Shutterbug "Hacked"

I've been busy lately (and a little under the weather), so no recent posts.  I just had to share this though.

The Shutterbug website announced Wednesday that they part of their subscriber list had been compromised.  This has resulted in people on the list being contacted by someone claiming to represent the magazine attemptinf to collect "overdue" subscription fees or get "renewals". 

This is a attempt to defraud consumers.  Contact Shutterbug directly if you have any question about your subscription.

If you subscribe to Shutterbug Magazine, please check out the post.

Collectible Camera and Photography Equipment Auction

Courtesy of Shutterbug.

Anyone interested in collectible photography equipment needs to check this auction.

It starts 11:00 AM EST, on December 28.  (Too bad it doesn't occur before Christmas for those of you with a photography enthusiast on your list.)

The auction includes a large number of collectible Leica cameras and lenses, including one owned by Time-Life publisher Henry Luce.  Some include original packaging and paperwork.

It also includes a Spirograph with discs.  This isn't the child's toy most people think of when they see this name.  This is an early version of a "movie" projector.  The "film" consists of a disc with images placed in a spiral.  (Think of a paper phonograph that produces images instead of sound.)

Estimated value on the Spirograph is $20,000 - $35,000.

Estimated value for the cameras and lenses range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. 


The auction is being held by Revival Auction Co. 

Online bidding is available with a 23% premium for winning bids.  Visits the company website to register.  The auction can be watched real time over the Internet.  Mark your calendar if you want to watch it live.

Catalog here (with pictures).

Using Photographs to Create Artwork

I happen to be interested in painting an drawing as well as photography.  I enjoy creating art from the photographs I have taken.  Sometimes it's a digital image using composite photos or an edited image.  Other times, I use my photographs as source material for my artwork.

Here's a couple of tricks you can use when creating artwork from a photograph.


1)  Load the image or images into an image editing program.  This enables the image to be manipulated.  This can improve composition, extraneous material can be removed and material from other sources can be imported into the image.

I find constructing an image this way easier than attempting to construct it by sketching it out.  The digital process gives instant feedback and seems to provide a better representation of what the end product will look like.

Photos taken using a digital camera are easily imported as they are already in a digital format.  Photos taken with a film camera will require the use of a scanner to create a digital file.  Stand-alone flatbed scanners aren't that common anymore.  Multi-purpose machines that scan, fax and copy  are readily available.  Negative/Slide Scanners are available as well if a print copy is not available.


2)  Use the image editing software to apply a grid to the end image.  Then rotate the image 180 degree.

Sketch out the image using grid paper.  Grid size should be related to the size of the grid used in the editing software.  If the grid paper is 34 squares wide, set the image's grid to roughly the same number of squares.

Focus on one square at a time.  Look for lines and focus on where those lines enter and leave that square.

This upside-down grid approach is useful for those that struggle when drawing free-hand.


Images produced this way will have a different quality from those sketched free-hand.


An example of the process and result:

First, my source images:

I used both of these images, cutting and pasting from both.


One of the images inverted with a grid applied.

(I actually used a composite of the two images.  I didn't save the composite so it's not available for this example.)


Here's the finished drawing with a grid applied.  The grid should give you an idea of what the original sketch looked like. 

The finished product:

I like the way this turned out and I doubt I would have been capable of this without using a grid when sketching the flowers.  I was less concerned about the leaves.  Many of those were either excluded from the original sketch or just loosely indicated.

I was proud enough of this effort to upload it to my Fine Art America account.

Spectacular Photos: Somethimes I's a Matter of Luck

Sometimes spectacular nature photos require being in the right place at the right time.  There may be no way of knowing when that will be in advance.  You just have to be lucky.

That happened with visitors to the Grand Canyon on on the last day of November this year.  An inversion layer caused a thick layer of fog to cover the entire canyon.  Inversion layers occur in the canyon a couple of times each year, but one effecting the entire canyon are much rarer.  These occur roughly once a decade.

The inversion layer made for some spectacular fog images.

More images taken of the canyon during the inversion layer event can be seen on the Grand Canyon National Park's facebook page.


Original story Daily Mail.

Go to the Daily Mail story or the facebook site to see more photos.