OUR BIGGEST PHOTO CONTEST YET! MANY GREAT PRIZES UP FOR GRABS

We are announcing a big photo contest for the holidays, with numerous prizes going to each winner. The theme is "Capturing Family Moments," which you can depict a number of different ways: family gatherings during the holidays, children playing, posed portraits, or candid moments, or even just individual people. (It's not a requirement that these images be taken during the holidays.) Just send us your best images—winners will be announced on January 1st, 2009.


• 1st Place prizes  Blow-Up 2 from Alien Skin (downloadable version)
                             Odyssey camera bag from MountainSmith
                             Hoodman - Angle Viewfinder
                             Hoodman - Viewing Loupe
                             77mm Expodisc  from Expodisc
                             Depth of Field Guide  from Expodisc
                             Advanced PhotoShop CS3 Trickery & FX
                             book from Thomson Course Technology


• 2nd Place prizes Blow-Up 2 from Alien Skin (downloadable version)
                             SlingShot Camera Bag from M-Rock
                             Hoodman - Viewing Loupe
                             77mm Expodisc  from Expodisc
                             Depth of Field Guide from Expodisc
                             Advanced PhotoShop CS3 Trickery & FX
                             book from Thomson Course Technology


• 3rd Place prizes  Blow-Up 2 from Alien Skin  (downloadable version)
                             Hoodman - Viewing Loupe
                             77mm Expodisc  from Expodisc
                             Depth of Field Guide  from Expodisc
                             Advanced PhotoShop CS3 Trickery & FX
                             book from Thomson Course Technology

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We will select 3 top prize winners, whose images will appear in the December 1st edition of Double Exposure. 10 to 20 additional images by the runners-up will appear in an accompanying gallery. The top 3 winners will receive the corresponding prizes listed above. For more information on these products, please read the prize reviews below.

We require mailing addresses at the time you enter your images in the contest so that the manufacturers can ship prizes to the winners, as well as email addresses for downloadable software prizes. Once notified via email, winners who have not previously provided their addresses will have until January 15, 2009 to confirm their mailing address. If winners contact us after the 15th—even if the delay is caused by email server issues—their prizes will be forfeited. Be assured that we will not distribute your information to outside mailing lists.

Our Requirements
This competition is open to everyone. As with our previous monthly contests, you can submit up to five or your best entries. They must be jpegs, approximately 600 pixels on the long side of the image, and 72 to 100 dpi. We would rather work with images that are a little too large, rather than too small. Submit your "Family" images by CLICKING HERE.

The deadline for the "Family" contest has been extended to Monday, December 29, 2008. Best of luck! We look forward to seeing some very special images.

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Contest Prize Reviews
By Paul W. Faust


Blow-Up 2 from Alien Skin
     There are several methods for enlarging image files to make larger than normal prints, but Blow Up 2 is by far one of, if not, the best one around.  Many photographers even consider it to be better than Photoshop itself.  Here is a program that will allow you to enlarge an image up to 16 times its original size, and still keep all of the crisp lines and smooth colors. You could actually go beyond that with good results depending on the quality of the original image and the output you are using, such as printing on top quality papers. How large are we talking about? It is capable of producing an output up to 300,000 pixels on a side. Blow Up also does all of that with 8-, 16-, and 32-bit images for whatever quality control that you need to keep in an image, and if you have more than a few image files to enlarge for printing, just use its built-in batch processing.  It can even clean up artifacts created in a JPEG compressed image. If you work with HDR images, or stitch images together for panoramic prints, then you do not want to work without this plug-in!
     Blowup retails for $249 -U.S. and can be checked out at www.alienskin.com




MountainSmith “Odyssey” Backpack
    The MountainSmith Odyssey Backpack is probably one of the best camera back packs I have seen anywhere. If this bag won’t carry everything you will need in the field, then you will probably need a suitcase. Everywhere you look there are pockets, and pockets inside pockets, and carrying straps the rest of the places. Just inside of the main section alone are nine (9) individual padded compartments, and since each has adjustable dividers that you can space as needed, it can hold several cameras with lenses attached, and at least a half dozen more lenses and flash units. On the back are two straps for holding a tripod for fast and easy access, and there are “many” smaller filter and accessory pouches all over the place.  The pack has heavily padded shoulder and waist straps to save ware and tare on your back and shoulders, and not just one, but two carrying handles.  This is one bag you have to see to appreciate everything it offers.    
     The bag retails for around $228.95 -U.S. Check it out at www.mountainsmith.com



M-Rock “Olympic” Sling bag
     I have spent a lot of time looking for a good shoulder bag that did what I needed it to do in the field, but most fell short in more than one way. They all seemed to be designed for someone else and just made me want to keep looking. The newly designed “Olympic” sling bag from M-Rock is a most welcome product. To me, it carries exactly what I want to take along on short photo hikes and makes getting to it a whole lot easier. Backpacks are good, but to get something you need out of them, which seems to happen every few minutes, is a real pain. Even with the smaller ones you first have to find a dry place to put down the camera you already have out, then take the backpack completely off and find a dry place to set that also, and then hope you can find what pocket you put the needed item in.  With this new sling bag all you have to do is swing the bag around under your shoulder to the front and get what you need from up-front packets. And this bag has a lot of those, and some even have more than one way to get inside them. The bag I just tested out easily held 2 digital Nikons, with lenses, one extra medium telephoto lens, cleaning items, a few filters, and other misc. items.
     The M-Rock Olympic bag retails for $80.00-US, so check it out at www.m-rock.com



