Here's a nice article on portrait photography. The Human Side of Photography - 4 Tips for Natural Looking Portraits: "The Human Side of Photography - 4 Tips for Natural Looking Portraits The following post on The Human Side of Photography is by Natalie Norton from natalienortonphoto.com. Over the years my camera has become an extension of my arm, relate? Of course you do. Those lucky souls like you and I who discover they have a passion for photography quickly find it to be magically...

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Here’s a nice article on portrait photography. The Human Side of Photography - 4 Tips for Natural Looking Portraits:

“The Human Side of Photography - 4 Tips for Natural Looking Portraits

The following post on The Human Side of Photography is by Natalie Norton from natalienortonphoto.com.

Over the years my camera has become an extension of my arm, relate? Of course you do. Those lucky souls like you and I who discover they have a passion for photography quickly find it to be magically…

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

I haven't done much in Proce55ing lately but I plan on getting back to it soon enough. One of my new tools in helping me learn is Casey Reas' Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists from MIT PRess. I highly recommend it as it's full of great examples and instructions that are already deepening my understanding of the platform.

I was doing a quick web search today when I stumbled upon the 1000mm Carl Zeiss Mirror f/5.6 lens, a pure monster. It fits the Pentacon Six, a medium format camera sold until the early '90s by Pentacon GmbH. The company currently makes digital point and shoots under the brand Praktika.

Anyway, I would have loved to include an image or two here, but the site is pretty clear about copyright issues. So let me paint you a picture instead: 31 lbs (14 kg), a lens cap the size of a dinnerplate, switchable filters actually sealed inside the lens, and amazing images. If you want to waste a little time, click on over and check it out:

• Overview page with some sample images.
• Later comparative review consisting of pages: [1] [2] [3] [4]

• If you look at one page, look at the second -- it includes some great shots (including a full camera sitting inside of the lenscap).

Obviously, this isn't a practical lens since most tripods can't even support it, but it was really cool to see a really good quality 1000mm reflex lens. And, at 1000mm, the f/5.6 aperture is quite amazing.

Leica M8 upgrade program : Leica photographers know what they can rely on: superb picture quality, a special handling experience and a camera they can use for years and spans generations. It is the aim of Leica Camera AG to keep on meeting these high expectations in the age of digital technology, and therefore the company is introducing an innovative concept for the lifelong value retention of the digital Leica M8 at the PMA tradeshow. The Leica M8 is the first digital camera in the Leica rangefinder system. The development of a perpetual upgrade program makes the Leica M8 a high-quality digital camera in which today’s and tomorrow’s users will always be able to incorporate the latest refinements and developments in handling ease and technology.

Digital Leica M8 - Upgrade options
“While other digital cameras quickly become outdated and are replaced by newer models, our new concept extends the value retention that stands for the Leica brand. Over time, we will gradually offer new product features and developments as upgrade options,“ declares Steven K. Lee, CEO of Leica Camera AG. “Our customers can therefore still invest in the photographic tools they need without worrying that they will miss out on improvements and technological developments along the way. We are confident that this is the right approach for ensuring customer satisfaction and allowing them to continue to sharpen their vision and refine their skills with the new digital Leica M8. Our efforts will be focused constantly on giving them...

Leica M8 upgrade program : Leica photographers know what they can rely on: superb picture quality, a special handling experience and a camera they can use for years and spans generations. It is the aim of Leica Camera AG to keep on meeting these high expectations in the age of digital technology, and therefore the company is introducing an innovative concept for the lifelong value retention of the digital Leica M8 at the PMA tradeshow. The Leica M8 is the first digital camera in the Leica rangefinder system. The development of a perpetual upgrade program makes the Leica M8 a high-quality digital camera in which today’s and tomorrow’s users will always be able to incorporate the latest refinements and developments in handling ease and technology.

Digital Leica M8 - Upgrade options
“While other digital cameras quickly become outdated and are replaced by newer models, our new concept extends the value retention that stands for the Leica brand. Over time, we will gradually offer new product features and developments as upgrade options,“ declares Steven K. Lee, CEO of Leica Camera AG. “Our customers can therefore still invest in the photographic tools they need without worrying that they will miss out on improvements and technological developments along the way. We are confident that this is the right approach for ensuring customer satisfaction and allowing them to continue to sharpen their vision and refine their skills with the new digital Leica M8. Our efforts will be focused constantly on giving them the…

Pentax K20D test photos : After the press conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, I was able to take the new Pentax K20D with me into the desert and the environment of Dubai. Although the new K20D DSLR was a pre-production model we are able to publish the first test shots. Keep in mind that the firmware was not final so the image quality should be judged accordingly. Unfortunately due to an unexpected visit of President Bush to Dubai some of the planned events had to be cancelled. Thanks to a flexible organization we had some time to visit last-minute locations. One thing was impossible to influence, the weather conditions. Instead of sunny weather we had cloudy and rainy forecasts. The Pentax K20 D has an estimate price of EUR 1299 (kit).

Pentax K20D photo gallery
At the heart of the camera is a CMOS sensor with an effective resolution of 14.6 megapixels with extremely low noise characteristics. A further new development is Pixel mapping that interpolates failed pixels, avoiding disturbing white spots in the final image. An integrated dust shield prevents dust particles from contaminating the sensor. Like the Pentax K10D this new top-of-the-range Pentax K20D features the in-camera opto-magnetic 3D-Sensor image stabilisation system "Shake Reduction" system.

Mark Peters

more : letsgodigital

onOne Software adds ground-breaking image resizing and retargeting technology to its product offerings.

Portland, OR Janury 17, 2008 onOne Software, Inc., provider of world-class software solutions for professional photographers and graphic designers, announces today the technology acquisition of Liquid Resize which introduces a ground-breaking new way to resize images using a technique known as "seam carving" to reduce the distortion that typically occurs when manipulating the aspect ratio of an image.

"We're excited to have acquired this incredible new and unique image resizing technology to add to our award-winning line of Photoshop® plug-ins," said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. "This new technology that allows users to maintain the original aspect ratio of a digital image will provide photographers and graphic designers alike unprecedented control when they resize or adjust the composition of their images."

About Liquid Resize
Liquid Resize, a "content aware" image resizing application, was originally developed by the Vienna, Austria based husband-wife team of Ramin Sabet and Irmgard Sabet-Wasinger and is based on the work of Shai Avidan and Ariel Shamir that made its first appearance in a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qadw0BRKeMk) released at Siggraph 2007.

Liquid Resize will allow users to resize an image without the traditional geometric limitations while minimizing any distortion that would typically result from changing the original aspect ratio of an image.

Availability and Pricing
A free public beta of Liquid Resize for both Windows and Mac OS X users will be available in late January 2008...