Cardinal Photo Myanmar (Burma) Tour (with optional Cambodia / Angkor Wat extension)

Cardinal Photo Myanmar (Burma) Tour (with optional Cambodia / Angkor Wat extension)
	Small group photo tours and safaris All experience levels & non-shooting companions welcome Digital Specialists since 2000
If you're putting off seeing the wonders of Southeast Asia--Don't If you've always wanted to see some of the great temples and cultures of the world like Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Shwedagon in Burma (Myanmar), the "plain of temples" in Bagan, or the famous "one-legged rowers" of Inle Lake but have been putting it off, there are some good reasons not to. First and foremost, tourism is beginning to explode in both countries. It is increasing by 20% per year to Cambodia and 50% per year to Myanmar. While that is a boon for their economies it is making it harder to get the kind of "off the beaten path" experience each year and for Myanmar in particular the limited infrastructure is beginning to show the strain. Second, prices are climbing steadily. We start organizing our trips nearly two years in advance to get you the best rates we can but the tourist boom and declining dollar mean that each year costs only go up. So it will never be less expensive than it is now to visit.  We're heading back to Cambodia & Burma again in December and still have a couple openings for lucky travelers who want to join us on our world class itinerary. After that our next trip will be December, 2014. Maybe you wish you'd visited Thailand or China 20 years ago before they became tourist meccas. Avoid making the same mistake and join us for a unique, personalized experience of the local areas and cultures in these wonderful countries... You can learn more or sign up now by visiting the trip web page.

SanDisk Unveils 256GB Extreme Pro CF Card

The new 256GB Extreme Pro cards should be available in October for $989.95. Check it out here at B&H Photo.

The new 16GB Extreme Pro card runs $79.95 and is available now.

The new 32GB Extreme Pro card runs $134.95 and is available now.

The new 64GB Extreme Pro card runs $299.99 and is available now.

The new 128GB Extreme Pro card runs $649.95 and is available now.

Portraits of Earth, An Introduction to Landscape Photography eBook

Hey folks, just a quick note. I'm heading to the arctic in a couple hours, but before I leave, I've got a couple updates for you. We've just launched my latest eBook Portraits of Earth, An Introduction to Landscape Photography. This eBook teaches just about everything I could about landscape photography, stuff I've learned while chasing the light across seven continents. It's a book for all levels; photographers will find the education and inspiration to make beautiful photographs of their own, no matter what adventure awaits them. Check it out on Craft & Vision.

Connecticut Historical Society Photo Contest deadline 9/21

Connecticut Historical Society Photo Contest

Calling all Connecticut Photographers!

We want your photos of Connecticut! CHS is holding a photography contest in conjunction with the exhibition Through a Different Lens: Three Connecticut Women Photographers. The contest is open to professional and amateur photographers but photographs must be Connecticut-related! Selected images will be on display at CHS from October 11, 2013 – March 29, 2014. All entrants are invited to the preview reception at CHS on October 10, 2013.

CATEGORIES

Entrant must designate one of the following categories for each entry. These categories follow the the themes in the companion exhibition Through a Different Lens: Three Connecticut Women Photographers.

• Connecticut People
• Connecticut Architecture
• Connecticut Landscape

ENTRY FEE

Free for amateurs; professional photographers will be expected to promote the contest on their website or through social media in lieu of fee.

PRIZES

Best in Show:

• $100 Gift Certificate to Shortell Framing, 262 Sisson Avenue, Hartford
• $100 Gift Certificate to the CHS Museum Store
• Copy of the booklet Through a Different Lens: Three Connecticut Women Photographers

1st place in each category:

• $100 Gift Certificate to the CHS Museum Store
• Copy of the booklet Through a Different Lens: Three Connecticut Women Photographers

Viewers' Choice award:

• $100 Gift Certificate to the CHS Museum Store
• Copy of the booklet Through a Different Lens: Three Connecticut Women Photographers

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Entries must be mounted on standard mount material (mat board, gator board, ¼” foam board or Sintra) and ready to hang. Entries will most likely be nailed or velcroed to the wall. Photos may be any shape and size up to 24” x 24”. Photographer’s name and image title must be on the back of the submission. Photos will not be returned through mail by CHS. Photographer may pick up image at CHS within one week of the closing of the show (April 5, 2014), otherwise it will be disposed of by CHS. CHS assumes no responsibility for damage to entries.