Hoodman Right Angle Viewer
     I have to say that Hoodman has done it again with one super camera accessory that most photographer should have, whether they know it or not. Many times I have been forced to give up a shot just because it was near impossible to get down low enough to compose and focus through the eye piece, and most right angle adapters cost an arm and a leg, or weren’t even all that good to begin with. Here is the answer to all of your low angle needs, and an end to crawling on your belly to get a shot, and this one is packed with features. The HoodMan H-RAV viewer has an adjustable eyepiece to fine tune its focus, and a 1X & 2.5X magnifier, plus it rotates 360 degrees so you can look through it from any position. This viewer will fit all Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Sony/Minolta and Pentax cameras because it comes with five (5) mounting brackets to fit each of these makes, so you can use this great viewer even if you change cameras, or want to loan it to a friend with another make. You also get a nice carrying bag to hold it all.    
     Retail priced at $129.99-U.S.  Check it out at www.hoodmanUSA.com



Hoodman HoodLoupe Pro
     The ad says that “this is what the Pros use for optimum glare free viewing,” and you can take that to the bank! The biggest drawback to shooting digital is in being able to see what you got when (trying) to look at the LCD screen, which is next to impossible to do outdoors, but NOT any longer. A two-minute test with my Nikon D-200 made this little tool a PERMENANT part of my camera bag from now on. It fits LCD screen up to 3 inches, so you can use it on just about any camera. Even with the clear plastic protector over the LCD screen I still got a good image to view, but that cover does allow a small bit of glare through the edges, but when it was removed the image is like looking at a small monitor. You can even see into shadow detail in the image, and judging correct exposure will never be a problem again. The loope is made of soft rubber, and has a +3 diopter you can adjust for your sight, and you can also adjust the focus. It comes with a soft neck strap and carrying bag.
     This must-have accessory retails for U.S.-$69.99 – (and is worth every penny!)  For more details on this product go to  www.hoodmanusa.com



77mm ExpoDisc for Pro Digital White Balance
     Here is one super “must-have” item that every digital photographer should have on hand everywhere they are going to shoot. With the ExpoDisc over your lens it will accurately give your camera the correct reading from all light sources, which gives you an exact custom White Balance (WB) for that lighting, with your camera. You just aim it directly at the light source, (except at the sun), make the custom reading, and from then on all of your images with that lighting will have the needed neutral color required for a perfect white balance. You don’t even have to screw it on and off of the lens, as there are no lens threads, you just hold it over the end of the lens and take the reading. It comes with a neck strap and carrying case and can even be hung from your belt. The disks are priced according to the lens filter size you would want, and are in the $85 to $100-U.S. price range for 62mm to 77mm sizes.  A small price to pay for accurate color exposures every time! (A price that you will more than get back in the time that you will save using this tool.)     Check them out at  www.expodisc.com



Depth of Field Guide
    The Depth of Field Guide from Expodisc is a pocket size tool that every serious photographer should have in their bag, or pocket. It is a set of two disks that will allow you to dial in the perfect depth-of-field that you will need to get the best shots. One disk/dial has a range for lenses from 15 to 135mm, and the other disk/dial has a range from 70 to 600mm for telephoto lenses. The kit comes with a pocket size card that shows you how to use each one, a guide for both film and digital Circle of Confusion factors, and if that’s not enough, you also get a CD with a User’s Manual to make sure you get the most from this handy little tool, and you get a carrying case for each.
     The Depth of Field Guide kit retails for just $39.95-U.S. and could save you many times more than that by not having lost images due to poor depth of field settings. You can order it at www.expodisc.com






Advanced PhotoShop CS3 Trickery & FX
 By Stephen Burns

     In regards to this book, “Advanced” Photoshop really means advanced!  It is a how-to book that will teach you everything you will need to know to create the wildest of images. It shows how to use the tools in Photoshop and stretch them to the max. If you look at the image on the cover, you would think that it is an artists rendering, but in fact, that entire image was created from photographs manipulated in Photoshop, and this book shows you how to do the same things. In fact, the book also contains a bonus CD with all of the files needed to do this, and other far-out images you will see in each section. If you want to start going “One step Beyond” (that’s an old TV program) with your images and work, this new book will take you there, but be warned, you may not want to come back to the “real” world, whatever that means.
     This soft cover book is about 7x9 inches, with 366 pages, retails for U.S.-$49.99 – and is published by Thomson Course Technology. It can be ordered at www.courseptr.com        I Rate it:  A++ 


View Paul Faust's Images at http://impressions_of_light.photoworkshop.com

Let us know if you found this article useful, and tell us what kinds of articles you'd like to see in upcoming issues. Send your comments and ideas to Lynne Eodice.