Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

Letter to canon camera CEO about 5D Mll

February 15, 2010

i wish the community would join me in a letter writing campaign to the president & ceo of canon directly asking for the long awaited updated software for the 5D Mll.

i find it somewhat of a disgrace and affront to me the user that canon has taken so long to upgrade this camera’s software while introducing more new cheaper eos cameras  with better software.

calling  an anonymous  telephone line and speaking to representative isn’t as effective as a direct letter to the president. one needs to consider the cultural   implications of shame to the company for not doing anything to fix this oversight.

i don’t think improvements move up the ladder of command but rather down the chain of corporate communities.

if we want this software changed then we need to speak up often and many times in order to be heard over the din of doing nothing. squeaky wheels get greased, let us fill their ears with noise.

see below the presidents message to the world who canon is. do you think this is the same lethargic company  sitting on an updated software version for our cameras?

then do something. please take a moment out of your day to write to them stating your displeasure.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
Mr. Joe Adachi
President & CEO, Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc.
One Canon Plaza
Lake Success, NY  11042
Phone: 516-328-5000

At Canon U.S.A., Inc., we take great pride in developing innovative digital solutions, technologies, and products that make it easy to create, manage, and share images and information better, faster, and more efficiently.

We are leaders in developing innovative, high-quality business solutions, including a broad range of digital and network compatible imaging products. For example, our imageRUNNER™ systems make it possible for businesses to scan, e-mail, fax, and print documents anywhere around the world in color and black and white—all at the touch of a button.

The Canon name also represents innovation and leadership in photographic products. We continue to create digital solutions for both the professional and amateur photographer, like digital cameras that easily connect to a photo printer the size of your hand. Canon was the first to introduce this product because of our expertise in both cameras and printers.

Technological breakthroughs that enhance everyday life is what we do best. And, we do it with a keen eye on the environment. Our products are designed, developed, manufactured, and delivered with the goal of minimizing their environmental impact.

This is an exciting time for all of us at Canon as we continue to share our innovation and technological achievements with you.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

i to wish i could get excited about canon cameras but i own one.

fuzzypicturres.wordpress dot com

Hearst Corporation 8X10 Photography Biennial Competition

February 11, 2010

hearst-8x10-logo.gif Hearst Corporation announces 2011 8×10 Photography Biennial Competition

An international competition saluting the next generation of talent, which will play an important role in the future of magazines, media, the web, design and photography. Hearst 8×10 Photography Biennial is a competition to identify and promote new and emerging talent among photographers in the United States and abroad.

Selected works will be showcased in an exhibition under the title, “8×10” in the Alexey Brodovitch Gallery and the Hearst Gallery at Hearst Tower in New York City. Winners will be published in the accompanying “8×10” catalog and on http://www.hearst.com and http://www.hearst8x10.com.

There is no entry fee for the competition.


enter here

educational web site: The Russell Brown Show

February 11, 2010

here is a link to a wonderful web site with lots of great tips & techniques

RUSSELL BROWN’S ADOBE PHOTOSHOP TIPS & TECHNIQUES

Welcome to the official, Russell Brown tips & techniques page. This is your one-stop shopping location for the latest in hot new tips from the one, and only, Dr. Brown. Beware, these QuickTime movies are large and will take time to download with a slow connection. Also, if you are viewing them using Internet Explorer, the movies may take several minutes to appear. For best results, Dr. Brown recommends that you use the Safari, or Firefox browser. These tutorials have been provided to you as a free service from Adobe Systems and Russell Brown.

i have always  followed the photographers link or name on these quicktime tutorials to see some pretty fantastic images. all part of my learning skills.

enjoy

jene youtt, nyc

http://www.jeneyoutt.com

update on Canon 580ex flash units

February 8, 2010

well the deeper i delve into this situation with our flash units and trying to learn something new. brian at B&H video was right when he said ‘learning studio flashes are easier than learning canon flash units.’

the canon flash units are Infrared ‘IR’ units which need to have a line of sight in order to work. that’s why they didn’t talk to each other shooting through my softboxes. so in order for me to get them off camera and use ETTL i need to use the 2′ extension that canon sells as OC-E3 $70.00 which i have. but it does limit my off camera axis, then there is line of sight limitations.

so i called a friend of mine who now owns a 5D Mll and pocket wizards and asked how he’s been shooting these days. well it seems his problems are between his pocket wizards and the 580exll causing radio interference and the work around from pocket wizards is to add an interference sock to the 580exll.

