Pro Review: Datacolor SpyderCube (Professional Photographer Magazine Web Exclusives)

Pro Review: Datacolor SpyderCube (Professional Photographer Magazine Web Exclusives) Spyder Cube image copyright Stan Sholik

Sneak Peek: AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II (Professional Photographer Magazine Web Exclusives)

Sneak Peek: AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II (Professional Photographer Magazine Web Exclusives)

A Photographic Legend Passes

My favorite portrait of Pablo Picasso by Irving Penn.
"Irving Penn, a grand master of American fashion photography whose "less is more" aesthetic combined with a startling sensuality defined a visual style that he applied to designer dresses or fleshy nudes, famous artists or tribal chiefs, cigarette butts or cosmetics jars, many of them now-famous photographs owned by leading art museums, has died. He was 92." For more from the Los Angeles Times article click here.

CCD Inventors Win The Nobel PrizeI In Physics!

Willard Sterling Boyle and George Elwood Smith, who co-developed the first charge-coupled device (CCD) for image capture, have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. They share the honour with physicist Charles Kuen Kao, who won the prize “for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for optical communication”. For more info click here.

Nigel Parry Followup

If you get a chance to snag a copy of "Sharp" do so. Some of Nigel Parry's most interesting images are reproduced in this beautiful book. Well worth the original price but I found a "like new" on Amazon that I can't tell from "new" and at an incredibly low price and when I say low, the shipping cost more than the book.

Epson Kicks It Up A Couple of Notches!

The long awaited Epson Stylus Pro 3880 has finally arrived and with some noticeable improvements over it's older brother the 3800. Check it out by clicking here.

Canon Announces The 7D

Yep, the rumors were true. The Canon 7D is an 18-megapixel semi-pro DSLR that shoots 1080p video in 24 or 30 frames per second for $1899 or less and it doesn't stop there. Canon made several "upgrades" to it's 5D predecessor based on customer surveys, unfortunately they made one downgrade, it's not a full sized chip! What! Read more at Gizmodo by clicking here.

Eight Exceptional People Remembered - A Repost

It's hard to believe that 911 was eight years ago. I want to share with you, once again, the story of eight people who perished that Tuesday; eight exceptional people, Joe Ferguson, (photo), Ann Judge (photo), James Debeuneure, Rodney Dickens, Sarah Clark, Asia Cottom, Hilda Taylor and Bernard Brown. This is their 911 story.

"Two staff members of the National Geographic Society, along with three Washington, D.C., teachers and three students they were traveling with, were among the victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States on Tuesday, officials of the Society announced on Wednesday.

Ann Judge, director of the Society's travel office, and Joe Ferguson, director of the Geography Education Outreach Program, were accompanying the three teacher-student pairs on an educational trip to California.

They were all killed along with the other passengers of American Airlines Flight 77 after it was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon at about 9:45 Tuesday morning.

Teacher James Debeuneure and student Rodney Dickens were representing Ketcham Elementary School; teacher Sarah Clark and student Asia Cottom were from Backus Middle School; and teacher Hilda Taylor and student Bernard Brown were from Leckie Elementary School. All the students were 11-year-old sixth graders.

They had been selected to participate in a program at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary near Santa Barbara, California, as part of a Society-funded marine research project known as Sustainable Seas Expeditions."

"Through our educational outreach program, Ann and Joe were going to make geography and the environment come alive for these committed, talented teachers and their star students by putting them into the field with scientists and researchers," said John Fahey Jr., the Society's president and CEO.

"The D.C. School District has lost six extraordinary people, and we at the Society have lost two treasured colleagues," he added.

Today our thoughts and prayers are with all the victim's families, and this commitment we make to them, we will never forget.It's hard to believe that 911 was seven years ago. I want to share with you, once again, the story of eight of the 3000 people who perished that Tuesday; eight exceptional people, Joe Ferguson, (photo), Ann Judge (photo), James Debeuneure, Rodney Dickens, Sarah Clark, Asia Cottom, Hilda Taylor and Bernard Brown. This is their 911 story.

"Two staff members of the National Geographic Society, along with three Washington, D.C., teachers and three students they were traveling with, were among the victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States on Tuesday, officials of the Society announced on Wednesday.

