Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Jason Bradley Workshops


Thanks to everyone who attended Jason Bradley's workshop last Saturday at Camera West in Walnut Creek. Participants got hands on instruction from a true expert in Lightroom and digital workflow.

And we are pleased to remind you that Jason is back again this Saturday for another great seminar, this one focusing on the digital workflow between Lightroom and Photoshop.



Contact us at Camera West in Walnut Creek to sign up.

(925) 935-1424

Sunday, May 29, 2011

The World's Most Expensive Camera


This 1923 Leica 0-series just sold yesterday at auction for 1.89 million. 

After a tough bidding battle starting at 200.000 Euro, and lasting for 20 minutes, the highlight of the WestLicht Auction, the extremely rare Leica of the 0-series from 1923, sold for a staggering 1.320.000 Euro (USD 1.89 million) including the premium. The bidder, a private collector from Asia, is now the new owner of the most expensive camera ever sold worldwide.



More pictures and details: http://www.westlicht-auction.com/index.php?id=215742&acat=215742&lang=3

Thursday, May 26, 2011

New From Leica : V-Lux 30



Leica has launched a new compact camera, the V-Lux 30. Aimed at "travel and urban" photographers, it offers a 16x zoom lens (a Leica DC Vario-Elmar 4.3-68.8mm f/3.3-5.9 ASPH, equivalent to 24-384mm in 35mm format) and includes a newly-developed 14.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, and HD video in 1080i-AVCHD format.

It also offers a 3D mode, in which two photographs are taken in sequence (in a 'stereoscopic pair') and then combined together to create a 3D image in MPO format, which can be viewed on 3D-compatible screens.

The camera features a 3-inch touch-screen LCD display and both manual and automatic controls. It shoots stills in a variety of formats - 16:9, 3:2, 4:3 and 1:1 - and at a variety of resolutions, from 4320x2432 pixels to 480x480 pixels. It offers sensitivity from ISO 100-1600, shutter speeds from 1/4000s-60s, and continuous shooting modes at a full resolution of 14.1 megapixels at an impressive 10 pictures/second while the high-speed mode can even offer 60 pictures/second at a resolution of 3.5 megapixels.

Hope to see this amazing camera in our stores sometime in June.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Last Chance To Sign Up

Jason Bradley's A Natural Flow of Work workshop is this Saturday in Walnut Creek. There is still room to sign up.

If you use Adobe's Lightroom and want to get the most from this powerful photo application, be sure to contact us here at Camera West in Walnut Creek to reserve your spot.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Timelapse Helper



Just found this cool new app for the iPhone.

I love shooting timelapses, but I get a headache trying to figure out how many shots I need to take for, say a 2 minute video with 1 shot per every 3 seconds interval and placing that on a timeline of 24 frames per second.

No more headaches!

http://sighmon.com/timelapse-helper/

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Stanley Kubrick's Chicago, 1949

Stanley Kubrick is reflected in a mirror as he photographs a Chicago show girl
Few people realize that before he started making movies such as Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick was a photojournalist. In the summer of 1949, Look magazine sent him to Chicago to shoot pictures for a story called “Chicago City of Contrasts".

Here are some of his images released from the Library of Congress :










Sunday, May 15, 2011

How Much is Your Self Portrait Worth?


This 1981 self-portrait taken by celebrated photographer Cindy Sherman was sold at a Christie's auction last week. The final price…a record $3,890,500. The buyer was New York dealer Philippe Segalot, a former head of contemporary art for Christie's and now a private adviser to some of the world's richest art collectors.

So what's so special about a photo of a girl on a tile floor? And what drives that unimaginable price? David Ross, former director of the Whitney and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, says that mainly, it's a function of two people wanting the same thing: "What matters to most of those collectors is winning. When art becomes a competitive sport," Ross says, "all it takes to win is the guts and the money to go further than anyone else, and then, voila, you win. And winning feels really good."

"We're living in a world of funny money," says Ross. "And money is not really a measure of anything anymore because ... it's thrown around in such unpredictable ways."

Ross, a friend of Sherman's, remembers when she was selling photos for $500 a pop. He says he's really happy for her, but that in the world of art auctions, generalizations are dangerous. That record could be broken again next week.

Friday, May 6, 2011

96 Frames per Second


This is a frame grab from the amazing Red Epic 5K resolution video camera. This single frame has more resolution and dynamic range than a Canon 1D Mark 4, and the Red Epic can shoot 96 frames per second!

Tom Lowe, the photographer/videographer shot footage of the birds at Salton Sea in California. You can watch the video footage here:

www.vimeo.com/20807374

Also check out the following from Lowe. You'll be amazed. He is THE master at shooting time-lapses. Nobody does it better.

http://www.timescapes.org/