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Wednesday 31 December 2008

Muse - Filmed on a Canon 5D MkII


Muse - Short from Edmond Terakopian on Vimeo.
Here's a short clip from my first ever film which was shot using a Canon 5D MkII and a Canon EF 35mm f1.4L lens. The video and sound are straight from the camera and have not been edited. I'll be posting the full film in around a week with edited sound.
Here's a direct link to the clip so you can watch it in 720p HD.

Addendum: The film is now available to view in its entirety:


For the 720 HD version, visit Vimeo.


For the Full 1080 HD version (and other sizes),visit SmugMug.


Tuesday 23 December 2008

Survival Technique

Well, I don't mean how to trap an animal, make fire, cook it, create shelter and purify water all with a pocket knife; what I'm referring to is surviving if your laptop goes down whilst away on assignment.
I've never actually had to use this technique, but for years have had this as an insurance policy. Imagine this, you're on a dream assignment abroad. You've got great pictures and your picture editor is desperate for the images. You boot up your laptop and.....nothing; its dead.
I have two USB memory flash drives; one for a PC and one for a Mac. They have a full host of all the software I need to be able to work. Image editing software (Aperture, Photo Mechanic, PhotoShop, FTP programs, settings for FTP and email servers, image rescue and so on).
With most software now purchased over the internet, its very easy just to keep the installer files and their associated serial numbers together in folders. You can also download trail software and not install it, but keep the installer files on your flash key.
If it all goes wrong, I can either pop into an internet cafe and ask them nicely if I can load up my software, find someone friendly with a laptop and do the same, or pop into a store and buy one! On a Mac you could even go one step further and have your whole operating system on a USB flash drive with all your software and settings and if your hard drive goes down, you just boot off the flash drive. I haven't actually tried this yet, and I know it'll be slow, but it will save the day.
If you're wondering which ones to get, Test Freaks have done a round up of 21 flash drives and put them to the test. 

Friday 19 December 2008

Gleb Garanich's Crying Man Sequence






Following on from the previous post, I'm so touched by this set of images, that with kind permission from Reuters I'd like to share the entire sequence.
I first saw the pictures in French "Photo" magazine when attending Visa Pour L'Image in Perpignan earlier this year. Those that are familiar with "Visa" will know that its an incredible collection of exhibitions and projections of the best images from around the world. However, no other set of images touched me as much as Gleb's photographs of the mourning man holding his dead relative after their homes were bombed by Russian war planes in South Ossetia. I was standing in a little shop and looking through the magazine, and nothing during the whole week moved me as much. Incredible.

This is the caption that ran with the image:

A Georgian man cries near the body of his relative after a bombardment  in Gori, 80 km (50 miles) from Tbilisi, August 9, 2008. A Russian warplane dropped a bomb on an apartment block in the Georgian town of Gori on Saturday, killing at least 5 people, a Reuters reporter said. The bomb hit the five-story building in Gori close to  Georgia's embattled breakaway province of South Ossetia when Russian warplanes carried out a raid against military targets around the town.  REUTERS/Gleb Garanich  (GEORGIA)

Best Images of 2008

A Georgian man cries near the body of his relative after a bombardment  in Gori, 80 km (50 miles) from Tbilisi, August 9, 2008. A Russian warplane dropped a bomb on an apartment block in the Georgian town of Gori on Saturday, killing at least 5 people, a Reuters reporter said. The bomb hit the five-story building in Gori close to  Georgia's embattled breakaway province of South Ossetia when Russian warplanes carried out a raid against military targets around the town.  REUTERS/Gleb Garanich  - © Reuters-Used with permission.
As the year comes to a close, here are a few links to the best images of the year. To say they are well worth a look, would be an understatement. There is some stunning work.
My personal favourite news image of 2008, because of its strength, emotion and respect is by Reuters photographer Gleb Garanich (above) from the war in South Ossetia. If any image is deserving of a Pulitzer and a World Press Photo award this year, its Gleb's. Its part of a series, but this particular photograph captures the whole war in one frame. A stronger case for a stills picture having more power to convey emotion and the story than any other medium, I have not seen this year, or come to think of it, for a very long time.