ELIGIBILITY

1. Entries must be submitted by the photographer.
2. Entrant must obtain and have access to all necessary releases and holds CHS harmless against all claims and liabilities.
3. A maximum of 5 entries may be submitted per entrant.
4. Entrant cannot be a staff member or immediate family member of CHS staff.

CHS has the right to reproduce the image or use for publicity purposes to promote the show, crediting the photographer whenever possible.

CHS has sole discretion of hanging methods and presentation of work in the gallery space.

CHS reserves the right to change prizes and dates as a result of causes outside its control.

The decision of the judges is final.

JUDGES

Daniel Mosher Long, Professor of Photography at Manchester Community College
Paulette Mertes, 3-time winner of the CT Professional Photographers Association Photographer of the Year 
Jane Shauck, President of the American Society of Media Photographers, CT Chapter
Chion Wolf, WNPR photographer and on-air personality 

SUBMISSION FORM

Interested in submitting? Please print out the form below and submit it with your photograph. Submissions must be dropped off or received by Saturday, September 21, 2013 at:

Connecticut Historical Society
1 Elizabeth Street
Hartford, CT 06105
attn: CT Photography Contest

For questions, call (860) 236-5621 x245 or email Andrea Rapacz.

Downloads

Photo Contest Submission Form.pdf Download (90 KB)

Free Photoshop Template Tutorial Webinar

Photographing Wildlife – from Portraits to Action

Photographing Wildlife – from Portraits to Action
Roman Kurywczak 

October 19 & 20, 2013 Parker River National Wildlife Refuge Plum Island, MA

Sigma Photo will be sponsoring my weekend events including my program “Photographing Wildlife – from Portraits to Action” from 11am -12:30pm at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.  On the afternoon of the 19th, from 4pm – 6pm and on Sunday the 20th, from 7am-9am, I will lead a hands on in the field bird photography workshop.  Sigma will be there to provide some loaner lenses.  On the evening of October 19th, I will present my program “Photographing the Nighttime Landscape” at 7pm.  Details are still being finalized so make sure to check the refuge website as they add details.

November 2, 2013 Unique Photo Fairfield, NJ
Sigma Photo will be sponsoring my presentation ”Photographing Wildlife – from Portraits to Action” at Unique Photo in Fairfield, NJ from 2pm – 4pm.  Directions to the store are here.

January 18, 2014 Ridgewood Camera Club Franklin Lakes, NJ
I will be giving my presentation “Photographing Wildlife – from portraits to action” at the Ridgewood Camera Club on Saturday, January 18th at 2:30pm.  You can find all the information here.

45 Clever Close Up Photographs of Water Drops

45 Clever Close Up Photographs of Water Drops at http://bit.ly/17UhROT

Adobe puts more distance between Photoshop CC and Photoshop CS6 with more new cloud-only features

Adobe puts more distance between Photoshop CC and Photoshop CS6 with more new cloud-only features

Adobe keeps adding new features to Photoshop CC, with a version 14.1 update to Photoshop CC that adds a new technology – Generator for asset creation and other low-level image content scripting – as well as a bunch of bug fixes and updates that I’m sure all Photoshop users would welcome. But if you want the goodies, you’ll need to be subscribed to the Cloud version. You can get the full details on the update from Adobe, and of course updating is simply a matter of using Help->Update from your copy of Photoshop CC.

THE VISUAL TOOLBOX A new eBook by David duChemin

BUY THE VISUAL TOOLBOX Make Stronger Photographs   THE VISUAL TOOLBOX A new eBook by David duChemin When a friend recently asked me how I would teach photography if I were running a photography school, it sparked a long discussion. And then, because it's unlikely that I'll be running a photography school anytime soon, I started playing with an imaginary curriculum for a course that might, if you did one lesson a week, last a whole year. When I finished I had a 40,000 word book called The Visual Toolbox, and we're releasing that today. Use the promotional code TOOLBOX when you check out and pay only USD $17 OR use the code TOOLBOX20 to get 20% off when you buy 5+ Craft & Vision products. These codes expire at 11:59 PM (PST) September 17, 2013. These are the lessons I wish I'd learned when I was starting out, because some of them took way too long by just learning ad hoc. I spent too many years focused on the wrong thing, and in some cases, too many years not focused at all. What I know now is that reading books alone doesn't make us better photographers, making photographs does that. The Visual Toolbox is packed with lessons about the tools of the photographic language - the camera, the lens, and the more important stuff like visual language, composition, and learning to see. Most of those lessons are accompanied with real-life, honest-to-God assignments to get you out there learning how to make stronger photographs, not just learning to use a camera. The Visual Toolbox is 201 pages long: a big, gorgeous, PDF eBook, filled from front to back with the stuff I believe will make you more comfortable with the tools of your craft and more fluent with the language of this art. It'll take you past images that are sharp and well-exposed, to photographs that are alive and say something. Lessons include topics like isolation, scale, balance and tension, abstraction and expressionism, seeing light, understanding visual mass and energy, using negative space, using your lenses more expressively, exploring the effects of perspective on your image, and so much more. Then it's your turn and if you're looking for practical hands-on ideas to really solidify this stuff, those are there too. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE VISUAL TOOLBOX

