Jan 27 2012

Sigma Corporation of America announces the passing of Michihiro Yamaki

Category: Business & Marketing, Technology Insights, The Industry — djordan @ 11:51 am

Imaging manufacturer’s pioneering CEO, founder led company for more than 50 years

RONKONKOMA, NY, Jan. 27, 2012 – With great sadness, Sigma Corporation of America today announced the passing of Sigma Corporation’s founder and CEO Michihiro Yamaki. He died of liver cancer in Tokyo, Japan, on Jan. 18 at the age of 78

“We are deeply saddened by this loss,” said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, president of Sigma Corporation of America. “Mr. Yamaki was an industry visionary, and his leadership and enthusiasm has been the driving force behind our company’s innovation for more than 50 years. We’re sending our deepest condolences to the Yamaki family, and our entire Sigma family around the world, during this very difficult time.”

Yamaki founded Sigma Corporation on Sept. 9, 1961 with the development of the first-ever rear attached lens converter. At that time, most photo enthusiasts believed that a lens converter could only be attached to the front of a camera lens and the 27-year-old optical engineer turned conventional optical theory on its head. Sigma Corporation celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011 with Yamaki still at the company’s helm.

Throughout his years in the photo industry, Yamaki has been focused on producing high-quality, high-performance photographic technology at moderate prices. His goal for the company has always been to make outstanding image quality accessible to all photographers. To this end, he grew the family-owned organization into a leading researcher, developer, manufacturer and service provider of lenses, cameras and flashes. The company is now known as the largest, independent SLR lens manufacturer in the world, producing more than 50 current lenses that are compatible with most manufacturers, including Sigma, Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax and Sony.

In 2008, under Yamaki’s direction, Sigma Corporation purchased Foveon, a California-based company that’s renowned for developing the X3 image sensor technology. This patented, three-layer image sensor captures all primary RGB colors at each pixel location arranged in three layers to deliver outstanding, high-resolution, high-definition images with impressive three-dimensional detail and rich gradation. Last year, the company announced the arrival of its SD1, a groundbreaking, 46-megapixel direct image sensor camera, offering more megapixels than any other DSLR currently on the market. Sigma Corporation continued its theme of addressing gaps in the industry and the needs of photographers by kicking off 2012 with the launch of its new, Digital Neo (DN) line of lenses for Micro Four Thirds and E-mount camera systems.

In addition to his inventions and photographic foresight, Yamaki made many other contributions to the industry in his 78 years of life. He served organizations such as: the Japan Photographic Enterprises Association, Japan Machinery Design Center, Japan Optomechatronics Association, Photographic Society of Japan, and Japan Camera Industry Institute. He has also been honored with the “Person of the Year” award from The Photoimaging Manufacturers & Distributors Association (PMDA), the “Hall of Fame” award from the International Photographic Council (IPC), and the Golden Photokina Pin for his longtime contribution to the imaging industry.

About Sigma Corporation

For more than 50 years, Sigma Corporation’s expertise and innovation has driven the company’s core philosophy of “knowledge, plus experience, plus imagination,” with an emphasis on producing high-quality, high-performance photographic technology at moderate prices. This family-owned organization is the largest, independent SLR lens manufacturer in the world, producing more than 40 lenses that are compatible with most manufacturers, including Sigma, Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax. Sigma Corporation also produces digital SLR cameras and high-definition digital compact cameras. The company is headquartered in Japan, with offices strategically located throughout Europe, Asia and North America. For information, please visit www.sigmaphoto.com.

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Jan 05 2012

WPPI Announces “This is My WPPI” Video Contest

Category: Business & Marketing, Online Resources, The Industry — djordan @ 9:27 am

Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) announces today the “This is My WPPI” video contest. Open to seasoned professional photographers as well as those just beginning their photography career, WPPI is looking for the best 30-second video clip creatively expressing what makes it “your” WPPI.  Photographers are encouraged to submit their most imaginative, original and memorable “This is My WPPI” video for a chance to win a trip to attend WPPI 2012 in Las Vegas, NV.

Videos will be voted on by the public. The video that receives the most votes on the www.wppionline.com site will receive national exposure on WPPIonline.com, Rangefinder magazine and a trip to WPPI 2012. The winner will receive a 4-night/5-day prize package from (2/19/12 – 2/23/12) including round-trip airfare plus hotel accommodations, ground transportation and a full registration pass to WPPI 2012.