Thursday 18 December 2008

New iPod Apple?!


Some chap has taken pictures of the new Apple iPod product ;-) Scroll down to see the pictures.

Wednesday 17 December 2008

Happy Holidays To All :-)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards
I just wanted to wish everyone a lovely Christmas and
a peaceful holiday season. May the new year bring
you all joy. Best Wishes, Edmond.

Viveza Special Christmas Offer

Regular readers will know how much praise I have for the Aperture and PhotoShop plug-in by Nik Software, Viveza. Its absolute genius. Nik have a special Christmas offer with €100 off the regular price. Now I know the weakness of the pound to Euro is at and all time low, but its still a good offer.

Tuesday 16 December 2008

Aperture 2.1 Article in Hotshoe Magazine

A couple of months ago I did an article for Hotshoe magazine on Apple's Aperture:

Photographers are a creature of habit. We find a system that works and stick with it until absolutely necessary. This way we can concentrate on the assignment and the equipment is just an extension to the photography. The downside is that often we don’t embrace the newest of technologies. Therefor the decision to switch to anything new doesn’t come easily.


Working for the wire services and newspapers, for me speed and quality are of the utmost importance. In this day and age of evening papers, national and international clients, there are always deadlines to meet. Speed means publications.


I used to shoot RAW for around 15% of my assignments, when the deadline was days away, not minutes away. Then, a couple of years ago, I came across Apple’s Aperture which was at version 1.5. Shooting RAW has its obvious advantages but its always been just a little too slow to process. My old work flow for RAW used to include five different software packages. Now with Aperture I've cut this down to three.


Initially I had a bit of a steep learning curve to conquer. Aperture did things differently to the way I worked. However, after a few days of using it, I was smitten. I sold my PC laptop, embraced my new MacBook Pro and added Aperture to my arsenal.


My workflow with Aperture begins when I plug a card in; images are downloaded to a folder which I create for every assignment. I choose to use the referenced file method and not the Aperture library. You can choose which ever method suits you best. After this, I can quickly do a batch caption to all the images and rush through the images tagging the ones I need for my edit. Once I have my final choices, I use the adjustment tools available to polish up the image. Initially I used to shoot most of my images in jpeg format for speed, and use Aperture to process these. When I realized just how fast Aperture deals with RAWs, I’ve switched over to shooting RAW 100% of the time. The real beauty of the software is how elegant it is in operation. It can make the most subtle of corrections, leaving the image looking natural.  The other great feature is the way you can export your image into a wide range of formats and sizes; these can be pre-set by the user. I have a list of export preferences I use for my various clients. The only downside to the program is that you will need a recent Mac with at least 2 Gb of RAM to make it work efficiently.


I've been a big fan of Aperture since version 1.5 and have since completely switched my computer platform over to Apple Mac. A lot has changed since then with version 2 and now 2.1 being released. The program runs a lot faster and has made big advances in editing speed. Even on my tightest deadline I use Aperture without hesitation. Its elegance, speed, robustness, full control over RAW and jpeg editing, plug-in architecture and digital asset management are unique.

Aperture’s plug-in structure allows the program to use third party plug-ins. Apple provide their own sample plug-in for dodging and burning. This architecture has opened the doors for some excellent plug-ins and I find needing Photoshop less and less. With version 1.5, I used to use Photoshop around 10% of the time. Now that’s probably down to 3%.


I've been using Nik Software's Viveza plug-in for around a month and its now part of my workflow.

Its absolute genius; in Aperture you click edit with Viveza which creates a copy of your original (keeping the original RAW or jpeg untouched) and opens the image in its own window, after applying any adjustments you have made in Aperture. You then click on control points and select the area of the image you need to change.

The control point then gives you a set of sliders which choose circle size (which is feathered), brightness, contrast and saturation. By clicking on the colour you want to change, it only makes these changes to that particular hue and the surrounding area of the same value, within the circle diameter you choose. Very easy, fast and accurate. Its much faster and more elegant than exporting into Photoshop. Darkening a sky for example, no matter how complex the skyline, is done in a matter of seconds. After saving, it adds the new modified image back into your Aperture library.

