From 2010's PhotoWalkthrough coverage of the Focus On Imaging show in Birmingham, UK. For a bit of fun (for YOU guys, not so much for me!) we decided to prove how fast and safe it is to clean your camera sensor with Visible Dust products by handing Rola from Visible Dust my own personal Canon 5D mk2. Watch the show to find out how it turns out.
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PW107 - Focus On Imaging 2010 - Wacom
From 2010's PhotoWalkthrough coverage of the Focus On Imaging show in Birmingham, UK. Today the good folks on the Wacom stand show us their 2 newest products, the Intuos 4 Wireless tablet and the massive Cintiq 21UX tablet/screen.
Read MorePW106 - Focus On Imaging 2010 - Drobo S and Drobo Pro
From 2010's PhotoWalkthrough coverage of the Focus On Imaging show in Birmingham, UK. We return once again to visit our old friends Drobo who've not been ile for the last year. They've got a range of new products aimed at individuals and businesses. Today we're looking at the Drobo S and the Drobo Pro.
Read MorePW105b - Focus On Imaging 2010 - Sony a450
From 2010's PhotoWalkthrough coverage of the Focus On Imaging show in Birmingham, UK. The Sony a450 is their latest foray into the SLR market and while they're still very focused on the newcomer the feature set of this little camera is quite ground breaking.
Read MorePW105a - Focus On Imaging 2010 - Sony Bloggie
From 2010's PhotoWalkthrough coverage of the Focus On Imaging show in Birmingham, UK. Sony show us their latest video camera aimed and bloggers, the bloggie. It comes with a 360 degree lens and the ability to upload moving 360 panoramas. Unusual and fun.
Read MorePW104 - Focus On Imaging 2010 - HartbleiCam
From 2010's PhotoWalkthrough coverage of the Focus On Imaging show in Birmingham, UK. I found a real gem of a camera, the Hartblei Cam, which lets you use your own choice of lenses, viewfinders and camera backs together. This one you just have to see for the simple joy of it.
Read MorePW103 - Focus On Imaging 2010 - Panasonic G2
From 2010's PhotoWalkthrough coverage of the Focus On Imaging show in Birmingham, UK. Panasonic launched their newest camera, the G2 here at the show and we've got an exclusive first look at this 21.1 megapixel camera with touch screen and superb AVCHD video features.
Read MorePanasonic G2 - Focus On Imaging 2010
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It's not often I get to break a news story but I'm covering Focus On Imaging in Birmingham again this year and Panasonic have chosen this show to announce their brand new camera, the G2. It's a touch screen 12.1 megapixel camera with AVCHD video recording capabilities. I'll be doing PhotoWalkthrough shows as usual for these in a couple of days but for now I'm uploading smaller versions to YouTube so they're out and available right away.
Read MorePW102 - Wacom Cintiq 12WX video review
his week I finally got my hands on a gadget I've been lusting after for years, a Wacom Cintiq. The Cintiq is a combined graphics tablet and screen so you can literally draw on the screen when editing your photos. In this show we've got what I hope is a very complete product review with conclusions about how useful it is to photographers and natural media artists such as those used to working with paints, pencils or chalks.
Read MoreUK Photographers' rights are at risk
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If you're a british photographer of any kind (amateur or professional) you should be aware of the new Digital Economy Bill which effectively removes your automatic copyright on images you create. It will open the doors to wholesale theft of formerly copyright images through the orphan works provisions and what's worse much of the bill covering descriptions of "orphan work" or "adequate search" are not even included.
At the same time, and in a completely unrelated piece of legislation the Information Commissioner's Office is proposing changes to the Data protection Act that will make non-consentual photography of people in a public place illegal. Rather than re-hash what's already been well reported elsewhere I suggest you check some of the links included below.
Both of these issues will be implemented in a matter of only a few weeks so NOW is the time to take action. I urge all british readers to write to your MPs letting them know how you feel. Writing to your MP is really easy - check out www.theyworkforyou.com for a very simple and effective browser based way to contact them. More information on both issues is available at Copyright Action along with templates for letters to your MP and links to comment on the ICO changes. There's also a very well written article on the subject on the Online Journalism Blog and you can see the British Photographic Society's response the the Digital Economy Bill also.
PhotoWalkthrough has a new home
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It doesn't seem like long since the last time but I've moved the PhotoWalkthrough site once again to new hosting. We're now hosted with Squarespace (not a sponsor, though I wouldn't say no based on the extreme ease of use and excellent functionality). The simple fact that I'm no longer going to have to keep the server software up to date in order to avoid hacks and spammers is worth the small monthly fee.