Ann Judge, director of the Society's travel office, and Joe Ferguson, director of the Geography Education Outreach Program, were accompanying the three teacher-student pairs on an educational trip to California.

They were all killed along with the other passengers of American Airlines Flight 77 after it was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon at about 9:45 Tuesday morning.

Teacher James Debeuneure and student Rodney Dickens were representing Ketcham Elementary School; teacher Sarah Clark and student Asia Cottom were from Backus Middle School; and teacher Hilda Taylor and student Bernard Brown were from Leckie Elementary School. All the students were 11-year-old sixth graders.

They had been selected to participate in a program at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary near Santa Barbara, California, as part of a Society-funded marine research project known as Sustainable Seas Expeditions."

"Through our educational outreach program, Ann and Joe were going to make geography and the environment come alive for these committed, talented teachers and their star students by putting them into the field with scientists and researchers," said John Fahey Jr., the Society's president and CEO.

"The D.C. School District has lost six extraordinary people, and we at the Society have lost two treasured colleagues," he added.

Once again our thoughts and prayers are with all the victim's families, and this commitment we make to them, we will never forget.

Panasonic Kicks It Up A Notch!

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 sounds too good to be true! 12 Mega Pixels with a Leica DC VARIO-ELMARIT 27-486mm Zoom! That's not a typo 27-486, wow! You can zoom in and out while shooting AVCHD HD movies and it has Macro capabilities as well. All for $399.95! My buddy Steve Burger told me that a student in his last Grand Canyon workshop had one of these and the files were "awesome". For more info click here.

Check Out Nigel Parry!

Saw some of his work online and ordered one of his books "Sharp". Will follow up after it arrives, in the meantime check him out by clicking here.

InFocus Fundraiser

Check Out Oleg Dou!

Talk about a guy who is out there! I really like his work but it seems that people either love it or hate it. Click here to check out the images.

Happy Birthday America!

When in the course of human events... thus begins one of our most cherished documents. I remember as a small child enjoying the 4th of July holiday with all of my cousins and other family members at my Uncle's home in rural Missouri. Towards the end of the day, before the fireworks, (yes fireworks were legal back then), my Uncle, seated at a picnic table in his enormous back yard, began reading the Declaration of Independence aloud with everyone gathered around. Everyone was quiet and respectful and at the end he smiled and said "Happy Birthday America"! Yesterday before going to my family's home for dinner and fireworks and celebration I took the time to read again this amazing document, I highly recommend it. Oh, and my favorite part, the last fourteen words. To read the Declaration of Independence click here.

Give Us Those Nice Bright Colors...

Give us the greens of summers... makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah... I got a Nikon camera... I love to take a photograph... so Mama don't take my Kodachrome away! Well, Mama didn't but today Kodak announced the official "retirement" of Kodachrome film. While I do love digital... Kodachrome and Tri-X were and are to this day my favorite films. I first began shooting Kodachrome as a student in the photography program at Phoenix College in the fall of 1971, seems like yesterday. Yes, I'm aware that it was a black and white film with color added in processing, I don't care;
It's amazing color palette and longevity make it, at least in my mind, the greatest "color" film of all time. Farewell old friend, we will miss you.

Stumbled Upon This Article In Smashing Mag

Photo by Chan Chen
For 24 more beautiful examples of Macro Photography click here

Check Out Jeremey Cowart!

I really like this guy's work! To see more click here.

If It Wasn't So True It Wouldn't Be So Funny!

Honoring Fallen Warriors

"Today I fly the flag for those I knew well and those I did not know who fought and died so long ago and so far away." Memorial day is a tough day. For me it brings to mind memories of young men I served with who gave their life in service to their country. Time has done little to fade those memories and on this Memorial Day, like every other, I want to honor the warrior without honoring war and these quotes seems appropriate...

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. " John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"I hate war as only a soldier who lived it can, only as one who has seen it's brutality, it's futility, it's stupidity." Dwight David Eisenhower

Check Out George Fulton!

Copyright George Fulton

Beautifully crafted images by a photographer with a unique sense of humor.

