a lady selling Buddha garlands at night-time. They all go to represent an attempt to preserve a little Thai identity within a continuously globalising city.

This app is a total makeover of the printed book – which is sold out –with additional unpublished photographs and is designed for both iPhone and iPad. Download it here.

100 For 10 Patterns

2012-07-02T13:35:45Z

100 varieties of patterns by designer Ploi Malakul will give you a good starting point and great fun with designs. The choice is yours with these Black & White Illustrations from Geometric, Ethnic & Folk Art, Micro & Macro, Flora & Fauna and to Freestyle patterns.

This wide range of patterns can easily be adapted for all your design needs in Black & White or any colour you like. Use them to develop your icon, your webpage, your company’s booth and displays, you app or anything else that needs some graphic inspiration. These Pattern Sets are perfect for design enthusiasts who want to have fun and unlimited applications.

100 FOR 10 PRO PATTERNS ($10) contains 100 Basic Patterns (31MB) as illustrator eps format ready to use. You can buy this set directly here.

Marco Polo Reloaded – An Epic Journey Full Of Extraordinary Adventures

2012-06-24T06:18:04Z

Accompany Lonely Planet travel writer Bradley Mayhew on an epic journey full of extraordinary adventures.

‘Marco Polo Reloaded’ is a four-part documentary travelogue along the length of the Silk Road; a fascinating journey in the footsteps of the great voyager Marco Polo. In the spirit of history’s great adventurer, the British travel writer Bradley Mayhew retraces and explores the historic route across eight countries, from Venice to Beijing. Each app contains a 52 minutes long episode of the documentary film ‘Marco Polo Reloaded’, along with short clips and many impressive photos and travel quotations. Discover what happens on the 8000 kilometer overland trip and share in the incredible and extraordinary adventure. And maybe pack your own bag in the near future.

“Travelling can be a very addictive thing. Sometimes it’s the intoxicating intensity of sights, sounds and tastes of a new culture that provides the daily drive for new experiences. For some it’s the meeting of new people, both locals with different views on life and also like-minded fellow travelers who share your passions or interests. At other times travel is just a superb escape, a worryless break from the pressures of bills, work and routine.

Now that travel has become my job rather than my escape, I like to have a reason for travel, a theme perhaps or a goal: to learn more about Islam, to scope out a new trekking route or visit a country about which not much is known. I’ve always thought that the difference between travel and tourism is the element of active exploration rather than passive viewing, of seeing the country at eye-level and close-up rather than above or from a distance. I’ll always take the discomfort of a local bus rather than the ease of an air-conditioned tourist bus.“ – Bradley Mayhew

Marco Polo Reloaded – PREVIEW
http://itunes.apple.com/app/id530135227

Part 1: Marco Polo Reloaded – From Venice to Eastern Turkey
http://itunes.apple.com/app/id530131199

Part 2: Marco Polo Reloaded – Through Iran
http://itunes.apple.com/app/id530132058

Part 3: Marco Polo Reloaded – From Afghanistan to China
http://itunes.apple.com/app/id530132590

Part 4: Marco Polo Reloaded – Through China
http://itunes.apple.com/app/id530133192

Capture Your Life Through Instaglasses

2012-06-23T13:18:05Z

Instaglasses is a interesting glasses concept by German designer Markus Gerke. Many people use Instagram. They all love the effects, and every one of them loves to take pictures and to share them with their friends. Wouldn’t it be great to capture your everyday life, your entire life, through beautiful filters? The design concept gives you a short overview on the appearance of (Insta)glasses.

You activate the glasses by pushing “Insta” on the temple stern and option to choose between different filters. Are you enjoying a moment? Just take a picture with your glasses and upload the image straight to Instagram.

Life is beautiful, even more beautiful with filters. (via)

What Once Was A Home

2012-06-06T09:33:04Z

Peter Granser set off in search of traces of the town of Gruorn on the Swabian Alb, which was forcibly evacuated between 1937 and 1939. His limited edition Was einem Heimat war – What once was a home (800 copies, german and english, ISBN 978-3-9814530-2-7, roughly $35) documents the eventful history of a landscape that was used for over 100 years as a training ground for the armed forces and is thus closely associated with German military history. In 2005, the terrain, still strongly contaminated with projectiles and unexploded ordnance, was declared a biosphere reserve.

