Digital Photography Blog

Welcome to the Digital Photography Blog!

Rhonda Callow — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:48:23 GMT

Welcome to the Digital Photography Blog!

It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned photographer or just picking a digital camera up for the very first time, Bright Hub’s Digital Photography Channel will sure be of interest to you. This is the place to tell your stories, share your ideas, ask questions ... and absolutely anything and everything else to do with digital photography. As well, feel free to start a discussion or join in on one at the digital photography forum.

I’m looking forwarding to watching our community grow.

Cheers,

Rhonda

Topaz Adjust 3 – New User Interface with Improved Performance

Michele McDonough — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:07:29 GMT

Topaz Labs has recently released a new version of Topaz Adjust, an image enhancement plugin that is compatible with a number of photo editors including Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro. While this latest version (version 3) still includes the same tools and features found in version 2.6 (see our review of Topaz Adjust v2.6 for more details), some pretty major enhancements have been added. These additions include performance improvements - the latest version is faster and more RAM-efficient than older versions - and an even slicker user interface that lets you preview preset conditions before selection. See the screenshot below for a glimpse of this new interface. (Click the image for a larger view.)

If you already own version 2.6, you can get a free upgrade to version 3 of Topaz Adjust by contacting Topaz Labs. Otherwise, you can pick up this plugin for $49.99 – the same price as its predecessor. For the power and versatility offered, this is one of the best-valued photo editing plugins on the market today. Topaz Labs also offers a free, fully functional 30-day trial of the application that you can download from their web site. You can find more information about this from the review linked above.

Perfect Mother’s Day Gift – Or a Great Deal!

Rhonda Callow — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:19:14 GMT

Until April.23rd, Photoshop Elements 7 is on sale for 40% off!

If you aren’t sure if Photoshop Elements 7 is the photo editing software for you, we can help!

This review of Elements will provide you with information on what the program has to offer in terms of features, ease of use, price to value, and user support.

Still not sure? Why not see how Photoshop Elements stands up to other photo editing software in its class by reading this comparison of Elements, Paint Shop Pro and PhotoPlus!

And while we’re on the topic of Mother’s Day, here are some great gifts you can make for mom this Mother’s Day.

Our Weekend Adventure - What are your Tricks for Taking Wildlife Photography?

Rhonda Callow — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 03:06:30 GMT

This post is dedicated to my Aunty Maureen, and here's why:

My aunt, Maureen, was here visiting for the weekend from London, England and was thrilled to hear there had been numerous bear sightings in the area recently. She has never in her life seen a bear and so was quite looking forward to seeing one. After all, everyone else was seeing 'em, why wouldn't she? I emailed her prior to her trip to Gold River and told her to be prepared and to have her digital camera handy at all times. The bear which I saw recently (the one with the cataract) had been spotted by other people in the area and my other aunt and cousin, whom were also visiting this weekend, also saw it on their way here. Sadly, Maureen never saw the bear during her drive into town (miss number 1).

Uncle Bob, Maureen’s husband, Brett and my son decided to go for a drive along one of the local logging roads while we women sat in the backyard drinking coffee and visiting. The boys came back some time later, my son holding the digital camera proudly in his hands. You guessed it, they found a bear. Maureen wanted to hear nothing of it (miss number 2).

The next day we went out for dinner. When we returned, a neighbour was quick to phone over with the latest town news: the police just shot a bear just some 50 yards from our own backyard (miss number 3 – though it probably wouldn’t have been the greatest ‘first bear’ experience).

So, we all jumped into my car and headed off along the logging roads, determined to find Maureen a bear. After driving for a while, I spotted what I thought was a bear, though I couldn’t be certain as I had forgotten my glasses and the black dot was quite the distance away. We get out of the vehicle and Brett says he thinks it’s a false alarm, but then the black dot moved! Too far away to see in any good sort of way, we jump back in the vehicle and drive back down the road, looking for a break in the trees to walk closer to where we saw the bear. Maureen is in bare feet and flip-flops. Unfortunately for her, there is still snow on the ground this high up. She’s walking through the snow ever so carefully, equipped with (and here’s where I couldn’t stop laughing) a pathetic looking twig, thinking it will protect her from any sort of bear attack (miss number 4).

At last, as we’re driving home admitting defeat we see a bear! A big, black, furry bear only meters from our car, but it’s behind trees and moving quickly away from us. We must see the bear and capture it on camera! We all fly out of the car and run in the direction of the bear, all the while clicking our cameras in hopes some miracle will occur and we’ll have some National Geographic worthy photos as a result. At long last, Maureen had her bear ... but unfortunately she was unable to capture the moment as her memory card was full (miss number 5).

Unfortunately, Maureen never encountered any bears as she was leaving town either, and she’ll be returning home empty handed.

Maureen will be visiting again in September for our wedding, maybe she’ll have better luck then!

I must admit that I didn’t get any wonderful pictures (those bears can be pretty darned elusive), but here are a couple of my favourite shots from our adventure:

Maureen brandishing her weapon:-

...and here is Bob going back for our car (in the excitement of the moment, we ditched it in the middle of the road, lights on, doors open and engine running!):-

My cousin managed to get a picture of the cataract bear on her way here:-

So, if anybody has any advice as to how Maureen can improve her chances of capturing wildlife shots, please do post it. I’m sure that she’ll appreciate any and all suggestions!