“Our first video contest was such a huge success and so much fun that we just had to bring back this opportunity again,” said George Varanakis, Show Director of WPPI and Publisher of Rangefinder.  “We can’t wait to see how creative photographers can get as they tell the public why this is their WPPI. Is it about the education, the inspiration, the energy of Vegas, making new friends and catching up with old ones? We want to know why WPPI is important to our photography community. And we want to see people have a lot of fun with this.”

Directions to enter the “This is MY WPPI” video contest:

  • Complete a 30-second video (max 100 MB). Video files must be provided in one of the following file formats: .MPEG; .MOV; .AVI;  .WMV; MP4.
  • Name video file as first and last name. Example:  FirstName_LastName
  • Fill in the subject line: This is My WPPI Video
  • Fill in the body of email: First and Last Name, Email and Phone Number
  • Upload video file here.

The contest is open to legal U.S. residents, age 18 and over. Limit one entry per person. The contest is open to entries until Monday, January 9, 2012 (at 11:59 p.m. PT). The winner will be announced January 18, 2012. For full “This is My WPPI” 2012 Video Contest Rules click here. Contestants will be disqualified if directions and rules are not met.

All WPPI 2012 classes, events and trade show will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, from February 16-23, 2012. WPPI is the biggest show in the world for wedding and portrait photographers. Last year, more than 16,000 professional photographers gathered in Las Vegas, NV, to learn from the best and see the latest and greatest products from the hundreds of exhibitors that participate in the trade show.

Popular programs and events like Launch Pad, WPPI Plus, Photographers Ignite and the Awards Night extravaganza, as well as helpful features like Pre-Board, will make WPPI 2012 the most exciting ever.

Registration for all WPPI 2012 classes, workshops, events and the trade show is open now: http://www.wppionline.com/show/register.shtml . The Full Registration pass is $259 for WPPI members and $399 for non-WPPI members. These rates include one (1) free guest pass, 90 Platform classes to choose from and admission to special evening events and the biggest 3-day trade show for wedding and portrait photographers. For information on class offerings and schedules please visit: http://www.wppionline.com/show/classes.shtml

For more information about WPPI 2012 and all of its workshops and events, please visit: www.wppionline.com .

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Feb 21 2011

ASPP eNews Blog: A Wealth of Photo Industry Information for ALL

Category: Business & Marketing, Online Resources, The Industry — Ethan G. Salwen @ 6:51 am

The American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP) has done a great service to all serious photographers by, 1) Turning their email newsletter into the ASPP eNews blog, and 2) Making this blog available to all — for free, no sign in required. Very, very cool.

Check it out, and if you like what you see, add it to you feeds or sign up for email alerts.

AfterCapture Blog_110221_ASPP eNews_1

What’s ASPP?

ASPP is a unique photography industry association in that it includes photographers and picture agencies and picture researchers and end users, a.k.a. publishers. This means that when you are part of ASPP, you are not just dealing with your colleague-competitors, but also networking with your colleague-potential-clients.

AfterCapture Blog_110221_ASPP eNews_2ASPP is a close-knit, supportive community (I know; I am a former board member), and as a photographer ASPP gives you the opportunity to befriend supportive professionals at picture agencies you might want to work with (to license your images) as well as researchers (who might want to license your images).

ASPP’s $125 membership fee might seem steep, but it’s a small price to pay for access to this unique community. So definitely consider joining ASPP.

The Old ASPP News

Until recently ASPP sent out a massive monthly email newsletter to members that was stuffed with industry and member updates. Two problems:

• Way, way too much to digest, check out, sift through, enjoy.

• You couldn’t get at it if you were not a member.

The Super Cool New ASPP eNews Blog

It’s the same content, but on steroids: with images, links, embedded videos.

Some content, like the monthly “President’s Corner,” is clearly geared for members. However, you can ignore this content or, better yet, give it a peek as a kind of “trial run” of ASPP membership.

Some content is from members who are industry experts, like Jim Pickerell, who offers these image licensing insights.

Then there is news related to the industry, like “Update on the Senate Hearing about Intellectual Property” and info about contests, like the “Focus Project 2011.

ASPP agency members are dishing up news about their collections, like the “Lebrecht on Self-Portraits.”

And then you have photographer members sharing their latest efforts, like Wolfgang Kaehler’s “Run with the Wolfies.”

And this was all in the past two weeks!

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Jan 28 2011

Why Wedding Photographers Matter More Than Ever Before

Category: Business & Marketing, The Industry, Viewpoint — Ethan G. Salwen @ 2:00 pm

“I think there is really intrinsic part of human nature in which we validate life by documenting it,” Peter Krogh told me last Fall. He was explaining why he carries his camera almost everywhere he goes, habitually recording his life in photographic captures. He said:

Think about wedding photography. Why does everyone have a photographer documenting their wedding? It’s kind of a weird tradition. It’s because it validates the commitment. The event is more important because it’s documented.

