It all started when celebrity photographer Linda Solomon was teaching her friends’ children about photography. She discovered that if you give kids a simple one-time-use 35mm camera and the right directions, they could produce great shots.
What do our first and second prize winners have in common? We couldn't take our eyes off their eyes!
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"Your Best Shot" Entry Rules: You may send up to 20 of your best shots (transparencies or prints no larger than 8×12) along with a daytime phone number and any pertinent technical data (such us camera, lens, exposure, film, filters, tripod) to "Your Best Shot," POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY & IMAGING, P.O. Box 1247, Teaneck, NJ 07666.
You can shoot BIG PANORAMAS with your standard 35mm or digital camera (all you need is the right software)
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John Carucci
Wanna know a secret? Most of those large panoramic images that you can find in shopping mall poster/frame stores are actually created with a standard-format film or digital camera, and helped along with some digital magic. The trick to capturing ultrawide views without paying ultrahigh prices for specialized cameras is to shoot a series of successive frames with a regular film or digital camera, then “stitch” the image together using specialized panorama software.
Include the sun in your winter landscapes and you can turn ordinary shots into ones
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Graham Wootton
Landscape photography is one of the most popular, thoroughly explored fields of photography. But finding fresh approaches isn’t easy. To attract viewers, landscape photographs must have impact. One way to achieve this: Include the sun at full strength in your photographs.
“Olympus has the right idea for a digital SLR standard, but the proposed sensor’s too small.”
Trick or tweak?
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I saw Pete Turner’s gizmomatic, matrix-minded images in the November 2002 issue (“Turner turns to digital,” page 86) and wondered whether Turner and your editors had lost their marbles. Techno freaks will love all the tweaking—but I remember when POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY was a photographic magazine.
Do you do just about everything on your computer, from word processing to picture editing to prime-time viewing? If so, your eyes should be bleary enough to appreciate the viewing ergonomics of Samsung's Syncmaster 757MB and Syncmaster 957MB monitors. Their MagicBright technology will, with a push of a "hot key," adjust the brightness level to three different settings: text (lowest), Internet, and video (brightest). If you think that's cool, the monitor's HighLight Zone lets you change the brightness, contrast, sharpness, and color temperature of a selected area of the monitor without affecting the rest of the screen. Not cool enough? The HighLight Zone II does all that and also automatically detects and brightens moving images, such as videos or games! If you're concerned about shortening the life of your monitor, Samsung claims its new technology will maintain normal life expectancy. Read all about it at www.samsung.com.
Samsung
TV Photo Show
$70
DVD players, move over. New card readers that connect directly to your TV for easy viewing of digital files (without the hassle of creating a CD on your computer) are all the rage right now. One of the most compact we've seen so far is the TV Photo Show by Dazzle ($70, street price). Simply plug in the cable to the RCA jack on the back of your TV, insert a CompactFlash or SmartMedia card, and sit back. You can either scroll through the images using the included remote or automate a slideshow. The remote allows you to rotate, pan, zoom, and delete images. The TV Photo Show also accepts IBM MicroDrives. Need more info before you dive in? Log onto www.dazzle.com.
Samsung
"Click to DVD"
$700-$1,300
Creating a DVD with your own home videos can be easy as 1, 2, 3. All right, we know you've heard that line before, but with Sony's new "Click to DVD" software, it's the real deal. Found on its latest line of VAIO PCs ($700-$1,300, street price), Click to DVD software (step 1) loads automatically the moment you plug in your analog or digital video camera. Step 2: Import the video with a mouse click. Step 3: Burn it to DVD. If that's too simple, you can do minor editing before writing to DVD, including scene trimming and adding transitions, still images, and sound. These new desktop systems offer Intel Pentium 4 processors, rewriteable DVDR/RW (plus CDR/RW) drives, at least 80GB of hard-drive space, Memory Stick slot, six USB 2.0 ports, two IEEE1394 (FireWire) ports, and speakers. For more information or to purchase, log onto www.sonystyle.com.