The illustrated book What once was a home is composed of several parts. Black and white photographs of the landscape, showing the scars and relics from the period of military use are confronted with a typology of anti-tank ammunition, bullets and grenades. The book includes a five-part panorama as Leporello.

Function Follows Form

2012-05-21T09:59:44Z

“I know I am not the only Australian to say when it rains heavily that it’s “pissing down rain” as if the universe is taking a leak. Mounds of snow with their rudimentary formations, also have that thoughtless urgency of creation that mirrors urination. Snow is often so devestatingly, stupidly photogenic that a tiny pile of it can look like an Antarctic iceberg. Pristine snow. In Peter Nitsch’s Function Follows Form snow is sprayed in bright yellow by dogs, yet it remains frigidly beautiful even in the face of this marking. Rather than an attack on the picturesque, these canines are paying homage to the skies, replicating the gorgeous abstraction of expulsion.

The design principal that Form Follows Function, here gets a reversal. Function does follow form and very rarely goes against our expectations of it; the functions of snowing, the functions of peeing, they’ve been worked out some time before us. Might as well go with it; Nitsch ramps up the colour of the warm frothy landmarks till they almost fluoresce. The frivolous photos become the colour of smashed eggs, a crystallised map of urgency, a rendering of techniques of urination as cold paws make haste, an expansion of the photographic documentation of the unmonumental in the tradition of Brassai’s Sculptures Involontaires, 1933. Lastly they are simply piss on snow.” – Amy Marjoram, Excerpt Magazine.

100 For 10 Basic Backgrounds

2012-05-12T16:44:13Z

With this basic set you’ll get 100 pro backgrounds for just 10 dollars, yeah. This means $1 for each high resolution image!

No matter if you’re a design-minded guru, icon designer, developer, web designer, magazine designer, architect or a “who the hell knows I just need some backgrounds for my iPad” buff, this background set will add some extra pro flavor to your work-life.

100 FOR 10 PRO BACKGROUNDS contains 100 basic backgrounds (784 MB!) ready for print or mobile design in two resolutions: 300 dpi at 5616 x 3744 pixel, perfect for projects that need quality, quality and quality. And low-res images in 72 dpi at 1024 x 683 pixel, perfect for browsing through the images or sending a preview to your art director or client. Included format: jpg. Buy this set directly here.

Instagram Socialmatic Concept Camera

2012-05-07T10:04:05Z

Since Facebook has bought Instagram for nearly a billion dollars in cash and stock, many users, bloggers, economy experts have thought Instagram could build its first real photo camera. Imagine to pick the Instagram App icon and now imagine it as real camera. This is the main idea of ADR Studio at the base of Instagram Socialmatic Concept. A social camera with 16 GB mass storage, Wi-Fi, bluetooth, optical zoom, webcam apps, QR Code capturing, LED flash, internal printer, 4:3 touchscreen and 2 main lenses with possibility to put on some 3D filters.

What’s In My Bag (On-The-Go)

2012-04-28T20:35:19Z

Peter Nitsch‘s background is located back in the early eighties of the German Skater scene. Nitsch has won several international awards both as designer (New York Festival, BDA …) and photographer (Los Angeles International Photography Award, Hasselblad Masters semifinalist …). Furthermore he is co-founder of ‘get addicted to … DAILY MIX OF CREATIVE CULTURE’. Often being asked what he’s carrying in his daily bag, he decided to give you the answer with this photo What’s In My Bag (On-The-Go).

“Over the years, I didn’t have something with me. But nowadays this photograph above show my essential items that I absolutely will not leave home without. All of these items in my daily bag are easy to carry,” says Peter Nitsch. (via)

Hand Sewn Linen Notebook

2012-04-26T07:26:48Z

This hand sewn linen notebooks ($15) by CLAYTanner Goods contain 48 graph paper pages, and are chock full of handy tidbits of information, ranging from conversion tables to animal tracks to common knots and ties. We think you’ll find them useful, or at the very least, amusing. They measure 5.5” x 3.5”.

