« November 2017 | Main | January 2018 »
December 21, 2017
What's your favorite image?
We have four short items for this week;
1. The voting for the monthly contest is open. Please make sure you place your vote in wildlife, landscape, macro, travel and digital artistry.
2. Wintersports photography. Read Pascal Baeten's premium article on how to shoot skiers and snowboarders. To the article.
Val D'isère, France by Pascal Baetens (pbaetens): in backlight conditions snow splashes look spectacular, shot high on a northern gradient (on the northern hemisphere). Position yourself so that the sun stands just above the horizon. Either wait for the right 'passenger', or give your model precise instructions about where exactly to pass and in which phase of turn he should be in. Ask him to watch his own shadow, it should point towards you. Don't forget to choose a safe spot, preferably at the side of a wide slope. (my good, old D70, 80-200mm/2.8 at 200 mm f9, 1/1250 sec, 200 ISO)
3. Now is a good idea to include the 18th ANPAT in the Spring on your shopping list, taking advantage of the early bird discount. More information (login required)
4. The whole team at Nikonians is wishing you and your family the very best for the holiday seasons and that you'll find plenty of opportunities to shoot some good photographs to share with others in the forums. We are back with the next newsletter January 4th, 20...18!
In the name of the whole team
Bo & Ramón
Posted by bgs at 11:54 AM
December 19, 2017
Vote for Your Favorite Images
We have just over a week until the end of the month. So, please stop by and vote for your favorite images from the November Contests. Your vote Counts!
All members are eligible to vote and choose our monthly contest winners.
The following polls are open for voting until the end of the month...
Wildlife > Beak & Talon / Fang & Claw
Landscape > Fall Colors
Macro & Close-up > Dewdrops
Travel > Cityscapes
Digital Artistry > Painting
Follow contest updates each month with the Current Contests Post in the English Café.
Posted by dm1dave at 9:24 AM
December 15, 2017
Early-bird discount on 18th ANPAT Spring
Now is a good idea to include the 18th ANPAT in the Spring on your shopping list, taking advantage of the early bird discount. More information (login required)
Posted by bgs at 2:09 PM
December 14, 2017
What is that "something" we take photographs of?
There is always something happening in the world of Nikonians. This week we have rolled out further improvements in the community: (1) it is now easier to see articles related to a specific topic (aka keyword/theme) (see this post) and (2) we are now showing small "overview thumbnails" of images linked into a discussion as well, not only for those that are uploaded.
Say welcome to our new writer Connie Cassinetto (Via the Lens). She starts out with an interesting article about photography rules and "Putting Our Subject in its Place".
She says: "Many people advocate that we 'throw away the rules,' or use them 'with a grain of salt.' But it is my belief that if you are a photographer, like me, who wants to go that step above the mundane or ordinary it is imperative to learn all of these compositional rules and to know them so well that they can be used without conscious thought. Then, and only then, can you forget about the rules and toss them to the wind." Read her article.
Over to Marsha who has been interviewing Karen Willshaw (Marjani) for this weeks inspirational I Am Nikonians article, coming with some great images and background info.
Manta & Divers by Karen Willshaw
Nikon D300, Tokina 10-17mm @ f/10, 1/320s, ISO 160, Seatool housing
The team is working hard on new articles and there are more good ones due next week.
I am wishing you good reading and interesting light :-)
Bo
Want to make sure you get our weekly update in your mailbox? Just subscribe.
Posted by bgs at 11:03 AM
December 7, 2017
How do you work with other people?
Welcome to this weeks newsletter.
A new episode of Martin Turner's "Shooting the $2million image" premium article series is available. Martin discusses the "human factor" and how vital this is for successful professional photographers. He adds "One survey across many industries suggested that technical skills only accounted for around 20% of career success. The other 80% ? Ability to work with people." Read the article
This time of the year we might want to go through our gear, weed out what is no longer needed, maybe donate some of it and fine tune the arsenal in general. Ramón's article on filter systems might come in handy to answer questions you might have about one or the other filter system, which one to keep and what to get.
Ernesto Santos has a good write up on why one should bother about neutral density (ND) filters and why, if you have a circular graduated ND, you should definitely consider not keeping it: "Circular screw-on graduated neutral density filters are absolute rubbish. Do not buy one. If you own one, sell it to your worst enemy."
Final eye image by Martin Turner
We have some minor changes in the community:
1) You can now navigate between forum overview pages by either (a) using the button arrows or (b) by directly entering the page number you want.
2) If you are using Skype as a messenger and want to show other members that they can reach you via this channel as well, you can store your Skype name in "My Profile" and "Preferences" tab. The previous settings for AOL messenger and ICQ have been removed.
As always, if you have feedback on anything in the community, please do use our About Nikonians forum.
I am wishing you a good rest of the week :-)
Bo
Want to make sure you get our weekly update in your mailbox? Just subscribe.
Posted by bgs at 10:22 AM