DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGE TAKEN WITH THE PRE-PRODUCTION FUJI S3

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This image (I can now say ) was taken with a pre-production Fuji S3
in a covered bridge at Stone Mountain near Atlanta.  The reason we took
this shot in the bridge was because where Sarah is standing is in a
very bright exposure, with a very dark bridge behind her.  This is to
show you the dynamic range boost of the camera.  I took this at the +2
wide dynamic range setting.  This is from a pre-production S3 camera,
and the factory is making final tweaks before it rolls into production,
so the final image quality will be different.

I was lucky enough to find Sarah and her husband Jeremy through Kristen
Alexander, who shot her wedding recently.  Sarah, the shots were
AWESOME.  I have to get clearance from the camera manufacturer since
this was a pre-production camera subject to final tweaks, but it sure
looked great to me.

Anyone in the Atlanta area can find Sarah at the email address above. 
She is not a professional model (currently she’s a student) but she
should be!  Photographers can reach her at sabill@comcast.net

I WAS WATCHING “FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE” on TLC

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This is the show where a couple’s friends throw them a wedding in 7 days of planning and for $5,000 total.  When
they went through the budget, the WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER WAS $30!!!

I AM SHOOTING A WEDDING THIS WEEKEND IN ATLANTA WITH THE FUJI S3

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OK just got word from Fuji that I
am going to have the only S3 to shoot this weekend in Atlanta.  I will
be guest shooting this camera with Kristen Alexander.  This camera is a
pre-production camera, so it may differ than the final S3 that you will
buy in stores – but what is cool is that I will shoot like a few
thousand images (as is my norm) with the camera in all different
lighting conditions in all different settings.  So – if you are
planning on coming to see my world debut of the working camera at
PhotoExpo East, I will have images (I mean unless there’s a catastrophe
like my plane crashes – knock on wood) and I plan on having an actual
wedding album using images from the camera.  I already have my
recommended settings but I will wait for further testing until I
publish them.  You can see me at the Javitz Center for PhotoExpo East
on October 21st.  FYI I do not know the product release date so please
chill on the kazillion emails asking about it because I don’t know…
thank you

RECTILINEAR CORRECTION WITH DIGITAL

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I did this shot with the Nikon
10.5mm fisheye lens.  Obviously it has a lot of curve because it
shoots a full 180 degree horizontal.  Using a sophisticated
plug-in, We can straighten out that curve.  Here’s the shot before:

And here’s the shot after correction… what a difference!

If you shoot interiors, ballrooms of weddings, etc… or just want to
do some cool shots of your own living rooms, this product is for you
(if you have a Mac) It’s not available for Windows… click here!

WHY COLLAGES ARE IMPORTANT IN A WORLD OF PROOF-SCANNING

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Whether
it’s Portrait photography or wedding, it is becoming much more tempting
lately for folks to put your images face down in a scanner, and output
them on the incredible new photo-quality inkjet printers.  This is one
huge reason I came up with the collage builder concept.  If you hand
out proofs, there is a risk that your prints will be copied, costing
you your deserved revenue. The
advantage of the collage page image presentation is that the images overlap – it’s really hard to
copyscan them! 

You can put these collages instantly on the web and then print
8×10 prints from the high quality JPGs.  To learn more about this concept , go to http://www.collagebuilder.com

WE ARE ALMOST AT OUR 6,000TH MEMBER! AND TO CELEBRATE…

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To celebrate, I’m going to give the 6,000th registered user a $100
coupon for anything off my e-commerce cart.  DPN is so heavily visited
by “guests” which is fine because it’s FREE… but if you do register,
you get really cool newsletter announcements, discount coupons but MOST
IMPORTANTLY the ability to SEARCH the vast database of digital
photography info…  and become part of a great community.  So to
join… click here!!!

The Passing of Don Blair: Legendary Photographer and Friend

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Don’s infectious enthusiasm and
energy was so contagious.  Those of us who were lucky enough to
know him will probably agree with me that he was the most instantly
likeable person  ever.  Don was quite a character – he had
more merit bars than anyone in the PPA, and when he wore his medals,
the 80 or so bars that climbed up his ribbon  nearly choking him,
I would always joke with him.  Whenever he saw me, he had the
biggest smile, would give me a big thumbs up.  I admired him
so.  One time, I said, “Don you are a  great man in so many
ways”.  And he said, no you are, and we got into an argument on
who was greater!  Gary: “You are, Don!”  Don: “No you are
Gary!” repeat multiple times…

At one convention, he was surrounded by beautiful young girls (because
he was so lovable!) and he looks at me and says, “do you know why these
girls like me so much?  It’s because they know I’m completely
harmless!”  Young at heart – is the best way to describe
Don.  And he had the most loving heart.  He loved
everybody.  Do any of you remember him being sad, or upset… or
having a kniption about anything?  I’ve learned a lot from
Don.  I do not know of any professional portrait/wedding
photographer in this generation who hasn’t been influenced in some way
by Don Blair.  This is a man who will be welcomed in heaven with
the most open of arms.