Get the Fundementals Lightroom Preset System for Free!

http://photographypla.net/get-the-fundementals-lightroom-preset-system-for-free/

Today we’re excited to announce the release of our latest product, the Fundamentals preset system for Lightroom! Fundamentals can help you to significantly reduce the amount of time spent processing and editing your photos, and best of all, it’s available for free! Fundamentals can be download at no cost by anyone who subscribes to receive our deal notifications by email.

After confirming your subscription (for spam prevention purposes) you’ll be led to a page where you can download Fundamentals. The Fundamentals preset system works with Lightroom 4 and 5 and includes a total of more than 90 presets that can be combined to make countless combinations while editing your own photos. You’ll be able to save time by not needing to mess with sliders in Lightroom’s develop module.

You can read more details about Fundamentals here, and we also have a few simple instructional pages set up to show possibilities with Fundamentals:

• Create HDR-Like Effects in Lightroom with the Fundamentals Presets
• Create a Black and White Effect in Lightroom with the Fundamentals Presets
• Create a Vintage Photo Effect in Lightroom with the Fundamentals Presets

which plug-in is correct for the task at hand!

weinar has passed, but you can view the recorded version.

With the recent addition of Topaz ReStyle, it can be difficult to know which Topaz plugin is right for a certain task. Join Hal Schmitt from LIGHT Photographic Workshops as he discusses and demonstrates how he decides which plug-in is correct for the task at hand! 

https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/125007447

Summer 2013: Where Were the Monarchs?

Six of the last seven years have shown drops, and there are now only one-fifteenth as many butterflies as there were in 1997. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/09/logging-monarch-butterflies-mexico/2790039/



Summer 2013: Where Were the Monarchs?

by JILL on SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

"where are the monarchs? Over and over, butterfly gardeners from Missouri to Minnesota to Massachusetts wondered, “Am I doing something wrong this year? Why haven’t there been any monarchs on my milkweed?”

The sad answer is this: Nope, you weren’t doing anything wrong. There simply weren’t very many monarchs around this summer in the eastern half of the U.S. The reason is actually a combination of factors that started well over a year ago.

2012 Drought: Last summer, a massive drought across the middle of the country caused milkweed to suffer, and monarchs suffered along with it. Without this plant, monarchs can’t reproduce. This led to…

Extremely Low Wintering Numbers: Over the winter of 2012 – 2013, the overwintering population in Mexico reached an all-time low. The numbers are pretty staggering, actually – the winter population was a shocking 80% below normal. An average year sees about 350 million overwintering monarchs. The winter of 2012-2013 saw only about 60 million.

A Cold Spring: As if this weren’t enough, the monarch population suffered another blow in the spring of 2013. The monarchs completed their spring migration back to Texas, where generally this generation mates, lays eggs, and dies. This new generation was met this past spring with unusually cold temperatures late into the season, meaning this monarch population was slow to grow, mature, and continue the journey north. Ultimately, it led to many fewer monarchs making the migration journey, and even fewer of them completing the trip as far north as southern Canada, where they usually top out.

So, no, you weren’t alone if you didn’t see much in the way of monarchs this summer. They suffered a sort of “perfect storm”, making them rare in much of their eastern range in the summer of 2013.

Incredible Timelapse-like Aging Animation Made from Family Portraits

Incredible Timelapse-like Aging Animation Made from Family Portraits

"The video http://vimeo.com/74033442 is equal parts mind-blowing and unsettling. Created by filmmaker Anthony Cerniello with help from a couple of animators and a photographer, it’s a timelapse-like animation that captures the process of aging in a way we’ve never seen before. Trying to show the process of aging in pictures is not a new idea. Usually it involves time-lapse photography and a willing subject — more often than not one of the photographer’s children. But Cerniello’s creation is much more fluid, gradual, and maybe even “insidious” if you’re not fond of the idea of aging."

