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Olympus OM-D 5 Axis Image Stabilization Helps Photographer With Tremors

I’ve been keeping an eye on the new Olympus OM-D E-M5 since it was announced. The smaller form factor, weatherized body with 5 axis image stabilization and pocketable M43 sized lenses makes a very exciting package. Their 5 axis image stabilization is really raising the bar. This technology has allowed a photographer with a palsy or tremor to overcome his physical limitations to shoot sharp photos and smooth video. It’s great how technology can improve peoples lives. … Continue Reading

Ansel Adams Mount Williamson Pilgrimage

I attended a recent lecture by Alan Ross at the G2 Gallery in Venice that was presented in conjunction with the Ansel Adams Exhibit: Open to the Public.  The show consists of 22 national parks images which includes the iconic Mount Williamson photo.  I have always been interested in that image because I often go up to the Eastern Sierras at Lone Pine to shoot landscapes and I’ve wondered about the exact location where that image was created.

According to the G2 website: “Alan Ross is a renowned photographer who worked side-by-side with Ansel Adams as his photographic assistant and who knows Adams’s approach and technique perhaps better than any other photographer today. He was personally selected by Adams to be the exclusive printer of the Yosemite Special Edition Photographs in 1975, an assignment Alan continues to this day, making each print by hand from Adams’ original negatives using traditional darkroom techniques”

After the lecture I asked Mr. Ross where Ansel shot that classic image and he told me the general location of the dirt road.  That’s a good starting point but where exactly on the road did he stop and would I recognize it as I’m driving through the rocky arid terrain?  A Google search lead to some more details from others who have tried to find the exact spot the image was taken. … Continue Reading

2 New Canon 4K Cameras EOS-1D C and C500

Today Canon officially announced two new 4K cameras, the C500 and the EOS-1D C. Both shoot 4K digital video with the C500 utilizing the cinema form factor and ergonomics of the C300 and the EOS-1D C in HDSLR form factor. I have to say that when I saw the 1D C HDSLR at the C300 Paramount event I thought it was magic pixel dust that wouldn’t be released for a while. I’m really surprised that this is coming out so soon and at the same time as the 1Dx and 5D MarkIII. Between these cameras and the new zoom cinema lenses, Canon is really keeping the candle burning at both ends at their factories and R&D labs.

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Ralph McQuarrie Dies at 82

March 4, 2012 by Art, News

I am incredibly saddened by the news that designer and artist Ralph McQuarrie passed away yesterday.

My friends and I were third in line for the very first showing of Star Wars at the Coronet theater in San Francisco on Wednesday, May 25, 1977. I was immediately obsessed with everything about the movie, especially McQuarrie’s drawings.

Last year The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was released. It has lots of previously unseen work by McQuarrie. His art, even 30 years later, is still mesmerizing. … Continue Reading

Lytro the Magnificent, I Click it’s in Focus, I Click Here…

March 3, 2012 by News, Photography

I’ve been having a ball with the Lytro camera web site today. This is the camera that lets you shoot pictures without focussing until after the pictures are shot. I know right.

To get a feel for how it works got to the Lytro Gallery and start clicking. It’s incredibly impressive because you can keep refocussing the image. … Continue Reading

Ditching YouTube

February 23, 2012 by News

Writer Sarah Lacey at Pando Daily has a great piece about Nigerian Entrepreneur Jason Njoko. Njoko is building a company called Iroko which offers a distribution channel for independent producers from Nigeria.

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