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Second price increase

Nikon has announced second price increase in the recent months commencing 1st of March 2009. This increase mostly is aimed towards Nikon’s imaging and optics products. The main reason for this is the weak position of Sterling and continued strength of Yen.  However Nikon will continue to review its pricing structure. At the same tile Coolpix series and some of selected digital SLRs will not be affected.

Online Image Editors

The biggest advantage of online Image Editors is that you do not have to install any software and also you can save your work online. You can just work on your computer as usually- how brilliant is that! I have listed 6 of the finest online editors.

Splashup This program has great layers and an amazing variety of filters. You can just access your images remotely.

Pixer.us is a simple photo editor. The features available in this program are as follows:
- rotating
- color adjustment as well as contrast adjustments
- resizing
- cropping
- saturation and brightness are also available

Pixlr is very similar to Adobe Photoshop. A Wand tool helps you automatically choose similar and adjacent pixels.

Sumo Paint is a free web image editor. It has unique tools such as:
- a brush tool
- a shape tool by which you can draw your own designed shapes
- a transform tool allowing you to move, scale or rotate objects, and many more

Phoenix
In order to get access to Phoenix you need to sign up for an account. This program allows you to use tools such as visual laboratory- PEACOCK and color and swatch tool- TUCAN. Phoenix in a brilliant image editor.

FotoFlexer is a great photo editor especially useful for rotating, cropping or resizing. It is really simple to use this program although it has a lot of features.

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The rule of thirds - The golden mean

The rule of thirds was used by painters as early as 1979 according to which by placing the subject off-centre you create more tension and interest. It allows you to make a viewer to see the whole image not only focusing on the centrally placed objects. This rule can be applied to any kind of panorama as long as you can divide your frame by two horizontal and vertical lines.

Imagine that your frame is split into 9 sections by two equally placed vertical and horizontal lines. If you want to draw your viewer’s attention place your subject at or at least near a point where the lines cross. This makes the viewer’s eye to move around the image and allows creating a balanced composition with the most powerful point where we naturally look first.

Placing a subject in the centre

Sometimes you need to place your subject in the centre so the eye leads to a central subject which can help to prevent the image from feeling static. Check your landscape first. Get up early, or stay out late, to see how natural light picks out different elements in a landscape; a hillside in warm light placed off-centre against a cool shadowy background will demand the viewer’s attention.

Canon EOS D5 Mark II

Canon has upgraded the popular EoS 5D and it’s better than ever!

The 5D’s body is ideal for bad weather as it is sealed against dust and moisture. It has magnesium alloy construction.

Canon’s DIGIC 4 works with the EOS 5D Mark II’s image sensor to achieve outstanding reproduction of colours and tonal gradations.

The EOS  D5 Mark II has an amazing 21.1 megapixel full frame CMOS sensor (36mm x 24mm) with DIGIC 4 Image processor you can shoot up to 3.9 fps so enjoy a true wide angle experience through the large, bright viewfinder.

The EOS 5D Mark II offers ISO up to 6400 which allows shooting low light (expandable to ISO L 50, H1: 12800 and H2:25600) It supports Live View shooting and HD videos and more. Users can even shoot video to memory card without losing the ability to capture images.

It has a higher capacity of battery as well as 9 AF points plus 6 AF assist points, a new 98% coverage viewfinder, a 3.0 inch LCD ( 920.000 dots/VCG) and a rugged build.

A dust prevention system offers reduction of internal dust generation, an in camera sensor cleaning mechanism and the ability to map dust spots for removal.

Features
- 21.1 Megapixel full frame CMOS sensor
- EOS Integrated Cleaning System
- DIGIC4
- 3.0 High Resolution LCD
- Full HD movie recording
- High ISO
- 9 point AF, 6 points assist AF points

Canon EOS 5OD- a ,,sister’’ model to the 40D

Canon has announced the EOS 50D model with a 15.1 Megapixel COMOS sensor , 6.3 frames per second shooting and the EOS 50D delivers speed and resolution at a price point that is unusual in today’s market. Although a number of function and gadgets can be overwhelming but with over time you will soon figure out  what is useful for. The 50D is a great upgrade for any Canon user although it may not sway an existing Nikon user.

