Trey Ratcliff aka Mr HDR the interview: RAWtalk 145
It’s been a long time in the making and the stars finally aligned to allow me to interview Trey Ratcliff right here in the loft. Trey is one of the most well known photographers online and is most commonly associated with HDR photography (high dynamic range).
As man¥ of you know I have been very outspoken about not liking HDR in the past. Most of this stems from seeing really bad HDR. Trey on the other hand does HDR right and tries to share his methods with as many people as possible. No that does not mean I will be doing HDR anytime soon. But you can not deny the success and you have to give major credit where credit is due. Check out the FULL Interview at 33:54
This weeks episode is brought to you by RODE microphones. As you know we use the RODE broadcaster microphones each and every week. RODE not only makes these high end mics but they have other extremely affordable shot gun, condensers, broadcast and even lavalier offerings. If you entered the MyRodeReel.com competition RODE wanted me to let you know to keep an eye on your mailbox for a FREE microphone that will be showing up. How cool is that, not only do they run a free contest but they end up sending every participant a FREE microphone.
Announcing the 3rd Annual Allen’s Nikon-A-Palooza taking place on Saturday September 12th from 10:30am – 3:30pm at Allen’s Camera. For all the information please click here.
WARNING – If you are eating or drinking or in a quiet place while watching or listening to photo news you may want to be careful. We can not guarantee that you won’t bust out laughing and disturb the people around you.
Gear of the week was our new Masterclick, which is one of the coolest dam clocks I have ever seen.
We finished off the show with Wheel of FRO as we also do and want to thank all the sponsors who’s names are up on the board.
Don’t forget new RAWtalks go live every Monday both as audio and video so be sure to subscribe on iTunes or YouTube to be noticed when the latest shows go live.
Show Intro – 00:00:16
Allen’s Nikon-A-Palooza – 00:05:58
Photo News – 00:08:43
Trey Ratcliff Interview – 00:33:54
Gear of the Week – 01:22:07
Wheel of Fro – 01:24:34
Here’s all of Stephen’s photo news stories in detail:
Photographers Pepper Sprayed & Robbed in Broad Daylight in San Fran
Two photographers were robbed in San Francisco in broad daylight this past week. The worst part? The two suspects accused of stealing their gear took it with the help of some pepper spray. The photographers were unloading their car when the suspects came up and sprayed one of them with pepper spray, while choking the other against a garage, taking about $7,000 worth of photo equipment. One of the photographers turned to Craigslist for help and to warn other photographers out there. She says, “I am in need of your help in finding my camera gear. There will be a reward and no questions asked if returned.” She listed the gear stolen which includes a Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-70mm f2.8 II, Canon 70-200mm f2.8, a camera grip, a “very distinctive” Black Rapid camera strap with floral patterns, and a couple of memory cards. The photographer says, “we both lost our cameras and gear. Photography is our livelihood and we are absolutely heartbroken that this happened.” (via CBS SF)
DJI Announces Drone For Beginners: The Phantom 3 Standard
DJI has announced yet another drone, this one being their new entry-level one. Simply called the DJI Phantom 3 Standard, it’s a $799 drone that gets the job done in a more affordable package. DJI says the new drone is designed specifically for first-time pilots, and that it’s ready to fly out of the box. Spec wise, it features a newly designed 12MP camera with a 94-degree distortion-free lens that can shoot 2.7K video or 1080P at 30fps. It also has a 25-minute flight time with a range of 1/2 a mile and intelligent flight features like Follow Me, Waypoint and Point of Interest–however these won’t be available immediately, but DJI says they will be coming soon via a software update. It has a 3-axis gimbal but it’s the older one used with the Phantom 2. A few other options that the Professional and Advanced drones have that this one doesn’t: a downward-facing camera, a LightBridge video downlink, and GLONASS satellite positioning. Would you fork up the extra cash and for the higher end models or is this one perfect for you?
