Author: Nicolai Grossman

Lensbaby wide-angle conversion lenses

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Lensbabies launches the new Lensbaby accessory lenses, a Lensbaby Wide Angle/Macro Conversion Lens and a Lensbaby Wide Angle/Telephoto Lens kit. Most notable about the new wide angle accessory lens is that it is optimized for use with the Lensbaby – no other wide angle accessory on the market preserves the size of the sweet spot of focus the way the Lensbaby wide angle lens does. When a photographer uses an industry standard wide angle conversion lens with a Lensbaby it shrinks the size of the Sweet Spot. The shrinking Sweet Spot makes it harder to shoot wide open at f/2.0 or f/2.8, because the Sweet Spot reduces to quite a small percentage of the photo. Our new Lensbaby wide angle conversion lenses solve the problem of the shrinking Sweet Spot…

Continue reading at the Photonika Show Web site

US Polaroid 600 film sale: buy 4, get 1 free + free shipping

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The title says it all: for every four packs of Polaroid 600 film you buy, you get one free. To get free shipping, use promo code ERV2YB during checkout.

The offer ends 28 September, 2006, and is only valid if you buy directly from Polaroid.

I bought a crapload when they had the same offer on Spectra film a few months back and my order was correct and arrived quickly.

(This is not an affiliate thing, I got this in Polaroid’s newsletter.)

Big changes for JPG Magazine

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Big changes for JPG! In short: moving to traditional offset printing for better image quality, memberships, voting on submitted images, more themes, and US $100 and a subscription if your work is published.

Their newsletter explains:

Dearest JPGgers,

Exactly two years ago today, JPG Magazine began with a simple mission to honor the amazing work coming out of the online photographic community. Today, six issues later, the humble project that began with a Gmail account and a dream is growing up. Come see!

There’s a lot that’s new, including memberships, more themes, and voting! And there’s even more new with the magazine, including a larger format, more pages, more frequent publishing, and a much lower price tag! And did we mention that, if you’re chosen for publication, you’ll get $100 and a free subscription?

And this is just the beginning. We’ve got big plans. Very soon we’ll be making subscriptions available for the first time, ever. If you’re interested in subscribing (and we hope you are) be sure to sign up and we’ll let you know when they’re available.

Today also marks the opening of submissions for Issue 7! Unlike past issues, this one’s got three themes: Big, Self-portraiture, and Hometown. As usual you can submit one photo to each, but now there’s three, so that’s 300% more chances to get published!

But enough talk. C’mon in. Check out some photos. Vote in the themes. And submit your excellent work now, because Issue 7 closes in two weeks!

It’s been a helluva two years. Thanks for JPGing with us. Keep shooting, baby!

— Derek and Heather
  JPG Magazine

Kodak Portra films enhanced

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Kodak UK Press Release:

Kodak Introduces Enhanced PORTRA Colour Negative Films with Finer Grain, Spectacular Skin Tones, Vivid Colour and Ideal Scanning Performance – Continued Innovation Gives Pro Photographers High Quality Films to Achieve Impactful Images

London, September 11 – In a move that underscores its ongoing support of the professional photography market, Eastman Kodak Company today introduced enhanced versions of its iconic KODAK PROFESSIONAL PORTRA colour negative film family, comprising 160 VC, 160 NC, 400 VC and 400 NC film. These films help professional photographers create stunning images with finer grain, spectacular skin tones, and improved scanning performance for greater enlargement capability. Plus, PORTRA 160VC and PORTRA 400VC films now provide a more ideal combination of higher colour saturation and lower contrast for optimal performance in high-colour applications.

"More than two-thirds of professional photographers today mix film and digital when shooting, depending on the job at hand and the desired end result they want to achieve," said Julian Baust UK Country Manager "Our commitment is to make sure they have the best tools for the job. The innovations we are introducing in our new PORTRA films help ensure that photographers, whether shooting at a wedding, in the studio, on a fashion shoot, or for nature and landscapes, achieve the most truthful, impactful result."

Features of the new PORTRA Film include:

  • Finer Grain: New Micro-Structure Optimized T-GRAIN® Emulsions now enable PORTRA Films to deliver finer grain than ever before.
  • Outstanding Scanning Results: With finer grain and an emulsion overcoat specially designed for scanners, PORTRA Films reproduce beautifully, be it optical or digital output.
  • Spectacular Skin Tones: Reengineered PORTRA Films deliver smooth, natural reproduction of skin tones, with a choice of Natural or Vivid colour saturation.
  • Superb Colour in Mixed Light: PORTRA films deliver beautiful, natural colour regardless of the lighting conditions, even under fluorescent light.
  • Best In Class Underexposure Latitude: PORTRA films provide the greatest latitude among professional colour films (-2 to+3 stops), enabling photographers to shoot with confidence even under challenging lighting conditions.
  • True-To-Speed ISO Ratings: There‘s no need to test or compensate. Set the meter to the box speed and start shooting.
  • Matched Prints: Single Channel Printing Technology delivers beautifully matched prints across all speeds and formats.

