16 megapixels

TransWorld SNOWboarding April 2011 Cover from TransWorld SNOWboarding on Vimeo.

Using the slopes of Bear Mountain, Transworld Snowboarding photographer Scott Serfas, put an exciting twist on snowboard photos. The video provides a behind the scenes look at how the impressive, final image was created which can be seen here.

Last time I explained ISO and the part that it plays in creating a digital image, and earlier I explained shutter speed. Now it’s time to wrap up the exposure trio with an aperture breakdown.

The aperture is the opening that lets light into the camera. Which then strikes the digital sensor; creating the image. For DSLR users, controlling the aperture is usually done by turning a knob. For those shooting on a point and shoot, you’re out of luck unless it’s a micro four thirds camera. Most traditional point and shoots do all the work for you, calculating the shutter speed, aperture size and the ISO so you don’t have to.

Aperture sizes are measured in f-stops. Lower f-stops (f/1.8) are a larger aperture and higher f-stops (f/22) are smaller. As I said earlier, the aperture is controlling the amount of light coming into the camera. Lower f-stops will allow you to let more light into the camera, allowing for a faster shutter speed and a shallow depth-of-field. Where as a higher f-stop will let less light into the camera, calling for a slower shutter speed to get a properly exposed image and it will give you less depth-of-field.

When should you use a wide aperture? When you’re shooting in low light conditions, or when you want a shallow depth-of-field to help draw attention to your subject. Lenses with a wide aperture are preferred by professionals for their low light performance.

I shot that image at f/2.8. Notice how the background is thrown out of focus? The shallow depth-of-field will help draw attention to your subject.

When should you use a small aperture? When you want to preserve the foreground and background, mainly when you’re shooting a landscape or if it’s extremely bright out.

That was shot at f/8 which helped keep detail in the background.

Just like shutter speed and ISO, think about what and where you’ll be shooting to help you figure out what size of aperture you should be using.

It’s safe to say that carrying your DSLR around, pretending to know what you’re doing, and acting “professional” can have it’s benefits. You can get into random events masquerading as a newspaper photographer, or have people ask you whether or not you shoot for a paper (in which case you can say yes and they’ll say, “oh that’s nice”) but does having a DSLR out at a restaruant result in better service?

“The last thing employees want to see when they’re delivering a substandard product or service is a shutterbug. If they think you might take a snapshot, or a video, of their incompetent actions, they’re far likelier to do the right thing. The presence of a camera alone is often enough,” according to Christopher Elliott, writer from mintlife.com.

It would be interesting to try this out and see if the service is actually improved.

(via Petapixel)

Here’s a new feature making its way into digital cameras: beauty enhancements. The new Panasonic Lumix FX77 features what Panasonic calls “beauty retouch mode,” which allows the user to add makeup, ranging from foundation to eye shadow to teeth whitening according to Panasonic’s website. The FX77 also has “cosmetic mode” which allows for users to tweak their skin tones. Allowing one to look bronzed and ready for the beach.

Here’s an image from Panasonic to help give you an idea of what cosmetic mode does.

How cosmetic mode in the Panasonic FX77 works. Courtesy of Panasonic

According to Akiko Enoki, Panasonic product manager in charge of the camera’s development, there is a huge demand for such a feature. “According to data we’ve acquired, around 50 percent of our digital camera clients are not satisfied with the way their faces look in a photograph,” Enkoi said in an interview with Reuters. Hoping to change the game, Panasonic developed this feature to help tailor to a specific demographic: bloggers and social networkers.

“It’s very popular among people who use pictures in their blogs, or those taking just one commemorative photo that they need to be flawless,” said Hiromi Honma, a Bic Camera sales representative in an interview with Reuters.

(via Petapixel)

Do you find yourself in possession of a lot of small images. Google recently changed the way that Picasa stores its photos. Users can now store nearly unlimited photos. As long as their small.

Before, users were limited to 1GB storage and 1,000,000 photos split between 1,000 albums. Previously it would be difficult to hit the 1GB limit, but now Google does not count photos that are 800px wide and smaller towards the 1GB limit, according to a Google employee. Making Picasa a pretty sweet deal for those who have a lot of small pictures.

(via Petapixel)