The other plug-in which has become part of my workflow is Picture Code’s Noise Ninja. Being a long time user of the software I'm delighted that its available for Aperture. 


Looking into the plug-ins scene, there are more than 70 available. Apple lists these on their web site http://www.apple.com/aperture/resources/plugins.html

You can get free trials of Aperture and all the plug-ins mentioned and I definitely recommend giving these a go.

Monday 15 December 2008

The Space, Brighton - Great Place!





Some of you may remember that earlier this month I was invited to give a talk about my work at The Space.
I must say that it was an absolute joy and the crowd were fantastic with some great questions. The evening began with a couple of audio slide shows and carried on with some questions by presenter Lisa Holloway.
Photographer Neil Hawkins kindly sent through these pictures; many thanks Neil.
Lastly, a big thanks to Wayne Imms who is the creative director of The Space. I definitely recommend you pop by at their future events.

Saturday 13 December 2008

5D MkII Goes Up Against "Proper" Video Cameras


Zacuto's Great Camera Shootout '08 from Steve Weiss, Zacuto USA on Vimeo.

Zacuto have brought together four film makers and asked them to choose between a range of cameras starting at the top end with film, the Red One, all the way to the Nikon D90. In the mix was also the Canon 5D MkII.
At the end out the "shoot out", two of the four film makers picked the Canon 5D MkII as their camera of choice for documentary work.

You can watch a bigger version here. There is also a 720p HD version to download from the site. You need to first register for free and then download the M4V version which is to the right of the Vimeo page. 

Wednesday 10 December 2008

WARNING - Dangerously Incompatible Cables

Ok, now that I have your attention, there's an article on EDN that warns of using USB cables to attach your cameras to your computers. This kind of falls out of the pro market as most of us use card readers, so please make sure your friends and relatives know of this issue.
Although most cables that come with digital cameras look the same physically and have a USB plug on one end and a mini USB which plugs in to the camera, they are sometimes wired differently and can cause damage to the camera. Only use the cable that came with your camera.

Tuesday 9 December 2008

Canon 5D MkII By Night

I've had my hands on a 5D MkII for over a week now as I'm reviewing it for the BJP's Christmas edition. Its going to be a sad day when I have to return the camera back to Canon.
The low light capabilities of this camera are absolutely astonishing. It almost makes you feel like you're cheating as it opens up possibilities where normally you would either:
a) have to get a tripod
b) use flash and kill the mood
c) leave and go home
The shot of the London Eye (above) is a nice shot by night. Not a difficult or demanding shot. However, you have to realise that it was taken hand held at 4000ASA! The picture's been taken using a Canon 45mm f2.8 TS-E (tilt and shift) which is quickly becoming a favourite lens for creative shooting.
The second picture of France's President Sarkozy (above) visiting Downing Street was taken yesterday after 4pm - basically it was almost pitch black. As my colleagues were forced to get their flashguns out and swap lenses to a 70-200 and hope the high gloss black door of number 10 wouldn't reflect too badly, I just stood there with a big smile, the 5D MkII and my 300mm f2.8L lens. I may have forgotten to mention that it was shot at 6400ASA! As I showed my colleagues the picture, an argument ensued - they were certain that I had used flash....until they realised there was no flash on the camera; oh what good fun!

Monday 8 December 2008

New Bags From Think Tank Photos

Think Tank Photo have launched several new bags. The Shape Shifter (above) is definitely of more interest to photojournalists. It has a genius way of swallowing up a whole professional level of camera gear and a laptop with accessories. What sets it apart from all other bags though is its ability to compress the camera section away, just leaving a 3" deep laptop bag. This is great for travelling to assignment, taking out your gear and then turning the bag into a slim laptop carrie
r which is light and so slim that you won't be bumping into people or objects. I have written a full review for the BJP which will be out very soon.
The other bag is part of a series called Street Walker (above). Its a very neat design which can carry a laptop and full pro level camera gear.

