Merge to Panorama
Panoramas
I must admit, I love panoramas. There is something awe inspiring about the view they bring with them. It really feels like you are in the place your seeing. A larger than life take on the scene. Here is a quick tutorial on how to stitch them together.
Sony Nex-5n Cable Release
Why would I want a Cable Release? It would seem the people at Sony thought asked the same question when they came up with the Nex series cameras. It also seems they didn’t find a reason. However, they did make the wireless remote control quite useful. So back to the question. The first and most important reason is to help with camera shake on long exposures. If you are a landscape photographer you know that to be able to shoot at F16 or F22 to get the depth of field you want the shutter speed is often very long. If you are using your hand to release the shutter there’s a chance that you’ll shake the camera and your images will come out softer than they otherwise might have been. One other thing I do often is bulb mode exposures. Bulb mode is when you open up your lens for an indefinite amount of time. You might be making star trails, or painting in something with a flashlight. You need to be able to lock open the lens and then close it whenever you decide you want to. I guess the other reason is for you to be in the image yourself.
Remote Control
In many ways I prefer the wireless to the wired. The Sony remote control allows you to use bulb mode. Push once to open and push once to close it. The 2 second button I use all the time to give the camera a little delay before anything inside moves. The only thing missing from the standard remote or inside the camera is a interval timer. I have found an interval timer remote control and it’s not he way. I’ll let you know how it works when it gets here.
Firstly a good tripod, secondly some way to trigger the camera without touching it. Quick Tip: If you don’t have a cable release or remote control, use your camera’s self timer feature. You can often set these to a couple seconds, trust me the default ten seconds sometimes feels like an eternity. Using the self timer will allow you to not be touching the camera when the shutter opens.
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The Original Chickenman
The Chickenman
My grandpa is the Chickenman, well, so is my dad, but we’re talking about my grandpa today. The original Chickenman. How many of you remember your school photographer? If you ask most people, they don’t remember who took their pictures or really any of the details, unless they were taken by the Chickenman. We have gotten permission to post this trailer of the Chickenman movie. Not sure when it’s actually coming out, I’m excited to see it!
Jon
Panasonic DMC-TS3 Rugged Camera
Panasonic DMC-TS3 rugged camera.
Do you ever have trouble breaking stuff? Do you want to carry a good camera with you but can’t afford to buy a new on every time you get it wet or smash it? Have a look at the many rugged cameras available now.
The rugged camera I currently have in my pocket is the new Panasonic DMC-TS3, it’s the third version of the Panasonic rugged camera. I had the TS1 skipped the TS2 and picked up the TS3. The factor that took me over the edge with this camera is the 1080p HD video. There was one other quality the TS1 was missing, that was speed. It took forever to start up, I was constantly missing shots waiting for that thing to get going. Let’s have a look at the features of this little guy.
Still Photography
I was pleasantly surprised to find out the still image quality produced by this camera is far superior to my previous camera given similar lighting conditions. The in camera metering and color metering work very well also. At least as good as any point and shoot I have used, better than most. The images come out bright and clear. Sharpness is good and the lens focuses fast enough. It has a variety of scene modes, I do use them once in a while. Most of the time I’m on the automatic intelligent mode, just to grab a quick snapshot and the camera will do a pretty good job. I wish I could force the flash on in this mode, however. So I often jump back over to the standard auto mode so I can force the flash on.
Durability
So far I have crashed on this camera several times. I did manage to put a small dent in the front, but it still works just fine. I’ve had it on me in the pool and also in several lakes and streams. I carry it in the sand and dust. It’s as durable as it should be.
Lens
The lens is wider than many point and shoots a 28mm equivalent and zooms in a fair amount 4X. I prefer the wide angle side to the zoom in a point and shoot camera. Te optics work well and the image quality stays good throughout the range. The lens doesn’t protrude from the body of the camera at all, which is a much needed feature for durability.
Video
Besides being a great little still camera, I shoot a lot of video with this little guy. You can only shoot 1080p video in the AVCHD format. It’s a good format but isn’t ready for sharing right out of the box, you have to import it into something like iMovie or Final Cut Pro X to use them. It does come with some Panasonic Windows software for converting files and doing some editing. The quality of the video this camera outputs is simply amazing! The image stabilization it does in camera is great too! I find myself shooting much more video than I did previously because I know it will look good and be usable. Not just a record of the event.
Here is a link to a quick sample video
http://youtu.be/tltjFTNulME?hd=1
If you are looking for a nice photo accessory, or if you have a lifestyle where a traditional camera just wouldn’t last, then definitely have a look at this Panasonic DMC-TS3. I have been very happy with mine.
Pay for School Pictures Online
Just wanted to make a quick post here on how you can order your school pictures online. It’s super easy! Just go to www.coryadams.com Then click the “Pre Pay For Pictures Online” link. It looks like the image below.
Then select the city your school is in from the list. Now select your school.
Now fill out the information of the person being photographed.
Now it’s time to select your portrait package. New this year is package 1 where you can get whatever size sheets you want! If you want all six sheets as 8x10s you can. So if we choose package 1, you’ll see the sheet selection choices pop up. Choose the size you want for each of the sheets. You can also add a CD of your image with copyright release for just $5 bucks. If you don’t want it please choose the No, do not add CD Upgrade option.
