CANON ANNOUNCES CAMERA WITH ISO OVER 4 MILLION

If you're a gearhead, prepare yourself. I'm not going to lie, I nearly had a gear-gasm when I saw this announcement. Canon has decided to one-up Sony's a7s, and boy did they ever. The ME20F-SH is Canon's first multi-purpose camera "which delivers exceptionally high sensitivity to capture Full HD video with a minimum subject illumination of less than 0.0005 lux1 (at maximum 75 dB gain setting, equivalent to an ISO sensitivity of over 4,000,000)". Blah, blah, blah. If the tech talk loses you, just know that what this means is that you can shoot 1080p and see subjects that you can't see with the naked eye. That's insane! No, ridonkulous! 

Canon is targeting a large audience with hot little number. This camera could have a place in the infrastructure of productions that range in nighttime surveillance to reality TV, to even cinema. Typically, Canon does a great job delivering when it comes to image quality. So, I'm guessing they won't disappoint here as well.

The sensor is a modified and enhanced version of a 35mm full-frame sensor for HD video they developed back 2013. Get ready for the kicker - it's only 2.26 megapixels! I found this very interesting. It seems everyone has been in this pixel packing race over the last few years and it's nice to see that Sony and Canon are showing us that it's not about the quantity, but the quality and use of those existing pixels. So, it's not about the size, but it is...Take that how you will.

Take a peek at the specs below. Pretty interesting.

Canon says the ME20F-SH will be available in December of 2015 with a whopping $30,000 price tag. I think I'll be renting for sure.

BLACKMAGIC WANTS YOU TO BE A VIDEO EDITOR!

I'm a fan of BlackMagic. They're a great company with a great line of products. Their cinema cameras are fantastic. Especially for the budding filmmaker. The cost of buying is so cheap, and rentals on them are even better. Their post-processing software, DaVinci Resolve, is a beautiful piece of software which turns out amazing results. What's not to like?

Earlier this year BlackMagic announced the recent update to DaVinci Resolve, and now they want to share it with you. For free! Yep, you heard me right. Granted, there has been a free version since Resolve 11 (the update available is 12), but BlackMagic is doing a great job of pushing this out there. They want you to be a video editor! So give it a try.


DaVinci has widely been a choice for color grading in Hollywood for a while. Many of the editors that I've spoken with really enjoy it. The free version doesn't give you the full functionality of the pro version, which is $995, but for those in the market for a free software don't really need to be concerned with 4K output and such. For a full list of specs and info check out the BlackMagic site. Oh, and by the way, that awesome looking workstation, is $29,995. My wallet just exploded.

INTEL'S NEW CHIP IS BREAKTHROUGH MEMORY TECHNOLOGY 1,000 TIMES FASTER THAN FLASH

Intel and Micron have a new brain child. It's a new way to store data and they claim it's denser, tougher, and faster than the competition. What's even more exciting is that it's already in production. Intel's new chip brings about the first new memory category in more than 25 years.

There was a live keynote yesterday in which the companies announced 3D Xpoint, which is a new category of non-volatile memory that claims to be 1,000 times faster than NAND. NAND architecture is the underlying structure of most flash memory cards and solid state drives. If you want to see more on the specs and features of this ground breaking new tech, surf on over to Intel's website here.

JOE MCNALLY OUTSIDE CITY HALL - FREE WEDDING PORTRAITS FOR ALL!

Earlier this summer, Joe McNally, lighting guru and all around funny guy, set up camp outside New York City's City Hall to offer free portraits for newlyweds who probably didn't arrange for a professional session for one reason or another. The idea popped into Joe's head some time back in 2012 while photographing friends at city all. He looked around and realized that other people didn't have someone to capture the exciting moment in their lives. They had "a quick snapshot from a phone, at best."

Joe put the idea into action this year and as no big surprise, he brought Nikon along with him. He and The Nikon Wedding Truck, a mobil studio in a truck, set up outside city hall and offered free wedding portraits to more than 70 couples that day. He had to move quick between setups and as for posing, he took a very laid-back approach and "pretty much let them be who they were."