Samsung
mPower
Sure, your digital files are a mess. (Trust us, we understand.) If you want to get your PC a little more organized, ACDSee's new mPower helps you do it almost painlessly. This stand-alone program features a media bar for at-a-glance viewing of thumbnails. From there, you drag and drop a file into another application such as Photoshop or Windows Media Player. Need to reorganize your images? mPower lets you view all the metadata attached to any of your files, and then sort the pictures by date and size—even ISO setting! You can also view thumbnails from a whole variety of file formats that aren't always supported by other programs, such as PSD, Canon RAW, AVI, and Kodak CD. Looking to do a little batch processing? mPower allows you to batch rotate, resize, rename, and adjust exposure. Interested? Log onto www.acdsystems.com.
Samsung
Bonzai USB Mini-Drive
Expand your digital garage with a Bonzai USB Mini-Drive, SimpleTech's gloriously simple new portable storage device. The Bonzai, available in capacities of 64MB to 512MB, plugs directly into a USB port, works with Windows or Macs, and transfers data at a respectably zippy 1.5MB per sec. The trick? The Bonzai is essentially a Secure Digital/MultiMedia card reader in a case that offers expanded storage capacity any time you open the case and insert a higher-capacity card. Plus, you can use the Bonzai to transfer data from a PDA, digital camera, or any other device that uses SD/MMC cards. Bonzai features an LED light indicating drive in use, a cover for the USB port to combat crud build-up, and a neckstrap for easy sneaker transfer (and to help prevent the "I lost it again" syndrome common with these itty-bitty cards). For availability and pricing, go to www.simpletech.com.
Samsung
Premium Dualside Photo Paper
Here’s an easier way to create scrapbook pages, courtesy of Pictorico’s Premium Dualside Photo Paper. After designing scrapbook pages on your computer, print them out on these double-sided papers, then just slide them into your book. The dual-sided media also works great for making brochures, postcards, or greeting cards. Use it for portfolios to lighten the load: print images double-sided and carry half the paper you normally would. The paper has a luster finish, and is coated on both sides for smudge-free, water-resistant prints. The paper also comes in packs of 20 in 4×6, 8½×11, 11×17, and 13×19-inch sizes. For pricing and availability, visit www.pictorico.com.
Can you see the transparent rails that keep the photos above attached? The almost edgeless look comes via lightweight and portable Wall-Albums ($20-$25). Available in 3×5, 4×6, 5×7, or APS modules that hang on a wall or attach to a fridge, Wall-Albums use transparent plastic rails that let you slide 12 to 36 prints in or out of the frame. Some models let you mix horizontal and vertical images. Ambitious photographers can create wall-wide, easily changeable photo collages! (Biospace Corp., 1720 Lincolnshire Blvd., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, L5E 2S7; 905-278-7164; www.biospace-corporation.com)
Biospace Corp.
Digi 719B tripod
$99
Ask Manfrotto, and the Italian tripod maker will answer that it should rise to an eye-level 64 inches, fold smartly to 20 inches (with four compact leg sections), and weigh well under four pounds (3.7 pounds). In short, it would be Manfrotto's new Digi 719B tripod ($99, Street price). Featuring black anodized aluminum leg sections and solid aluminum castings, the Digi is claimed to be ideal for digital compacts. It also features a reversible, rapid center column that's facetted to prevent rotation. Other benefits: a cast aluminum baithead and rapid-action, thumb-activated clamp-style leg locks. Any reason not to use the Digi with a film compact? None that we can see. (Bogen Photo, 565 E. Crescent Ave., Ramsey, NJ 07446; 201-818-9500; www.bogenphoto.com)
Biospace Corp.
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Want to convert your clunky, vulnerable VHS video or Mini DV tapes to the easier-to-store, more permanent DVD format? Consider Kodak's DV transfer service. Bring your two-hour VHS, 8mm, or Mini DV tapes to a Qualex-affiliated photo finisher, such as Waigreens, Target, CVS, Kmart, Rite Aid, and others, and in about two weeks, your home videos on DVD ($35) will be ready for pickup. Best part? Because the DVDs are automatically divided by scenes ("chapters"), they're much easier to browse through than VHS tapes. Moreover, the chapters are conveniently indicated on an index print in the DVD case and on a table of contents on the disk. Neat! www.yesvideo.com
Biospace Corp.
