Nikon has filled in the gap between its midrange and pro digital SLRs. The D700, announced today and slated to ship in late July 2008, looks like a D300, acts like a D3 and promises to be as big a hit as each of them. Nikon has taken the full-frame 12.05 million image pixel CMOS sensor from the D3, placed it inside a body that is similar to the D300, weaved in capabilities from both and put a U.S. price tag of US$2999.95 on the result. http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-9311-9483

The differences between still and video cameras is almost nil. Many new compact digital cameras offer a movie mode that takes a short video. Some video camcorders have the ability to take a small file still photo.

Travel&Leisure Magazine has put out a list of what they feel are the world's scariest runways. They forgot to mention Burbank airport, Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland, and the deck of an aircraft carrier (I guess that doesn't count) Maybe you can add your scariest runway to the list!

http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/the-worlds-scariest-runways/1

Photos by Keith Skelton

Click photos to enlarge.

New York Times photojournalist Dith Pran, whose harrowing survival of genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge was dramatized in the film "The Killing Fields," died on Sunday at the age of 65.

Check out the NY Times slide show link below.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/03/31/nyregion/20080331_DITH_index.html

http://www.cambodian.com/dithpran/

http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN3032761720080330

Bodie/Mono Lake and Monument Valley photo workshop information: SEE   http://www.californiaphotographyworkshops.com   for details.

Please note that some of the motels are already beginning to fill up in Lee Vining. If you are thinking of attending the Bodie-Mono Lake workshop, you should make a reservation. They are easily cancelled later. We recommend the El Mono Inn or Murphey's Motel in Lee Vining. Links to other hotels in town, as well as general information about the area can be found at the Mono Lake website. Plan to arrive on June 19th, and check out on June 22nd. 

Even though the Monument Valley Workshop and Tour are not till Sept., rooms are beginning to fill up. Stay in Mexican Hat, Utah. Reserve your room at The San Juan Inn. Call 800-447-2022. Rooms run from $76 to $100 per night. There are a few other motels in Mexican Hat. 

Check out The Trip Advisor http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g57061-Mexican_Hat_Utah-Hotels.html for other motels.

When he died in a land-mine explosion in Indochina in 1954, Robert Capa went from journalistic celebrity to instant legend. Now, a veil of mystery cloaking the war photographer has been lifted, with the recovery of thousands of Capa negatives from the Spanish Civil War in which he had first made his name 18 years earlier.

Three cardboard boxes of black-and-white film -- perhaps as many as 4,000 negatives -- were recently delivered to the International Center of Photography.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/01/27/arts/20080127_KENN_SLIDESHOW_index.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013103452.html

Here is a refresher for those who are photographing fireworks July 4th. I understand the Rose Bowl is going to have new types of fireworks that are much lower than usual. -Keith

How to Photograph Fireworks:
Tripod - Perhaps the most important tip is to secure your digital camera to something that will ensure it doesn’t move during the taking of your shots. This is especially important in photographing fireworks simply because you’ll be using longer shutter speeds which will not only capture the movement of the fireworks but any movement of the camera itself.
Remote Release - One way to ensure your camera is completely still during fireworks shots is to invest in a remote release device. These will vary from camera to camera but most have some sort of accessory made for them. The other way of taking shots without touching your camera is to use the self timer. This can work but you really need to be able to anticipate shots well and its very very hit and miss. Note that many modern cameras don't have simple remote releases.
Framing Your Shot - One of the most difficult parts of photographing fireworks is working out where to aim your camera. The challenge you’ll face in doing this is that you generally need to aim your camera before the fireworks that you’ll be photographing goes off - anticipation is key.
Aperture - A common question around photographing fireworks is what aperture to use. Many people think you need a fast lens to get them but in reality it’s quite the opposite as the light that the fireworks emit is quite bright. I find that apertures in the mid to small range tend to work reasonably well and would usually shoot somewhere between f/8 to f/16.
Shutter Speed - Probably more important to get right than aperture is shutter speed. Fireworks move and as a result the best photographs of them capture this movement meaning you need a nice long exposure. The technique that I developed when I first photographed fireworks was to shoot in ‘bulb’ mode. This is a mode that allows you to keep the shutter open for as long as you hold down the shutter (preferably using a remote shutter release of some type). Using this technique you hit the shutter as the firework is about to explode and hold it down until it’s finished exploding (generally a few seconds).
Don’t keep your shutter open too long. The temptation is to think that because it’s dark that you can leave it open as long as you like. The problem with this is that fireworks are bright and it doesn’t take too much to over expose them, especially if your shutter is open for multiple bursts in the one area of the sky. By all means experiment with multiple burst shots - but most people end up finding that the simpler one burst shots can be best.
ISO - Shooting at a low ISO is preferable to ensure the cleanest shots possible. Stick to ISO 100 and you should be fine.
Switch off your Flash - Shooting with a flash will have no impact upon your shots except to trick your camera into thinking it needs a short exposure time. Switch it off.
DIGITAL COMPACT CAMERAS
Landscape mode or FIREWORKS SETTING
Set your camera to Landscape mode - typically designated by an icon that looks like a small mountain range. It's the same as setting the lens on a film camera to Infinity. With the camera in Landscape mode you won't have to concern yourself with focusing issues. FOCUS- Set your focus on infinity or use the manual focus setting