The chance encounter with the "nutty photog in the truck" provided so many couples with a slice of their special day, many of whom hadn't even planned for a photographer.

NEW APPLE ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN IS 100% IPHONE USER GENERATED

Last night my lady and I went to see the film Trainwreck. Honestly, a positively fun movie, but that's not why I'm writing this post. Over time, more than just trailers have been added to the pre-show entertainment of a film. It's not totally uncommon to see a handful of ads from companies like Coke or Lexus just before the trails are presented.

The usual ads appeared and I was somewhat tempted to not pay attention, but then a very short, yet simply incredible ad appeared from Apple. It was maybe 15 seconds long, and nothing more than a video clip shot on the new iPhone 6 and including the name of the user who shot it. Brilliant! It's probably one of the most inspiring pieces of advertising I've seen in a very long time. Not only that, they looked amazing on the big screen.


Photographers and filmmakers are constantly hung up on the gear. It seems they're always wanting the latest and the greatest. That real work can't be created with anything less "pro" level gear. There are always artists out there that are proving this notion incorrect. These series of ads do just that.

Joe Conde - Sunday FrameDay

Meet Joe. Joe Conde. Incredible musician and a friend of mine. I have a feeling you'll be seeing more of this guy soon. 

IF PHOTOSHOPPED IMAGES OFFEND YOU, GET READY FOR RETOUCHED VIDEO!

Recently I did a post on retouching, and I also recorded a podcast for The Composite Creative, which should be appearing soon, on the subject of retouching. It seems this is such a touchy subject for people, and honestly it cracks me up to hear people trash photoshop's use in retouching beauty images, ads, and fashion campaigns, and yet they have no problem looking at the beauty that's placed before their eyes in films and television. Add to that, they have no issue dressing themselves up for a particular occasion that includes tons of makeup, cloths that give one a slim appearance, and choosing to accentuate certain features....Pot, I'd like you to meet Kettle.

Rousselos Aravantinos recently challenged himself to remove 30 years of age from a middle aged woman in real time. He admits that he's a novice, but I have to say he did a fantastic job. He shot this on a Nikon V1 and did the post processing in Nuke. I have heard of Nuke, but never spent any time with it or educating myself on it.

This kind of thing opens up a whole new can of worms for those trolls on-line.

FOREVER 21 WILL TRANSFORM ANY INSTAGRAM PHOTO WITH SPOOLS OF THREAD

Want to see yourself in thread? This is some of the most imaginative marketing I've seen in a long time. The prototype company Breakfast has created an insanely complex billboard made up of spools of colored thread. 6,400 spools, to be exact, with 36 different colors that can mechanically create any Instagram image that is tagged appropriately with the hashtag #F21ThreadScreen. And clothing company, Forever 21, will display your image on their billboard for the world to see for free! Yes, you heard me right. You can have your image displayed in 60 x 60 pixels for the world's eyes. That's nearly 5 bit glory.



This nifty bit of engineering came from the creative minds at Breakfast, a Brooklyn based company, that has become known for their innovative use of hardware to build installation pieces for Instagram.  So what is this contraption? It's 2,000 pounds of mechanical genius that's made up of 6,400 spools of colored thread and 200,000 parts. There's over 6 miles of total thread and when you take into account soldering joints and such, it takes that parts count up to over 600,000. To say that this thing is complex is really an understatement. Just look at the breakdown of a sliver of the machine in the image below.

If you want to see your Instagram images built on the Forever 21 Thread Screen live, simply mark your image with the hashtag #F21ThreadScreen and hop on over to the official live Thread Screen page to watch it happen. But hurry, this campaign will only last from now until July 28th.

TEEN DISCOVERS PHOTOS FROM NIRVANA FIRST GIG

A Seattle teenager has uncovered a nice piece of musical history. Maggie Poukkula, the 19 year old daughter of Tony Poukkula, a member of the Seattle band Laytem who grew up with Kurt Cobain, tweeted this past week a strip of photos from 1987 of Nirvana's first concert, or rather gig. The concert was hosted by Tony in his basement.