You can purchase these bags on-line from SnapperStuff.

I'm a big fan of the products from Think Tank Photo and every bag I use is made by the company. I have yet to find better designed or better made rollers, back packs, pouches or shoulder bags. One of the things that sets the company apart from others is that it listens to photographers and has a design board made up of photographers from around the world with different disciplines. If you haven't yet seen the range, I definitely recommend you look through their web site and pop into your local shop to try them out; you won't be disappointed.

Lastly, founder of Think Tank Photo, Doug Murdoch, has published a new free white paper called “Active Shooting vs. Transportation/Storage” which is available to download.

Friday 5 December 2008

Six Months in Afghanistan by John D McHugh

John D McHugh's six months project is now complete and The Guardian have posted 19 images from his project. They give an interesting insight as well as cover the drama of a fire fight. Well worth a look.

Tuesday 2 December 2008

400Gb Blue Ray Disc

Pioneer has showcased its 16-layer 400Gb Optical Disc at the Taipei IT fair.
Its due for launch in 2008-2010 in a read only version, but there are plans for re-writeable discs in 2010-2012 and a 1Tb version is destined to follow in 2013.

Whilst optical discs like CDs and DVDs have proven not to be the best solution for archiving digital media, here's a chance for Pioneer to concentrate on not only making these large discs (which are so much better than using hundreds of CDs or DVDs) but also put emphasis on trying to make them archival in nature. Lets keep our fingers crossed!

Does The Apple Mac Need Antivirus Protection?

The short answer is possibly. For many years the Mac has survived the constant barrage of PC viruses and worms. However, as the platform grows in popularity, spreading outside of creative circles into most people's lives and work, it becomes a target for virus writers.
OS X is still a much more secure and solid operation system than its competitors, which needs user verification before it installs anything. Common sense will prevail; don't open or install anything that you weren't waiting for or that looks either too good to be true, or dodgy!
In all my years of computing, I have only heard of a small handful of malicious codes in the wild (virus, worms etc), but my strategy, as well as Apple's, is better safe than sorry. Apple themselves recommend Intego, McAfee and Symantec. Read this article for more details.

Addendum 1: Apple have since removed the article saying that it was old and inaccurate.

Addendum 2: Here's an interesting article on this subject at TidBITS.

Sunday 30 November 2008

Robert Capa and Gerda Taro

I popped by with some friends to see the "This is War!" exhibition at the Barbican in London. Although I've previously mentioned seeing the exhibition, it was done very quickly, so I definitely wanted to see it again.
I can't stress enough what a great exhibition it is. Although familiar with Capa's work, I hadn't previously seen much of Taro's work. She has some stunning images and the whole story of the two of them covering the Spanish Civil War is what romance novels are made of!
Along with images from both photographers, there are a fair few magazines on display showing how the images were used. I must say that seeing these magazines made me so envious - in this day and age there are so few magazines that show off important stories the way they deserve to be displayed. I'm sick and tired of page after page of silly celebrity stories. Anyway.....
Along with the magazines, there are also press cards, caption sheets and various letters. Its fascinating seeing this stuff. My favourite has to be a letter written by Capa to his mother and brother, after the D-Day landings in Normandy; he writes, "...yesterday, I had a bit of an adventure"!! How great and understated is that?!!
The exhibition is on 'till 25 January 2009 - don't miss it!

Platon Audio Interview

Vincent Laforet has a great audio interview of Platon on his blog; definitely worth listening too - its fascinating.
Platon's web site is worth looking through to get an understanding of the imagery mentioned above.

