Photo magic

This is one of the best works of "Photoshop magic", I've seen, thanks again to Bert.

Unknown author

Lenses and perspective (updated)

Here is a good article about lenses and their effect on perspective (or technically: distance's effect on perspective).

For example:

The long 200mm telephoto lens on the left compresses the scene by bringing the Independence Hall building in Philadelphia right up to the statue in front.  A 35mm wide angle lens used on the right relates the two in a very different way.
[Photo and text by Tom Grill]

Thanks to Bert for finding this wonderful illustration of perspective change.
The article also explains how the perspective changes with the distance, not the lens. The lens focal length changes merely allows you to fill the frame with the main subject at different distances.

photo by PetaPixel/Michael Zhang

Here is another good illustration.

Photo by Stephen Eastwood

Can the Samsung NX1 redefine pro performance with a quantum leap in technology?

Can the Samsung NX1 redefine pro performance with a quantum leap in technology? - Article
(A very technical one, fair warning.)

As if there weren't enough brands with good cameras, now Samsung, of all places, are doing interesting stuff. For example:

When the guys in R&D were working on the Samsung Auto Shot feature, they recorded live 28 megapixel, 240 fps "video" to help with the debugging. We didn't see there being an application for that, at least for very, very few people.

Processing 28 megapixel at 240 fps... woa.

And...

JK: The DRIMe V actually has a lot of IPs [small hardware circuit blocks] dedicated to noise reduction. It's pretty cool; there are a lot of them, and each one does a different type of noise reduction processing, all at the same time. 

DE: Really? So all these IPs can all be working in parallel doing their own noise reduction, and then some higher-level processor can come in and say, "Oh this is this type of image content here, so I'm going to use the output from this IP, but over here there's different content, so I'm going to use the output from this other one"?

JK: Yeah, yeah.


 The Samsung NX1 will be about $1500 body only. That says Pro Camera. But so does many of the features. Just a detail like the top plate LCD info screen, we sadly don't see many of those, these days.

Still, it's an uphill battle for Samsung to get into the pro market, because Pros don't buy cameras, they buy systems. Not only do lenses in similar quality have to be available, they also have to be paid for. That is no trivial expense, not for the photographer and not for the maker.

The "Busy" Trap

The "Busy" Trap, article.
Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day.
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Panasonic puts a 1-inch sensor and a Leica lens on new CM1 smartphone

Panasonic puts a 1-inch sensor and a Leica lens on new CM1 smartphone, article.
It had to come: smartphone cameras with much bigger sensors.
Though everybody is uncertain about how big the market is. People who like photographing with a smartphone, do they really think that much about sensor-sizes and lens brands? If they do, won't they get a "real" camera? I don't know.
To be honest, while I think this is a natural and obvious and praiseworthy development, I don't feel any huge attraction to this toasterfridge. The size and kind of images you post on Faceblack and Instagroan, you simple can't tell the difference anyway, you need to make really big prints*, and if you do that, might you not want optimum camera controls rather than an Android interface?

Not sure. But I feeeeel there could be something cool made in this area, but it may take some ingenious and intuitive inventing to do so.
Or maybe not. Will this always be a Frankenstein? Cameraphone cameras have already been Good Enough for years, even for many enthusiasts, and they are only getting better year for year. So why buy an expensive phone (900 Euros) which is four times thicker than a nice phone, just to tell your friends: "See, it has a Leica lens!". Well, that may actually be it for many, and nothing wrong with that.

*And how many people really prints photos anymore? I haven't for years. After getting used to pictures reaching around the world in seconds, a print seems so... obscure. Getting them seen by more than a handful of people is real work. And also today's really big screens make for an enjoyment of a photo which it takes a *hell* of a print to beat. (And it can never beat the contrast range anyway.)

Frost Flowers, now bigger

I have updated the size options for some of my most popular photos for wallpaper, the Frost Flowers.

(I've added a zip file link with the full camera size images (6MP), since bandwidth and screen sizes have changed a lot in the decade since I posted these.)

Update:
Found something fun: in the new iOS 8 (iPhones/iPads) you can now select third-part keyboards. In one of them you can put a photo behind the keyboard. I think this one fits well:

(Click on it to see the texture, it's wild.)

Simon Pierro Does iPad Magic Using LEGO

Two small gadgets

I've found a couple of kewl gadgets in one of my fave online stores, PhotoJojo.

Une Bobine is a combine phone-charge cabel and phone stand/tripod.
It is not a danged stable tripod by any stretch, so don't expect miracles if there's wind, but I think it's cool, and I want to use it when reading or writing when I'm not home, so I have the screen nearer eye-height, to save my poor ol' neck.

The Pocket Spotlight is a tiny flood light. I think it's mis-named, because one of the good things about it is that it evenly covers a big area. It gives quite a lot of light, and its the size of a matchbox, only thinner!
You don't have to have it mounted on the camera/phone, it is independent. But I've experimented, and the light it gives, even when sitting on the camera, is clearly superior to a phonecamera's built-in flash.
It can also be used as fill light, of course. And even for indirect light, if the subject is not too large.
It can also be used simply as a flash light. It's much smaller, and gives a much broader and more even light. You can carry it anywhere, only problem is it might get lost in the bag...

They have great support. 

As does the small company (one man?) which makes the Bobine. It was unclear if it would support the heft of the iPhone 6 Plus, and PhotoJojo weren't sure, so I contacted him personally at FuseChicken.com (!). He said: 

It will definitely charge and sync both new iPhones, but until we have them in our hands for testing, we can’t guarantee the holding/positioning use. We are getting the 6 today and the 6 plus next wednesday for testing. But, for giggles, I strapped a Galaxy S4 onto the front of my iPhone 5s and put it on Bobine. The weight of these phones combined is a lot higher than the 6 plus weight. And Bobine performed great, so I’m assuming it will work just fine for the 6 plus.

http://www.fusechicken.com/collections/products/products/bobine?variant=355572377

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A car, printed in two days

... Which has less than fifty parts! Video.

Gitte Hænning sings Miss Sky-blue (updated)

This is actually from before I was born!
What a voice Gitte has! In the Frøken Himmelblå (Miss Sky-blue) clip, both when she's talking, but especially when she sings, what power. And I think she was not yet 20.
The song is about how he advices her to "put the hat askew and flourish with flowers", meaning lift your head and smile, it makes you prettier.



Update:
Some say the vid won't play in the states. TCGirl found a version by two amateur singers, both quite good:




Here is Gitte's greatest hit, only in an English version:



And here the same, in the original Danish, at least thirty-five years later!
It's remarkable how different the singing is. I like the original lively version, but there's also much to be said for this more thoughtful, laid-back version. I think it becomes a different song, really.

Lights Over Lapland

Thanks to Henry for sending this video, it's def one of the best time-lapse videos I have seen. Orsome stoff.

(Full screen recommended.)

From Lights Over Lapland.

Rocket Book files

Does anybody know a file translator app for the old Rocket Book ebook format? (That's over a decade old.)