The images are pretty darn nifty. Maggie said she found them tucked away in her father's biographies of Kurt and Nirvana. I can't imagine how amazing it would be to stumble upon something like this. At the time, Nirvana's lineup consisted of Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Aaron Burckhard. On the particular night the photos were taken, Tony reportedly joined in for a couple songs as well.

From Poukkula's Tweeter feed

Looking at these images, I can't help but wonder what they sounded like? Was this the birth of a sound that would change rock? Was this the birth of grunge? We'll never really know, and it doesn't really matter. These are some great images of a fledgling talent, that's for sure.

SIGMA AND THE WORLD'S FIRST CONSTANT F/2 ZOOM LENS FOR $999

I'm a big fan of Sigma. Their line of art lenses are beautiful. The build quality is solid, the glass is amazing, and the images they produce are nothing short of beautiful. They continue to amaze with every release. That is until now.

Not too long ago, Sigma announced the release of the world's fastest full frame zoom. Exciting as it sounds, it's all very...well...it's...for starters, it's fast and it's...well, damnit! It just doesn't make sense at all. I can't hold it in. The damn thing is pointless. It's a 24-35mm f/2 lens. Wait for it...give it a second to sink in...a 24-35mm! Yep. You read that right.

The range this zoom will give you is just silly in my opinion. Not only that, it weighs in at 33 ounces. So it's big and it's fast. Huh. Okay. Sigma said it released this to cover a common prime lineup. Only it's not a prime, but that's no matter. It's the range that makes absolutely no sense. Why not get your hands on a beautiful 28mm prime and be willing to move your feet forwards or backwards? I mean, that's exactly what this zoom range equals.

Sigma is offering this very pointless lens for a very low, low price of $999. In theory all of these things would give a photographer GAS, and I'm sure there will be plenty of photographers lining up to pre-order. I want to love this, but I just can't. It just doesn't get my motor going.

ROCKET ROOSTER'S FILM EMMULTION PACK IS CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE TO VSCO

The art of photography is priceless and the cost of creating it is nearly the same. Cameras, lenses, speed lights, strobes, modifiers, software, plugins. The list goes on and on. Finding budget friendly options isn't always easy, especially when it comes to quality. One company is specifically tackling that problem. Rocket Rooster is that company.

Rocket Rooster is a digital filter company that produces incredibly affordable plugins for Adobe's Creative Suite. They first produced a number of different styles for cinema purposes and the quality looks pretty good. They then decided to set their focus on creating products for photographers using Lightroom and they're latest release, the Analog Film Pack, just might give VSCO a run for it's money, or rather your money.

The pack includes 20 old school film presets with over 100 variations there after. Like the VSCO, Rocket Rooster's film emulations allows digital photographers "to create the subtle nuances in color, texture and feel of analog photography." Within the variations you'll find expired and faded rolls, and Rocket Rooster even threw in some cinema film stocks for some really unique looks. For a full list of what's included in the pack, check that out here.

FJ Provia 400X Alt

Kodak 400 TX

Ektachrome E100 GX

Agfa Vista 800

FJ Provia 400X

Kodak Ultra 400UC

FJ Velvia 100

VSCO has long been the heavy weight champion when it comes to the world of film emulations. I have them. I use them. They're beyond amazing! But, let's face it. They're not cheap. Their emulation packs cost $119 each and that can add up if you're interested in getting your hands on as many options as possible. That's money many of us could put towards new gear or just your daily bills.

Like the VSCO, Rocket Rooster's film emulations allows digital photographers "to create the subtle nuances in color, texture and feel of analog photography." But the cost is significantly less. If you're interested, you can pick up the pack for $35 (as a promo the RR is offering it discounted to $26 for the launch, but you'll have to act quickly. I believe it's only for a week.) These emulations look great to me and you can't beat the price.

