foto Priority

As I initially came across this iPad app and without knowing what an Ephemoris was, I assumed it would be just another exposure calculator “photo buddy” app for which I’ve yet to discover a practical use in my day to day photographic activities. For some strange reason however, I felt compelled to check it out. Perhaps it was the rather cool, old school icon that drew me in.

What I discovered however, was exactly what I have been desperately yearning for, to assist with location scouting and shoot planning. This baby is going to save me hours in returning to locations checking sun (and also moon) rise and set positions.

This is probably the best $12 I’ve spent on the iPad for my photography. If you don’t own an iPad then it is also available for the iPhone and as a free Mac or PC desktop app.

Photoephemeris.com

By the way, here is the dictionary definition.

ephemeris |iˈfem(ə)ris|noun ( pl. -erides |-ərədēz|) Astronomy & Astrologya table or data file giving the calculated positions of a celestial object at regular intervals throughout a period.• a book or set of such tables or files.ORIGIN early 16th cent.: from Latin, from Greekephēmeros ‘lasting only a day.’

© Chuck Bradley

A little while back you might remember me posting about the fabulous still life work of Chuck Bradley and in particular his Life Aquatic series. Well, what started as a commercial job has now developed into an on going fine art project which is starting to attract some international interest from assorted art buyers and style makers.. Here’s what Chuck had to say about it.

“My Life Aquatic series came about quite by accident late last year when I landed a commercial shoot for a major client who needed a duck and duckling swimming in a tank.  They wanted them shot so they could swim across a web page. To execute the shots I had a large perspex tank built for this purpose.

After a long day and a lot of quacking, it occurred to me that the shots of the ducks were very graceful and poetic in their movements so once the commercial part of the shoot was over I decided to do a quick re-light, drop a black back ground behind the set and shoot the adult duck, just being a duck. The images captured showed the grace an beauty of the animal, above an below the waterline, a scene most never get to see. From this start I began looking for other creatures that would be as playful and graceful as the duck.

Living on an Island in the middle of Pittwater,  it’s my daily “tinny” commute to the mainland that finally brought about the inspiration for the creatures that now make up the later images in the series.

The reason I love this new series is that to me “It’s about the subject, not the post production”. I guess I’m striving to open up a world that no-one ever sees. “It’s organic. You find your subject, you light it, it is what it is – minimal retouching. It’s nice to escape overworked images and the trickery that’s so prevalent in this CGI world.”

WARNING: Nerdy tech content. The Canon EOS 7D is a new 18 megapixel digital SLR camera. Incorporating a new APS-C CMOS sensor, the Canon 7D features dual DIGIC 4 processors, an ISO range expandable to 12,800, and a 19-point cross-type AF sensor. There’s also continuous shooting at 8 frames per second, 3 inch LCD screen with 920k dots, viewfinder with 100% magnification, and Focus Colour Luminance metering system (iFCL) which measures focus, colour and luminance across 63 zones.

The Canon EOS 7D is equipped with an Integrated Speedlite Transmitter.  For the first time in an EOS, photographers can control external Speedlites with no additional accessories – ideal for those looking to experiment with creative lighting set-ups.  The EOS 7D also features an extensively upgraded, built-in flash including manual control, and wider flash coverage to cover focal lengths as wide as 15mm.

The Canon EOS 7D Digital SLR camera is scheduled to be delivered to U.S. dealers at the end of September, and will be sold in a body-only configuration at an estimated retail price of $1,699.00. It will also be offered in a kit version with Canon’s EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM zoom lens at an estimated retail price of $1,899.00.

One of the first hands-on Review

The First Ride - © Daniel Linnet

As new students shuffle through our doors on first night of any workshop, one of the most common reasons for being there is wanting to photograph theirs or someone else’s kids, better. Putting aside the tech stuff, apertures, shutter speeds, white balances and ISO’s there is still much to do in getting them behaving naturally for your camera, and knowing when to capture it.

Here’s a post I came across from my favourite source of inspiration, PDN Online, which covers some of the changing trends in kid photography as well as giving you some invaluable directional tips. Unfortunately to read the full feature you need to subscribe for the service but this little teaser is still very worthy of a read.

‘As families become more kid-centered, children are showing up more often in almost all categories of editorial photography, from cooking to fashion to architecture and interiors.  The esthetics of kids photography is also evolving. The genre is still dominated by an idealized view of childhood, where children look sweet and happy. But clients are starting to test those boundaries by staging images less, and showing the physical and emotional messiness of kids’ lives a little more.’  reprinted from PDN feature story

read PDN Feature