To ensure that this new film would meet the needs of professionals, Kodak had a number of photographers and professional labs test the product during its final stages of development.

"I am thrilled with this new film," said Jock McDonald, an internationally acclaimed professional photographer, based in San Francisco, California. "It brings so much to the dance – the way it handles contrast, keeping shadow detail is incredible. And its fine grain detail and colour palate are wonderful. It’s magical."

"Due to the superior grain and latitude of the new PORTRA films, I am able to use available light in more extreme situations without compromising the quality my clients and I demand," said Chris Usher, a renowned internationally published photojournalist whose documentation of behind the scenes moments at the White House, "Behind the Velvet Rope," is currently touring as an exhibition. "Whether shooting at a small county fair in the middle of the day, a rodeo at night, the majestic splendor of Niagara Falls through the mist or everyday people going about their lives, I can rely on PORTRA Film with confidence. The images, in detail and colour, are the next best thing to being there."

McDonald and Usher will join professional photographers Renate Forster and Frederic Lagrange at a panel at Photokina, to discuss their experiences with PORTRA Film, as well as how film fits into their work and photography. Photokina is the largest imaging exposition and trade show in Europe, which opens September 26 in Cologne, Germany. Visitors to Photokina can join these panels, to be held:

  • Wednesday, September 27: 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.; Kristallsaal room, section 3: Entrance West, 3rd floor
  • Thursday, September 28: 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.; Salon Barcarole: Entrance West, 3rd floor

In addition to the discussion, Kodak will showcase images that these photographers have captured using the PORTRA films at its booth, 5.2 – Stand A002 / C031 and during the panel presentations.

The new KODAK PROFESSIONAL PORTRA films will be available worldwide on a stock-turnover basis beginning in the fourth quarter of 2006.

About Eastman Kodak Company
Kodak is the world’s foremost imaging innovator, providing leading products and services to the photographic, graphic communications and healthcare markets. With sales of $14.3 billion in 2005, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on helping people better use meaningful images and information in their life and work. Consumers use Kodak’s system of digital and traditional image capture products and services to take, print and share their pictures anytime, anywhere; businesses effectively communicate with customers worldwide using Kodak solutions for prepress, conventional and digital printing and document imaging; creative professionals rely on Kodak technology to uniquely tell their story through moving or still images; and leading healthcare organizations rely on Kodak’s innovative products, services and customized workflow solutions to help improve patient care and maximize efficiency and information sharing within and across their enterprise. More information about Kodak (NYSE: EK) is available at www.kodak.co.uk.

Kodak, Kodak Professional and Portra are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company.

Call for entries: The Holga Show at Photomedia Center

Nicolai Grossman 1 Comment

The Call for Entries category has been mighty thin due to my refusal to post any that require entry fees, but this one looks decent: Holga, no entry fee, electronic submission. It’s an electronic show that reqires a print donation if your work is accepted.

ATTENTION fine art photographers working with HOLGA cameras!

In December 2006, the Photomedia Center will be featuring artists who have been invited through an open submissions process to exhibit their photography which was created with the assistance of the Holga toy camera. This plastic miracle has produced a track record unexpectedly beatuiful results in the hands of skilled image-makers.

Artists are welcome to submit up to 8 images for consideration for inclusion in the show. Final decisions will be made by the Photomedia Center staff and board of directors. Accepted images will be shown online at www.photomediacenter.org as the featured exhibit of the month and archived online in our "previous exhibitions" section of the site thereafter. There is no cost to enter your work, but if your work is selected, we ask that you donate a print of your image to the Photomedia Center for its permanent collection.

I contacted them to clarify the camera hacking situation, and they replied:

The requirements are pretty open… any image is acceptable as long as it was made in some part and process with a Holga toy camera. Using modified versions of the camera, including lenses, is fine.

More info at the Photomedia Center’s Web site.

Via Randy Smith at holgamods (get your modified Holga from him!)

New Mike Ware alt process books: Gold in Photography and The Chrysotype Manual

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From the AlternativePhotography.com newsletter:

For all those of you who wants to know the ins and outs of the chrysotype process, here are two invaluable books from Dr. Mike Ware. As usual, thoroughly researched, they offer the first published monographs detailing the use of pure gold in photographic imaging. Gold in Photography and The Chrysotype Manual are the culmination of years of meticulous and methodical experimentation by Dr. Mike Ware, the leading researcher in the fields of iron-based photographic printing and conservation. And, don’t miss the interview!