First of all you need to familiarize yourself with menus and features. The EOS menu system includes a new Quick Control screen so you have access to the most commonly-changed settings.

Thanks to redesigned photo diodes and micro lenses, extend the light gathering capabilities of the sensor which allow more pixels to be fitted on the COMOS sensor so the image quality do not have to be compromised.

The high ISO performance a low noise has been  achieved in this new model between 100-400 which allows to get smooth images.

The self cleaning system also has been improved which helps to protect and remove dust from the sensor.

The new anti reflective 3 inch LCD screen has now 920.000 pixels. It can be easy clouded  by fingerprints which can reduce visibility so be prepared for this and have some lens cloth all the time.

The Canon EOS 50D camera which satisfies a very demanding photographer as well as  amateurs. It’s a great product for a great price.

Update firmware of a Nikon D300 v1.10

Nikon has upgraded firmware of a D300 model. A new version 1.10 has much better white balance, faster auto focus and the rest of small modifications. Nikon has also got rid off view errors in working of the camera. The A and B part of firmware has been upgraded too.

- The speed of setting the sharpens has been increased in mode AF as well as in mode AF with contrast detection

- Automatic white balance function has been upgraded

- Instead of “my menu” the “last setting” can be displayed

- The longest shutter time has been increased from 1/250-1 s to 1/4000-1 s

Also an error has been removed which has been causing noise while taking pictured in the M mode. In addition another error has been removed which has made impossible to release a shutter with a specific opening’s time if a mirror has not made any activity within 30 seconds.

Nikon D90

Nikon has launched the D90 model. The body is very much like D80’s  but it’s fatter then the D60 which in fact one could say was a cheaper version of D80.The layout is very simillar to any Nikon DSLR.

The ISO range can be extended to 100-6400.The D90’s body has twin control dials which can be really helpful when you making speed adjustments.  It also has the 12.3 mega pixel CMSO sensor. The shooting speed is 4.5fps max. There is a high speed memory card and the 11 point AF system is more sophisticated than the 3 point system of the D60. The D90 model also includes the self cleaning sensor which you must admit is rather convenient. Don’t forger that the D90 is the first DSLR with a movie mode. The D90’s shutter is designed for 100.000 cycles and its power system should last approximately for 850 shots.

Although the D90 has a bigger LCD (3 inch, 920.000 dot.) some of the icons are pretty small. But there is some disadvantage if this big LCD- the saturation. This means that even if pictures look amazing on the rear of the camera it can turn out to be plain when you download them up to your computer.

Manfrotto announces 055CX Carbon Tripod range

Manfrotto has launched new 055CX carbon tripod models which include CXPRO3, CXPRO4,CX3. The 055CX is the latest addition to the award winning ‘X’ range of tripods and is available in 3 sections; featuring aluminum top spider die casting and an aluminum top plate.

An extremely comprehensive tripod with a conspicuous design features outstanding qualities in terms of height, rigidity, payload and setup speed whilst offering extreme lightness thanks to its carbon fibre structure. This design meets the needs of an every day photographer as well as the most demanding one.

The PRO type offer a choice of view section models which are equipped with a tri-faceted carbon fibre central column, leveling bubble integrated on the magnesium top plate, magnesium top spider die casting. Both models CXPRO3 and CX3 feature the renowned patented Q90° Quick Centre Column System that let positioning the central column horizontally without having to remove the head or the column itself

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Composition

Good composition is  really subjective. You need to realize what the best parts of  the image are so you can select them to compose your landscape. In fact it is all about choosing the best elements of what you can see in front of you and arrenging them in your own composition ready to be captured. There are a few really simpe and very usefull rules which can help you out.

Firstly try to find out an object which draws your attention. You really do not want to capture every single element of the scene. So take a good look at your scene and try to find these elements that compose your landscape. Then you can decide which of them you want to include and most importantly which of these you don’t.  That is the most important thing for you to get a photo that draws the viewer into the scene. The only way to achieve this is by choosing the elements of the landscape that will create interesting image.