Krogh went on to say:

It’s amazing how a good wedding photographer ends up being kind of a wedding couch. They are there the whole time. They can spend more time with the couple than anyone else. The wedding photographer’s job is much more important than just taking pictures.

It wasn't that Celeste really wanted a picture of her getting makeup applied; she wanted the moment to be documented, to make it more meaningful.

It wasn't so much that Celeste really wanted a picture of her getting makeup applied; she wanted the moment to be documented, to make it more meaningful.

Beyond Pretty Wedding Pictures

Krogh didn’t need to explain what he was talking about. I’ve only photographed a handful of weddings, but I quickly got used to the couples thanking me profusely at the end of the day — without seeing a single image! Obviously they were responding to my presence, and to the fact that I had somehow made their wedding a much better experience.

If you are a wedding photographer, you know this: The images you are making are important, but it’s just as important that you providing an experience that best appeals to the specific couple.

If you would like to be a wedding photographer, or to improve your wedding photography: Think less about perfecting your images, and focus more on how to be the kind of wedding coach that Krogh mentions.

I was amazed how, after only a couple weddings, I was able to provide couples with valuable (and desired) advice about the Big Day. And why shouldn’t I be able to do so? After all, I had been intimately involved in other weddings, seeing them from the most angles and witnessing the most intimate moments.

A Great Time To Be a Wedding Photographer!

Old-fashioned wedding photographers bemoaned the advent of digital; savvy wedding photographers welcomed it.

Now that photography has become so easy for all, if you are interested in wedding photography, you have more and not less opportunities. This is because you don’t have to be stressed out about making the photographs. You can focus on bearing witness and, if you are really good, being a kind of off-the-record wedding coach, even if that’s not how you advertise your services.

As Krogh explained to me, what couples really want, whether they know it or not, is for the photographer to validated their experiences by bearing witness through the act of documenting.

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Dec 13 2010

Should Little Fish Wear Name Tags?

Category: Business & Marketing, Multimedia & Video, The Industry — Ethan G. Salwen @ 4:48 pm

Scott Mc Kiernan, founder of ZUMA Press, once told me that photojournalists should consider publishing their email addresses and phone numbers prominently on their homepage. He explained that editors hate to dig for contact information, and noted that even one click on “Contact” or “About” might distance potential clients from photographers.

I wonder what Mc Kiernan would think of Patrick, whose last name — forget direct email — remain a mystery to me, even after 10 minutes of searching. And I really wanted to know. In fact, I wanted to promote his savy marketing with this blog post, having (almost) come to know him though this video:

Is Patrick’s Marketing Web 3.0?

What happened is that — thanks to the daily email from Vimeo that serves up video inspiration — I came across “the world’s largest aquarium.” Like the snowy video I posted last week, I thought it was a great sample to share with still photographers. Then, when I noticed that it was featured on a Vimeo channel with 205 videos, I thought, “Hey, what a great Web presence!” I planned to check out the creator’s work, and then share with you how photographers can use Vimeo to lure in potential clients and fans.

So much thinking up a blog post before researching it. You see. . .

The “largest aquarim” on Vimeo led to both the creator’s personal blog (stillmotion Patrick) as well as the main stillmotion Vimeo page (with the 205 videos). Patrick’s personal blog led to the stillmotion blog, and the stillmotion Vimeo page led to the stillmotion’s main Web site, and both led to each other. But even as I clicked with intention — encountering enticing content — I could not fined what I wanted: Patrick’s last name, and a clear understanding of Continue reading “Should Little Fish Wear Name Tags?”

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Nov 02 2010

When People Were More Camera Shy Than Gun Shy

Category: The Industry, Viewpoint — Ethan G. Salwen @ 2:43 pm

“It’s ingenious, but totally impractical,” Colin Harding emphasises, and then with a kind of respectful glee adds, “It’s such a stupid idea, really.”

Harding, the curator of photographic technology at the National Media Museum, is discussing why the Thompson Revolver Camera is one of his favorite items in the museums photo technology collection. He appreciates the craftsmanship and ingenuity but he clearly loves the “total lack of common sense” that went into this 1862 invention. As he says, “If you can across someone who was waving this in your direction, the last thing you’d want to do is smile.”

In the second half of this video, Harding delves nicely into concepts related to the history of photography in the 1860s, illuminating an era when making photographs was as challenging as it was rare. Back then, having any picture-making device pointed at you could be unnerving — but nothing as unnerving as a gun itself, even if a camera.