Photo Calendars by Scrapblog - Great Christmas Gift Idea!

Rhonda Callow — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:25:23 GMT

In Dawn Meisch’s article, Learn How to Create Personal Photo Calendars, she not only mentions how you can make these calendars from home (which, by the way, makes a perfect Christmas gift!), but she also mentions places online that will do all the work for you.

One place that Dawn doesn’t mention is Scrapblog. You can make a photo calendar for $24.99. You have 5 designs to choose from, and the calendar lets you display 13 of your favourite photos. Check Scrapblog's photo calendars out by clicking here!

William Claxton, Famous Photographer, Dies from Heart Complications

Rhonda Callow — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 23:01:59 GMT

The New York Times tells it best, “Mr. Claxton’s work was ubiquitous, from movie posters to picture magazines to fashion spreads to more than a dozen books to many exhibitions in the United States and Europe. He captured the greats of jazz from Ellington to Monk and made indelible images of pop stars from Sinatra to Bob Dylan and movie stars from Dietrich to Monroe to Natalie Wood.”

William Claxton passed away on Saturday, October 11^th, 2008. To read the full story published in the New York Times, please visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/arts/design/14claxton.html

Rising Costs of Raw Materials Results in Soaring Prices for Kodak Customers

Rhonda Callow — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:38:52 GMT

The cost of photographic equipment and accessories may soon start to climb as steeply as gas prices. Eastman Kodak Company announced last Friday that they will be increasing prices on various products worldwide by as much as 20 percent beginning July 1.

What’s the cause of such a price hike? Kodak states it’s due to the ever- increasing prices of raw materials, in particular silver and aluminum. The increased price of petroleum also has Kodak marking up their price tags.

OmniVision Takes an Upside-down Approach to Enhancing the World of Digital Imaging

Rhonda Callow — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:35:57 GMT

Omnivision Technologies, Inc is the world’s largest supplier of CMOS image sensors. Yesterday was the launch of its OmniBSI architecture – which represents a radical overhaul of image sensor technology. What does this mean to you? OmniVision state this new technology will deliver higher-quality images in smaller packages at more affordable prices.

To read OmniVision’s corporate release on this matter, please see “Omnivision Turns Digital Imaging World Upside Down”.

For a more in-depth article on this topic, please read Leonard Goh’s article titled “Upside-down CMOS sensor may spark digital revolution”.

Join the discussion: CCD and CMOS Image Sensors

A Hard Lesson Learned

Rhonda Callow — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:34:49 GMT

A Hard Lesson Learned – Don’t Leave your Camera at Home!

Last Sunday Brett and I drove into civilization, a city called Campbell River. To get an idea of how far away we live from tall buildings, exhaust polluting vehicles and shops; we live in a small village called Gold River (population approx. 1500) and the nearest city –Campbell River – is about 90 KM away, for the Americans that’s about 55 miles. The drive takes around an hour and ten minutes, give or take depending on who’s driving and the weather conditions and runs through Strathcona Provincial Park...in other words, the wilderness. Along the way we saw 1 bald eagle, 1 deer, 4 elk and 3 bear! But wait, that’s not all! The first bear we saw was on the side of the road and we sat for nearly an *hour* watching it. Brett got out of the car and called it and it actually started coming towards him (until I screamed, yelled and pleaded for him to get back in the car!). At one point the bear was so close to us I think it was touching the front of our car and I could even hear it grunting. Somebody else who stopped gave it an apple which isn’t as nice as it sounds, these bears will get accustomed to humans if they’re fed and cause trouble. Okay, so we’re thinking how lucky we were and how uncharacteristic that was for a bear as they usually just wander off into the woods when we see them. However, on our way home from Campbell River we saw another bear, acting the same way! We pulled over and he just sat in the ditch by our car watching us! We know it wasn’t the same bear as before because this poor critter had a cataract. Then we saw another bear a short distance down the road running. It was amazing and of course, no camera! I gave my email address to a couple other people who stopped and took pictures, so I’m hoping they will email. The elk we saw were on the side of the road too, real close. It’s like living in a zoo out here! J

Then on Monday evening I had to drive into Campbell River to pick up my son, Izaac. There was a plague of deer. Without exaggeration, the entire trip to Campbell River and back we must have seen around 30-50 deer. It was like a total infestation! In addition to the deer, I saw a bear and this time I had my camera. The pictures aren’t the greatest; in fact they’re downright horrible. I didn’t have anywhere to pull over to get real close because he was right on a corner. I got out of my car and walked towards him a bit...until he started jogging towards me so I quickly retreated to my car and tried to get some pictures while half hanging out my window. Izaac and I also saw an elk and for the grand finale we saw....A COUGAR! Just as we were making the turn-off to the second half of the Gold River highway, I was about to point to the cement barrier to show Izaac where somebody had graffitied “Forestry Ghost Towns à” (BC’s logging industry is really hurting at the moment) and found myself pointing directly at a cougar, he ran right in front of us and was illuminated by our headlights. After he crossed the road, he bounded off into the woods. It was so incredibly awesome to see!