Apple Aperture Tutorial - An introduction

 

AlphaMountWorld.com
by: Andrew Woodhouse

This is AlphaMountWorld's second video tutorial, and the first in our new series on Apple's Aperture. In this video tutorial we briefly explain what Aperture is and how it can help with your photography, and how to import photos into Aperture. These new videos will be around 10 minutes Êand will deal with only one or two topics, making them easier to follow.

Sony A300/A350 PDF EBook By Gary Friedman- An AlphaMountWorld Review

July 2009, Andrew Woodhouse

The Sony A300/A350 e-book is one of the latest e-books by Gary L. Friedman and aims to provide an easy to follow and understand guide to the cameras numerous features. It would be a mistake to think that this was a glorified camera manual - it's an awful lot more than that. It's designed to appeal to anyone that has the A300 or A350, but is primarily aimed at beginners to the world of digital photography, or those who don't want to be bogged down by all the techno babble we photographers are all too guilty of throwing around. How many new photographers know what bokeh is or refers to, or the relation between apertures and shutter speed etc. ?

Sony FDA-ME1AM Magnifying Eyepiece- Product Report and Review

July 2009, Carl Garrard (*Update 7-26-2009)

Sony's FDA-ME1AM magnifying eyepiece has been a long time coming. I have wanted Sony to make one of these eyepiece accessories since the A-100 was first announced in 2006. At last they have produced the one I was looking and begging them for. I got my hands on one from the first batch sent to the U.S. from Sonystyle (after pestering them for an in-stock date), and I think the wait was worth it. The price on the FDA-ME1AM is $34.99 USD. The eyepiece will magnify the view you see (does not affect the area captured obviously) through your viewfinder by 1.15X and is compatible with the A700, A380, A350, A330, A300, A230, A200, and the A100 Alpha DSLRS (all APS-C cameras). The eyepiece also extends the viewfinder relief 7mm further, and is stain resistant on the glass element and polyurethane cover. Prior to the announcement of this accessory there were other available options that weren't manufactured by Sony. The Pentax OEM-53 did some duty on my Alphas, but is now retired. Therefore, it is only fair that all my begging should yield an article on this product.

The Hot Shoe Diaries, By Joe McNally- Review
May 2009, Andrew Woodhouse

The Hot Shoe Diaries is Joe McNally's latest book and follows on from the success of his internationally acclaimed book, The Moment It Clicks. As the title suggests it is a book which focuses on small flashes, strobes or Speedlights if you will. Now some of you might wonder why on earth I am reviewing a book by a self professed "Nikon guy", well Joe McNally is pretty much the man when it comes to flash photography, and small flash photography in particular. As a result this book, whilst biased slightly towards Nikon (it is what Joe shoots with after all) is a must read for anyone who wants to learn how to use their flashes to better effect. I know there is a large amount of interest in wireless flash photography on AlphaMountWorld and as a result it seemed appropriate to review the book.

A900 Jpegs at ISO 3200- Camera Settings Count!

The A900 is an excellent hi-sensitivity machine. Capitalizing on retaining more color and dynamic range throughout the entire ISO range than most of its competition, the A900 manages this excellent performance characteristic for much less cost than its best rivals. What doesn't get talked about much when it comes to higher sensitivity settings is color output and print quality when processing is debated. Sure "some" companies work more noise reduction in the chroma category into their processing as well as make a bit nicer grain pattern, but does that translate into better prints? Color wise, no, it doesn't. Raw software, ISO debates, who needs it? Lets have some fun using our A900 for Jpeg output and see what we can do.

Challenging Popular Photography

Feburary 2009, Carl Garrard

Hello all. Lately, I have been doing a lot of thinking about the photography market in general, and with your permission I'd like to expound a bit now about the DSLR market. Call this a sort of ... expose rant of my feelings that I'd like to share with you, so here I go. While sitting comfortably on my couch tonight sipping a glass of my favorite 'Rodney Strong', reading my March issue of Popular Photography, I came across an ...interesting article. I read this article thoroughly three times. And each time that I read it, I couldn't help but to let escape a bit of a confused smirk cross my face. Afterwards I sat back with my wine and relaxed for a moment, and in my head pinpointed the source of that little smirk.

An AlphaMountWorld.com tutorial

Welcome to the first of AlphaMountWorld's on-line video tutorials, designed to help you get more from your Alpha camera and image editing software.

In the first of the series we show you how to process a RAW image using Sony's supplied Image Data Converter (IDC) and Image Data Lightbox software. By following the tutorial you'll learn how to process RAW images for better quality photos, and because the software used is supplied with your camera, it won't cost you a penny!

Minolta Maxxum 9 - Will there be a Sony digital equivalent?

June 2008, Carl Garrard

Arguably the king of all affordable SLR Film cameras, the Minolta Maxxum 9 SLR is Minolta's heritage at its finest. The question I have is, will its bloodline continue in a future model like the Maxxum 7 or will it be forever a lost ghost in our memories? Before you conclude that the Sony Flagship will be the successor, I think you should re-consider. Let me muse this thought aloud.

AlphaMountWorld would like to extend a big thanks to Andrew for contributing this article!

Painting with light is a fun, and simple way to add that extra sparkle to your photos. The basic technique can be applied to many aspects of photography (including architecture), however I have found that itʼs most effective with macro/product photography.

The technique isn't particularly new, however, the advent of high quality and relatively cheap DSLRs has meant there has never been a better time to try it. Using a DSLR brings with it a number of advances, most notably the fact it's possible to experiment as many times as needed without spending a fortune on film processing. It also means more complex images can be created, with several layers containing different coloured light trails- using film it was nigh on impossible to create layered effects.

Below is one of my most successful images using this technique, and in this article I will explain the steps taken to create it.

Sony A200-Auto Focus performance evaluation

Sony A200

About 9:00am this morning I took out the A200 to a local community lake to test its Auto Focus merits. Sony has claimed better auto focus performance with the addition of the new high torque motor that is also included in the A700. My aim today: to see if there is any real and noticeable overall performance changes in a high demand situation such as shooting birds in flight over the A100.

Sony's DSLRS-The Complete Lineup 2006-2009

This is a showcase of all of the DSLRS Sony has produced to date (with one future release). Under each DSLR is a link to reviews and accolades of each camera body that have been complied to date.

A-700 does high speed Photography

By: C. Garrard 1-29-2008

Tamron 90mm 2.8 Di Lens provided by www.alphalensrental.com

Hello folks!

Did some experimenting today with the A-700 at its highest shutter speeds 1/6400th sec - 1/8000th sec only. I wanted to see what could be caught at these shutter speeds incorporating the A-700's max SS and 5FPS. This is my first attempt at such a test, and I will do another (cuz this was a blast!... uh no pun intended) with higher quality photos and a more controlled environment next time around.