Canon PowerShot S1100 IS commercial draws suspicion...

Some Humor...

From The Onion . Com

People In Canon Commercial Having More Fun With Camera Than Humanly Possible

January 8, 2009 | Issue 45•02

NEW YORK—According to sources, the people in a commercial for the Canon PowerShot S1100 IS digital camera have expressed a degree of pleasure that far exceeds the enjoyment that any known consumer electronic device could possibly provide. "Despite what we're seeing in this commercial, no existing camera is capable of producing the increased release of serotonin and dopamine that these people appear to be experiencing," said Dr. Otto Hauser, a brain and cognitive sciences professor at New York University. "Features such as red-eye reduction and night display would perhaps trigger a very brief elevation of mood, but…oh, come on! They just high-fived, for Christ's sake." At press time, Hauser said the level of fun that the camera is providing has outstripped what would be even remotely attainable with a Jet Ski–brand watercraft and a 12-pack of Samuel Adams premium ale.

Is that the 70-200 L in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me...

Canon offers on-line dating tips
no were not kidding...

One of the more interesting features right now at the Canon Digital Learning Center is a guide called Quick Tips: Better online dating portraits. Apparently just owning the latest Canon Camera does not make you automatically attractive to the opposite sex. In an effort to correct this Canon has laid out a nice little guide to help improve your odds...

The guide is a good overview on portrature and contains some nifty examples that you can hover your mouse over to see both the right way and wrong way to make good portraits. Certinaly full of good basic portrait tips and worth the read whatever your relationshp status.

Quick Tip: Better Online Dating Portraits

In the past several years, the Internet has evolved into a place you can go for anything: Pay bills; find a job; get a degree; learn a new language; go shopping; and, of course, meet new people. In fact, online dating has become an increasingly popular way to start a relationship. Most online dating websites entitle subscribers to a profile page with introductory information about yourself -- complimented by one or more profile portraits. These portraits are the first look you have at a prospective partner, and them of you -- so it's very important that your online dating portrait capture you at your best, and be a technically pleasing image that has impact within the limited space of a dating profile.

Note the soft focus trees, which create a pleasing, but not distracting background.

ROLL OVER IMAGE to see what this shot looks like at f/16 (note the sharp-focus trees).

Many people ignore or waste this great opportunity to show themselves off, and instead opt to use older pictures they have lying around, or pick a snapshot from a recent vacation or party (or worse yet, a picture taken with a cellphone camera or a computer camera). These pictures may be fun shots or have meaningful memories -- but often they are poorly exposed, full of distracting backgrounds/other people, too widely framed to clearly see your face, or simply not a very flattering portrait. If this sounds like what you're using now, don't worry! This tip will give you the techniques you need to take a brand new, flattering, high-impact self-portrait that will help you stand out from the crowd!

And remember...

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Thanks.

Put the power of the Obama campaign posters towards your own use...

Obamicon.ME and others
giving the power of the poster
to the people!

Like those really cool Obama campaign posters made by Shepard Fairey? Want to make one of your own?


You are in luck!

No Photoshop skills are required to make your very own Obama/Fairey style posters over at Obamicon.me. The site hosted by Paste Magazine allows you to upload any image (or use a web/phone cam) smaller than 4mb, and they will instantly turn it into Obama inspired pop art with the click of your mouse. How cool is that! Obamicon.me allows you to download your creations and post them in a gallery with everyone elses. Of course some photoshop skills will still come in handy as they recomend .png or .gif files with transparent backgrounds for the best effect.

Additionally there are a couple of other options available on the net.

Obamafy is a photo booth plug-in from Dubi Kaufmann and is available for download here: http://www.dubster.com/obamafy/ It is only available for Mac's OS X 10.5 Leopard, so PC users don't even think about it....

VECTORTUTS has a nice tutorial by Zach Wentz
Creating an inspirational political poster.
"This tutorial is inspired by Sheppard Fairey's famous political poster series for the Obama campaign in the US. We'll be showing you how to create this style of design. We'll start with basic image editing techniques in Photoshop to get our guide layers setup, and then we'll jump into Illustrator. You don't need any fancy equipment to do this. I used an older mouse that still has the rubber ball."

Finally University of Washington's in the studio blog gives some alternate advice based on the VECTORTUTS tutorial but with a little more thought about the art rather than just trying to automate the process. In How to emulate the iconic Obama poster, Part II Author DavidW notes "One detail that I noticed about Fairey’s poster was his use of both hard lines and curves. That is, Obama’s features aren’t exclusively represented with rounded shapes, nor exclusively sharp-edged shapes. There’s a mix. I think that mix really speaks both to Fairey’s artistic eye and ability to communicate such emotion with relatively little (just colors and shapes)." To this end he goes on to explain his process to achieving a successful Fairey/Obama style poster.

Flickr has one of the best collections of Obamicon and other Obama/Fairey inspired posters, here are a few...

And remember...

