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Friday, May 8, 2015
Friday, April 10, 2015
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Snapseed 2.0 Is an Impressively Powerful (And Free) Mobile Photo Editor
Local adjustments and repeatable edits make Snapseed a serious mobile contender
The original version of Snapseed is one of the most powerful mobile photo editing apps around and now Google has released the second version of it, and there have been quite a few improvements.
One of the biggest new features comes in the form of more localized adjustments that can be applied using a brush tool. So, if you only want a blue filter to affect a portion of the image, you can paint it on and off selectively.

The lens blur filter in many apps has always been a bit lackluster, but they have updated the new version of Snapseed to make lens blur actually look correct. For instance, when there's a specular highlight in the background of an image, they actually give it some spread and make it bigger like you'd see with actual lens blur.
Another interesting new option involves what they're calling the stack. The app keeps track of your edits across various tools and allows you to apply them to other images using copy and paste. That way if you want a series of images to match one another, you can do so quickly without having to remember your settings.
Predictably, the new version supports the raw DNG format now supported by Android, so you can actually edit raw files using the app. That doesn't go for DSLR raw files at the moment, but that's to be expected.

Having used the app a bit today, it actually seems very powerful and reliable, especially for a free app. The actual filters aren't typically my cup of tea, but they're a crucial point for many users and they're as simple as ever to apply. Now, they can also be locally applied using the brush tool, which might make them more appealing to advanced users who don't necessarily appreciate the one-press filter method for the entire image.
Ultimately, I'm extremely glad to see that Google is supporting Snapseed and continuing to develop it. I know many users were curious how it would progress after the Google acquisition, but it has clearly been receiving attention to get this many new features.
Download here in the Google Play store
Download here in the Apple App Store
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New Gear: Broncolor FT-System Continuous Lights With New Parabolic Reflectors
New continuous lights and reflectors let you focus your beam
For a long time, flashes and strobes have dominated photography lighting, but since the advent of video DSLRs, hot lights have been gaining appeal if only because of their flexibility. Now, Broncolor has some new continuous lights meant to work for photographers and videographers alike.
Each head attaches to an electronic ballast (or power pack, if you will) and has a lamp head as well as a focusing device. The lamp heads come in two different models. The 1600 is a 1600 watt daylight balanced light, while the 2000 is a 2000 watt tungsten balanced light. That's pretty powerful in terms of a continuous light.
The light is meant to be fit into one of Broncolor's new parabolic reflectors, which are historically pretty great (and very expensive). The focusing device at the end of the actual light can be used to either focus or de-focus the light by changing the angle at which the light leaves the reflector. So, if you want a softer light, you can defocus it, or if you want a more direct beam, you can go the other way.

