Photos@514

Seven tips for shooting in tough lighting

2010-01-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

Photographybay.com has posted some tips for shooting in difficult lighting.It mostly applies to indoor, very dim lighting.Shoot RAWUse a Fast Lens with Manual Override or Manually FocusOver/Underexpose Depending on the Shot You WantDon’t Worry About White Balance…YetCrank Your ISO Up ModestlyConvert to B/W or Use Crazy Color ProcessingOnly Sharpen After You Noise ProcessThis should greatly help

4 Principles of Photography Marksmanship

2010-01-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

Photographybay.com has posted tips on how your stance should be when taking a picture. Similar to a marksman holding a gun, the guide suggests four ways on holding your camera:Grip & HoldStanceShutter ReleaseBreath ControlFunny enough, these tips co-incide with my philosophy of having a special forces type of mentality when shooting; stop being a machine gunner and hit your target right the first

Happy New Year 2010!

2010-01-05T12:00:00.001-05:00

Hello to you all!I hope 2010 brings you a great new year of health and happiness and much new and interesting photography. 2009 was a busy year and so I'm hoping in 2010 I can find the time to post very helpful and important tips.Take care this year and happy photography!

No time

2009-11-29T12:05:00.002-05:00

Hello to all,As you may have noticed, there hasn't been a posting since October. I've had very little time to write anything. So it looks like it'll be in the New Year that I write again.So I wish you all Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New 2010 Year!

A little badmington anyone?

2009-10-05T10:56:00.003-04:00

A funny image to start off the week courtesy of the Pentax Photo Gallery.

Photography T-Shirts – Cafepress.ca

2009-09-25T12:31:00.005-04:00

Click title for linkSince its FRIDAY today, I thought I'd post something fun.Ever walk the streets and thought, "I'd like everyone to know I'm a photographer!" (as if the big camera and lens wasn't obvious enough)?Well over at Cafepress.ca, you can get a t-shirt to do such a thing! They have pre-made t-shirts with funny expressions or you can have a custom one made with your business logo.Below

World Press Photo 09 Exhibition

2009-09-23T22:55:00.009-04:00

Click title for link For those of you interested in photojournalism, the World Press Photo association presents an exhibition of this year's most influential and eye capturing photojournalistic images from press photographers from around the world. "World Press Photo" visits 80 cities around the globe and makes its stop in Montreal Sep 4 – Oct 4 at the Just For Laughs museum. Featured highlights

“Ron Galella: "Photography With The Paparazzi Approach"

2009-09-21T22:58:00.001-04:00

On Oct. 7, the Centaur will be host to photographer Ron Galella's lecture and slideshow entitled"Ron Galella: "Photography With The Paparazzi Approach"He has been dubbed `` the most famous and most controversial celebrity photographer in the world.``For those of you interested in photojournalism or would like insight into the mind of the paparazzi, this will certainly be worth the look.The

TELUS buys Black's for $28 M.

2009-09-17T11:00:00.001-04:00

The company I work for for over five years has been acquired by TELUS mobility. The move was done by Telus as a means to gain further expansion of their mobile products, particularly in Ontario, prior to the arrival of new cellular telecom companies.For those of you wondering, it means exactly what you are thinking; Telus phones will be sold in Black's (Astral) stores across the country. What

Back to basics!

2009-09-15T15:39:00.005-04:00

Hello to all!Well I've been quite busy with my own photography business these past weeks. Now that the summer season is over, things have settled enough to start writing again.Since it is back to school for many of us, many of you are looking to learn photography in a formal way. For those of you who live in the west island part of Montreal, there is one location that offers such teaching.The DDO

Photo tip: Night Photography

2009-07-20T10:12:00.002-04:00

I had a friend e-mail me asking how to do night photography. I thought I would share my tips I gave him here. Night time photography is always as much fun as it it challenging. Here are a few tips to help it along: Increase the ISO of the camera gain faster shutter speeds. These may result in digital noise (graininess) but at least you've captured the content clearly.IS, VR or SR is only helpful

Photo Tip: Focus Point & Depth of Field

2009-07-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

When choosing a focus point, you are not really choosing a certain point to be in focus but rather an entire plane to be in focus. If say two objects are the same distance from the camera, it won't matter whether you choose one or the other because both will end up in focus.If the two objects are at different distance from the camera, choose the focus point on the object that is closest to the

Photograph: Place Ville-Marie

2009-07-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

Downtown Montreal at Place Ville-MarieFeatured in the Pentax Photo Gallery

Photo Tip: Compact Cameras for Natural Lighting

2009-07-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

If you're trying to take a picture with natural lighting in the evening and it seems a little blurred, try boosting the ISO to a higher number like 400 or 800 instead of leaving it on AUTO ISO. This will make the camera work faster and reduce the amount of blur in your picture.