Aperture 2.1 - Digital Asset Management


As regular readers will know, I've been using Apple's Aperture for a couple of years now. I was so impressed by it I even switched computer platforms as a result. With its speed, ease and
 flexibility of workflow, accuracy, robustness and plug-in architecture, I use it quite happily on deadline and shoot everything in RAW. Its such a capable program that I find I need Photoshop for perhaps three percent of my work.
I did however keep all my images from the PC days on a PC server on 6Tb of drives set in RAID 1 (Mirror) and would access these files on my Mac using Expression Media. I would search for them in catalogues (split up by year, as the software has a limit of how many images you can have in a catalogue, rather annoyingly!), then find it in the finder and copy it to a local folder and then import it into Aperture to work on; very long winded workflow, but it worked.
I had a bit of a brain wave a few days ago; why not import all these images into Aperture on my Mac Pro? One aspect of Aperture is that its a very powerful DAM (Digital Asset Management) for images.
I decided to give it a try. My 3Tb of images resided on my HP server, so I set up dated folders within the Aperture library for each year. Then I imported files and folders into the relevant dated folders. The beautiful part however was being able to keep the originals on the RAIDs on the server (which you can choose on the import files and folders dialogue - also make sure you keep file names as they were originally named). What this means is that I have access to all my images, can perform full IPTC searches, apply any and all adjustments and then export the image into whatever format and size needed.
As this importing was over ethernet, naturally it took a while. I did a year at a time and after around four nights, all images were in Aperture.
At the moment my Aperture library has 342,953 images to which I have total and full access.
A tip to anyone who has a similar set up; once you have imported the images in chunks (in my case, by year), keep the server logged on as in the background Aperture will create:

i) thumbnails for all the images, and
ii) previews as well.

Once this has been done (which took another day or so - to check its status, go to Window and then Activity), you can switch off the server and still have access to searching and previewing images. If you find something that you need, then you can switch on the server and access the original image and carry on working with it. You can also use this method on external drives, be they a PC format or a Mac format.

Absolute genius (Aperture, not me!).

Addendum - Although the building of thumbnails takes a day or so, the building of previews has taken a couple of days more for my library; there are around 130,000 still left to do. However, this all happens in the background so you can still use Aperture (the program automatically pauses the preview building if it sees that you're working on something else - also, if you need to shut down the program, it'll pick up where it left off). Its important to let the program do all this as it will allow you to see images properly when your server or external hard drives are off-line. Also, its worth pointing out that if you're going to do this for external drives, the procedure will be much faster than doing it over ethernet (which is what I'm doing).
I have to add that I've been doing this for a fair few days of solid importing and thumbnail and preview building, whilst also working on Aperture; I've even done some video work and the Mac Pro and Aperture have been solid as a rock - that's what you call well engineered!

Thursday 27 November 2008

Behind The Lens With Daniel Beltra

Polar Bear, Chuckchi Sea, Alaska. Photo: ©Daniel Beltra
CPN features the amazing work by multi award winning freelance nature photographer Daniel Beltra.  Its an absolutely superb insight into Beltra's work and well worth a read.

Daniel Beltra, Ross Sea, Southern Ocean. Photo: ©Gavin Newman

Tuesday 25 November 2008

Canon 5D MkII Video - Chung's Night In Beijing


Canon EOS5DmkII, One night in Beijing. from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Guardian photographer Dan Chung has posted a video shot on the Canon 5D MkII. Dan, a recent convert to Nikon bought the 5D MkII to use as a video camera and the clip above was shot using Nikon and Contax lenses with an adapter using manual focus. If you register on Vimeo, it will allow you to download a mid res 720p version of the video.
There's a forum thread on this video on the DVi forums.

I should hopefully be getting a review unit of the camera soon, so stay posted!

Monday 24 November 2008

Annie Leibovitz Interviews

"The View From Behind The Lens" is the new book by Annie Leibovitz; I have the book on order so have not yet seen it but as publicity for the book there are a couple of interesting interviews of the photographer:






...and for those that haven't seen it yet, here's the photo shoot with the Queen. Very interesting viewing!

Wednesday 19 November 2008

The Space, Brighton.

I'll be giving a talk about my work at The Space, Latest Music Bar, 14-17 Manchester Street, Brighton, UK for anyone who may be interested. The event is on December 2, 2008 at 7pm.
To see more details and book a ticket visit http://www.thespace.me.uk/index.php

Tuesday 18 November 2008

"Yes We Can" by Scout Tufankjian


Just a little heads up folks; a friend of mine, Scout has a superb new book out covering Barack Obama's two year journey to the White House. You can get a sneak look at some of the pages and a video interview of Scout
here.