Then if you want to add even more sheets, click the Add-on Options tab and add some more sheets.
When your all done, click the add to card button. Now the package you have chosen is in the shopping cart. You can check out now if you like using paypal or a credit card.
Then print out the receipt it makes for you and put that into the envelope to go to school with your child. You don’t have to worry about your cash getting lost on the way. We are still happy to accept cash or checks in your envelope as well.
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: I have multiple kids in school, may I purchase a package for each one at the same time?
A: Unfortunately, the shopping cart will only allow you to purchase one package at a time. We hope to add this ability in the future.
Q: What if I lose my receipt?
A: Just give us a call and we’ll look up your online order and make sure you get the packet you purchased.
Q: I’m having trouble, can I call and talk to a person?
A: Yes, We are available from 8-5 Monday-Friday. 801-756-9474. We’re happy to help you.
Q: Can I just order the pictures later?
A: You can call in an package on the day of pictures or the day after and still receive the package price. You may also order your pictures on retake day for the package price. The packages have to be printed as a batch to get the prices down this low. Other than that the cost is more to get the prints made.
Q: I ordered a package but now would like to change that package, may I do this?
A: We can change your package over the phone on the day of pictures or the day after, any longer than this the packages are already being printed and cannot be changed.
If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to give us a call 801-756-9474 or email us chickenman@coryadams.com. We’ll promptly return your email.
Thanks for reading. We appreciate your support.
Baby Hands
Little Hands, Big Hands
New baby in the family? A favorite way to remember those tiny baby features is to take pictures of your baby’s hands and feet.
Try putting their tiny hands or feet in the larger hands of a loved one. It is beautiful to see the contrast in a photo showing just how tiny and soft their little hands are against their another’s hands -A dainty/caressing Mother’s Hand, A strong/callused Father’s Hand, A wrinkled/aged Grandparent’s Hand. It is beautiful to see that relationship held together.
Process Your HDR Images
Here is a video tutorial for you on processing an HDR image using Lightroom, Nik HDR Efex Pro, and Photoshop with a few plugins along the way. Let me know what you think about the video.
Thanks for watching
Jon Adams
Childhood Collections
How to Preserve those Special Childhood Treasures and Memories
A couple years ago, while vacationing at the Oregon Coast, I noticed my little girl playing contently in the sand away from our group. I took the opportunity to check out what she was so happily busy with. She had been digging and playing in the sand and created her own pile of broken sea shells, that no one else had picked up and cared to keep. I thought it was pretty sweet that she was so content to keep the broken shells. Knowing that she would be asking me if we could keep every broken shell that she found that trip, I snapped some pictures for her of her special collection.
Some treasures can’t be kept forever…a great way to preserve your child with their favorite collections is to take a few pictures for them to remember those items. It is much easier to store a few photos of special items, than to keep boxes and boxes of old baseball cards, glass trinkets, stuffed animals and sea shells collections.
My daughter was very happy to just choose a few favorite shells to bring home and have a picture of the rest!
Don’t Be Afraid to: Get Closer & Move Around
Don’t Be Afraid to: Get Closer & Move Around
Improving Photos by Changing your Angle and Getting Closer
I think you’ll agree with me that this would be considered a typical point and shoot photo. If I were to ask a person off the street to take a photo of this baby. I would probably get something like this. (Well except for the occasional person who misses the subject completely. Sigh…that it a different subject for another time.)
I want to show you that by moving slightly you can really add a wow factor to your images. Now look at what the photographer did to the next few images. I think you’ll be amazed that by a slight movement or turn, you can make a much better picture.
First try getting closer to your subject or zooming in, if you can.
Then just squat down so you are at eye level with your subject.
Better already, right? 
A little closer, we have now really caught the attention of baby.
Now if you wanted you could get in even closer, I think a lot of people are afraid to get close. But it really can add some emotion and make a dramatic result.
Now if we scoot back away from baby again and just move slightly to the side, it’s fun to get a profile, or even semi-profile of their cute little face and see them staring off at something.
And look how cute this shot is when we stand back up and hover over the baby a bit, and get their attention back up to us!
Precious…
These images were all taken at the same sitting, but look what moving a little bit did to improve the original image. Don’t be afraid to get in close and move around making your subject look this way and that!
Takes your kids out and practice this on them! Have fun!
Get Rid of Background Distractions -The Easy Way!
Get Rid of Background Distractions -The Easy Way!
In looking over some old photos taken years ago, I came across this cute one of my nephew munching down a banana. I love to look at those cute puffed out cheeks, and those chubby little fingers. But I don’t care much for that big ugly foot of his Dad’s hanging around the background. Sadly my eyes drift over to that spot.
Now days, we have Photoshop to fix problems like this. But there is still a better option! Before taking your image, always look around the background to make sure unsightly feet (or other such objects) are out of the way. Eliminating those types of distractions while taking the photo is so much easier and quicker than fixing them later in photo editing programs!
Save yourself some extra time by quickly glancing around your subject in a fast swipe before you click away.
Notice how much nicer this photo looks with that big foot gone!
