PixelVulture » Photography

Alchemy – A Time Lapse video about Transformation

Matthew Arnold — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:39:13 +0000

Alchemy is a short time lapse video about transformation. In nature, everything is constantly changing: the earth, the sky, the stars, and all living things. Spring is followed by summer, fall and winter. Water turns into clouds, rain and ice. Over time, rivers are created, canyons carved, and mountains formed. All of these elements, mixed together, create the magic of nature's alchemy. Switch to HD & Full screen and enjoy:

Ink Drops filmed in 4k Ultra HD

Matthew Arnold — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:46:50 +0000

One of the biggest talking points at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) this year was the introduction of 4k resolution TV's. Essentially 4 times the resolution of your current 1080p HD TV the 4k technology has the potential to bring amazing detail to your living room. Downside is that they are unbelievably expensive at this stage. If you are looking for a taste of what 4k brings then check out this awesome Ink Drops video filmed at 4k Ultra HD res. Make sure you select the original resolution in the settings - bottom right of video (original is the one just above 1080p), hit full screen and enjoy!

Inspiration Injection: Colour

Matthew Arnold — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 05:12:43 +0000

We thought you could do with some colour inspiration today - so we picked a handful of amazing photos from 500px. These images showcase creative uses of colour that are sure to give you some inspiration today. Click the links to the artists profiles to see more of their work and info on how the shots were captured. All images are copyrighted, please visit the links for more info. Enjoy!

Hello by Alejandro Ferrer Ruiz

Emerge by Matthew Arnold

Twilight by Marcsi Kesjarne

Red Hallway by Chaluntorn Preeyasombat

The Red by Lo Ma

Lifted by Johann Marx

Striped Stride by James Sainty

Polaroid to launch Smartphone Fotobar stores

Matthew Arnold — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:07:59 +0000

Polaroid plans to open new retail stores this year focused on getting people to print and edit the photos saved on their smartphone, or from social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Picasa. The first ‘Polaroid Fotobar’ store, which is set to open in Florida USA next month, will allow in-store customers to wirelessly transmit the images stored on their smartphone or tablet to a bar-top workstation. From here, the photos can be edited to fix red-eye or alter the contrast and brightness. A number of filters will also be available if they haven’t done so already using an app such as Snapseed or Instagram. Photos can also be uploaded from social platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Picasa and “several others”. Although the latter haven’t been revealed by Polaroid yet, it would be great if they included Flickr and 500px. Once the images have been chosen, users can then have the image printed in a number of different materials and substrates including metal, wood and bamboo, as well as choose from various framing options. The idea is to make the digital and often forgettable images stored on your smartphone feel like works of art again; something which you would want to share with friends or hang in your house or office. The key to this concept is the ability to easily print from your smartphone, following in the historical "instantaneous" printing which made Polaroid so successful. Polaroid CEO and president Scott W. Hardy said:

“Polaroid is about sharing life’s most precious and memorable moments. We have been, and continue to be, about self-expression, creativity and fun. Polaroid Fotobar retail stores represent a perfect modern expression of the values for which we have stood for 75 years.”

Polaroid promises that any ordered prints will be handcrafted and shipped from their manufacturing facility within 72 hours. The store itself will also have a photo gallery of “creative, museum-quality pieces” designed to inspire customers and make them feel like they’re in a real photography studio. In my opinion this is an excellent concept and one that will be very successful. With the continued resurgence in vintage styling and the massive growth of smartphones this is a sure bet. I would love to see a concept like this launch in South Africa...

Geek inspired 2D photography

Matthew Arnold — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 07:22:10 +0000

David A. Reeves is a photographer and geek. Have a look at some of his breathtaking 2D photography using cutouts of popular gaming and geek icons.David uses cardboard cutouts of game / movie characters to recreate iconic shots that remind him of his past. The images are quite Limbo-esque in nature and this is obviously a source of inspiration for David as he includes a few Limbo shots as well. My favourite has to be the Half-Life shot with the awesome little lambda logo cutout on Gordon's chest. If you would like to see more photos as well as behind the scenes pics then head over to David's tumblr. (Click to see full size)

Projecteo: Mini Retro Instagram Image Slide Projector

Dylan Robberts — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:24:27 +0000

Yesterday we brought you an article on the future of traditional and mobile photography. Today we continue with the mobile photography theme with this amazing little contraption developed by Benjamin Radford called Projecteo. So what is it exactly? Well, your on Instgram right? Of course you are, everybody is. Projecteo is for everybody who is mesmerized by Instagram and who loves to venture into a retro world. Projecteo is the worlds first image slide projector for Instagram and for just a $25 you could own one too. Check out the Kickstarter page here

Mobile Photography: Is traditional photography dead? Infographic

Dylan Robberts — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:19:26 +0000

Today everybody is a photographer or photo journalist. All you need is your mobile and you can shoot and share images wherever you are (for the most part). So the question is? Is mobile photography the way of the future or will there always be a place for the SLR, digital happy snapper or analog camera? The sky really is the limit for mobile photography, apps are plentiful and specs on devices are just getting better and better making the rise of mobile photography meteoric. So... which one is to survive in this epic death match? Or will they both hold up a white flag and decide this world is big enough for the both of them? Image presented by Overgram design by NowSourcing

Pixels & Polaroids Artwork

Matthew Arnold — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:41:57 +0000

We love everything retro, we love 8 bit recreations and big juicy pixels. So when we came across this Pixels & Polaroids project we just had to share. This project by Jherin Miller is a great mashup of photography and retro 8 bit characters.