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Nov 01 2010

Niépce Gains Greater, Much Deserved Respect

Category: Photographers, The Industry — Ethan G. Salwen @ 12:56 pm

“But what about Niépce?”

I asked this in a post two years back while pondering who really invited photography and why there seems to be so much confusion about the issue. (Even the typically-stated date of invention — 1839 — seems to blatantly contradict the facts.) In a recent British Journal of Photography article, “New early photographic process to force history re-write,” Olivier Laurent reports that “Joseph Nicéphore Niépce’s contribution to the history of photography has been elevated after the National Media Museum and the Getty Conservation Institute revealed new findings stemming from three of Niépce’s photographic plates.”

Un Claire de Lune, c. 1827 © The Royal Photographic Society Collection at National Media Museum/SSPL.

Un Claire de Lune, c. 1827 © The Royal Photographic Society Collection at National Media Museum/SSPL.

Created by Niépce circa 1827, Un Claire de Lune is the name of the work that’s really got photographic history re-writers excited. Laurent explains that the image — truly beautiful and evocative, hardly a mere photographic experiment — was long thought to be “enhanced with etching” but that “it is actually a photograph without any hand tooling at all.”

To better understand the confusion regarding the early years of photographic history, check out my earlier post and see how Louis Daguerre usually gets pitted against William Henry Fox Talbot, while Niépce seems to get such short thrift because:

1. Apparently he was not able to demonstrate his work to the Royal Society in London. (Something about the organization being in turmoil, says that National Media Museum.)

2. He died in 1833. (Never good for standing up for one’s place in history.)

According to the National Media Museum, these facts left Niépce’s “sometimes collaborator Louis Daguerre to publicly reveal photography to the world in 1839.”

Beauty Beyond Theft

This might make it sounds like Daguerre was an opportunist and a thief, and maybe he was. But as I Continue reading “Niépce Gains Greater, Much Deserved Respect”

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Oct 11 2010

DigitalRetouch Indicted For Killing Super Models

Category: AfterCapture & Rangefinder Articles, The Industry — Ethan G. Salwen @ 9:20 am

AfterCapture_101011_DigitalRetouch_1Actually, no indictment is needed. For one thing, the killing is figurative. More important, DigitalRetouch takes full, gleeful credit for what they have done. All of this I explain fully in an article for the last issue of AfterCapture. In “Transforming Celebrities Into Super Models,” I share the story of how fashion photographers Andrew Matusik and Stewart Price teamed up in 2004 to join the ranks of the elite retouching forces that are ensuring that regular-ole-looking celebrities have nothing to fear from would-be super models.

“If it doesn’t look like we did anything, then we did our job,” Matusik told me, which might seem like an obvious comment about retouching, but which Matusik says is a lesson that many photographers still need to learn. In the article I note that Matusik “believes strongly that any specific techniques are far less important than a retoucher thinking like a photographer and seeing like an artist.”

AfterCapture_101011_DigitalRetouch_2“Transforming Celebrities” was a great assignment. I had already written an article about Matusik for Rangefinder, and I really digged his work, attitude and perspectives. This piece gave me a chance to meet Price, and to learn about the ins and outs of retouching without getting into the ins and outs of specific techniques. Naively, I hadn’t realized there would be so much meat to the critical subject of retouching, and I appreciated the chance to learn and share.

If you are interested in retouching — for relatively light skin correction the most complex composting, of which Matusik is a unique master — you’ll likely enjoy “Transforming Celebrities.”

Excerpt on the Killing

“We contributed to the death of the supermodel,” says Matusik, referring specifically to DigitalRetouch as well as excellent retouchers throughout the industry. “Fashion magazines would always feature models on their covers. Models are freaks of nature—skinny, perfect skin, unusual symmetry.” He explains that Continue reading “DigitalRetouch Indicted For Killing Super Models”

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Oct 06 2010

It’s “raw” not “RAW” — But I’m Not Raw About It

Category: Technology Insights, The Industry, Viewpoint — Ethan G. Salwen @ 3:00 pm

AfterCapture Blog_101006_Raw_1“Unlike JPEG and TIFF, RAW is not an abbreviation but literally means ‘raw’ as in ‘unprocessed’.” This first sentence from the definition for “RAW” in the dpreview.com glossary explains why, if we follow very basic formatting guidelines, we should write about “raw files” and not “RAW files.” Because the word is actually a word — a common noun — and not an abbreviation, it makes no sense to set it in all caps. A raw file is a raw file is a raw file. A RAW file is not a raw file nor is it a RAW file.