DigitalRev Tests The Canon 5D Mark II - Check It Out!

A 21 meg pixel still camera that shoots HD video with decent sound? Sign me up! Check out the short film "Lumiere" but be sure to click on "watch in HD" so you can see what the camera is capable of even with YouTube compression.

Imaging USA Comes To Town!

Just in case you've been living in a cave for the last couple of months... Imaging USA and Professional Photographers of America are in Phoenix in a BIG way! Join fellow photographers at the big show January 11th - 13th. With 500,000 sq ft of trade show and a class for everyone this show is being billed as the largest in North America for 2009. Several companies with outstanding products will be at the trade show and we hope you'll visit their booths. They are:

Bay Photo - Booth 1146
Epson - Booth 1115
Nik Software - Booth 1540
Lensbaby - Booth 332

As always Visualville receives no compensation of any kind from any of these companies we just think their products rock! For more info on the big show click here.

Portraits of Tombstone Photoshop Seminar!

If you ever wanted to photograph Tombstone and do it right don't miss out on this opportunity!

The Friends of Arizona Highways has a great workshop coming up "Portraits of Tombstone" February 16th - 19th offers you a chance to work closely with two great instructors. Photographer, and former Arizona Highways Picture Editor, J. Peter Mortimer will help you find wonderful light to capture "period personalities" during prearranged and spontaneous portrait sessions.

You'll also have the opportunity to work in a casual classroom setting alongside one of the best print makers and Photoshop teachers in the Southwest, Steve Burger. I've known both of these talented men for many years and they get my highest recommendation.

A chance to capture great images in one of the West's most romantic destinations and leave with a great print! Photo workshops don't get any better than that! For more info or to sign up click here.

Looking For An After Christmas Deal On A Pocket Camera?

US1 Camera has the best price I've seen on one of the best pocket cameras currently available, the Canon G10. Call before ordering to make sure you're getting a new camera with a US warranty. To check out the order page click here. I nor Visualville have any connection to or receive any compensation from US1 Camera or Canon, I wish we did!

Nikon Kicks It Up With The D3X And The Beat Goes On!

Last week Nikon Inc. announced their latest entry into the ever expanding D-SLR format the D3X which features:

• 24.5 megapixels!
• 14 bit full rez files captured at up to 5 frames per second!
• Dual CF card slots!
  
• Virtually noiseless capture at 1600 ISO!
  

For more in depth info check out Imaginginfo.com by clicking here.

Texas Goes After 2 Online Camera Retailers!

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has charged two well known online camera retailers in an alleged "Bait & Switch" scheme. Broadway Photo and Starlight Camera & Video of Brooklyn, NY could face civil penalties of up to 20,000 per occurrence. To learn more click here.

Toshiba Kicks It Up A Notch!

Today Toshiba announced the launch of a 16GB microSDHC card. The largest capacity micro SDHC currently available. At the same time, the company extended its range of memory card solutions by adding ultra fast read/write 8GB and 16GB SDHC cards to its line-up. Mass production of the new SDHC cards will start in December, with production of the new microSDHC slated to start in January 2009 .

All of the new SDHC memory cards comply with the SD memory standard Ver. 2.00, and the two new SDHC cards announced today support class 6 ultra fast read/write speed --- a maximum write speed of 20MB per second, delivering high performance for continuous shooting of still images and recording video images. The new microSDHC can be used with an adapter that allows it to be used in SDHC slots.

No word yet on pricing. For more info click here.

Leica Kicks It Up A Couple of Notches!

"Leica Announces 37.5 Megapixel DSLR"! When I read the headline my first thought was "that's got to be a misprint they meant 17.5 or maybe, maybe 27.5, but 37.5 no way! Well, to quote Wayne of Wayne's World fame... WAY!

The S2's sensor is actually very large. Larger, in fact, than a standard 35mm frame, at 30 x 45 mm. That's 56% bigger. The S2 is essentially a medium format camera shoe-horned into a 35mm DSLR-sized body, and Leica is promoting this idea in its press releases.

The body contains a standard focal plane shutter, but the new lenses also have leaf shutters. allowing for very high flash sync speeds.