Lowepro Dryzone 200
$240
If you like shooting in or around water, check out the Lowepro Dryzone 200 ($240, street price), a photo backpack that can allegedly go overboard yet remain afloat even when loaded with up to 85 pounds of gear! The Dryzone 200 also claims watertight zippers and sealed seams to keep out dust, snow, and sand. Other features: tuck-away shoulder and tripod straps and a padded interior with custom-set dividers. Is the easy-to-see yellow version too bright for you? There's a low-profile black-and-gray Dryzone, too. (Lowepro USA, P.O. Box 6189, Santa Rosa, CA 95406; 800-800-5693; www.lowepro.com)
Readers of our December 2002 “Top Cameras” issue may (or may not) have noticed that we did not include any Advanced Photo System cameras in the roundups. It wasn’t an oversight. Fact is, so many top-model APS cameras have bitten the dust that we couldn’t assemble much of a section, so we decided to dedicate that bit of space to further coverage of 35mm and digital compacts.
How many megapixels do you need to get the quality you want? As you can see here, it all depends on print size.
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Michael J. McNamara
Shooting with a digital camera for the first time can be a thrilling event—as more and more of you are discovering these days. But trying to figure out how to set all of the camera’s controls in order to maximize both image quality and performance can be frustrating.
How to solve three pesky picture-taking problems: Use a semi-fisheye lens, turn off your flash, and ask for better prints.
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HERBERT KEPPLER
While I can absorb a lot of vital information from handling cameras, studying instruction books, or reading POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY & IMAGING, shooting pictures and examining results helps me more. I get stir crazy working at my desk. Even brief weekend picture-taking sessions, photographing birthday parties, or shooting portraits for friends don't provide sufficient satisfaction and won't teach me as much as I want to know.
In the Paleolithic age of digital photography—about four years ago—a pro-level digital SLR cost about $15,000 and provided somewhere between three to six-megapixel resolution. Maybe that’s why we had the temerity to call the far more capable 6MP Nikon D100 “affordable” at $2,000, resulting in howls of protest.
OK, you ran over your faithful old point-and-shoot with the car. Or some schnook lifted it from your bag. Or the dog chewed the lens off. Or it just up and died of old age. Whatever. So you want to get a new compact camera—not an SLR, but a replacement snapshot camera for those vacation and family and pet and stoopid office-party pix.
They are also a fascinating paradox. Uelsmann, an acknowledged master of traditional photographic processes, creates black-and-white images that most often hew to a stark modernism. Taylor, who uses digital capture almost exclusively, combines vintage photo graphs and found objects into colorful composites that have a curiously old-fashioned quality to them.
It's the least expensive digital SLR and the first one with the highly touted Foveon X3 chip. Does it add up?
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Michael J. McNamara
We’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Sigma’s first digital camera, the SD-9 SLR, since we saw a prototype at the PMA show in February 2002. Based on the Sigma 35mm SA-9, all that appeared to be missing at that time was the new Foveon X3 CMOS image sensor.
Besides a tricky new name (Ti for the titanium paint finish) is there anything else that makes the entry-level Canon EOS Rebel Ti the one you should buy?
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First Rebel was born to the Canon EOS entry-level budget-priced family in 1990 and has evolved through the 1992 Rebel II, Rebel X in 1994, Rebel G in 1996, and the Rebel 2000 in July 1999. Unlike some other camera makers, whose entry-level AF SLRs have varied wildly in design and features, all Rebels have a family resemblance inside and out with continuous improvements, particularly in autofocus mode.
Hands on: Attractively finished in matte black, Sigma's 24-70mm f/3.5-5.6 HF is an ounce or two lighter than the current breed of variable-aperture 24-70 and 24-80mm zooms, and about average in length. Zoom and focusing rings are amply sized, grippably ribbed, and rubber-clad.
Large-format film cameras enjoy a resurgence. Is this the start of an anti-digital backlash?
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STEVE SINT
Flying in the face of today's rush to digital, the recent Photo Plus trade show in New York presented brand new view-camera designs everywhere I turned. One respected manufacturer mentioned that his large-format camera sales have increased.
Jacques Henri Lartigue was a pioneer of action photography—amazing, considering what he had to work with. He shot with a Deckrullo-Nettel sheet-film camera, adjusting the spring tension and slit width of the focal-plane shutter to achieve motion-stopping 1/1200 sec exposures—not bad for 1914! This photo, titled "Yvonne Bourgeois, Chamonix, January 1914", is a part of Lartigue's Winter Pictures (S35; Flammarion, distributed by Rizzoli International), and shows how he elegantly combined action, shadows, and light to create a compelling composition.