Greetings from Norway! This month I'm going to share with you three things that actually surprised me (and that's not easy to do!) while processing my vacation images. So let's get right to it.
Friday, February 16, 2024
Sunday, January 7, 2024
Ten Quick Things
New Years' in Boston. There's one fundamental thing even experienced photographers forget... |
My wife and I got Covid just before Thanksgiving (then I got it again), so we were down for a month and that's why you haven't heard much from me lately. In the meantime there's so much to share that I'm just going to do a huge data dump this month. I'll keep it all short. Here we go. (As always, click on any image to make it larger and sharper!)
Saturday, November 18, 2023
Let's Have A Show Of Hands
Once upon a time I was a photographer for a cutting-edge children's performing ensemble which combined singing, dancing, and precision sign language. My story appears after a few announcements. |
Also in this Issue:
- Another possible travel opportunity
- The Return of the Seminars
- Streaming Seminar is on sale!
- Announcements
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
How Long do Inkjet Prints Last?
These inkjet prints are 26 years old! |
Also in this issue:
- Announcements
- Come join me on an African Photo Safari! November, 2024
- The Amazing Mark Stewart
How Long do Inkjet Prints Last?
We all know the popularly-held wisdom: Inkjet prints will fade. Maybe they'll last 5 years, whether behind glass or not. The only way to get lasting inkjet print is to use pigment-based inks (along with special papers) which are quite expensive but can last up to 100 years.
That's conventional wisdom. Now let me share with you my own data point: I have framed and displayed inkjet prints dating back from 1997, and their colors are still strong - I estimate they faded perhaps 3% over the years.
What ancient printer produced such astounding and expectation-busting results? It was HP's very first photo printer, the PhotoSmart (tm). HP was a pioneer in inkjet technology, coming out with the very first ThinkJet (THermal INKJET) printer in 1984 as a quiet, lightweight printing technology for their portable computers. In 1997 they produced the first printer that could actually make images that looked and felt like real photos (right down to the glossy surface and the thick paper stock) for a whopping $500, cheap by high-end printer standards of the day. And of course I bought one.Thursday, August 24, 2023
My Worst Trip Ever
Establishing shot in Windhoek |
In this issue:
- Announcements
- Next Time in Cameracraft Magazine
- My Worst Trip Ever
- Sony A6700 Ebook is just a couple of weeks away from being completed! You can pre-order your copy at a discount before it's released. It will be available in all the usual formats.
- Version 2.0 of the Friedman Archives Seminars will be hitting the road soon. (More details next month. Let me know if your local photo club would like to bring me over at no cost!)
- Wanna use your camera on an African Safari? I'm currently looking into arranging a photo safari for November 2024. Come give your high-end equipment something to do and shoot with me! (Email me for more info... Gary at Friedman Archives dot com.)
Thursday, July 6, 2023
Full-Frame vs. Smartphone (don't laugh...)
I was reminded of that when I started putting my new smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, through its paces. This phone's two claims to fame are optical zooms on two of its lenses, and a whopping 200MP sensor on a third. Check out these shots of the replica of the Mayflower ship taken at 200 MP resolution from far away (as always, click on any image to view larger and sharper):
And the 100% crop of the above:
Yowza! That's pretty incredible for a phone. I wonder what the quality difference would be if I pitted this new engineering marvel against my other engineering marvel, the Sony A7R V?
Tuesday, June 13, 2023
The *NEW* New Studio
A good start. |
It seems like only eighteen months ago when I finished the new studio in our new townhouse and was cranking out content. Since then we moved to a new house and we started finishing the basement again. This time we set aside space for the grandkids to hang out in, and used the rest of the space for a craft area for Carol and a functioning studio for me. In this case "functioning studio" meant "Lots of open space".
Below is my first project done in the studio. I wanted to make a youtube video aimed at beginning photography students who are learning how to use film (*). Here I walk through how to use the classic Minolta SR-T series cameras:
Sunday, May 7, 2023
Minolta's Full Circle
This story has many beginnings… (Click on any image to view larger and sharper.)
Phil Bradon taught me how to get this result using only ONE flash and one reflector! |
We all know what happened to Minolta. The story was they hemorrhaged money because of a lawsuit with Honeywell Corp. regarding autofocus patents. I shared this story in the book I wrote about the Konica Minolta 7D camera.
Beginning #2 Back in the early days of the internet, Yahoo! was a thing, and Yahoo!Groups usurped Usenet as the premiere online discussion platform for normal people (as opposed to the Geeks and the Nerds who made up the entirety of Usenet). I was mildly active in the Minolta forum, and I suggested we all send a group “Thank You” to Phil Bradon for his stellar level of customer support. I created a framed award and sent it to him, signed by the most active members of the group. Phil later told me that he’s only received two awards in his life; this was one of them. It graced his office wall until Sony bought Minolta, at which time Phil left.
Sunday, April 2, 2023
How to Create Time Lapse Videos with Pan and Zoom
In This Issue:
- How to create Time Lapse videos with Pan and Zoom
- 20-second Photoshop Tips
- Shooting in Cold Temperatures
- The Usual Announcements
- A new Zoom lecture for Photo Clubs
How to create Time Lapse Videos with Pan and Zoom
Have a look at the time lapse video below:
Saturday, April 1, 2023
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
10 Things you Can't Do with a Smartphone
This was the final image seen in the movie, "The Shining". It was taken with something called a Banquet Camera. Read on for why I'm even showing this to you. |
Also in this Issue:
- 10 Things You Can't Do with a Smartphone
- Sony A7R V - Little-Discussed Features of Note (youtube video)
- Announcements / Next Time in Cameracraft Magazine
- Adding Detail to Old Photos
10 Things You Can’t Do with a Smartphone
Smartphones are taking over, and the gap in image quality continues to shrink. (See my lecture about Computational Photography given to the Royal Photographic Society for more on this topic.) But there are still areas where the big cameras are essential. Below is a short list (click on any image to view larger and sharper):
1. Olympic Sports / Nature Photography / Horseback Riding-
So here I was, on my way back from Las Vegas, and I came across a run-down old building that has a certain "character". I pu...
-
Also in this issue: The Next Seminars Other Tidbits My New Favorite Travel Camera When it comes to travel photography, there was al...
-
Also in this issue: How I shot the video Copenhagen, Colorado, and California Seminars are happening! A65 / A77 book is out, and timel...