"To create this effect, Cerniello first brought photographer Keith Sirchio to his friend Danielle’s family reunion last Thanksgiving. They took photos of just about everybody there with Sirchio’s Hasselblad, and then parsed through them to find the family members with the most similar bone structure. Those final photos were then edited to look even more like the same person at different ages, after which animators Nathan Meier and Edmund Earle and Nuke artist George Cuddy animated the still photos to “morph” them from youngest to oldest in a way that looked as lifelike as possible."

To learn more about him and see more of what he’s put together over the years, head over to his website by clicking here.

The Boston Camera Club is very pleased to announce the first of many wonderful educational programs available to its members and members of the public.  This is a free program, though of course we encourage participants to join the club so they can benefit from our many other opportunities.  The Boston Camera Club meets weekly at the All Saints Parish Church, 1773 Beacon St, Brookline.  You can learn more about us at our website: www.bostoncameraclub.org, or at facebook.com/bostoncameraclub.

On Tuesday, September 24th, Jürgen Lobert, Chair of our monthly Electronic Image competition, will be speaking about Night Photography.  He will teach you all about equipment, exposure, light sources, and much more.  Jürgen's passion for photography began more than 30 years ago in an attempt to creatively capture places and moments in time.  Although he tries not to limit himself, and expresses himself through many types of photography, he often comes back to his love of night photography.  

Please join us for this special opportunity.  Club members are invited to also attend a field trip to practice their newly-learned skills and a subsequent critique night to get feedback on their work.  
I have attached a flyer.  Please let me know if you need any additional information.

Take care,Sam
Sam WestoverPublicity Chair | Boston Camera Club www.bostoncameraclub.org

7 Days of Complimentary Downloads: 50,000 Graphics and Images

To celebrate the launch of GraphicStock.com, they are giving away 7 days of complimentary access to download anything you want: 7 Days of Complimentary Downloads: 50,000+ Images You can download 20 complimentary images per day, including: backgrounds, textures, icons, vectors and any other images you want. GraphicStock is only giving this complimentary access to a limited number of users, so start downloading now:

Instantly Extract Images From Layers With Adobe Generator for Photoshop CC

Adobe has released an update to Photoshop CC and among the enhancements is a new (and rather amazing) ability to extract the content of layers and layer groups as individual assets merely by changing the names of those layers.

For example, with the new feature enabled (choose File > Generate > Image Assets), just add an extension like .jpg or .png to a layer to have Photoshop create a new folder with the contents of the layer as a separate file.

For a full list of what's new in the latest update to Photoshop CC, check out the Photoshop Help page at Adobe.com

See a video of this new feature here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TRz-gNdQFg#t=12

Read more about Photoshop 14.1: http://adobe.ly/16AZpYt.

CREATING YOUR OWN TEXTURES

This was found/copied/pasted from http://www.ononesoftware.com/blog/2013/08/16/creating-your-own-textures/

CREATING YOUR OWN TEXTURES

1. Visit your local arts and craft store

We drove to a local arts and crafts store near the onOne offices to look for paper that could act as a cool texture when blended with a photo. As it turned out, there was more than just paper available. Not only did we find a ton of paper styles in the store’s scrapbooking section, we found a variety of textures including rice paper, burlap, cork, and sandpaper, to name just a few. It's amazing how endless the creative possibilities are with all of these different textures. The best part is, the textures we found were inexpensive. We snatched up 18-20 different samples for use in our texture pack for under $20.00 and we were in and out of the store in under 30 minutes.

2. Scan your textures

Once we returned to the office we started sorting through the textures. Our initial thought was to set up the onOne studio to photograph them. After chatting with Dan Harlacher, we learned the much easier way to capture them was to use a scanner. Jonny was kind enough to scan the textures using his Microtek M1 scanner with Vuescan software. He scanned each texture at 300 dpi and 24 bit color settings. Once he was done, there were some minor adjustments we made to each file. In order to maintain the texture, we had to adjust the levels and in some cases lower the saturation to zero to get a texture that would work when blended with a photo. Each file was then saved as a jpeg.