But in addition to ease of administration I've taken the time to reorganise and tidy up the tutorials. As you can see we've got all the tutorials going back to tutorial 1 all nicely categorised and linked into the menus. We've also got the various specials and quick tips shows separated out. Finally you can now search by category and tag by clicking Archive in the menu to the right. This will allow you to search by product or technique.
Read MoreAdobe Lightroom 3 Beta available
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Adobe has announced the beta for the latest version of Lightroom. As before it's an open beta and anyone can try it out. Headlining the new features right now are enhancements to speed, noise reduction and image quality - all of which are significant and important but I've a hunch there will be more new toys for us too. Check it out at labs.adobe.com and remember - this is an unfinished BETA version of the product that doesn't yet have all the intended features of the final version. Download it, try it out, but DON'T rely on it and don't start using it for your main photography workflow. It will run along side Lightroom 2 without interfering.
Read MoreiStockphoto to offer legal guarantee on all images
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The illegal use of images has become quite a hot topic on the internet since the launch of photo sharing websites. Making sure that the stock images you're using are legal is one more thing to worry about. So iStockphoto have decided to offer a guarantee to their customers on their entire collection. On Sept. 16, any video, image or audio file purchased and used correctly by the customer, will automatically be guaranteed against any copyright or moral right, trademark and other intellectual property dispute, up to $10,000. This has been something that traditional, more expensive stock agencies have offered but it's brand new to micro-stock.
Read MoreCanon 7D revealed
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Canon have announced their latest prosumer level dSLR, the 7D. This 18 megapixel, APS-C sized sensor model aims to bridge the gap between the world of the 50D and 5D by adding features like full HD video recording. The 7D also adds some exciting new features that will appeal to pros and enthusiasts alike.
Read MorePhoto contest turns into Hope For Children
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DataColor, makers of the Spyder range of colour profiling devices, recently sponsored a photography contest, The Colors of my Life, inviting contestants to submit photographs capturing colours that represented their lives or personalities. The entries have been turned into a photo art book available through Blurb.com with the proceeds going towards Chilean children's charity, Hope For Children. The book is available from blurb.com at €16.95.
Read MoreNew Epson firmware adds tethered shooting to P6000 and P7000
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04 August, 2009 – Global imaging pioneer Epson today announces the release of a free firmware update for its P6000 and P7000 Multimedia Storage Viewers. The new firmware enables tethered shooting, offering photographers immediate and direct access to high-quality previews of images and remote shooting. The update is available on Epson’s European website from 04 August, 2009 to all users of the P6000 and P7000 Photoviewers.
Looks like a very nice feature and it's being added as a firmware update. New toys for free - not bad at all Epson. I'll see if I can get hold of a unit and try this out for myself. Download the new firmware at http://esupport.epson-europe.com/FileDetails.aspx?lng=en-GB&id=324469.
PhotoWalkthrough on One Minute How-To
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George Smyth has been kind enough to ask me a third time if I'd like to contribute a segment on his show - One Minute How-To. His show offers weekly tips on a variety of interesting subjects, each being a very digestible minute or two long. Quick, informative and fun. Well worth a look. Check out my latest contribution on How to shoot panning shots and be sure to subscribe to George's show.
Read MoreCanon keeps improving their IS mechanism
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Cannon released a new Image Stabilization mechanism today. Here's a quote from the press release.
Read More"Canon Inc. announced today the development of Hybrid Image Stabilizer (IS), the world’s first* optical Image Stabilizer which compensates for both angular camera shake and shift camera shake. The technology will be incorporated in an interchangeable single lens reflex (SLR) camera lens planned for commercial release before the end of 2009."So can anyone tell me the difference between angular and shift camera shake? I guess I'll just be happy to know that this new mechanism does image stabilization "better".
PhotoWalkthrough Workshops booking now
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PhotoWalkthrough has joined forces with Welshot Academy to bring you a series of workshops covering Photoshop, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements and creative composition. John will be teaching in a beautiful, inspiring location with plenty of opportunity for shooting and one on one advice. If you've never attended a photography workshop before these 1 or 2 day short courses are an ideal affordable, educational and fun introduction.
Visit our new Workshops page where you'll find dates, locations and links to everything you need to pick a course and make a booking. See you there!
Read MoreJuly 15th is Photo Day
On July 15th our old friend Chris Marquardt, the host of Tips From The Top Floor, will be taking the reigns at TWiT live while Leo is away in China. Chris will host the TWiT Live feed all day and has an array of fascinating guests. A full run down of the Photo Day schedule is on Chris' site and I'm excited to say that I'll be one of his guests at 4pm PST - that's midnight UK time. Chris' other guests include Catherine Hall, Frederick Van Johnson. John Chiara, Jon Miller and Ron Pepper.
So please come along and watch as much of the day as you can and in particular I'd be over the moon if you joined me at 4pm PST to fly the flag on TWiT for PhotoWalkthrough!
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