According to Broncolor, the lights are also totally flicker-free, which is good for cinema capture, but it's even better for ultra-high-speed shooting, where flickr can be a real pain to deal with. Their high output also helps in that regard.
We haven't seen official pricing info, but, it's a safe bet that they won't be cheap. Broncolor is also using them as a platform to introduce some new sizes for their parabolic reflectors, including an much smaller one that seems like it would excel in a single person shot.
Have you considered making the switch to hot lights? Do you think hot lights will catch up to flash as the first choice of photographers?
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Wednesday, April 8, 2015
New Gear: DJI Phantom 3 Quadcopter Drone Gets Is Optimized for Photos and Videos
One of the most widely-used drones gets serious camera upgrades and a reasonable price
When it comes to camera drones, DJI is the big boy on the block and now they have updated their super popular line with the Phantom 3 Advanced Quadcopter.
There are two different options if you want to buy a Phantom 3. $1,000 will buy you a copter with a gimbal-mounted 1080p 60 fps camera, while jumping up to $1,259 will push the camera's capabilities all the way up to ultra-high definition 4K footage. Yes, that's still a considerable amount of money, but considering what you get for the price, the Phantom 3 is actually a pretty good deal. After all, this thing isn't a toy, but a real piece of photo and video gear.
Both camera options are capable of capturing 12-megapixel photos in either JPEG or even DNG raw files. You can control the direction of the camera and its stabilized by a gimbal, which uses internal sensors to rotate as it moves and prevents camera wiggle.
The drone connects to your smartphone or tablet wirelessly, so you can have live view while controlling the drone with the dedicated remote. It can also reportedly get 25-minutes of flying time on a full battery charge despite stronger motors.
They're up for pre-order right now
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Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Hands On: Lensbaby Velvet 56 Lens
We spent some quality time with Lensbaby's newest manual focus lens
This morning Lensbaby announced their latest stand-alone lens, the Velvet 56, adding to its growing stable of lenses that are independent from the company’s optic swap system. The Velvet 56 is a 56mm f/1.6 intended to be a portrait lens. The surprises come in the form of a uniquely hazy look at the largest apertures and an ability to focus as close as 5 inches from the front element with a maximum magnification of 1:2, putting it on par with lenses marketed as dedicated macro lenses.
According to the company, the Velvet 56 was designed with classic, mid-20th century portrait lenses in mind. As such, it has a metal lens barrel with a smooth, well-damped manual focus action. The Velvet 56 has a long turning radius from near to far focus giving it plenty of fine-focus control. We also found that when we used it with the electronic rangefinder feature of the Nikon D4s, the camera consistently told us it was in focus, when it was really wasn’t. Since there is no communication between the camera and the lens, you can’t really blame the Velvet 56 for this, but we warn you to be aware of this if you’re a Nikon shooter. We suggest bracketing your focus when first using the lens to get used to looking through the haze when shooting with the lens wide open.
The aperture range covers f/1.6 through f/16 with click stops at all the standard whole-stop apertures. We found the detents on the click stops to be a bit light and actually skipped over f/2 a few times. The dreamy soft focus effect is at its most pronounced with the lens wide open at f/1.6, though it remains prominent through f2.8. By the time you reach f/4 the effect is relatively minimized. At those widest apertures, the bokeh of the Velvet 56 is unlike anything we’ve seen before.
The Velvet 56 will come in both a black finish and a silver finish that Lensbaby is calling the Velvet SE. At launch they will be available in Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and Sony A mounts. Mounts for Fuji X, Micro Four Thirds, Samsung NX, and Sony E systems are expected in early May 2015. These ILC versions will come with a lens hood while the DSLR versions will not. The black version of the Velvet 56 is expected to cost $500, while the Velvet SE is expected to cost $600. The Velvet 56 will be available to order starting April 13, 2015.
As mentioned, we conducted our field-testing of the Velvet 56 using the Nikon D4s. The images in the accompanying slideshow were converted from RAW files into TIFFs using the latest version of Adobe Raw Converter in Adobe Photoshop CC. Adjustments were made for exposure, white balance, contrast, noise reduction, sharpness, and highlight and shadow detail. They were then converted to JPEGs for the purpose of posting to the web.
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Sample Image Gallery: Lensbaby Velvet 56
Lensbaby Velvet 56
Lensbaby Velvet 56
Lensbaby Velvet 56
Lensbaby Velvet 56
Lensbaby Velvet 56
Lensbaby Velvet 56
Lensbaby Velvet 56
Lensbaby Velvet 56
Lensbaby Velvet 56
Lensbaby Velvet 56
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Monday, April 6, 2015
This Nikon Selfie Stick Is Not an April Fool's Joke
Let the angry comments begin
Selfie sticks are a hot topic on the internet right now. Some people are putting them to prolific use, while others reach for the rage emoticons at the mere mention of their existence. Nikon, however, recognizes the trend and has thrown their hat into the selfie stick ring with the N-MP001.
It even seems a little weird to hear a selfie stick with an official Nikon product title like that, but there it is on the Nikon site. It collapses down to about 7 1/4-inches and stands 28.5-inches long when extended. It weighs less than half a pound and can only support smaller cameras like compacts. They gave it a foam handle to make it easier to hold onto and a fixed pan-head so you can rotate the camera.
No doubt, some of you have already headed to the comments to talk about how much you hate "selfie sticks" but I don't hold it against Nikon at all for making one. In fact, this one actually looks kind of nice. And if they want compact cameras to try and keep up with smartphones for casual users, this seems like a no-brainer for them.
The downside to the official Nikon selfie stick is that it will cost $60, which makes it the price of a real piece of gear. But, since this one is actually built like a real piece of equipment, you can use it for other things, like shooting from a high angle or holding an action cam for a unique angle on an interesting activity.
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Your Best Shot Finalists: March 2015
This month's collection of amazing work from our talented readers
For the past several months, we have been hard at work creating a new version of PopPhoto.com. [Depending on when you're reading this, you might be looking at it right now.] As a result, we have been a bit behind on posting some of the large finalist galleries here on the site for Your Best Shot and Photo Challenge. Now, we're ready to get caught up, and this awesome gallery of images from Your Best Shot: March 2015 is a great place to start.
This month's collection of photos represents the usual breadth of genres we've come to expect from dramatic landscapes to light-hearted portraits. The connecting thread is that every single one of them was shot and submitted by one of our talented readers.
So, check out the gallery and get inspired. Then go shooting. Then share your photos with us. It's a beautiful cycle.
CLICK HERE TO LAUNCH THE GALLERY
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Your Best Shot Finalists Gallery: March 2015
White Gown
Last Light at Bonsai Rock
Line Of thoughts
Double Arch Panorama at Night
Oil and Water Don't Mix!
Go With Flow
"Into Orbit"
Blush
Spring Goat
Dogsled odyssey
After Rain
Breaking Through
Eroding Beauty
The Tunnel
Kiss
Over the walls
Between the Storms
Morning dreams...
Heath
Sophia and Ruby
Punk still not dead
Peace
Heron in A Tree
Ziggy
O O
Wings
Happy Dog
Star Trails Selfie
The Dance
The Game of Chance
Cora
Primal tendencies.
Obsidian Poised
Urban Ballet
Trixie Looking for Squirrels
Blew Jay Fight
Tiffany's Blues
due any time
coming storm
Flyover
Among The Giants
Beauty in Insects
Day Ends, Day Dream
Housing the Brave
Lera
Inside
Rising Milky Way
Massage parlour
50 shades of fear
Boxed In
Wings
The Magical Light Bulb
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