now it seems to me that ‘pocket wizards ll, $170″ are the state of art for wireless radio control. that is until other people got involved such as ‘radio popper, $249‘ an and a chinese company selling on ebay  the CTR-301 P $25, and maybe a few others i don’t know about. doing a google search today wasted most of the day reading but hey learning something new isn’t too much of a waste. also i hear the paul buff’s ‘commander series $250′, and ‘cybersync, $90’ works on the canon series but haven’t talked to them yet.

some of the radio slave problems seem to be how to attach them to the various flash units but i understand some of the companies are working on that. but it’s always a good idea to have some gaffer tape along, ya never know when it’ll come in handy.

the 580ex flash units won’t work with these slaves unless they have a hot shoe connection adapter because no sync cord connection as the 580ex ll does. this is a dark jungle this world of flash. keep your eyes and ears open before you move, this next step could cost you.

but back to the meat of the 580ex flashes. don’t expect them to work in the direct sun light as the bright sun overpowers the infrared sensors and makes the ST-E2 transmitter canon sells for $220 useless as are the sensors on the flashes. when you’re developing products in the dark, these things happen.

now i am just learning how to use these flash things but you’d think that canon photographic engineers might know something about how the cameras are used and by whom. who are these ‘photographers of light’ and what planet do they live on? can they speak outside of photo expo stages?

i know there was a problem with the 5D Mll over the 5D using second curtain external flash as the 5D Mll improved
the system so this function is disabled using non canon flash units. canon service reps told me they couldn’t design a camera system for other flash units. i guess petty cash funds are limited at lake success and there are no camera stores on the long island.

but there is a workaround for second curtain sync. as with all problems someone comes up with a solution too bad it’s not the manufactures. need and answer? google it. there are discussions on photonet and a few cool videos on vimeo and other groups.

yes i know to find the right answer you could spend all day learning things you never knew, or how to ask the questions  you never knew  existed  and waste a whole day doing it.

oh if you’re interested in learning more about the 5D Mll software issues and solutions you might want to view magic lantern.

just sharing another wasted day with you, oh it’s dark outside so it must be night. where’d it go?

jene youtt, nyc

canon flash units

February 3, 2010

it’s come to my attention my canon 580ex flash unit doesn’t have an external sync connection. it seems canon hasn’t put one in there flashes until the 580exll at $445.00 at B&H video.i was told tonight by a counter person at B&H that the 580exll was an improved flash unit.

what is this company thinking? all photographers put external flash units on their cameras?

can you imagine an external flash unit without a sync connection direct to camera? well canon can and does. they do offer a 2′ hot shoe connector for those use a bracket a ‘shoe cord’ they call it.

oh right, the flash units are wireless with no backup mode other than buying another flash head and transmitter. don’t ya just love all this technology? but the wireless transmitter is a feature of the camera right? oh i have to buy the transmitter separately just to make this work? maybe what i should have bought is canon stock instead.

what with all this brouhaha over the 5d mll and the poor software or lack of real video capabilities and no quick update from a company caught off guard with their own development i wonder if living in lake success doesn’t have it’s downside?

i am trying to move to exterior flash units, which are much smaller than my studio strobes and lighter to drag around the country side i am surprised by how limited canon as a photographic company is.

do they really want all my money?

live and learn. if only i went with nikon years ago this might or might not be an issue these days.

we also have a shoe saying around in my circle  ‘dumber than a shoe’  but i am not sure the canon executives run around the same circles i run in.

oh well

Jene Youtt, nyc

C4FAP ‘Motion’ selection

January 29, 2010

well i’ve had one of my images selected for a c4fap Motion shows coming up this spring. i also have a cold as does mary, these things happen when we are out and about in the world.

nude female leaping upward

Ascending

i’ve made a package for the image and have downloaded the forms needing to accompany the framed print. one really should never have to read instructions and understand them when one doesn’t feel good. it’s just too much to understand nor wanting to comply with. i’d rather lay down on the couch, turn on tv and see what’s going on in soap opera world and put my head gently down on a pillow waiting for oprah to come along and lull me to sleep.

i’ve time to think about all this and since it’s 23 degrees outside i don’t need to trudge off to UPS and send the package. besides they want an artist statement. do you think they accept a note saying i’d rather take a nap?

i’ve plenty of time as the show isn’t until march 19 thru april 17 2010.