Photograph

2009-07-13T13:05:00.001-04:00

Montreal Fashion & Design Festival 2009

Photography: Festival Mode & Design - Montreal

2009-06-19T16:03:00.005-04:00

The following are tips for shooting the runway shows at the Montreal Festival Mode & DesignSince 2006, I've noticed a steady increase of photographers at this annual festival of fashion and design. Whether that's because the digital age has brought upon more affordable DSLRs or simply more shows like Canada's Next Top Model or Project Runway have brought fashion even more into the mainstream we

Photo Tip: Better Beach Photography

2009-06-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

The following is from popphoto.comThe best time to enjoy the beach is one of the worst times to take pictures. Harsh midday sunlight can ruin your shots, so experimentation is key. Prevent your camera from automatically under exposing your pictures by keeping it in manual mode. Cameras with spot metering will also allow you to quickly adjust the amount of light you want to capture. When

Be Interesting... but be alone.

2009-06-16T11:33:00.004-04:00

The other day a customer came in with hope in her eyes. She was looking to get a Pentax so that she could use the many lenses she had. She was gleaming when I mentioned the current line-up for Pentax. But then I had to break to her the terrible news: very few if any K20D/K200D were available from our stores. We had one K-m that remained.As I had done with a few customers in the past several weeks

Festival Mode & Design - Montreal

2009-06-12T09:00:00.001-04:00

Montreal is one of the fashion meccas of the world and is known for its diverse looks and multi-talented designs. To the world, Montreal is known for it's many wonderful festivals including the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs festival. The Festival Mode and Design is no exception.This festival showcases many fashions of well known brands and labels including Bedo, Dom

What Lens Should I Buy?

2009-06-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

Click Title for LinkSummer time in Montreal is a great time to be taking pictures. There are many festivals, sports, events, concerts and places to see and find in our wonderful salad-bowl of a city. And when we are out, we want to make sure we have the right lens for the right type of shot. A common question I get is "what lens I should buy?" You already have your 18-55mm kit lens and now want

Eye On Photographers - Vincent Versace

2009-06-03T09:00:00.002-04:00

In the first of several segments in my new series on photographers entitled "Eye On Photographers", I will be introducing to you photographer Vincent Versace.Vincent Versace is a passionate portrait, celebrity and landscape photographer, Nikon sponsored "Legend Behind the Lens". For you gear nuts, he is one of the first to test new upcoming Nikon DSLRs like the D300 in a trip he had to Vietnam.

New Digital (Pentax) in Star Trek Movie

2009-05-11T00:00:00.001-04:00

As a huge Star Trek fan, I went to see the new movie. Although many of you may not be into Star Trek, this new movie will definitely appeal to those who never got into it and thought it was for the geeks (which it really isn't at all).After seeing the movie, I got to see what the new Pentax digital pro SLR camera will look like. It's a camera of the 23rd century and really helps Spock on his trek

D-Clic Photo & Video Show

2009-05-06T11:47:00.003-04:00

Living in Montreal for such a long time, I've come to notice that as artistic a city we are, there hasn't really been any photo related large-scale gatherings in the city. But this weekend, that all changes with the first photo & video show call D-Clic.If you've ever wanted to see what's new and upcoming in digital photography, learn about photography and video techniques or to see how you can

Picasa by Google

2009-05-04T16:00:00.003-04:00

This summer, you'll undoubtedly be taking many hundreds of pictures. Once you have them on your computer, they may become hard to look for or sort through. With Picasa 3 by Google, sorting through those pictures will be a lot easier.I've always been a huge fan of the simplicity and usefulness that Google products provide, and with Picasa that way of thinking certainly rains through.Picasa is at

The GRAND Return

2009-05-04T10:52:00.002-04:00

As general McArthur said in the Philippines during WWII when he had to leave, "I shall return". And as he did, I too have returned.The last month has been busy with studying and exams but now I'm free to continue in my passion and to share that with you.In the next few months, you'll see several blogs covering tips, skills, profiles of photgraphers and more.In the meantime, if you have any ideas

I'm quitting photography!? (Not really!)

2009-04-01T18:03:00.004-04:00

My April Fool's joke to everyone :P.As you may have noticed, I havn't been posting much this last month. This is because I got the flu but was mostly busy with school. And now that we are entering April, I really have lots more on my plate. So as such, I will not be posting anything for several weeks.However, I do invite you to check-out two sites that may inspire or enlighten you during this

Article - Photography's Sure-Fire Shots

2009-03-13T12:00:00.000-04:00

Click Title for LinkPopular Photography & Imaging just posted an article about five kinds of photos that "despite their simplicity to achieve, will leave your friends and family mighty impressed."They aren't hard to do and yet presents great creativity and imagination. NO PHOTOSHOP is necessary; the above photo used Google's simple and free Picasa software.You don't even need a DSLR as the first

Thought of the Day - RACE MODE!??