Moneypenny The Dog – A Homage To A Dog, Photography And Life Itself

2012-04-12T20:34:10Z

Heart and muzzle
Are dogs ‘only human’ too? That is, at least, what is likely to go through your mind when you see ‘Moneypenny’ in these pictures – full of humour and bouncing with vitality.

“You have to live with a person to really know the person.” – Confucius “… with a dog too.” – Moneypenny

“The photo book images are reflective impressions of a dog’s life that will unleash the playful young pup within and put a smile upon anyone’s face.” – COSMOPOLITAN on the book Moneypenny the dog

‘Moneypenny’ is a dog of fascinating vitality and affability – quite simply a typical Parson Jack Russell Terrier. The documentary style of these black and white pictures shine a spotlight on this lovable character and all the different places she lives in and visits. The pictures build up page for page into a passionate declaration of love for a dog, photography, and life itself.

Bring back the dirt into dog photography and get ‘Moneypenny The Dog‘ on iPad: http://bit.ly/moneypennythedog

This PIXSBOOKS app is designed for both iPhone and iPad.

It Smells Like Rock’n Roll!

2012-04-12T19:04:40Z

It Smells Like Rock’n Roll! Bring back the dirt into dog photography and get ‘Moneypenny The Dog‘ on iPad: http://bit.ly/moneypennythedog

Celebrating ‘Rub Some Dirt On’ Day

2012-04-12T19:02:43Z

Celebrating ‘Rub Some Dirt On’ Day. Bring back the dirt into dog photography and get ‘Moneypenny The Dog‘ on iPad: http://bit.ly/moneypennythedog

Thank God It’s Friday!

2012-04-12T18:56:26Z

Thank God it’s Friday! Bring back the dirt into dog photography and get ‘Moneypenny The Dog’ on iPad: http://bit.ly/moneypennythedog

Interview Fjona Hill

2012-04-12T18:52:41Z

Click here to view the embedded video.

Yan Morvan has been talking to Fjona Hill. Hill was born in England. After studying medicine, she turned to photography. She covers specifically with issues of addiction.

Unless You Will Issue 21 Out Now

2012-04-12T18:52:42Z

UYW Issue 21 cover story by Simon Harsent.

Unless You Will, is an online photography journal by Heidi Romano that showcases independent contemporary photographers from around the world. Romano writes, “Photography is my passion. It is not only a little interest – I have many of those, but this is the one I can never leave behind. It lurks in the shadows, it follows me on a road trip and it never lets me go. It is a love affair that grabs me and pushes me to explore. To take a risk and away with reason. To get involved and never mind.”

Go Discover! Download the full issue (12MB) here.

Wide-Grip Stylus For Touchscreens

2012-04-12T18:52:42Z

The Cosmonaut ($25) by Studio Neat was born out of a desire to have a really great stylus for iPads. The designers Tom Gerhardt and Dan Provost and say, “We love to sketch out quick ideas or doodle on our tablets, and using a stylus is much better than a finger for such tasks. The problem is, all the styluses on the market are designed to look and feel like a pen. But why? Writing or drawing on the iPad feels nothing like using a pen or pencil. The perfect tablet stylus is one that feels like a dry erase marker: fast, simple, low fidelity.”

The Cosmonaut will work on nearly every capacitive touch screen device, including the iPad and iPhone.

The Pleasure Of Good Photographs

2012-04-12T18:52:42Z

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gerry Badger talks about fine art photography and the pleasure of good photographs.

Interview: Joel Evey – Art Director Urban Outfitters

2012-04-12T18:52:42Z

Joel Evey is a Designer based in Philadelphia and being Urban Outfitters print art director for a while now. He’s the man responsible for some fancy and high quality print products for them. Evey combines well thought out considered design and typography with images to create exciting pieces of work. Read the interview over at get addicted to …

Fix An SLR With Peanut Butter By Casey Neistat

2012-04-12T18:52:42Z

Click here to view the embedded video.