busy week as i am going over to meet the people who run the 52nd Street Project tonight and see one of their shows. the project is about helping the neighborhood kids expresses themselves using theater and since we are living in the theater district capital of the world, arrogant statement for sure but this is broadway. i think it’s nice to give back to the community who supported me and i know that one person can make a difference in another’s life.

i’ll always be grateful for Joe coming into my life, a newark policeman who read my families dynamic and offered me friendship instead of telling me what i should do. me being a teenage i wasn’t too open for advice as i knew everything but he was there with a friendly place for me to go when i needed another perspective.

i think everyone needs places like that in their lives.

so i’ll just not do too much thinking today and maybe take a nap. we can all benefit from my doggie’s suggestion on this cold winter day.

dog sleeping on couch

but with the snap of a shutter and living with a photographer one can never relax completely

smiling dog on the couch

you want to do what on the couch?

jene youtt, nyc

Letter to Canon about my 5D Mll software, feel free to use

January 22, 2010

Canon U.S.A., Inc.
One Canon Plaza
Mr. Yoroku Adachi
President & CEO, Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Lake Success, NY  11042
Ref: Canon 5D Mll software

Dear Mr. Adachi
I am writing to you concerning the perceived lack of support for your 5D M ll camera. At least that’s the way the general photographic community and users I belong to feels about this camera.

When is your R&R department going to issue an update on the firmware or software to bring this camera in line with the rest of your digital cameras video capabilities. I was told at 2009 Photo Expo that this software should be ready this month, January 2010, for download but so far I’ve received no such announcement.

To say I am quite disappointed that none of these missing features have been included for this camera is an understatement.

– Add / Improve: In Full HD (1920×1080) mode, allow these frame rates: 29.97, 25, 23.976 fps
FIX the current 30.00 fps to the standard NTSC 29.97 fps
Improve the video quality in 23.976 and 25 to minimize “jello” effect
– Improve AutoFocus algorithm in Live View mode (contrast detection mode)
– Add Focusing Aids in Video mode, maybe face reconnection?
– Add HD (1280×720) video mode with the above frame rates.
– Improve: Make HDMI output at FULL HD (1920×1080) and CLEAR of any overlay or information when recording and/or when just watching in Live View (if when recording is not possible)
– Add: a split video function to continue recording once the 4GB limit is reached in another video file without stopping the recording process.
-Allow Audio Manual Gain
-oh why limit recording time to 12 minutes?

This lack of support has me wondering why I’ve stayed with this company through my A1 & F1 cameras  right into the digital age, even after your company dumping the FD line of lenses. That was a sizable investment on my part while having to part with my favorite lenses.

So my question is when will your company wake up and take care of it’s customer base?

Sincerely
Mr. Jene Youtt
cc. https://fuzzypictures.wordpress.com

wedding pictures

December 22, 2009

here are a nice couple on their wedding day, well sort of we took these pictures as part of a promation from their upcoming show of  a section of “Forever Hold Your Peace (for now)”, will be performed at the upcoming Frenetic Fringe Festival in Houston, TX this month.

we all have a pretty good time doing  these pics. it’s all part of my philosophy of ‘meeting interesting people’ to work with. it seems Rob Davison of kinetic architecture and i are interested in some of the same performance expressions  so we have said ‘lets work together’. who knows what will come out of it.

bride & groom

Kinetic Architecture

bride & groom dancing

Kinetic Architecture

Two More Highline Arrests ordered by Parks Commissioner

December 18, 2009
know your rights
Two More Highline Arrests Ordered by NYC Parks Commissioner

Sunday 12/6/09

ARTIST President Robert Lederman and ARTIST member Jack Nesbitt were both arrested on the Highline Sunday, 12/6/09 at approximately 12:30 PM. Lederman was previously arrested on the Highline on November 21 and issued 5 summonses for vending without a Parks permit.

In today’s arrest, the artists were handcuffed by 5 Parks Enforcement Patrol officers (PEP), taken to the 6th Precinct, held in a cell, and later released with two Criminal Court summonses given to each artist for disorderly conduct and failure to comply.

Lederman and Nesbitt are both plaintiffs in a Federal lawsuit (Lederman et al v Giuliani decided in 2001) which overturned the Parks permit requirement for artists. Since 2001 visual artists may sell in all NYC Parks without needing any license or permit.

Today’s arrest was the 43rd for Lederman. He has never been convicted and has won 5 Federal lawsuits about about street artists’ First Amendment rights.

The PEP officers were led by Inspector Robert Reeves. The arresting officers stated that the arrest was directly ordered by Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.