Pixels and Polaroids is a series of images I’ve created combining pseudo-Polaroid photography and retro 80s era video game graphics. The concept behind Pixels and Polaroids was to blend these two elements into one world where pixelated characters live through the eye of a Polaroid camera.

Check out some of the images here and head across to Jherin's project page to find out more.

MediaPad Pro Digital Portfolio App for iPad

Louisa Korkie — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 09:12:01 +0000

Media Pad Pro is a digital portfolio app that allows you to compile your professional portfolio on your iPad. The app supports photo, video and audio and you can customize the look and feel of your portfolio to show off your own logo and background designs.

Getting started:

I have to admit that initially the app failed to impress and it almost seemed too simple. After downloading the app I quickly set up my profile, picked the logo’s I wanted to use and chose my font and theme colour. The next step was importing my photos via iTunes, setting up categories for my photos on the app and then slideshow transitions and timing. The process was quick and MediaPad Pro was easy to learn and navigate.

MediaPad Pro allows the user to customize the backgrounds, banners and font on their easy to use interface. The only thing that took getting used to was remembering to hit save after I make changes and to organize my images into categories, but this was easy enough to do.

The application has a guest book functionality where viewers can leave comments along with their name and contact details. This is a nice little networking tool and this data can be exported to Excel or as PDF for other uses. A nice CRM touch is the ability to send a thank you email to these contacts straight from the app.

MediaPad Pro can be used to show designs or other media to clients, potential employees or at conferences and trade shows. The interface, slideshow options and the fact that it works without internet connectivity are big advantages. You will definitely look tech savvy if you can pull out an iPad and show potential clients a professional digital portfolio customized with your branding.

I can see this app being of use to designers, photographers or anyone who needs to show off multimedia on the go. The only drawback for me was that the app is not optimized for iPad 3 so the text is not crisp and you can see this on the images, but it only makes a big difference when zoomed in. MEDL Mobile, the developers of MediaPad Pro have said that an update is coming that should resolve this issue.

Pro’s

Aside from the key features I loved the fact that the app does not require internet connectivity so I can take my iPad to meetings knowing that I will be able to show off my portfolio regardless of whether I am online or not. The customization is another advantage along with the networking functionality.

Cons

MediaPad Pro really needs to be optimised for the New iPad. One can see that the text is not as crisp as it should be, however an update should fix this issue. I have included a screenshot of a zoomed in photograph in MediaPad Pro (Right) next to the same image from my Camera Roll (Left) as a comparison. The other negative is the price, at $14,99 it is quite pricey for an app. Considering what you might pay for a digital portfolio and the sheer simplicity of the app, I would say that it is worthwhile if you are a professional photographer or possibly a graphic designer.

Your clients or potential employer will be impressed if you can hand them an iPad with a branded digital portfolio at your next meeting. MediaPad Pro offers unlimited file uploads and supports a wide variety of file formats. Have a look at the full list of features on the developers’ website. I would recommend it to anyone working in a field where you are required to present multi-media on a regular basis.

2012 South African iPhoneography exhibition announced

Matthew Arnold — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 08:13:15 +0000

Last year saw the launch of the hugely successful 1st ever South African iPhoneography exhibition. Well this year things are getting even better...

Last year's inaugural South African iPhoneography exhibition was organised by Marc Forrest and the Core Group (SA Apple Distributors) and was a huge hit. You can check out some of the photos from last years event from our 2011 iPhoneography coverage article here. So what is happening this year? Well according to Marc the exhibition will be taking place in October and will take place in Johannesburg and Cape Town this year! What this means is that Joburg entrants will see their artwork in Joburg & Cape town entrants will see theirs at the Cape Town exhibition. The following dates & venues for this years events have been confirmed:

Johannesburg iStore 1 Sandton Drive Opening 11 October Exhibition stays up for 2 weeks Cape Town V&A Waterfront – Exhibition Space in Mall Opening 25 October Exhibition stays till the 29th October

The guys are working on the finer details and will soon start asking you to submit entries (so watch this space). They have gone through all the cons from last years exhibition, and have streamlined the process a bit more. One of the major changes for this year will be the possibility of having 1 dedicated printer to bring all the printing to the same quality & standard. This is a great idea from my perspective and will make things easier for people submitting work as well as give the event a more professional feel. If you have an iPhone you qualify to enter - so get shooting (using whatever apps you want) and check back soon for entry details. In fact, why not have a look at our must have iPhone photography apps to get you started.