Did you ever wanted to know how you can fix your SLR with Peanut Butter? Above you’ll see a smart, green, ingenious and tasty way by YouTube filmmaker Casey Neistat. Neistat has a show on HBO and won a Spirit Award for a feature film, but YouTube filmmaker is still the most flattering title. He’s also the creator of the HBO series ‘The Neistat Brothers’.

Interview: Véronique Sutra – Eyes In Progress

2012-04-12T18:52:43Z

Véronique Sutra, ex Manager of Multimedia at Magnum Photos, just created Eyes In Progress, which is a program of workshops and masterclasses provided by Masters of photography such as Patrick Zachmann (documentary), Jane Evelyn Atwood (storytelling), Joan Fontcuberta (contemporary) and other great names. Sutra says, “With Eyes in Progress, I wanted to create a program that responded to traditional needs of quality apprenticeship for professional photographers on one hand, but I also wanted to integrate this experience into the contemporary landscape of new modes of social communication on the web; including exchanges with recognized experts in the art and journalism world.”

Sutra explains further her former career at Magnum: “When I worked at Magnum Photos I could see that as soon as one of the agency’s photographer was leading a workshop, people would come from all over the place to attend. Learning from a master is a special and precious experience, indeed you do not learn specific techniques or ‘how to dos’, you learn on inspiration, on how to look at your pictures and pick the one that is ‘right’ for you, you learn what is your own style in photography and that’s what most of the participants are so delighted about. They feel inspired! I love being around the group, making sure all is ok, helping people to edit the pictures they will then show to the master, I get to see great photography, the progress the participants are making, it is just a marvelous experience for me and for my eyes!”

Read the Véronique Sutra Interview here.

The Entire Night Sky Stitched Together From 37440 Exposures

2012-04-12T18:52:43Z

The inspiring Photopic Sky Survey is a 5,000 megapixel photograph by Nick Risinger of the entire night sky stitched together from 37440 exposures. Large in size and scope, it portrays a world far beyond the one beneath our feet and reveals our familiar Milky Way with unfamiliar clarity. When we look upon this image, we are in fact peering back in time, as much of the light—having traveled such vast distances—predates civilization itself. The image above is showing Nick Risigner while preparing the cameras for a night of shooting in Colorado. This particular night dropped to -6°F (-21°C). Zoom into the interactive Photopic Sky Survey here.

Risinger explains the survey: “On a journey that covered 45,000 miles by air and 15,000 by land—the equivalent of nearly 2½ passes around the equator—I toured much of the American west and twice visited the Northern Cape of South Africa. Through it I was able to enjoy not only the wonders of the natural world but also the company of my retired father whom I was able to convince had nothing better to do … As anyone who has tried to capture night scenes with their camera would know, stars present a formidable challenge. They don’t stay still and their light is very weak, requiring long exposures and a tripod mount that rotates in sync with Earth’s spin. I also wanted to capture the most amount of detail, one that pushed the limits of practicality without testing my sanity, so I decided each piece of the puzzle would be just 12 degrees wide. This was about the width of a palm at arm’s length captured by not just one, but six air-cooled cameras each fitted with their own lenses and filters.”

Gregory Crewdson’s Portraits Of Small-Town American Life

2012-04-12T18:52:43Z

Click here to view the embedded video.

Acclaimed photographer Gregory Crewdson’s 10-year quest to create a series of haunting, surreal, and stunningly elaborate portraits of small-town American life. Crewdson doesn’t just “take” his images, he creates them, through elaborate days and weeks of invention, design, and set-up. The epic production of these movie-like images is both intensely personal and highly public: they begin in Crewdson’s deepest desires and memories, but come to life on streets and soundstages in the hills towns of Western Massachusetts. In his decade-long project “Beneath the Roses” he uses light, color and character to conjure arresting images, managing a crew of 60 amidst seemingly countless logistical and creative obstacles.

