Monthly Archives: April 2013

Lightroom 5 Beta Launched

Adobe has released the Public Beta version of Lightroom 5. A beta version is still a work in progress and is released to be used, free of charge, by the public who can report any bugs or issues directly to Adobe who may address them before the final version of the software is released.

Terry White is a Worlwide Design Evangelist for Adobe. He has created the video below where he demonstrates his five favourite features in the beta release.

You can download the free Lightroom 5 beta here. To learn about more technical updates to this release, visit the Lightroom Journal blog. You can submit your thoughts and ideas to this feedback page.

Adobe says that if you already have Lightroom, they will not update your existing catalogues when you download the beta. Rather, a new catalogue will be created where you can import your images. They also recommend that you only use copies of your images in the beta as this is not a finished product and is still a work in progress. Therefore, you should not use your original images with it.

Catch any Fish?

Having discovered the virtues of thinkTank products, mostly camera bags, I remember discussing them with a friend of mine last year and recommending them to him. In particular, I mentioned the Retrospective 20 model because of its great design, strong build, good workmanship, comfortable shoulder strap, and most importantly, the fact that it doesn’t scream “bag full of expensive gear, come and rob me!”.

Retrospective-20-Pinestone-5

Well, long story short, my friend went off and bought a Retrospective 20 and was delighted with his purchase. He was able to fit plenty gear in it yet was able to carry it around comfortably in such a nondescript way – the perfect shoulder bag.

Fast-forward to a few days ago and my friend is out one evening looking for a good sunset shot. He decided to keep the gear in the bag until he needed it. So he’s walking along with his camera in the bag and tripod over his shoulder when he met a man “who asked me if I had caught any fish? I told him that the salmon were scarce!”

Proof that the Retrospective doesn’t scream Camera!

See the thinkTank Retrospective 20 here.

Members see the Light!

At a well attended meeting of the ECCG on Tuesday 10/4/13, Tom Tattan, Dave Edmunds and John Horgan delivered a workshop on portrait flash photography using speedlights. As flash photography can be a mysterious practice for the uninitiated, this was a very much sought after event and went down well with all in attendance.

Our secretary, Karen Fleming, introduced some glamour to the occasion by (foolishly?) agreeing to model for the battery of paparazzi who all wanted to test their newly learned skills. Scenes reminiscent of the outside of a celebrity nightclub at 4am ensued as strobes popped continuously. In hindsight a pair of dark glasses would have been in order for our patient model, whose retinas must have been screaming STOPPPP as the barrage showed no sign of abating! Well done to all concerned.
Photos by Denis O’Flynn.

ECCG's online magazine 'Snapshot'PRO, Denis Barry revealed the ECCG’s new online magazine, ‘Snapshot‘ which is available on iOS and Android devices to members and non-members alike here.

Unfortunately these are the only ways in which the magazine can be accessed, a matter which is completely out of our hands but, that said, it is a wonderful experience on a tablet device especially as there are beautiful photos and videos within the pages that really exploit the tablets’ size and capabilities. The display on other devices, such as mobile phones and iPods, etc, while smaller, is also a very rewarding experience.

The magazine will feature articles of photographic interest from varying online sources and will be updated frequently so be sure to check it out often and let us know what you think.

“Fuji is the new Leica”

“Fuji is the new Leica” is a statement that gets a second glance. That was Zack Arias’s take having reviewed the Fuji X100S, a mirror-less digital camera with a retro look, fixed 23mm F2 lens and a 16MP APS-C sensor.

fujix100s frontThe enthusiasm with which this camera has been met is beyond anything I have ever read or seen to date.

One would think that the limitations of a fixed focal length lens alone would be enough to, at least, dampen the enthusiasm especially since similar offerings from Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic and indeed Fuji itself, have interchangeable lenses that offer more options to the photographer while still keeping the overall kit small, light and portable. Not so.

Renowned photographers Zack Arias, David Hobby (aka The Strobist) and Neil Van Niekerk, among others, have recently reviewed this camera and outline their thoughts in detail. Check out the camera’s mini site here.

I must say that the thoughts of leaving all the weighty gear in the bag and going off with just this camera is appealing to me too. How about you?

Robert Doisneau 1912 – 1994

Robert Doisneau“A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there – even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity”.
Robert Doisneau

 

 

imagesWhile enjoying lunch in a restaurant in Kenmare, Co. Kerry recently, I noticed that there were several black and white photographs hanging on the walls. On closer examination I discovered that all, including possibly his most well known “The Kiss in Front of City Hall”, were by the French street photographer, Robert Doisneau. Since the genesis of ECCG can be traced to an over dinner conversation in the same town, the coincidence wasn’t lost on me so, Mon. Doisneau had to have a blog post dedicated to him on this site!

Robert Doisneau was born in Gentilly, Paris on 14/4/1912. His mother died of tuberculosis in 1920 and his father remarried two years later. At the age of seventeen, he qualified with a diploma as an engraver-lithographer. In 1929 he made his first pictures with a camera. Shortly after, he was hired as a draftsman, and soon became assistant in a newly created photo lab.

In 1931, he became assistant to the photographer André Vigneau whose influence was crucial to his career. Thereafter he met Pablo Picasso, Henri Cartier Bresson and many other personalities with whom he became friends. Upon his return from military service, he was hired as a photographer for Renault factories in Boulogne-Billancourt. He stayed there for five years until 1939. He then decided to become a photographer/freelance illustrator.

After the Liberation, he worked for some time before joining Alliance Photo agency Rapho permanently in 1946. In his status as a freelance photographer, he sold his pictures to magazines as diverse as Viewpoint, Life, Life working, Match, Look, Woman and Vogue. He participated in many international exhibitions and won many awards. In spite of his busy schedule, Robert Doisneau managed to do a lot of personal work and experienced a huge success over the last ten years of his life . Two films pay homage to him: “The Paris of Robert Doisneau” François Porcile in 1973 and “Bonjour Monsieur Doisneau” Sabine Azéma in 1992.

Visit his official site (in French, which can be translated in the browser) and see his work here.