Monday 17 November 2008

In Harm's Way - War Photographers

A CBS crew of 16 followed photographers Zoriah and Alissa Everett through Gaza and the West Bank as they documented the conflict. Its a little Hollywood in parts but worth watching. Its in five parts, of which part one is posted above. The remaining clips are:





For anyone who hasn't seen War Photographer with James Nachtwey, I strongly urge you to watch it. Its one of the most powerful documentaries I've seen, on one of the world's most powerful photographers.

Saturday 15 November 2008

24 Megapixel Camera That Shoots at 30 fps?!

There has been a lot of talk and many rumours surrounding the Red Scarlet. Well, a couple of days ago it was announced officially by Red.
For stills photographers and for photographers needing to also shoot video, these cameras seem ideal; the ones to look out for are the Scarlet and the Epic. Also, you need to learn a new acronym; DSMC (Digital Stills and Motion Camera)!

The camera system that caught my eye most is the Scarlet, of which there are four variations which range from $2500 to $12,000 for the full frame model. Although Red will be producing their own lenses, there is also the option to get a lens plate for Canon and Nikon lenses. The other interesting thing is the whole modular technology (grips, lens mounts, monitors and eye pieces, recording modules, batteries and I/O module) which means you bolt on what you need and also upgrade certain bits as time goes on.

Going back to the full frame model, the Scarlet FF35, lets you shoot 24 megapixel stills at 30 frames per second! Absolutely nuts!! You can also shoot 6K video on this thing.
The other item of interest is the 2/3" Mysterium-X with a built in x8 lens. The focal length of the lens has yet to be announced and the price isn't yet known, but this might just become the perfect photo journalist's video camera.
For the medium format photographer, the $45,000 Epic 645 will no doubt raise some interest. This camera will shoot 65 megapixel images at 50 fps!

As far as I can see, there are no samples yet, but I'll keep you posted as and when they appear.
The Canon 5D MkII has re-written the rules on video quality for the photojournalist. The only place the Canon fails is professional quality sound with the ability to allow the input levels to be managed (although it does have a built in microphone jack); this is where the Red Scarlet may make the difference. If the system delivers what it promises, these are going to be interesting times!  Lets welcome the DSMC!

More Reading:



Friday 7 November 2008

Need Faster Broadband ADSL?!

Firstly, I have to say I haven't tried this, so can't make any personal comments. I will probably be ordering one though.
Its a little plate that fits into your BT phone socket box and provides a better way of filtering out line interference. Judging by the customer reviews, it seems to work for the majority of people.

Steve Jobs Stanford University Speech

Although this speech was made in 2005, I've only just seen it. It has a few computing references, but is mainly about life and lessons in life. Its very interesting and definitely worth watching.

Want 6Gb RAM For Your MacBook or MacBook Pro?!

Its the one thing in the Apple laptop range which I wish was different; that RAM didn't max out at 4Gb. Well, Other World Computing (OWC) can now supply 6Gb of RAM for the latest and previous generation of MacBooks and MacBook Pros!

Thursday 6 November 2008

US Elections Slideshow


The closest I could get to Chicago was Knightsbridge.
I popped into the Chicago Rib Shack in Knightsbridge to cover the reaction of US citizens and Londoners to the results of the US elections.
It turned out to be quite a moving assignment. To see so many US citizens who were unhappy with the current government and wanting so desperately a change. I heard so many people say that they were ashamed of being American and that so much of the world disliked their country. After Barack Obama was announced the President Elect, that they were now so very proud was very touching.

Unofficial Canon 5D MkII Video

The folks over at Akihabara News have an HD video clip shot on a 5D MkII - very impressive stuff!!

US Elections & The Power Of Photography

Firstly, my congratulations to America and their new President Elect; its superb news.
I covered the reaction of US Citizens watching the results come in at the Chicago Rib Shack in London's Knightsbridge. It was a very moving assignment...more of which, later!