Clearly the editors at dpreview.com have a different idea, and it seems that so do the majority of people writing and publishing about raw files. And given the fact that the conventions of editorial styles change more fluidly than the rules of grammar, there’s no problem with this. If The People write “raw,” then it’s “raw.” If The People write “RAW,” then it’s “RAW.” A raw file can be a RAW file if you want it to be, but if you don’t write about COMPUTER files and NEGATIVE film, you might want to tone things done and just refer to raw files as raw files, which are comprised of raw data and not RAW data, even for editors who chose to write about RAW files rather than raw files.

AfterCapture Blog_101006_Raw_2Just as “admin” was peeved by the use of “HD DSLR” instead of “HDSLR,” I used to be lightly, pettly peeved about the use of “RAW” instead of “raw.” This pet peeve was born when I interviewed Adobe’s Tom Hogarty in December 2006 (or December of 2006, depending on your style) for my very first AfterCapture article. Hogarty had read something of mine in which I had written RAW instead of raw, and gently explained why raw file made more sense than a RAW file.

This was before RAW files had become firmly entrenched, and Hogarty was trying to keep raw files raw. Given the fact that we were talking about Continue reading “It’s “raw” not “RAW” — But I’m Not Raw About It”

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Oct 05 2010

It’s Called an “HDSLR”, Not an “HD DSLR” — Really!, I think

Category: Multimedia & Video, Technology Insights, The Industry — Ethan G. Salwen @ 5:25 pm

“I love my new acoustic electromagnetic induction guitar.”

– Professional musician confused about nomenclature.

AfterCapture Blog_101005_HDSLR_1What’s in a name? Sometimes nothing. But when it comes to photographic professionalism, using correct terms is just part of the job. I made up the quote above to illustrate this point. Wouldn’t it be ridiculous if a professional musician didn’t know the name of his instrument? Well, it seems that an analogous situation is plaguing the photography world.

Throughout a recent article I wrote on multimedia and video I refer to “HD DSLRs,” as I have a number of times in this blog. Of course I’m referring to hybrid cameras that, like the Canon 5D Mark II, record both still and video. Sure you know what I’m talking about, but are you aware that this kind of camera is not called an “HD DSLR”? I haven’t known, which is a major oops.

It is called an “HDSLR,” and nothing else would make sense — at least, I’m pretty sure.

“It is a DSLR and not a HD DSLR!” is a brief, clear blog post on Canon5DTips in which “admin” shares his pet peeve about people incorrectly calling an “HDSLR” an “HD DSLR”; explains why it’s called an “HDSLR”; and asks us to “Pass the word.”

Passing the HDSLR Word

Here’s the heart of what “admin” explains:

• SLR = “single lens reflex” camera.

• DSLR = “digital single lens reflex” camera.

• HDSLR = “hybrid digital single lens reflex” camera, as in hybrid still-video capture.

• HD DSLR = a mistake that got introduced somewhere along the line, with “HD” representing “high definition,” which does not make sense because, as “admin” explains: #1. “DSLR already produced high definition images,” and #2, “[The name] does not say anything about the video capability of the camera.”

Makes perfect sense to me. So from now on I’m going to call it an “HDSLR,” and I’m going to ask you to do the same.

Not So HD Fast

I’d love to end this post here, with confidence, but I’ve been doing a bunch of poking around on the Web to confirm that “HDSLR” is as correct as I think. I’ve ended up pretty confused, only 99% sure “HDSLR” is right. Even if it is right I’m not sure what the “H” is stands for.

Why All the HD Confusion?

AfterCapture Blog_101005_HDSLR_2If you do a  search on “HD DSLR” or “HD-DSLR” you will get a lot of results from a lot of professional sources. Many pros clearly think that an HDSLR is really called an “HD DSLR,” just as I did until Friday. I’m assuming that these people are just making a mistake, not giving the matter much thought. And yet, some of these sources are quite influential in the industry. I also can’t ignore the fact that six experts proofed my article filled with “HD DSLR,” and no one commented on this apparent error. Either it’s not an error or it’s one that is quickly getting accepted as either an alternate to “HDSLR,” or as the correct name itself. I suppose there’s a slight chance the two things refer to two different kinds of cameras, but I really doubt that.

I turned to PhotoCineNews to see what term this well-respected site’s authors are using. It was clear that the folks writing for PhotoCineNews know that an HDSLR is an HDSLR and not an HD DSLR. When writers don’t Continue reading “It’s Called an “HDSLR”, Not an “HD DSLR” — Really!, I think”

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