Please share this link, and let everyone know you found it here at: freephotostuff.blogspot.com

Thanks.

Live-View and Movie-Mode with any SLR

how to get live-view and movie-mode with a 5D :), originally uploaded by miami fever.

DIY Canon 5D mkII

From Carlos aka- Miami Fever over on Flickr. Perhaps this is Canon Inc's inspiration for including video into their new 5DmkII. Even if it isn't the idea is genius. Now all of us SLR users can reap the benefit of the live view and movie modes available in nearly all of today's point and shoots.

From Miami Fever's Flickr photostream:

"I would find myself having to put down the 5D when I wanted to shoot a video, and vice-versa.
It's really nice to be able to shoot a video of some subjects whose motion and sounds (such as cars) add interest as you photograph them.
I don't do this for street shooting, since discretion is key, the 5D is big enough as it is, and video wouldn't really be as interesting as a still.
This should work with any camera with a hot-shoe and any point and shoot with movie mode and a standard 1/4" tripod mount."

Carlos gives the details of the hardware used in his custom mount over at flickr where he goes by Miami Fever. Pay him a visit and let him know how much you like his creation! You can also compliment him on his amazing street photography taken on the streets of Miami. Most of his great images are what can be described as available dark, capturing the vibrant night scene in Miami without the use of a flash. It doesn't hurt that his images often include many of the beautiful women seemingly roaming the streets of Miami. You can also check out Carlos's blog: http://www.miami-fever.com/ where he posts additional photos and information about his photo documentary of life in Miami.

Carlos is also adept at converting all manner of lenses for use on his Canon 5D. Check out his flickr "Gear" set to see many of his lens adaptations. Additionally Carlos runs a photography and gear oriented blog: Ask Carlos where he elaborates and answers questions about photo equipment, lens compatibility, and his overall shooting technique.

And remember...

Please share this link, and let everyone know you found it here at: freephotostuff.blogspot.com

Thanks.

DIY 120 SPAMera®

SPAMera®, originally uploaded by [ CK ].

Now you can have your camera and eat it too!

From Chris Keeney's Flickr page...

SPAMera®

This is my newest camera in my collection. It takes 120 roll film and yields 8-12 exposures. Made in my kitchen on 02.03.06. ~ 220 film compatible

Hormel // SPAM Museum // SPAM Family // SPAM History // The Art of SPAMography

more information about this camera at chriskeeney.com

Uploaded by [ CK ] on 6 Feb 06, 1.59AM PDT.

And remember...

Please share this link, and let everyone know you found it here at: freephotostuff.blogspot.com

Thanks.

Free Comics for Photographers

What The Duck

by Aaron Johnson

What the Duck is an online comic strip. Viewers are welcome to link, post, copy/paste, or save the strips to their own sites, blogs, forums, newsletters, etc.

Begun as a simple blog "What The Duck" has grown into a regular comic strip. Writer Aaron Johnson mainly tells the tales of a photographer duck as he experiences many of the same trials and frustrations as real photographers.

And remember...

Please share this link, and let everyone know you found it here at: freephotostuff.blogspot.com

Thanks.

Free Comics for Photographers

What The Duck

by Aaron Johnson

What the Duck is an online comic strip. Viewers are welcome to link, post, copy/paste, or save the strips to their own sites, blogs, forums, newsletters, etc.

Begun as a simple blog "What The Duck" has grown into a regular comic strip. Writer Aaron Johnson mainly tells the tales of a photographer duck as he experiences many of the same trials and frustrations as real photographers.

And remember...

Please share this link, and let everyone know you found it here at: freephotostuff.blogspot.com

Thanks.

PhotoShop Tube... Free stuff on YouTube!

Photoshop on YouTube, Fun and Educational too!

YouTube is a popular video sharing website where users can upload, view, and share video clips. The wide variety of site content includes movie and TV clips and music videos, as well as amateur content such as videoblogging and short original videos.

Although YouTube is most often associated with entertainment it has a vast collection of educational content as well. Photoshop is well represented with a wide variety of educational and entertaining videos available.

You can visit the YouTube homepage to search by key-word, or view some favorites I have listed below.

Don't miss these gems...

Dove Soap's "Evolution Makeup & Photoshop"
Watch a team of studio photographers and photoshop artists transform an ordinary girl into a supermodel!

Lose weight in Photoshop (makeover)

Makeover of a big lady. Just to show the power of Photoshop.

Extreme (Photoshop) Makeover

A photographer and designer shows the photo retouching process in detail.

HDR. Before and after.

Some of my works, before and after. Shows the effect after Tone Mapping.

Merge to HDR in Photoshop CS3 High Dynamic Range

HDR in Adobe photoshop

Curves :: Photoshop Tutorial Learn the Basics of Curves!

Learn the basics of curves in no time!


And remember...

Please share this link, and let everyone know you found it here at: freephotostuff.blogspot.com

Thanks.