Dwell - Explora Patagonia Hotel – Your New Bucket List Addition You’re waking up in a comfortable bed. You look over to the nearby window that stretches over the entire wall. A second of confusion followed by a simple, undiluted state of awe. Before you, green and brown rocky hills fall into the turquoise waters of the still, glass-like surface of the lake. Majestic mountains reach for the sky, their snow covered peaks looking more like a painting than the real thing. Yet this place exists, nestled in the wilderness of the breathtaking Torres del Paine National Park, in Patagonia, Chile. This is the explora Patagonia Hotel, the first remote retreat opened by the company back in 1993.
Focus stacking assistant for EOS cameras « Circuits@Home Focus Stacking Assistant [EDIT] Here is a build log of mini-variant of this device.[/EDIT] One of my favorite shooting techniques is focus stacking. Finished circuit can be seen on the title picture. The controller can also be set to “free run” mode. A single LED shows states of the controller. Even while connected to the camera, Focus Stacking Assistant allows camera buttons to function as usual. The control software is hosted on gitHub. The code has been extensively tested with Canon 5D Mark II and XSi cameras, it should work with any Canon DSLR with LiveView function. Oleg. Stop Motion Film "Zero" Contemplates Value Of Life "Zero" is beautiful stop motion short film about a world where people are born into a numerical class system. Our hero is born with a zero on his chest and is therefore faced with constant prejudice and persecution. Husband and wife film-making team Christopher and Christine Keseloz have worked on their dark fairytale for two years. Off-kilter and a bit creepy, their creation is ultimately heartwarming. The film, which recalls the early work of Tim Burton, won "Best Short Film" at the Naples International Film Festival, and other awards at over 10 other festivals. We don't want to give too much away, but watch the full short below. Zero from Zealous Creative on Vimeo.
How to Create Professional Time-Lapse Videos From Start to Finish A high-quality time-lapse is a beautiful thing. From the aurora borealis over Norway to the thriving metropolis that is San Diego, we’ve featured many a gorgeous photographic fast-forward through time, each of them put together by photographers that knew how to pull the most out of the time-lapse medium. But just because there are a lot of stunning time-lapses out there, doesn’t mean that the process is easy or self-explanatory. Creating a great time-lapse takes skills, and it’s those skills that professional photographer Vincent Laforet is partnering with Canon to teach you in an informative 4-part educational video series. The first episode (embedded at the top) covers the basics. Laforet jumps right in by telling you what you should be looking for when choosing the subject for and shooting a time-lapse. Here are a couple of examples of the kinds of incredible videos you can put together using this technique. (via Imaging Resource)
Add Lens Flare To Your Image The Right Way I’m sure most of you have taken one look at the lens flare filter in Photoshop and decided to quickly over look it. Well I am here to say that you might want to reconsider and give it a chance. With the right steps and processing one can actually make it look decent. Now I’m sure there will be a few people that will still think adding flare is asinine, and to that I say to each their own. Before you start this process you should shoot or choose an image that would already look believable having had flare. Make sure there is a directional light source that you can exaggerate with the flare. Once in Photoshop always make a duplicate layer. So now you have this flare but it is a blueish light that probably does not match your subject. It is now where i do all my dodging and burning and selective sharpening. Here are some more before and afters. Related The Best Fstoppers' Posts From February 2013 In "FS News" Phlearn Shows You How to Make Lens Flare In "Composite"
Six Great Long-Distance Bike Trails Without Cars | Cool Tools Many years ago I took a meandering 5,000 mile bike ride across the US, from San Francisco to New York via Idaho and Texas. I rode back roads all the way and it was a highlight of my life. But this long bike ride would have been 100 times better if I did not have to share the road with careless drivers, overloaded pickups, and logging trucks, not to mention suicidal teens in hot rods. Well, there are! Many of these trails did not exist as bike paths even a few years ago. John Wayne Pioneer Trail — 113 miles While this trail officially transects Washington state, only 113 miles of the final 200 mile trail have been developed (by 2007) and are presently open. Cowboy Trail — 195 miles A nice leisurely 5-day trip passing through the small towns every 15 miles on the Nebraska prairie. Katy Trail — 264 miles This bike trail which mostly parallels the Missouri River is a Missouri state park unto itself. Kettle Valley Rail Trail — 280 miles GAP/C&O — 335 miles
www.photomacrography.net :: View topic - Magnetic lighting stage for Bratcam When others have posted their lighting rigs, it's been a help to me. While there are a few things I want to do yet on mine, issues raised in some posts make me think it might be useful to show what I'm using. So here is the Bratcam's magnetic lighting stage. The goal was to have a system allowing quick setup and adjustment of widely varied lighting styles for a broad range of magnifications. I wanted light control similar to that of a good portrait studio—key lights, fill lights, backlights, background lights, reflectors, gobos, etc. And I wanted to be able to go from one setup to another with minimal fuss. Don Wilson, my fabricator, made me a U-shaped piece of steel to place around the back and sides of the Bratcam. The light stands are Noga gauge stands with magnetic bases. What’s great about the Noga stands is how quickly they can be rearranged, and how authoritatively they stay in place once clamped. A Stroboframe Shoe 300-405 ($9.50) screws onto the ¼-20” thread. Cheers,
Gallery: The Basics of Time Lapse Photography with Vincent Laforet Explorer of Light Vincent Laforet explains the basics of time lapse photography in this beautiful series. Travel with him from the rugged canyons of Utah to the Las Vegas Strip, and learn how to make your own unique time lapse movies. Topics covered in this series include: Suggested camera equipment and accessories needed to shoot time lapse, including how to use the Timer Remote Controller TC-80N3.