Here is something I think everyone should know about.
I recently received this e-mail about this new service and decided that I should check it our for myself.

It's a online digital storage service that allows you to store anything of value that is in a digital form. For instance, photos, important documents like birth certificates, passport information, tax stuff, address books, secret formulas, anything in a digital format and of value can be saved. Think of it as a "Storage Unit" but instead of physical stuff, it's stuff that is in a digital form and things you may not want to keep in the same location in case of a fire, flood, or god forbid an earthquake!

Two other very important thoughts....saves very important "real estate" on your hard drive and in case your computer decided to "Crash" you won't loose any of your valuable information. A threat that I really don't want to go to or even mention!

I just signed up for the free 30 day trial period where you can "test drive" before you buy. I'll let you know what my opinion is in 30 days, actually 29 days, I signed up yesterday.

Check it out for yourself, here is the address: www.novabackup.com

Let me know what you think in an e-mail or blog so other members can benefit from your wisdom!

Bye for now,
Brian

For photographers that love the look of infrared photography but lost interest because of the expense and hassle of going into the dark very time to load or unload the film in the camera here is a new solution...DIGITAL INFRARED!

I was always intrigued by the look of the infrared image because of it's dreamy appearance and softness. How infrared records everything not by visible light but infrared rays reflected from certain colors. I gave up infrared photography because of the hassle but also the cost which at the time was over $20 bucks a roll and that was just the cost of the film. So I gave up the look until now. I have found a new way to create the same effect by using a digital camera.

First you need a digital camera when I started to do infrared images it was before the conversion of a DSLR cameras and used an old range finder digital camera that was only a 2meg camera. ( which I'm still using today) I checked the web for digital infrared and I came up with 6 - 10 sites of photographers that had stumbled on the same technique.

At the beginning of my experimenting using my 2mg range finder digital camera I could put a true infrared filter over the camera lens and view through the viewing eyepiece. A true infrared filter is opaque meaning you can't see any through the filter. Hence the use of a range finder camera.

Recently the process of turning older DSLR's into a digital infrared cameras is being done by a few companies that will change the filter that is in front of the CCD sensor and come out with a digital infrared camera. The results are fantastic! I would go so far as to even say that the quality isn't quite the same as with infrared film, but it is pretty darn closes. Especially in the cost and hassle of infrared film.

Here are a few websites that will give you more information. Good Luck and may you regain your love for the infrared image as I have.

http://lifepixel.com Digital conversion services
http://dpfwiw.com/ir.htm#why Why Infrared
http//www.wrotniak.net/photo/infrared/ Image Samples from the Olympus cameras
http://echeng.com/photo/infrared/ This guy has some pretty awesome images.

Check out Adam's very cool photos from KYRGYZTAN. I imagine not many people are aware of such a place....including me!

http://ajahiel.multiply.com/photos/album/5

k

HERE IS AN ARTICLE THAT KEITH SENT TO ME BACK IN MARCH OF 06. I READ ABOUT USING A "INEXPENSIVE DIGITAL CAMERA" ( CHEAP )TO CREATE PHOTO ART LIKE IMAGES FROM THE HOLGA FILM CAMERA. BEING THE CHEAPEST PERSON I KNOW ( AND KEITH CAN TESTIFY TO THAT ), I TRIED IT OUT AND GOT SOME REALLY GREAT RESULTS. I REALLY LIKED THE LOOK OF THE IMAGE BECAUSE AS IN THE ARTICLE, THE CURRENT "LOOK" IS ACCEPTABLE NOW. I ALWAYS "ZIG" WHEN EVERYONE ELSE IS "ZAGGING".

SO I TOOK THE CAMERA ONE STEP FURTHER AND PUT A KODAK 87 4X4 GEL FILTER OVER THE LENS, WHICH IS A TOTALLY BLACK FILTER BUT IT'S A TRUE INFRARED FILTER AND ONLY LETS INFRARED RAYS THROUGH. NO VISIBLE LIGHT TO EXPOSE THE DIGITAL IMAGE.