2009-03-12T20:51:00.006-04:00

The following is a personal rant. These happen seldomly but be warned, you may not like it.A camera has several scene modes. These modes tell the camera what kind of picture you'll be taking. When a person takes a picture and it doesn't come out the way they thought it would, they instantly blame the camera.AS IF IT'S A MAGIC BOX!?? THEY DEMAND PERFECTION WITH LITTLE EFFORT BY THE SO-CALLED

Photo Essay - Your Local Photo Lab

2009-03-10T17:03:00.001-04:00

Have you ever gone to your local photo lab and wondered how they were able to get your film back in one hour? Or what goes on in the lab to have your digital pictures printed? Since I've worked in a photo lab (correctly called a mini-lab), I decided to give you all a little tour of what is it like to be behind the scenes.Japan Camera was the first photo retailer to open a mini-lab in North

Photo Insight

2009-03-04T16:51:00.004-05:00

In the field, there are three kinds of photographers. A soldier analogy is used.There are support soldiers with the big guns who fire several hundred rounds and will maybe or eventually hit their target.Then there are the marksman. They don't necessarily have the big or fancy guns. These are the ones who train to get their targets with a single shot.Recently, I've found a third kind. The special

PMA 2009

2009-03-03T16:48:00.006-05:00

I usually won't talk too much about gear, but I thought this to be note-worthy to all you gearheads.Every year, at this time, many of the world's largest photographic brands including Pentax, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Fuji and Sony come together under one roof at what is called PMA. The Photo Marketing Association (which was started as way to reflect the importance of marketing photofinishing and

Photograph - De Maisonneuve

2009-02-18T21:45:00.004-05:00

Hey all,I've been busy studying at school but thought I'd use PICNIK to make a fun photo of the view from my computer lab.De Maisonneuve - View from 9th floor Concordia University

Photo Tip - B&W vs. Grayscale (facebook edition)

2009-02-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

[The following is directed to all with an emphasis to facebook users]Often people upload photos to photo sharing sites like facebook or flikr and apply what they think is a black and white look to it. However, this is not a real black and white look; real being the result of B&W film. All that is occuring is the lowering or removal of color saturation. What is left are simply shades of grey.

Featured Photo Tech - PICNIK

2009-02-13T09:00:00.005-05:00

The following is for allClick title for linkMany people spout the term Photoshop as the term used to fix, correct or manipulate a digital image. Although Photoshop, created by Adobe, is the industry's leading image manipulation software, it is also one of the most complex and highly difficult software available, not to mention expensive.Often people desire to make simple corrections like brighten

Filters

2009-02-11T14:18:00.001-05:00

The following is for DSLR users So it's been more than a month that many of you have had your DSLRs. A question I keep getting asked is "What filter should I have on my lens?" or "Do I need a filter"? Here's the 514 on that. Firstly, a filter will do two things for your lens. It will protect the lens and, depending on what type of filter, affect the image itself. Before I talk about different

SPECIAL EDITION - Street Shots with Magnum Photographer Bruce Gilden

2009-02-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

In this special edition of Photos@514, I thought I'd present this photographer Bruce Gilden. I am quite passionate about taking pictures of people but what Gilden does is to another level. No fancy digital gear, just a passionate eye... if though somewhat intrusive! He really inspires me but I think he may make some of you nervous! Those who are shy about taking pictures of people I caution, this

Photograph - Nightclub

2009-01-30T14:00:00.008-05:00

Today being Friday, "end of the week, time to go out and party..." I thought I'd share and talk about this club photo.One of you asked me how I do the lighting for my club photography. Though I don't want to get into the topic about flash just yet (saving that for later on), I will answer the following question:"Did you use the built-in flash or an external flash?" The (short) answer is an

Funny Fridays!

2009-01-30T09:00:00.002-05:00

I thought I'd end the week on a funny note!I've worked at Astral Photo for over 5 years and in that time I've heard, from customers, some funny terms for MEGAPIXELS. A megapixel contains 1 million pixels (those little squares).Here are a few of those terms. Enjoy!"8 megabyte (MB) camera""10 pixel camera""That camera with 10X megapixels?""6 megapickle camera""8 MP film camera""7 byte camera""10

Photo Lesson - Lines and Patterns

2009-01-29T12:00:00.000-05:00