Gear
Professional Photo Gear
Trust our in-depth articles and reviews to help you flush out the digital photo equipment that best suits you.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008Photoshop CS4 Takes OffAdobe alpha tester and all-around digital master Jeff Schewe takes us on a tour of the improvements to the new version of the Adobe Creative Suite, CS4 Yes, it’s that time again, another update to Photoshop, called by its full name, Adobe® Photoshop® CS4 (and, yes, there are regular and Extended versions again, with the Extended version designed for specialized image types and 3-D and multimedia). This represents the 13th time Photoshop has been updated (there were two .5 versions, so this is considered version 11). Read More... |
Monday, September 29, 2008New-For-Fall D-SLRs ReimaginedIn the lead-up to the huge Photokina 2008 trade show, there were a number of big new camera announcements—more megapixels and better image quality, and in the spirit of convergence, HD video makes the leap to still cameras! This was a Photokina year, and Photokina 2008 included a number of exciting new camera introductions (even if they actually appeared a bit ahead of the actual show). On these pages, you’ll meet new low-cost, 20-megapixel-plus, full-frame D-SLRs from Canon and Sony, versatile new mid-range D-SLRs from Canon and Nikon, new D-SLRs with movie capability (and HD, no less) from Canon and Nikon, and 50-, 56- and 60.5-megapixel, medium-format entries from Hasselblad, Leaf and Phase One. Read More... |
Monday, September 29, 2008Go Large With High-Tech PrintersModern large-format printers are cost-effective and give you the opportunity to make exhibition-quality prints right in your studio Many photographers are looking to control the entire process, from capture to output, these days for a number of reasons, including quality, price and turnaround for clients. While most studios have at least a 13x19 printer in-house, larger work is often sent out to a lab or service. Large-format printers have had the reputation of being expensive and demanding to operate, and it’s just one more thing to pull you away from the camera. Read More... |
Monday, September 1, 2008Megapixels: How Much Is Enough?Pixel count certainly plays a key role in photography, but we’re approaching a point of diminishing returns and potentially reduced image quality as more pixels are packed onto a sensor It’s time for the “megapixel wars” to end once and for all. You can bet the march of technology will continue to give us imaging sensors with ever-greater numbers of megapixels, but for most photographers, more pixels won’t give us better images. Sure, more megapixels generally are welcome. But the reality is that we’ve reached the point where most photographers won’t benefit from more megapixels. Read More... |
Tuesday, June 24, 2008DPP Solutions: Setting Up Redundant StorageA look at the extensive possibilities of external hard drives as a digital photo archive The ideal goal of any image management is simple: keeping finished images at arm's length without them being in the way. The solution is a little more complex, however. There are a variety of ways to achieve this goal, but at the core, methods for image archival should offer a strategy that you're comfortable with, doesn't consume a lot of time or processing power, and makes you confident that the images you've saved will remain safely stored and accessible from start to finish. |
Monday, June 23, 2008Hi-Tech Studio: A Camcorder Primer For PhotojournalistsAs camcorders continue to evolve, so does the opportunity for photojournalists to create high-definition video essays alongside their D-SLR work Photojournalism is in a period of transition. While many photographers continue to image solely with still cameras, others are finding video to be a necessary supplement to their work. Video is being used to deliver news stories for blogs and websites, as well as for traditional broadcasts. Motion capture also is taking the form of individual video stills published in print and online. Here, we cover some of the new high-definition video cameras a photojournalist might find useful for getting into videography. |
Monday, June 23, 2008The Fall And Rise Of Medium FormatNew technology, a commitment to developing the very best image quality possible and a thriving rental market all have contributed to a renaissance in the digital medium-format category It's no secret that the medium-format industry has experienced dramatic changes since the advent of digital. Open camera systems (think Hasselblad's H2 series) became closed, leaving players such as Phase One and Leaf no access to Hasselblad's systems. Additionally, the disappearance of beloved medium-format models signified harsh times in the sector as Contax, Bronica and Pentax fell by the wayside. |
Monday, April 28, 2008DPP Solutions: A Look At DNGThe DNG format was supposed to be the future, an open standard for RAW files that every manufacturer could use. Here's a look at how the revolution has panned out. On September 27, 2004, Adobe announced the Digital Negative Specification (DNG), a file format that was supposed to unify the cluttered atmosphere of proprietary RAW file formats by offering a non-proprietary template that would act as a universal raw file. The DNG format was released, free from any legal restrictions or royalties as an open-source file for hardware and software designers to generate, process, manage and archive RAW images for any program, from any camera, and easily accessible as an archive at any time in the future. Almost four years later, DNG hasn't found the ubiquitous acceptance the industry had called for, but there's growing hope for the future. Read More... |
Monday, April 28, 2008Hi-Tech Studio: Professional Black-And-White PrintersAmid the many options for black-and-white printers, there are a few models that pick up where film left off, providing superior black-and-white prints reminiscent of the days in the darkroom Black-and-white printing has been in a state of flux from the days of film to the early stages of digital inkjet printing. The problem with film was that color photos were the most difficult to reproduce in the darkroom due to the difficult silver-halide workflow. Today the paradigm has shifted, making black-and-white printing one of the most difficult areas to master in a now digital world. |
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Contender: Nicholas Mele
It can happen in an instant -
Contender: Cindy McDaniel
Going underwater for an unpredictable look -
Contender: Martin Christopher
“Angel Face” was photographed for a local hair salon’s ad campaign -
Contender: Bruce Roscoe
Meticulous attention to the lighting creates strong chiaroscuro and a dramatic effect -
Contender: Kevin Ziechmann
Reality and photography collide in this self-portrait -
Contender: David Miller
Rendering a split look in a “Frankenstein” photo -
Contender: Jeff Nadler
Black and white film and natural light gave this image its distinctive look -
Contender: Jessica Christie
Capturing emotions and creating a retro look -
Contender: Laura Bello
A little bling and vibrant color demand a viewer’s attention -
Contender: Dhrumil S. Desai
Style and substance came into play in making this warm-toned black and white portrait