Moose's Nikon D3200 Tips, Tricks & Best Settings This online guide is a collection of my personal insights and experiences with the Nikon D3200, organized into an easy-to-understand resource full of tips, tricks and recommended settings. Howdy! If you’re new around these parts, I want to personally welcome you to my corner of the web. My name is Moose and in a nutshell, I’m a happily married father of two who has a passion for photography. Over the last year, I’ve been playing with the Nikon D3200 in real life situations and have collected an assortment of fantastic tips, tricks and settings along the way. You can think of this online resource like a secret clubhouse for newbie’s. If you’re ready to dive in, I just created a tutorial for Shooting Portraits in Low Light with the D3200. Need help with camera settings for other types of photography? If you have questions about the Nikon D3200, mosey on over to the forum. NEW! NEW! NEW! My D3200 Arrives! She’s Been Shipped!
CLC Let’s You Build Your Own Teardrop Camper With leisure time becoming all the more valuable, and campers becoming all the more expensive, we require innovative solutions to new problems. Thanks to the ingenuity of John C. Harris from Chesapeake Light Craft, you can now own your own teardrop camper for a margin of the price. Introducing CLC Teardrop Camper Kits! Easy to assemble, stunningly crafted, and compact, the Teardrop Campers is a must-have for every small vehicle owner. Despite its small size, these Teardrop campers are also structurally strong enough to accommodate all of your camping toys. John Harris was inspired by the fact that he owns a Mini Cooper, and still wanted to go camping. Despite being compact, at 5′ x 8′, it’s still large enough to accommodate two adults measuring in at 6’6″. Even though it might seem small, this teardrop is surprisingly roomy inside, and two adults measuring up to 6’6” can easily fit and stretch inside it. Get it from CLC here.
View topic - Automated Focus Stacking Rail. I've recently completed making an automated focus stacking rail, controlled by an 'Arduino' microcontroller. Here's a brief outline of its operation. Further postings in the thread will provide detailed description and images. The system operates from an external battery (currently dry-cells, but I have a lithium-ion pack I intend to use), and works as follows: 1) On power-up, the controller announces the current software version, drives the carriage to its intial position and waits for user input. 2) Using lens focussing, moving the rail, or 'inching' the rail carriage with the remote controller, the nearest element of the subject is brought into sharp focus (this is where 'live view' at 10x magnification really scores). 3) Using the remote control the lens aperture is input. 4) The user is then prompted for an actual dimension of the subject eg height or width, and this value input. 5) Next, the user inputs the same dimension above, but of the image. More to follow.
How to Make Time-lapse Video - Ultimate Guide Time-lapse photography is an interesting technique that records a scene or objects that has a slow state-of-change and turns it into a video that plays back in high speed. The easiest way to do it is to have your camera stationary on something that changes slowly (e.g. clouds, plants growing, etc) and start taking series of photo for hours or even days. Hours and hour’s worth of photos are compressed into a video with merely few minutes playtime, thus creating a time lapsing effect. In another word, it allows us to see the progress faster without having to wait along the actual time. In this article, we’ll show you how to create your own Time-lapse video. Understanding Time-lapse fundamentalsChoosing your camera for Time-lapse projectPost-editing your Time-lapse photosCombining photos into Time-lapse video Ready? 1. We’ll start by understanding some fundamental rules. To create Time-lapse effect, you basically reduce the interval for each shot and merge them into a 24-30 fps video. 2.
Moose's Low Light Portrait Settings & Tips for the Nikon D3200 Get a firsthand look at my process for shooting portraits in low light with the Nikon D3200. I'll show you the settings I used, along with some secret tips and tricks that can help improve your portrait photography when shooting indoors. As a parent, there’s nothing greater than capturing priceless moments. Much like a champions parade, he was carried to the “time out chair” to spend a few minutes reveling in his glorious win…or at least, that’s what he thought was happening. Once he realized he was on time out, the puppy dog eyes and pouty lips where engaged. While he sat in the chair, I realized this would be a perfect opportunity to grab a portrait. Much like I always do, I make sure and grab the shot first because you never know how long that moment will last. Remember, it’s always better to get the shot rather than to miss the shot completely. Knowing that I had a few more seconds, I decided to set everything up manually so I could get the results I was after. So there you have it!