MAKE SURE YOU GET A CAMERA THAT IS 3 OR MORE PIXELS. MINE HAS ONLY 1.5MP. AND BECAUSE THE FILTER IS SOLID BLACK, IT'S VERY DENSE HENCE THE LONG TIME EXPOSURE. BUT THAT IS A PLUS, DID YOU SEE THE IMAGE OF THE TRUCK? THAT IS THE EFFECT OF THE LONG EXPOSURE. I ALWAYS USE A TRIPOD, EXCEPT WHEN I'M LAZY AND DON'T WANT TO CARRY ONE AROUND. THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING TO BRACE OR SUPPORT THE CAMERA OR BODY ON, WHICH
I THINK ADDS TO THE "FUNKY LOOK".

O.K., SO FOR ALL OF YOU NON-TECH TYPES YOU MAY WANT TO TRY THIS OUT IF YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON A "CHEAP DIGITAL CAMERA". LOOK ON E-BAY OR ECAMERAFILMS.COM

AND "LOOK FOR THE LIGHT".....BRIAN

http://luminous-landscape.com/essays/funkeycam.shtml

One of the most common photography questions I get asked is about whether to shoot RAW or JPEG! It is a confusing topic to many, but it is really a fairly easy concept.

One of the most important differences is that when shooting RAW you have a 16 bit file with 65,536 brightness levels to work with. When shooting JPEG you have just a 8 bit file with 256 brightness levels. Shooting RAW is the way to go if you are a serious about digital photo quality.

Here is a good description of Pros and Cons of shooting RAW from "Luminous-Landscape" http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/u-raw-files.shtml

This is the lnk to Sports Illustrators photo department http://www.siphoto.com/ They have recommendations for the custom menu settings on various digital cameras. You don't have to be a sports shooter or even a lover of sports to make use of this information.
Please note that these suggestions are a guide. Many custom function settings will be to the photographer's individual preferences, but leaving these few set as below will assure that anyone who picks up the camera will start off right. -Keith

For those that travel with photo equipment!!!!: This link <>http://blogs.lexar.com/mattbrandon/2006/08/tighter_securit.html> has a informative article on airline security and carrying camera equipment aboard planes.

Flower photography requires lens that have a macro setting. Like a macro zoom lens about a 55-100mm zoom lens. Other equipment would be diopters & bellows which are less expensive then a macro lens. Reflector, diffusers, trash bags, cloths pins, black cloth, tripod, bean bag.

Most important is the time of day and the quality of the light (quality=soft light). Best times are early morning for warm soft light or overcast days. You will want to have a day where there is no wind or very little wind. Late afternoon light is also a good time, just before the sunsets. Use aperture to control what is in focus and what is out of focus. Find the center of interest and use the "Rules of Thirds". Use the tripod or bean bag to support the camera. Turn focusing ring to the closest focus and move your body in and out until the area that you want in focus is sharp.

Side lighting, back lighting, for a three-dimensional effect. Hunt for the perfect flower in the perfect light. Use the white trash bag or foil to bounce the light into the shadow side of the flower. The black cloth can be used to give a completely black background. The main thing you want to keep in mind is how to eliminate visual distractions. Shallow depth of field, black cloth, shade from another part of the plant.

Photographing plants are fun to photograph and wonderful because... there are no two flowers that are the alike ! Uniquely different, like people ! "Good luck and good hunting".

PATTERNS AND TEXTURES -When an object stands alone it can look unexciting. Add two identical objects and you begin to form a visually interesting pattern. The more you add the more complex and exciting the pattern becomes. Patterns and textures can be found all around us. You only have to look at the bee's honeycomb to realize that nature is a key supplier of these stimulating subjects. Look beyond the obvious in a landscape and you'll find patterns bursting out all over the place. The rolling hills, intruding fences and tree lined horizons all mix together to form spectacular patterns. The way the pattern falls determines how the eye scans the picture; vertical lines draw the eye upwards and horizontal across the picture. Use this to your advantage in drawing the eye to the key element of the photograph. Horizontal lines also offer a sense of calmness, while diagonal lines give a dynamic feel of movement.  Altering your viewpoint can make a world of difference. Shoot a forest of trees from a hilltop and you'll create a patchwork of green. Move into the heart of the woodland and the trunks will make bold and dominating lines running up through the picture. Go in close and capture the texture of the tree's bark. Shoot upwards and you can concentrate on the texture of leaves.  You only have to cut open an orange or a grapefruit to see a colorful display of patterns itching to be photographed. Look at the outside of a pineapple, the skin of a strawberry, the flesh of a kiwi fruit or the scales of a fish, they've all got something to offer.  Look for: textures in decaying leaves, flaking paint, blades of grass, wooden fences, stone walls, spiders webs - the list is endless. Go out and about shoot mud cracks, patterns in sand, crazy paving, ripples in water, roof tiles, fields, etc. There are good patterns the seaweed and kelp create in the ocean water.