Kentucky Man Arrested for Shooting Down Drone with Shotgun
Speaking of drones, a Kentucky man named William H. Merideth was arrested this past week after he shot down a drone with his shotgun. He’s being charged with two felonies: criminal mischief and wanton endangerment. The drone was apparently flying over the neighborhood, including people’s private backyards, so once it passed over his property and hovered for a few seconds, he took it down. The drone operator then confronted Merideth about their drone, saying he was just showing his friends and family the drone and having fun while flying it around. Merideth is arguing that he was simply exercising his right to maintain the privacy of his family. You can watch Merideth’s response via the news report below. Who’s in the wrong here? (via WDRD)
WDRB 41 Louisville NewsWDRB 41 Louisville News
The Moon Passing in Front of Earth from 1 Million Miles Away
NASA’s DSCOVR camera that’s one MILLION miles away captured another amazing set of photos, this time of the Moon passing in front of the Earth. Fun fact about this photo too: it shows the far side of the Moon, the side that always faces away from the Earth. This particular view of the Earth and the Moon together only happens twice a year due to the orbits of the Moon and the DSCOVR satellite. The pictures can be seen below where they were put together in a timelapse video, or you can view the full-res image here. Neat, right? (via PP)
Photo of the Earth, Moon, Venus, and Jupiter Lined Up in a Row
More on space: Astronaut Scott Kelly recently took a photo that showcases the Earth, Moon, Venus and Jupitor all lined up in a row. He shared it via Twitter on his 114th day in space: (via PP)
Day 114. #Moon #Venus #Jupiter…#Earth Good night from @space_station! #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/GsOxOKt34S
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) July 19, 2015
Pentax’s $10K Medium Format Camera Just Dropped More Than 50% In Price
Whoa, Pentax’s medium format 645D camera has had a major price drop. The once $10,000 40MP CCD sensor body is now selling for just $4,000. The camera was initially released five years ago and has since been replaced by the Pentax 645Z. (via PR)
Nat Geo Releases Top 10 Images from 2015 Traveler Photo Contest
National Geographic has released a set of the winning photos from this year’s Traveler Photo Contest. The top 10 images were broken down after viewing nearly 18,000 submissions. The grand prize winner is Anuar Patjane Floriuk of Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico, who took an incredible underwater photo of divers swimming near a humpback whale. He won an eight-day National Geographic Photo Expedition to Costa Rica and the Panama Canal for two. He says, “the photo wasn’t planned. I was taking photos near the head of the whale, and all of a sudden she began to swim toward the rest of the diving team. The divers gave the whale and her calf space, and I just clicked at the moment when the flow and composition seemed right.” Find all the images here; which is your favorite?
WTF? KFC Creates Chicken Bucket That Doubles as Instant Printer
KFC Canada has created a fried chicken bucket that features a built-in instant photo printer. The bucket comes in celebration of KFC’s 60th year in Canada. Called the “memories bucket,” it’s basically a built-in Instax-like printer at the bottom of the bucket, which you connect to via a special app and Bluetooth to print from. They say it’s simply a “new way to make memories.” It’s not available to the public currently, but the fast food company says they’ll be giving a select few away. Hmmm… (via PP)
Babies in Camera Bags Is The Cutest Thing Ever
Petapixel put together a set of portraits of babies in camera bags taken over the years. The set features infants in the center of the bag where your long lens would normally go, with gear surrounding the newborns. Some even have custom onesies or t-shirts decked out with camera gear lingo or pictures. Check them all out here. Everyone loves babies and camera gear…
Fujifilm Announces Infrared Version of the X-T1
Fujifilm has announced an infrared version of the X-T1, simply called the X-T1 IR. It’s pretty much the exact same camera but it utilizes infrared technology, allowing it to view light not normally visible to the human eye. The X-T1 IR can view portions of the electromagnetic spectrum between 380nm and 1000nm: this includes visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light. Fujifilm is pitching this to crime scene investigators, fine art photographers, and other “scientific and technical applications”–basically anyone that has professional use for infrared technology. It’ll be available this October for a price tag of $1,700, which is about $500 more than the original. 
A Self Portrait with the ISS
A man named Trevor Mahlmann shot a self portrait of himself looking up at the ISS as it passes by in the sky as he sits on the wing of an airplane. He says, “I thought, why don’t I pull out my grandpa’s little Cessna 150, position it just outside the hangar in the grass, have the runway lights shine through behind, and maybe stand next to it and watch the ISS flyover.” He had to frame his shot before the flyover, so he used compass headings and star charts to figure out where in the sky the ISS would be. He shot 16 separate 16-second exposures with his Canon Rebel T5i at ISO 100 with an 8mm fisheye lens at f/3.5 and then stacked them in post. Check out the final result below: (via PP)
A photo posted by Trevor Mahlmann (@tmahlmann) on
This Transparent Camera Can Be Used in Broad Daylight
Photographer Anton Orlov created a fully functional transparent camera. Called the CLERA–short for clear camera–it’s a simple daguerreotype box camera with a 19th-century Petzval lens, a transparent polycarbonate red shell, and a spare 4×5 camera back. The red body filters out UV and blue light that you can look into while a photo is being exposed inside. He writes on his blog that he got the idea for this camera while working in a dark box with wet plate collodion photography. He noticed that the sunlight streaming in through the red windows didn’t cause any light fogging in the resulting tintype photo. He said it’s the same concept as a safety red light in a darkroom. He says the camera can work in any condition, even middle of the day when the sun is beaming right down on it and it can work with direct positive photo paper as well. Orlov is now selling custom CLERA cameras too. The camera can be designed around a particular lens of your choice as well. Pricing is $350 for 4×5 (and smaller), $500 for 5×7, and $700 for 8×10. He says a CLERA 2.0 is also on the way: he’s working on a sliding box design that allows for various lenses and shorter focusing distances. Would you get one? (via Phogotraphy)