The CCD sensor is made by Kodak and the Maestro processing chip produces a very low amount of noise at very high ISOs. The body is acctually smaller than, a Nikon D3.

The price? What's the old saying if you have to ask.... $45,000 USD. For more info click here.

Sony Kicks It Up A Notch!

Available next month is Sony's full-frame 24 Megapixel Alpha DSL-A900. The camera's launch is no surprise as they showed the sensor and a model of the camera at PMA this January where the announcement was arguably the biggest of the show. The specs and features of the new A900 are definitely aimed at the pro market: 100% viewfinder coverage, 1/250th second flash sync, 5 frames-per-second capture rate, AF fine-tuning (AF Micro Adjustment) for up to 30 lenses, and the huge 6048 x 4032 pixel image size. The A900 has a magnesium alloy skeleton and weather sealing to protect it from the elements, and Sony’s SteadyShot built-in image stabilization that works with any Sony or Minolta Maxxum mount lens. The A900 is the first full frame DSLR to have sensor-level image stabilization.

The Sony Alpha DSLR-A900 will be available in November and should cost just under $3000. For more info click here.

Eight Exceptional People Remembered - A Repost

It's hard to believe that 911 was seven years ago. I want to share with you, once again, the story of eight of the 3000 people who perished that Tuesday; eight exceptional people, Joe Ferguson, (photo), Ann Judge (photo), James Debeuneure, Rodney Dickens, Sarah Clark, Asia Cottom, Hilda Taylor and Bernard Brown. This is their 911 story.

"Two staff members of the National Geographic Society, along with three Washington, D.C., teachers and three students they were traveling with, were among the victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States on Tuesday, officials of the Society announced on Wednesday.

Ann Judge, director of the Society's travel office, and Joe Ferguson, director of the Geography Education Outreach Program, were accompanying the three teacher-student pairs on an educational trip to California.

They were all killed along with the other passengers of American Airlines Flight 77 after it was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon at about 9:45 Tuesday morning.

Teacher James Debeuneure and student Rodney Dickens were representing Ketcham Elementary School; teacher Sarah Clark and student Asia Cottom were from Backus Middle School; and teacher Hilda Taylor and student Bernard Brown were from Leckie Elementary School. All the students were 11-year-old sixth graders.

They had been selected to participate in a program at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary near Santa Barbara, California, as part of a Society-funded marine research project known as Sustainable Seas Expeditions."

"Through our educational outreach program, Ann and Joe were going to make geography and the environment come alive for these committed, talented teachers and their star students by putting them into the field with scientists and researchers," said John Fahey Jr., the Society's president and CEO.

"The D.C. School District has lost six extraordinary people, and we at the Society have lost two treasured colleagues," he added.

Today our thoughts and prayers are with all the victim's families, and this commitment we make to them, we will never forget.

Adobe Releases Lightroom 2.0

On Tuesday Adobe announced the immediate availability of Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 2 software, with new enhancements such as dual-monitor support, radical advances in non-destructive localized image correction, and streamlined search capabilities. Lightroom 2.0 Adobe’s first application to support 64-bit for Mac OS X 10.5 Macintosh computers with Intel® processors and Microsoft® Windows® Vista® 64-bit operating systems, Lightroom 2 also provides improved memory performance for dealing with large scale images.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 is available now through the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store in English, French and German with the Japanese language version planned to be released at a future date. The estimated street price is USD$299 for new users with an upgrade price of USD$99 for registered users of qualifying Lightroom customers.

An Interview With PhotographerJay Sauceda

Click Here to go to a very interesting interview by Don Giannatti of photographer Jay B Sauceda.

Nik Silver Efex Pro Kicks It Up A Notch!

Nik is one of my favorite companies. I met Michael Slater, Nik's CEO, more than 10 years ago at a trade show in LA. I was immediately impressed and that continues to this day.Year after year they turn out elegant and affordable software that really meets the needs of a broad range of photographers. Nik is also home to two of our industries top talents Janice Wendt and Tony Corbel. I haven't tried the software yet but I can tell you that if Nik makes it... it's real good software! So without further adieu, here's a few excerpts from todays press release.

