BBC use iPhone to get media out

My mate Tim spotted this guy from the BBC and said he was using an iPhone with a lot of kit!
So I went over to him while the protest was at a lul and had a look. He had an ariel in one hand on his chest was the transmitter and audio kit, with a microphone and on his back was a rucksac with a car battery in it. In his hand an iPhone with a cable going into the pack on his chest.
So I start up the conversation and ask if all that gear was for the iPhone, which he laughed at. But the iPhone was not just for calls.
The beeb do actualy use the iPhone to broadcast stills and video to the web and the rest was for recording audio for radio.
Today I read an article on how Africa was an up coming mobile web user which is not surprising especially as the UN are looking at social media like Twitter to respond to disasters and emergancies and all that is needed is a phone on the ground.
Other dedicated apps like Ipadio are being used by the Red Cross for live reporting.
Even NGOs are now blurring the lines between news organisations by producing their own news and allowing the strapped for cash mainstram media to use it.
The mobile phone or palm device will be an important part in the way news is going to be produced and as cameras in the phones get better will probably chalange how news is reported and uploaded.

Photosynth is now Live

From the photosynth blog (the actual site is overwhelmed with hits at time of writing but you can read the blog here or view this video to see what it is all about and how photography is going 3D

There is two URL’s for photosynth http://photosynth.net and http://photosynth.com

There is a photography tutorial here as well as a how to video here

Photosynth Blog

We’re pleased to announce the first full release of Photosynth, available now at photosynth.com. Photosynth takes a collection of regular photographs and reconstructs the scene or object in a 3-D environment. For those of you who have seen the videos or tried our tech preview, you could experience synths that we made in the lab and get a feel for what Photosynth is and how it works. But now, for the first time ever you can create synths from your own pictures and share them with your friends. Explore great synths from others or create a few of your own.

good luck at getting through:)

Perfect Composition in Portrait Photography with a G9

Portraits, are a good subject area to learn with your G9 the large LCD screen makes composition a snip, the Live view shows pretty much what you are going to get and hopefully you can have another go if your model is willing or the image is not quite what you wanted.

Portraits are also one of those subject areas news and documentary photographers need to master as looking in the national papers recently, there seems to be a very high percentage of images that are portraits which is strange, considering how much in the world is not getting shown in the way of wars, famine, joys, accidents, climate change… (and I could go on)

The magic of the portrait is the gaze back to the viewer and it has kept many fine art practitioners busy over the centuries, so you will be following in good shoes and for a twist you can also take a look at environmental portraits, macro, abstract, etc.

The grid view on the G9 can either be a hindrance or a blessing as an aid to your work, some people will find that to much information like the grid lines, histogram are in the way and distracting. while others will like the way the grid helps them frame the composition and keeps lines from converging in the background in environmental shots, so try different combinations to see what you prefer. You could even save the settings in the custom control C1 or C2 if you use them a lot (See G9 Resources for some help if you need it)

The thing is there are rules to composition that you can follow, but then you can also break them to make for interesting views, so it’s not a thing you can get wrong; but you will be the judge, if you like it then its good.

The G9 as a Journalist Tool for the Pro’s

There is a brief piece on Multimedia Shooter about the Canon G9′s use for video and as a pro photographer’s back up for HD Video. Just what the journalist needs in today’s New Media.

There is also a Video piece by San Jose Mercury News with the Canon G9 as the video tool used by all the photographers All further testimony of just how good the G9 is as well as how lovable it is