Review:

• Scan at 300 dpi and 24 color bit settings

• Adjust levels, such as lowering saturation to zero

• Save file as a jpeg

SIMSBURY FLY-IN AND CAR SHOW

Welcome to the 28th annual Simsbury Fly-In and Car Show, to be held this year on Sunday, September 15th from 8 AM to 3 PM (Rain date Sept 22). We are the largest event of its kind in New England, featuring displays of more than 600 great airplanes and cars of virtually every type and vintage. Last year more than 12,000 spectators attended our show.

This year's special features include:

• Connecticut Air and Space Center presents the Gustave Whitehead replica aircraft and Andy Kosch's seminar:  "Did he fly before the Wrights?"
• Cirrus Vision SF50 Jet 
• Oshkosh Grand Champion Lancair Legacy
• Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome WW1 Spad and Tiger Moth
• 1920 Blimp Engine test runs
•  Formation Flying demonstrations
•  RE/MAX hot air balloon rides 
•  Free seminars
•  Many new car and airplane dealers
•  Exhibits by local vendors - crafts and services
•  Breakfast, lunch, Ben and Jerry's, many other great food items.

Our venue is Simsbury Airport, specifically designed so you can see our airplanes and cars up close and talk with their proud owners. Our airplanes range from antiques dating back to the 1920's, to homebuilts, helicopters, small former military aircraft, and brand new models on display by dealers. The Car Show portion of our event features old autos, brand new exotic vehicles, hot rods, muscle cars, ex-military vehicles, and new cars of almost every make. Airplane and car owners are urged to display their vehicles for judging, and we award trophies in many categories.

We are the Simsbury Flying Club, and proceeds from this event help keep our airport in operation. We are a non-profit, all-volunteer group, and receive no funding from any governmental agency. We are grateful for assistance by Porter and Chester Institute for our Car Show, by Chapter 324 of the Experimental Aircraft Association, and by our many Event Sponsors. This website will provide you with information about our event. Please click on the links to the left.

http://www.simsburyflyin.com/home/

IN THE NEWS: Click here to read a recent article published in the Atlantic Flyer about our 2012 Fly-In.

Creative Flower Photography Tip #7: “Colorize the Background”

Creative Flower Photography Tip #7: “Colorize the Background”

"Mylar is a highly reflective material, often used as an elegant gift box liner. When crumpled up and reopened, its wrinkles reflect light like a glistening, crystal chandelier. The effect is most pronounced in direct sunlight. For a multi-colored effect, I’ve created customized backgrounds comprised of several randomly-sized and colored pieces of both types of papers. I glue them to 3X3 square foot pieces of cloth that can be easily rolled or folded to fit almost anywhere."

Read the whole article here
Creative Flower Photography Tip #7: “Colorize the Background”

NatureScapes.Net  Editor’s Note: This is the seventh in a series of photo tips by F.M. Kearney on thinking outside of the box when photographing flowers. See all of F.M.’s articles in this series » - See more at: http://www.naturescapes.net/articles/techniques/creative-flower-photography-tip-7-colorize-the-background/#sthash.tjqsFFcf.dpuf

A Digital Day with Lewis Kemper

A Digital Day with Lewis Kemper 

sponsored by Canon USA 

Saturday November 2nd 2013

This program is a must for any level photographer working in today's digital world. A full day digital photography seminar with Canon Explorer of Light's Lewis Kemper. 
CAP will host A Digital Day with Lewis Kemper, an all-day seminar, on Saturday, November 2, 2013. The seminar will be presented at the Whitney Center, 200 Leeder Hill Drive, Hamden, CT, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (directions athttp://whitneycenter.com/contact-us/directions). The program is free and an optional lunch ($10) will be available. This seminar is sponsored by Canon. Lewis Kemper is one of Canon's Explorers of Light.

Some of the topics to be covered include:

• Getting the most out of your digital camera
• Light and composition
• Expanding the dynamic range of your images
• Use of histogram and highlight
• Custom white balance
• HDR
• Photoshop and Lightroom

Click for a flyer with all the details. This program is a must for any level photographer working in today's digital world.

Date: Saturday November 2nd 2013
Time:  9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Location of event (including the street address, room #, etc): Whitney Center 200 Leeder Hill Drive Hamden, CT 06517-2749 (203) 848-2641

Name of organization hosting: Connecticut Association of Photographers 
Contact name: Rob Macfarlane macfarlane80@cox.net
Organization's website: www.CAPinCT.org

Click for a flyer with all the details. This program is a must for any level photographer working in today's digital world.