A video of the arrest is available on Youtube at this address:
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=KcHH5TwA7zw

Still photos are available here:
http://www.flickr. com/photos/ street_artist/ ?saved=1

Below are links to official Parks Department documents, the Federal court ruling and other materials proving that artists can legally sell in any NYC Park. There is also a link to materials from the Friends of the Highline website showing that it is a 100% public, city owned park.

Lederman and Nesbitt are represented by attorney Julie Milner, who plans to file a Federal civil rights lawsuit this week about these arrests. The defendants will be the City of NY, The Parks Department and the Friends of the Highline.

Robert Lederman issued the following statement after being released:

“What the public and the media should ask the Mayor, Commissioner Benepe and the Friends of the Highline is this: If this is a public park, doesn’t the First Amendment, the Federal Court rulings and the laws of the City of NY, all of which exempt First Amendment protected street artists from any license or permit, mean that you cannot keep on falsely arresting artists for not having a park permit? And if the Friends of the Highline is advertising that they have a food vending concession up there already and plan to have more, and they also sponsor numerous art shows on the Highline, how can they legally ban First Amendment protected artists? We were arrested today as criminals, but the sad reality is that we are the ones upholding the law. It is the Mayor, the Parks Commissioner and the Friends of the Highline that are committing the only criminal act associated with these arrests. They are in blatant contempt of court.”

Contact:
Robert Lederman
artistpres@gmail. com

Highline Park rules and info proving it is a public park
http://www.mediafir e.com/?jquw20znq wx

Highline Park website
http://www.thehighl ine.org/

Public art exhibitions on the Highline
http://www.thehighl ine.org/about/ public-art

Parks Dept memo to PEP officers on street artists being able to sell in all NYC parks
http://www.mediafir e.com/imageview. php?quickkey= zdgokmzkela& thumb=4
http://www.mediafir e.com/i/? rnnomwng1tr

Street artist Federal court rulings
http://www.mediafir e.com/?ihzato0xj ct

NY Times on Parks Department artist permit ruling
http://www.mediafir e.com/imageview. php?quickkey= n5y0mvezjjm& thumb=4

NY Post on street artists in parks Federal Court ruling
http://www.mediafir e.com/i/? fjemmnnnmom

ARTIST website (all vending laws, documents, media coverage etc regarding NYC street artists)
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/nycstreeta rtists/

Street artist videos
http://www.youtube. com/profile? user=artistpres

Parks Dept spokesperson, Vickie Karp Issued the statement below as a response to the 11/21 arrest:
Vickie.Karp@ parks.nyc. gov
212.360.1371

(Note that they fully acknowledge that artists can legally sell in parks.)

Parks statement QUOTE:
“The High Line is a unique public space, a thin elevated corridor at less than three acres with pathways as narrow as eight feet wide in some places. Many activities are prohibited. These include biking, skateboarding, throwing a baseball or a Frisbee, or walking a dog. The High Line can receive as many as 25,000 visitors on a busy day, walking along its long linear surface surrounded by fragile new plantings. Mr. Lederman and other vendors are able to ply their trade in hundreds of New York City parks and on hundreds of miles of city streets, where visitors can linger and enjoy their wares.”
———— ——— —-

Media coverage of the previous Highline arrest on 11/21/09

NY Times
http://cityroom. blogs.nytimes. com/2009/ 11/23/artist- arrested- for-42nd- time-this- time-on-the- high-line/

NY Post
http://www.nypost. com/p/news/ local/manhattan/ for_art_peddler_ it_high_dry_ line_UM2ALn7XJE3 1CInyNcWyPL

NY Press
http://www.nypress. com/blog- 5438-free- speech-not- so-free-artist- arrested- at-high-line. html

Gothamist
http://gothamist. com/2009/ 11/23/high_ line_7.php

The Villager
http://www.thevilla ger.com/villager _344/highlinearr est.html

man ray exhibit at jewish museum

December 18, 2009

Man Ray exhibit at The Jewish Museum

For those not familiar with his work, Man Ray was perhaps the father of surrealistic photography. While living together in Paris his girlfriend, Lisa Miller, accidentally invented Solarization when she walked into one of his dark room sessions.

After Man Ray fled the Nazi invasion of France and returned and returned to the U.S., Lisa Miller went on to become one of the first women War Photographers and one of the best.

A true trail blazer, Man Ray influenced avant-garde photographers whom followed, notably Andy Warhol.

If real creative inspiration is your photographic passion, familiarity with Man Ray’s work is a must.

See Link: http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/manray