Zooming Big

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From time to time, some photographer friends and some “normal” friends (i.e. non-photographers) will send me pictures and ask that I make them bigger. Apparently, I do a good job. Here’s my secret:

I’ve been using PhotoZoom Pro since version 1.0, back when it had the catchy name of “S-Spline Pro”. The software works as advertised. Unfortunately, I don’t get paid to say that, I’m just a happy user.

PhotoZoom Pro 3 [as of 12/2012, it’s up to PhotoZoom Pro 5] isn’t particularly cheap but BenVista just released a new “lighter” version called PhotoZoom Classic 3. This uses the same technology as the Pro version but it has slightly fewer features and costs less than half price.

But I have a zillion-megapixel camera. Why do I need to up-sample?

If you can fill the frame with your subject all the time then you may not need this software. But if you need to resample after a huge crop, this software can do the job. If you need to up-size low-resolution pictures sent in from your customers, then this software will be useful.

I’ve cropped images from 36 MB (12-megapixel Nikon D2X) down to less than 1/6 of the frame and then resized them back up to 36 MB with PhotoZoom Pro. Editors were none-the-wiser!

Certainly, after any large up-sampling, the final image is never as perfect as the original. But it’s garbage in, garbage out. If you start with a small, poorly-exposed, out-of-focus image, then you’ll end up with a big, poorly-exposed, out-of-focus image. This software, like all other interpolation applications, makes the photograph bigger not better. Although, sometimes bigger is better.

 

Best of The Worst

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Do you like buying cheap stock photos? Take a look at iStockHell, from the makers of Clients from Hell. Not sure if photographers should be laughing or crying.

*Added Dec 19: The iStockHell site may be down or perhaps even gone. The site did mention that it had received complaints from iStock but was trying to work around them.

*Added: Sadly, the iStockHell site is gone.

 

Being Different

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“Performance artist” may be the best description for Chinese artist Li Wei. Although “crazy” could also be used.

Take a look at the mind-boggling photographs on his web site. (The site doesn’t seem to mention the name of the photographer(s).)

Aha! They’re all fake! Photoshopped pictures!

Actually, you might be surprised.

While several of the images were edited to erase the steel cables or ropes that supported the flying people, not all pictures were altered. Apparently, for a few high-air pictures, Wei just climbed up and did his thing.

Many of his floating head pictures have no digital magic whatsoever but they do use old centuries-old trickery. Some of the floating heads in the “Dream-Like Love” series must have been Photoshopped because there seems to be no other explanation.

The web site also has small videos which show some behind-the-scenes activity. In one video, while dangling from a 25th-floor ledge, Wei is suspended only by a rope handheld by two other guys.

While this work was done purely for the art, apparently Wei’s plan is to move into advertising. Do you think wildly different pictures like this might help get a business noticed?

Does corporate photography always have to be safe and boring? When should a business take a risk with its marketing photography?

 

A Monkey Could Do It

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A customer might ask: “Why does it cost so much? You just point the camera and push the button. Technology does all the rest. I bet even a monkey could do it.”

Well, apparently there is a monkey doing it. And, posting her pictures on her own Facebook page. And, Nonja the orangutan works very cheap.

No word yet if she’s available for editorial, commercial or corporate photography assignments. So working photographers can rest easy for now. :-)

When it comes to hiring a photographer, you get what you pay for. A professional photographer is not someone who knows how to push a button but rather they know when to push the button. A premium quality photograph gets its value not only from what it shows but also from what it doesn’t.

If your company’s photography needs don’t require experience or creativity, if your corporate image doesn’t matter, if your customers don’t care how your business communicates with them, then even a monkey could do it.

 

Cost of Digital Photography

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Who started this myth that digital photography is free or cheap?

Last week, two similar sounds passed by my ears:

(i) While chatting with a writer whom I haven’t seen in many years, he remarked that I must be happy with digital photography because it’s free.

(ii) After giving a quote to a potential client, he replied, “Why is it so expensive? You use a digital camera, right? It shouldn’t really cost anything.”

Photographers, feel free to make a loud and heavy moaning sound.

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Three wise men or three blind mice?

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There are currently four new cell phone companies about to start up in Canada. Three of them, DAVE, WIND and Public Mobile will be operating in the Toronto area. Let’s compare their marketing strategies to date.

Web sites:

DAVE is plain and boring and has no useful information. There’s no attempt at excitement and nothing whatsoever to engage the customer. The business image is “we’re cheap and boring.”

WIND is better. This company obviously knows the value of relationship building and is doing everything right in this regard. Unfortunately this site has but a couple of lousy photographs, there’s almost no useful information, and it seems to be trying too hard to be trendy. But at least these folks are thinking about customer engagement.

Public Mobile has some useful information for its customers. The site uses no photography but has some video with its executives. They do try to engage the customer through a blog where potential customers can get answers to their questions.
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Risky Business

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It’s often said that it’s easier for a business to keep existing customers than to gain new ones. But it also works the other way around. It’s often easier for customers to buy from the same business than to look for a new supplier.

A photography customer that already has a go-to photographer will continue to use that photographer, (unless the photographer really messes up), because it’s easier than trying find a new photographer. A search for the phrase “toronto photographer” can result in 50 pages of search results. No one has time for that.

It’s always easier to continue doing things the usual way because there’s little or no risk. The usual way produces the usual results.

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