HDR News You Can Use

BareUCTLogo-90April 22, 2015 – Welcome back to HDR News. We’re solidly into spring and all that it brings the photographer in terms of changing weather, brilliant flowers and longer days.  What better time to get going with HDR.  For a great primer on HDR shooting download our free guide Five Steps To Great HDR Photography https://unifiedcolor.leadpages.net/five-steps-to-great-hdr-hdr-news/


Color-videoCOLOR TOOLS YOU WON’T FIND ANYWHERE ELSE

Did you know that when you adjust the brightness or contrast of an image in most image editing apps, its color will shift?  That’s right.  Go into virtually any image editing program and make a brightness or contrast change and pay close attention to the image’s colors.  You’ll notice those colors change before your eyes.  That’s because those programs are based on the traditional RGB color model.  The Red, Green and Blue in those programs are linked together so that when you change one color, the others will be affected as well.

The Beyond RGB color model used in our applications is completely different because color is separted from brightness.  So when you make a brightness or contrast change your colors are unaffected.  The unique advantage to separated brightness and color channels is you can shift a color in our applications, at will, without affecting other colors or the image’s brightness or contrast: very powerful.

Watch this four minute video where our VP of Marketing, John Omvik takes you through our special color editing tools: http://unifiedcolor.com/video-tutorials/hdr-expose-3-0/9

 


THE ENTRIES ARE COMING IN

Doug-Deleaver-300The 2015 HDR Contest is under way and we’re receiving some very interesting entries.  Natural HDR is finally here, judging by these early entries.  Almost completely absent are images with harshly posterized colors and head scratching composition.  Instead we’re seeing HDR images that tame high contrast yet deliver a completely natural and believable look.  We’ll be posting sample entries on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UnifiedColorTechnologies and blog http://unifiedcolor.com/blog throughout the rest April and all of May.  You can submit your entry for free until May 31. The contest details are here http://unifiedcolor.com/photo-contest-2015


AROUND THE WEB

ManhattanLook Down! – A nine photographer team called AirPano began making aerial photographs of the world’s most famous locations.  The results are eye-popping and serve up a fresh look at well known scenes like the Taj Majal, the Victoria Falls, Manhattan, the Pyramids and many more.  This is a must-see:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3004453/Do-look-world-s-STUNNING-panoramic-landscapes-never-seen-before.html

16 Must Take West Coast Hikes – How often do we lace up our hiking boots and hit the trails with hope of finding the unique view that will put it’s imprint on a great image.  Well, a hike into the wilderness will energize your quest and this article does a nice job of revealing hikes that will up your chances of making a memorable image.  http://www.buzzfeed.com/nicolenguyen/west-coast-best-coast-hikes?lang=en&utm_campaign=10today&flab_cell_id=3&flab_experiment_id=130&uid=97274556&utm_content=article&utm_source=email&part=s1&utm_medium=10today.0413&position=5&china_variant=False#.yy4VJDRbd


AfganGirlFilm and a Yearbook
– We take momentos like school yearbooks for granted.  For most of these Afgan school children it was the first time they had ever been photographed.  “The school was funded in 2006 by the Penny Campaign, an initiative of the nonprofit Roots of Peace…at the time, the school was an ovewrcrowded makeshift structure which used a sheet to shade the children from the harsh sun”.  Check out this National Geographic story about photographer Ruvan Wijesooriya’s venture into this war-torn destination where he captured children being children using the permanence of film. http://goo.gl/dompTN

DOWNLOAD A 30-DAY FREE TRIAL

Our trial software is a fully functional application that you can use for 30 days with no obligation whatsoever.  Give one a try!

HDR Expose 3  –  http://unifiedcolor.com/download-hdr-expose-3

HDR Express 3  –  http://unifiedcolor.com/download-hdr-express-3

32 Float v3  –  http://unifiedcolor.com/download-hdr-express-3

HDR News You Can Use

 

BareUCTLogo-90April 4, 2015 – Welcome Again to HDR News. It’s HDR Contest time again. As always this contest is targeted at photographers just like you. It’s free to enter and it’s a great way to have your work seen and evaluated.  Getting involved in the 2015 HDR Contest will certainly push you to up your skills.  You can learn more on the contest page http://unifiedcolor.com/photo-contest-2015


THE SALT OF THE EARTH

SalgadoThe Salt Of The Earth is the title of a new documentary on the work of revered social photographer Sebastiao Salgado. The title also describes the man himself who has spent his life bringing the soul of the world’s outcasts to the forefront.  The documentary is by Wim Wenders and is co-directed by Salgado’s son Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, a team that is sufficiently close enough to the great photographer to provide insights unachievable by others.  You can watch the trailer for the film at http://www.firstshowing.net/2015/watch-trailer-for-sebastiao-salgados-the-salt-of-the-earth-doc/


Promote-ControlARE YOU CONTROLLING?

Controlling your camera that is.  A wonderful addition to the 2015 HDR Contest’s grand prize is the Promote Control.  The Promote Control takes HDR photography to an elevated plane by giving your camera added capabilities.  It’s “HDR reinvented”.   The compact device sets your camera to shoot up to 45 automatic brackets with up to 9.0 EV step between shots.  It can even automatically step into Bulb for night HDR shooting.  Check it out at http://www.promote-control.com/

 

 


Colorized

COLORIZE

We love the timeless feel of good black and white photography, especially from the golden era of photojournalism of the 1930s to mid 1960s.  You can often wonder what it would really be like to have walked the planet then (as some of you may have).  Those were the stiff upper lip times of depression, world war and the epic disruption of whole populations.  Add color to some of those vintage images and you’ll get one level closer to the feel of the era.  This collection of colorized images will take you there.  Spend a little time on each image and ponder.  You’ll be transported.  http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1PXleS/ovJD-d9g:Qz8Gcw$_/www.lifebuzz.com/colorized-photos/


AROUND THE WEB

What Are The Chances – Idaho resident John Cassinelli lost his camera on Wyoming’s Salt River.  Two years later it was found.  Listen to this NPR piece to see if anything was retrievable   http://www.npr.org/2015/03/17/393646844/lost-camera-survives-two-years-submerged-in-wyomings-salt-river

MLKHistory From A Different Angle – There are iconic images of important moments in history that are forever seared into our memories.  We often forget to realize that more than one image made at those famous events.  Get a different look at history here: http://goo.gl/TLy7Jr

Was That Taken With A Mobile Phone Camera? – Yes it was.  Apple is currently running an ad campaign that features really good photographs taken with the iPhone 6.  They’re worth a look.  But, keep in mind;  it’s the photographer not the camera that makes the magic.  https://www.apple.com/iphone/world-gallery/


Need Some Help Perfecting Your HDR Chops?  – Download our guide to better HDR photography “Five Steps To Great HDR Photography”.  It’s packed with useful info and it’s free!  https://unifiedcolor.leadpages.net/five-step-uct-homepage-download/

Download a free, 30-day trial of one of our industry leading HDR applications HDR Expose 3, HDR Express 3 or 32 Float v3 here:

HDR Expose 3  –  http://unifiedcolor.com/download-hdr-expose-3

HDR Express 3  –  http://unifiedcolor.com/download-hdr-express-3

32 Float v3  –  http://unifiedcolor.com/download-hdr-express-3