Filmed over a decade, beginning in 2000, Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters provides an unparalleled view of the moment of creation of his images. It also reveals the life-story behind the work—through frank reflections on his life and career, including the formative influences of his psychologist father and his childhood fascination with the work of Diane Arbus. Childhood fears and ideals, adult anxieties and desires, the influences of pop-culture all combine to form who we are, and for Crewdson, motivate his work.

Bobby Marko Talks About LED Lighting

2012-04-12T18:52:43Z

In this three part movie Bobby Marko is talkin about the pros and cons about LED lighting. Marko has been using LED lights for certain types of production and get questions from time to time. So he thought this would make a great topic for a video tutorial.

Orphion – Musical Instrument for iPad

2012-04-12T18:52:43Z

Click here to view the embedded video.

Orphion ($4.99) by Sebastian Trump is a musical instrument with a unique sound between string instrument and percussion. Everyone can play expressive, wonderful sounds and easy or virtuosic melodies on it just by moving fingers on virtual pads.

Beautiful Sleeve Collection by Carga

2012-04-12T18:52:44Z

With the launch of the Sleeve Collection ($105-205), Carga continues its tradition of bringing architecturally inspired design to personal goods through its minimalistic aesthetic
and understated luxury.

“All of my Carga designs start from a place of personal need,” says Mauro Bianucci. “I couldn’t find something that would protect my Mac against scratches when carrying it in my bag. Something that wasn’t too bulky or gadget-like. I wanted something that was simple and functional, but looked good.”

The solution came when Mauro designed a unique closing mechanism without zippers, magnets or clasps, allowing for a smooth aesthetic while keeping the contents secure. This design feature coupled with the single-piece folding delivers a truly unique range leather goods.

The Sleeve collection is designed for the iPod/iPhone, iPad and 13”, 15” and 17” MacBooks.

Addicted To Snow 2.1 Incl. Nitro Video (34 Min.)

2012-04-12T18:52:44Z

Snowboard photography around the globe! And: Action – The high production quality of “Addicted to Snow” matches the spectacular action shots of devotees of the sport who are at home on the international snowboarding scene. The snowboard photography book offers an in-depth insight into the world of “snow crazy” professional sportspeople and fills a huge gap in the published material on this topic.

Included in this app update is the 34 minutes Nitro Movie “What Goes Up Must Come Down.”

With 15 years of snowboarding experience behind him Helge Zirkl, the compiler of this book, has been snowboard editor with “Playboard Magazine” for the last eight years making him – one of the reasons he is an unbeatable authority on the snowboarding scene. design and photography.

This PIXSBOOKS app is designed for both iPhone and iPad.

Thirteen: Twenty Lacuna by Katrin Koenning

2012-04-12T18:52:44Z

German-born photographer Katrin Koenning currently lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. Much of her work investigates the ordinary and everyday like her series Thirteen: Twenty Lacuna.

She explains on her site: “Once, while venturing through the city in search for faces and light, I came across this place in the Melbourne CBD. Light reaches it directly for only 20 minutes a day, around lunchtime, when people rush away from work to get sandwiches and coffees. During these few minutes, a transformation happens – faces are illuminated, dust twirls through rays of sun, cigarette smoke becomes an almost glistening silver- blue against dark buildings. You can hear snippets of conversation and laughter between friends, and sometimes the muffled tum-tum of an iPod as if to draw attention to the lack of interaction between strangers. It’s a ‘mis-en-scene’, a theatre stage on which people become my protagonists for an instant.”

Thirteen:Twenty Lacuna captures tiny moments of us – strangers – passing each other by unnoticed. We stare ahead, buried in thought. There is a fragile beauty in our distant gazes – as if inside, we were hanging on to something out of reach to anyone else, sacred only to us.

DaDa Box

2012-04-12T18:52:44Z

DaDa Box by Jifei Ou is an interactive storytelling object for entertaining. It adopts the idea of “Collage” from Dadaism, a cultural movement in 1910s, allows a person to generate stories by a simple tangible action: shaking. When the box is shaken, a story contained inside switches its order randomly by sentence, and starts playing to the listener. The application is a poem generator. The poem <A.M.> by Kurt Schwitters is stored in the box. With each shaking action, different orders of this poem are generated and played.