I was having a look at some links to powerful images and their role in the election on "A Photo Editor". Of particular note are Platon's images in The New Yorker and also a set at The Huffington Post.

Sunday 2 November 2008

Interview With Chris Anderson, Magnum Photos

An interview with Chris Anderson on objectivity and photography.

Prints Now Available

My migration over to Photoshelter is now complete. Having said that, the archive will continue to grow!
All of my images on my Photoshelter site are available for purchase as prints. If you're a lover of photography or in need of a unique gift, feel free to have a browse. I hope that you'll find something to your taste!
If you know of anyone who may be interested in prints, please pass on the address:


Many thanks.

Thursday 30 October 2008

BJP Vision

Now in its 9th year, BJP's (British Journal of Photography) Vision is on at November 7, from 10am to 5pm at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London.

There's a host of exhibitors there, so it'll be a good chance to see some of the kit from Photokina.

I'll be there doing portfolio reviews in the afternoon from 2pm 'till 5pm, so if you think I may be of help, book your spot now. Do remember though to keep it a tight edit as the time slots are 15 minutes per photographer.

Terakopian Archive Now At Photoshelter

Here's the new archive. You can also search using the facility below:



Sign Of The Times

Well, its a sad state of affairs. The credit crunch is all around and is going to get worst. Most freelancers are feeling the pinch as their news shifts get cut in numbers and commercial work slows down.
One early casualty has been Digital Railroad with whom I've had my archive for a while. They suspended operations on October 28 and it looks like members have until October 31 to access their archives.
Photoshelter has come to the rescue offering photographers a way of transferring their archives straight from DDR to their servers. I must admit to trying this four times and failing on all attempts. The best I could do was get little thumbnails saying image not present. You may have had a better result. In the end I ended up transferring everything from my Mac. Another good example of back everything up!
If you have a DRR account, you should have received an email from them and also from Photoshelter who are offering an extra three months membership for anyone migrating from DRR. If you haven't, I strongly urge you too look into the situation and come up with an action plan.
My only worry is that if the DRR is liquidated, what happens to all the images on their servers? I can't see the liquidation company taking time to securely erase all data before selling off the hardware. I urge everybody with a DRR account to contact Diablo Management Group and urge them to securely erase all customer data and image data: DRRinfo@diablomanagement.com

Sunday 26 October 2008

Nikon D90 & Shooting Video

Camcorder Info have done a very thorough review of the video shooting capabilities of the Nikon D90. The D90 is the first DSLR which has a video shooting mode, covering 1280 x 720 HD. Shortly after the Nikon D90 announcement, Canon launched the 5D MkII which also shoots video. However, there are major differences; the Canon shoots at full HD and has a microphone jack alongside its built in microphone.
One of the major issues with the D90 is the way it introduces wobble when the camera is panned.


Video clip by Camcorderinfo.com
I'm hoping that Camcorder Info will also follow up with a review of the 5D MkII. We've seen the stunning results it achieves when shooting video in the hands of Vincent Laforet, but it would be interesting to see what a video camera review site thing of the Canon.

Friday 24 October 2008

Is The Canon G10 As Good As A Hasselblad?!!!

Yes, you did read that correctly and no, I haven't lost my mind!
Photographer Michael Reichmann made some 13"x19" prints from the 14.7 megapixel Canon G10 and also from the 39 megapixel Hasselblad H2. Customers visiting his studio couldn't tell them apart as there was almost a 50 / 50 split in opinions. Read all about it on this CNET blog.

For a more in-depth look, the Luminous Landscape article makes very interesting reading.

UPDATE:

Having downloaded both files and compared them side by side on a 24" screen, I must say that looking at the two images, its practically impossible to tell them apart! At 100% magnification, things are a little different; the Hasselblad was used on a tripod and the G10 was hand held at 1/8 of a second, so there is tiny movement with the G10 (only apparent at 100%) - but its still a very close call.
The colour, sharpness, tonality and the crispness of the lens on the Canon are astonishing! Who would have thought that a pocket camera could stand up to the best medium format system available?!