Sunday FrameDay - Clay Singletary: Undiscovered Talent

©2015 Austin James Photo

I was organizing some images this morning and trying to think about a post. I came across some promo images I shot for my friend and his band a little while back. This one image I've always liked. Very simple, yet there seems to be a ton of character and personality. And that's Clay Singletary. He's an insanely talented and versatile musician. Check him out here on Instagram.

The Fashion Of Photographers At Men's Fashion Week In NYC

First off, how the did I miss this event? I would have loved to have seen it and photographed it. After a twenty year hiatus, it's back - Men's Fashion Week. Fashion has always been an interest of mine. My sister was a designer for many years. You could even say that she has somewhat of a healthy obsession with fashion. Naturally, I was exposed to her obsession and over time, I too, began to love the world of fashion.

Bill Cunningham did a great little vlog post for The New York Times on the trending fashion. Check it out. But, what about the fashion of photographers? As one might expect, a mass of photographers descended on the city to capture the latest, the greatest, the hottest of the hot in men's fashion.

One photographer, Aymann Ismail popped over to Manhattan's Hudson Square to capture photographers in their very own, unique style and holding their closest companion, their cameras. It should come as no surprise that photographers were will to pose.

Want to see more of the fashion at Men's Fashion Week? Pop on over to Vogue. And to see more of Aymann's work at MFW, and can surf on over here.

GNARBOX - Offload, Organize, Edit, And Share On The Go - Good-Bye Laptop

All The Power Of The Universe, Itty Bitty Living Space

I like to think of myself as a location independent photographic adventurer. Basically, I'm always on the go. Traveling to one location or another for a shoot. While on the move, I'm always stuck with a backlog of stills and/or footage that I either have to wait till I return home to edit or pull out the laptop. Really, I just want to share images right away. I get that excited and I don't want to wait till I arrive home and it can be a pain to pull out the laptop, boot it up, and get those hamsters on the wheels. Call me lazy. First world problems, right?

I've often wondered if there was a way to simplify. And by simplify, I mean, make my camera bag lighter. I want less gear, less to worry about while I'm out working, but still want the tools to get the job done. It seems there's a product that just might do this. GNARBOX is a new mobil device that could possibly make our lives a wee bit easier. It aims to replace your bulky laptop by putting everything you'll need into a small, durably device and a mobil app. All the power of the universe...itty bitty living space.


GNARBOX Kickstarter Pitch Video from GNARBOX on Vimeo.

The goal when designing the GNARBOX was to pack the power of a 15 inch laptop into something with the looks and size of a small external hard drive. That basically could slide into your pocket, really. Under the hood is a quad-core CPU, an 8 core GPU, 4 GB of RAM, 128 GB of flash storage,  6-8 hours of battery life, and a 300 Mb/s WiFi hotspot. All of this awesomeness is encased in IP67 shell that is dustproof, sandproof, shockproof, temperature resistant, and waterproof up to one meter.

If the tech specs don't excite you, think of this way. It's plug and play on the go. Just pop your card out of your camera, plug it into the GNARBOX via USB3, SD, or microSD, then connect your phone to the GNARBOX hotspot, and open the GNARBOX app on your phone. Just plug and play. Most of the items in your camera bag are larger than this thing. And you can connect up to 4 phones at one time to the GNARBOX. Your photos and videos are downloaded right into GNARBOX and you can edit and organize all within the phone app. You had me at hello.

GNARBOX says, "Now you can can truly explore more and carry less." Well, I think that sounds pretty darn groovy and if this little device lives up to it's potential, this could be a game changer. Honestly, I could see myself carrying this thing around with me almost all the time. What professional or non-professional wouldn't? It just makes sense.

If you're as excited as I am, it should come as no surprise that GNARBOX met their Kickstarter goal within a matter of days. Days. The retail price will be $249, but backers can get their hands on it for $199 as the contribution. They are hoping to start shipping the first units in March of 2016. I'm not sure I can wait that long. But it looks like we have no choice.

To Retouch Or Not To Retouch - Is Photoshop Really The Problem?

To retouch or not to retouch? That is the question. It seems this particular subject is one that apparently gets under the skin of both industry and non-industry folks. It strikes quite the raw nerve with people some times. Many times I've found myself caught up in the debate, and every time I ask myself, "Why the hell do I care so much?". It seems this has become a heavy moral question for so many.