"Nik Software today announced the new Silver Efex Pro photographic plug-in for use with Adobe Photoshop and Apple Aperture, the most advanced, complete, and straightforward black-and-white solution. Silver Efex Pro uses a range of advanced imaging algorithms that protect against unwanted artifacts, a comprehensive collection of 18 emulated black-and-white film types, and a state-of-the-art grain engine that truly mimics the silver halide process and creates the highest quality black-and-white images possible from scanned or digital color photographs.

With Nik Software's patented U Point technology, Silver Efex Pro provides easy-to-use tools for direct on-image control of tonality, contrast, and structure. Precisely controlling specific areas of a photo can be achieved easily using just a few mouse clicks without the need to create complicated selections and layer masks. Silver Efex Pro combined with U Point technology offers users unprecedented control over selective tonal and contrast adjustment in black-and-white images.

"For many photographers, black-and-white is their preferred outlet for creative expression. Previously available tools often required acceptance of a one-size-fits-all solution or complex conversion techniques and endless fine tuning," said Michael J. Slater president and CEO of Nik Software. "Silver Efex Pro is truly a comprehensive and easy to use software product that is specifically designed to address the challenges that photographers face when converting images to black-and-white."

Working seamlessly within Photoshop and Aperture, Silver Efex Pro begins by presenting photographers with a basic "neutral" conversion of their color image to black-and-white. One-click adjustments can be made from a choice of over 20 preset styles from nostalgic processes like the ambrotype and tintype to classic artistic renderings, trendy high contrast, soft focus or grainy images that emulate the most popular film types and shooting styles.

This initial set of creative options can be used as is or as a starting point for photographers who wish to create and even share their own customized black-and-white styles. In addition, color filters, variable toning controls (includes sepia, selenium, split-toning and user-defined colors for maximum flexibility), vignettes, and more only add to the number of advanced stylistic effects photographers will enjoy with Silver Efex Pro. Additional sliders for global brightness, contrast, and structure, as well as Smart Filter compatibility within Photoshop and multi-image support in Aperture provide the ultimate level of control. With U Point powered Control Points photographers have the flexibility to specifically fine tune tonality, contrast, and structure and create stunning black-and-white images.

Pricing and Availability, & Promotion with Gekko-brand Fine Art Papers--Silver Efex Pro is available now for electronic delivery directly from Nik Software. Boxed versions will be available from Nik Software and through specialty camera retailers in August 2008. A complete list of resellers may be found at http://www.niksoftware.com/resellers.

Through September 15th, 2008, every copy of Silver Efex Pro sold in North America will include a free sample pack of the Gekko Fine Art Collection of papers from Pictorico. Designed especially for black-and-white prints and for use with inkjet printers, the sample pack has a retail value of $15.99 and includes two sheets each of 4 paper types: Gekko Green (Glossy) winner of the 2008 DIMA Award for best black-and-white print from a color inkjet printer; Gekko Blue (Luster); Gekko Red (Cotton); and Gekko Black (Matte)."

The suggested retail price of Silver Efex Pro is $199.95. Silver Efex Pro installs as a plug-in for either Adobe Photoshop or Apple Aperture 2.1 and is available for Windows and Macintosh operating systems, including Vista and Leopard. For more information about Silver Efex Pro, including video tutorials showing the software running within Photoshop and Aperture and a free 15-day fully functional trial version, visit http://www.niksoftware.com/silverefexpro./

To All The Men And Women Of Our Armed Forces...Thank You!

Another Great Week At West Coast School!

Each year, for as long as I can remember, professional photographers have gathered on the campus of the University of San Diego for a week of continuing education known as West Coast School. For ten of those years I have been privileged to be an instructor.

Special thanks go out to the WCS Sponsors! Without their generous support the school would not be possible. Thank you Bay Photo Lab, (for sponsoring my class and others), along with FujiFilm, H&H Color Lab, MAC Group, Calumet and Nik Software.

Others deserving special thanks include the incredibly hard working staff and the students who give up a week of their life not to mention some cash in order to improve themselves and our profession.

It's never too early to sign up and next years instructor list is loaded with heavy hitters including Tim Meyer, Suzette Allen & Ken Sklute. For more info click here.

Thanks for another great WCS experience, you guys are the best!