A funeral service will be held Monday, October 4, 2004 at the Murray
3rd Ward, 160 East 4600 South, Brown Street, Murray, Utah. There will be a
viewing from 6:00pm to 8:00pm on Sunday, October 3 at the Jenkins-Soffe
Mortuary, 4760 South State, Murray, Utah.

Thanks Ruth for letting me know!
 

PICTAGE DUSTS THE COMPETITION AND IT FEELS AWESOME

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What you are seeing above is a
graph from alexa.net showing the rank of most commonly accessed
websites in the world….in the first third of September, Pictage.com
was about the #10,000th most visited website on earth – but most
importantly check out how our traffic compares to our online rivals
proshots.com and collages.net.  Another rival, “eventpix.com” doesn’t even show up on the chart!

http://www.pictage.com is the industry leader and it has been a hot competition.  It feels great to be the winning team!

THE FINAL SPECS ON THE S3  – read the GREEN stuff!

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FROM FUJI FILM – Any
photographer who has thought hard about their choice of film, and whose
work is geared towards ultimate image quality, will understand the
appeal of the Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro.

Representing
the company’s pursuit of film photography standards for the digital
world, the FinePix S3 Pro introduces Fujifilm’s unique Super CCD SR II
– dual pixel technology that is technically inspired by the structure
of silver halide crystals in colour negative film.

The
new sensor produces 12.34 million effective pixels in 6.17 locations,
combining 6.17 million high-sensitivity S-pixels and the same number of
low-sensitivity R-pixels. Thanks to a newly developed image processor,
the FinePix S3 Pro achieves exceptional image quality with a fourfold
increase in dynamic range over non-SR Super CCD sensors, rich colour
reproduction, high signal to noise ratio (lower noise at higher
sensitivities) and tonality that was previously impossible to generate
with digital cameras.

The FinePix S3 Pro’s designers
have been able to make full use of Fujifilm’s extensive colour film
expertise. For instance, rather than force photographers to shoot in
RAW mode and spend time on an extensive workflow process, Fujifilm has
introduced Film Simulation Modes, dynamic range presets and colour
space selection.

Once the photographer is familiar
with these settings, they will be able to produce JPEG images straight
from the camera, which require no post-production. Photographers can
choose between smooth, extended tonality and natural skin tones, or the
dramatic impact of highly saturated colour. The FinePix S3 Pro’s Film
Simulation Mode is the equivalent of changing film type to suit
shooting conditions, and achieves this at the touch of a button.

The
FinePix S3 Pro is designed from the photographer’s viewpoint. The body
design of the camera has been developed with significant improvements
in versatility and ease of use. Dual shutter release buttons are
provided for both landscape and portrait compositions, and dual LCD
monitors confirm shooting settings and composition at a glance, without
the need to scroll through menus. In addition, the body has been
sculpted and rubberised to provide a solid grip.

For
the first time on any digital SLR, a pre-exposure Live Image Mode has
been incorporated to enable photographers to frame and focus images
without the need to use the viewfinder. Activated for up to 30 seconds
prior to a normal exposure, Live Image Mode is ideal for shots using a
tripod as well as effective capture of candid images.

The
FinePix S3 Pro features two D-TTL compatible flash interfaces (hot shoe
and synchro terminal) and dual media slots, making it compatible with
xD-Picture Cards™ , CompactFlash™ and Microdrive™ cards up to 4GB
capacity.

Expandable shooting options are
achievable thanks to the FinePix S3 Pro’s compatibility with Nikon-fit
lenses and accessories, including the latest ‘DX’-designated options,
giving plenty of scope for further shooting control.

THE CANON EOS20D vs THE OTHERS!

COMPARING (IN DIFFERENT DIFFICULT SITUATIONS)

THE NEW CANON EOS20D vs EOS10D vs EOS1DMARK2 vs FUJIS20 vs FUJIS2 vs NIKON D70 vs NIKON D2H

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See how your camera compares to the others on the market and I’m
curious as to what you’ll day!  ***CLICK HERE***
  I put all the top cameras to hard tests like the one above where
Jenna is on the grass in the shade, but her white shirt is in the hot
sun… the tests were hard but I wanted to see how the cameras
perform.  Let me know your comments!