Like most artists, I think I strive to achieve the best quality work I can produce, and that usually comes with acquiring some kind of new knowledge to increase my skill set. I'm sure this isn't unusual for any field. It's just the nature of progress, right? With great power comes great responsibility...or so they say. Fashion companies, cosmetic companies, even automobile companies display images of the happy smiling, "perfect" people . And we can't help but want to be them, right? We're bombarded with these ads everyday. Almost all the time. Some say we've developed an unhealthy sense of beauty because of all this. Some would even say that it's become a "plague". But is this true? 

We act as if this "plague" is something new to our culture in our modern world. That the advent of Photoshop, amazing though it is, is the root of this new evil. At least that's what I hear from articles I've read and posts I've seen on Facebook and Google+. This "plague" isn't new. If you think think that artists during the Renaissance period didn't alter their portraits of their benefactors, you're out of your mind. The difference between then and now, of course, is that we have a huge marketing machine driving the current view. But the point is, this is a human condition - not a condition derived from a piece of software. I watched a TED Talk to covered some interesting points related to this.

One company has taken this to heart and decided to get ride of it all together. American Eagle is keeping it honest with their #AerieREAL campaign which contains no airbrushing and eschews the supermodel image. Aerie's Chief Merchandising Officer Jennifer Foyle said last year, "We want to empower young women to be confident in themselves and their bodies." That's fantastic! Aerie's Instagram feed lives up to this standard. They are featuring women of all body shapes. Even better because beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Interestingly enough, their sales have increased about ten percent since this campaign began.

Our view of beauty, in terms of shape and size, has fluctuated over time, and I'm sure it will continue to do so. But I really don't think Photoshop is the problem. Actually, I'm positive Photoshop isn't the problem. Photoshop is nothing more than a tool. It's another paint brush in the painter's arsenal. The problem honestly resides in the individuals that are using this tool. Images will always need some kind of retouching. That's the truth. The question is to what extent? We get so caught up in the hype that were can't actually see what's going on or what the real problem happens to be.

Is there As my good friend and fellow photographer, Katie, loves to say, "We need to be kinder to ourselves and to each other." Spot on. So, is there a fix for this debacle? Probably not. But, before you decide to bash the use of Photoshop, think about the makeup you put on. Think about the choices in your clothing? More importantly, think about your decisions for using all of them? Are you not doing the same kind of thing? 

So, put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Lumenati CS1 'Smartcase' Turns Your iPhone Into A Classic Cinema Camera

Ready to kick it old school? The Lumenati CS1 is a nifty contraption. There's interesting potential here. It transforms your iPhone into a classic lo-fi cinema camera. Complete with the look and feel too. This astonishing invention was developed by a group of animators, filmmakers, and designers in Denver, Colorado called Lumenati. The CS1 "combines the technological features of a digital device (film-free shooting, instant sharing and an editing app) with the cool design, ergonomic  ease and natural narrative that the lo-fi classic camera is known for."

Setting it up is as easy as popping your iPhone into the CS1 just as grandpa would load an 8mm film cartridge and you're ready to start shooting. It's that simple. The housing is lightweight which allows anyone to frame up a steady shot with the pull of an intuitive trigger. There's also a cold shoe which allows for attaching lights, mic, and extra handles for sports shooting. A real-time viewfinder allows WYSIWYG capabilities even in bright light. Most modern mobil devices are lacking in this area. Add to all that, lenses can be swapped out for wide angle, macro, and telephoto. This thing just gets better and better.

Currently, the CS1 is only compatible with iPhone 6, but Lumenati plans to bring the CS1 to more device users with successful fundraising. To find out more, visit their Kickstarter page and help contribute to this awesome project. You can get your hands on one of the units for an "early bird special" which will cost you $150, which gets you a black CS1, a .45 wide angle lens, and lens wipe. Once the special runs out, the price jumps to $200. Production and distribution are slated for February 2016.