Useful tips. Look for subjects with lots of repetition, but don't rely on regular shapes or the picture may become boring. Keep the composition simple and exclude anything that may break the pattern. Pick out the most interesting parts of the scene and move in close cropping out distracting backgrounds.Zoom lenses are extremely useful for selective cropping of the image - some have macro or close-up settings and allow you to move in really close for smaller detail. A telephoto lens can be used to tighten perspective but have a tripod handy.Strong sunlight mixed with bright colors makes bold patterns whereas textures appear at there best when the lighting is subtle.To emphasize texture dramatically make sure the light source is coming from one side to cast raking shadows and give a feeling of depth. Shoot while the sun is low, early morning or late afternoon, for the best effects. Look for contrasting colors such as blue and yellow. They can help define patterns and shapes. Keith Skelton Photos

LANDSCAPE (SEASCAPE) PHOTOGRAPHY

A landscape is a section or portion of scenery as seen from a single viewpoint. Scenery is the subject of a landscape image. Typically, people and animals are not shown in a landscape, unless they are relatively small in the image and have been included in the composition to show scale.

Unless you're independently wealthy or very serious and prepared to starve, your time to take landscape photos is probably limited. Particularly if you're visiting a far away location, you may only have a day, or perhaps a few hours at some magnificent location. In these circumstances, you'll have to take the weather conditions and lighting that you encounter as they are.

DIRECTION AND TYPE OF LIGHT
This is the key creative area that can set your photos apart from the work of others. Sometimes, you can be in the right place at the right time and everything is magical. Other times, you can wait a very long time for even decent, much less perfect, picture conditions. The character or quality of the light is as critical a component of a strong image as is the subject matter itself.

What are the critical components of the best natural light for photography?
-The sun low in the east or west — usually within less than 2 hours of sunset or sunrise.
-Fog, mist, rain or atmospheric haze.
-An overcast sky with strong foreground subject-matter.

STYLES OF LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
Three styles of landscape photography are recognized - representational, impressionistic and abstract. The representational style is also known as the straight or straight descriptive style.

-REPRESENTATIONAL
This style results in pictures that show scenery at its most natural and realistic, with no visual manipulation or artifice. It is a straightforward style - what you see is what you get. Successful images in the representational style are not simple snapshots. Light, timing and the weather are critical elements.

-IMPRESSIONISTIC
The impressionistic landscape photographer employs photographic techniques that result in images that have vague or elusive qualities. They are less tangible and more unreal, while still retaining their values that make them landscape pictures. The viewer is given the impression of a landscape rather than the clear reality of one.

-ABSTRACT
This style - Abstract - could also probably be referred to as the graphic style, since the components of scenery are treated by the photographer as graphic elements, arranged for their compositional values. Natural elements may be rendered as unrecognizable or almost so. Shape and form take priority. Elements may be juxtaposed for comparison or contrast, isolated by extreme close-up, reduced to silhouettes by severe underexposure, and so on. Design is more important than recognizable representation.

RULE OF THIRDS

-Keep the horizon straight!
I will never forget what a nature photographer once said about horizons in pictures: "When I see a tilted horizon in a seascape it feels as though the water is running out of the picture"

-If you can see the horizon, that is, a horizontal line separating land and sky or sea and sky, your first priority should be to position it as straight as possible in your picture frame. This sort of attention to detail plays a less important role when the horizon is being obscured by for example mountains or other objects that prevent you from seeing a clear horizontal line (invisible horizon).

-A high or a low horizon?
Place the horizon high in the picture frame when you want to put emphasis on the ground/land. For example, if there are interesting objects in the foreground such as rare rock formations you may want draw attention to them by aiming more towards the ground than towards the sky.

-Place the horizon low in the picture frame when you want to put emphasis on the sky. For example, if there are interesting clouds present such as cirrus or cumulus clouds you may want to use them in your picture to create a more dynamic composition (see Using clouds in landscape pictures) or just draw more attention to them by letting the sky and clouds take up a fairly large part of the picture frame. To do this, aim more towards the sky than towards the ground.

-How high or low you place the horizon in your picture is really a matter of finding the right balance for your subject matter. As a start, you could use the rule-of-thirds and place the horizon 1/3 from the top or bottom of the picture frame. Then move the horizon upwards or downwards until it is suitable for your subject and envisioned composition.


Keith Skelton Photos