RPN Newsletter Feb-Mar 2012

SPECIAL OFFER

Only

THE FEBRUARY-MARCH 2012 ISSUE 7

for RITZPIX

NETWORK MEMBERS

INSPIRATION

PHOTOS FOR MOTIVATION

VIDEO EDITING

New Video Editing Service

TECH CORNER

TAMRON - THE COMPACT ROAD WARRIOR

PHOTO PROJECTS SEEING THE WORLD IN BLACK AND WHITE

PHOTO PATROL

NEW EDUCATIONAL SERVICES wildcat canyon

by BRANDON CLARK mill valley, california

PARTING SHOT

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A Message from The Photo Patrol

Wherever the road takes you, always remember...

There are memories to capture, share & display for generations to come.

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FEBRUARY IMAGING SPECIAL FOR

RITZPIX NETWORK MEMBERS ONLY Classic Leather 12x12 Photo Book!

It is always nice to keep one or two large coffee table books out for when guests are over. They are great conversation starters and they make a great way to pass the time.

The brown leather cover option for your 12x12 photo book will really boost its appeal. You can control the book’s topic and your pictures. Keep it interesting!

Details: 12x12” Photo Book with 20 pages (2 pages = 1 sheet, extra sheets $3.00 each) Printed on 100lb offset paper Pages have classic white border

Brown Leather 12x12 Regular Price - $59.99 RPN Member Sale - 75% off

Final Price $14.99

Purchase a 12x12 Classic Brown Leather Photo Book at one of our In-store Kiosks and get

75

% OFF

with your RitzPix Network Card

(In-store purchase only. Valid towards the purchase of 12x12 Classic Brown Leather Photo Book order.

Certificate code = RPN12x12) offer expires 2-29-12

FEBRUARY 2012 THE NETWORK 3

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INSPIRATION From our Family of Associate Photographers

state of color

by KIMBERLY WORLEY batavia, illinois

simply beauty

by PATRICK WEBSTER sandy, utah

little pumpkin

by UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER somewhere, usa

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lollie pop

by UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER somewhere, usa

lightingurway

by CHARLES RIENHART bellevue, washington

landscape curves

by CHRISTOPHER MOSS salt lake city, utah

RITZ&WOLF CAMERA&IMAGE seedless color

by GRANT LAEHR denver, colorado

pretty in pink

by NICHOLE MERRIT pittsburgh, pennsylvania

arsty junk

by BEN FORNECKER cary, north carolina

window to the soul

by UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER somewhere, usa

time2relax

by GAYLE SMITH wilmington, delaware

last dance

by CYNTHIA MAXWELL sandy, utah

FEBRUARY 2012 THE NETWORK

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Longhorn State

Gets New Video Service Our Video Editing Services Include:

Video Duplication, Organization & Consolidation We will organize all of your video footage into one professional video.

Sports Highlight Reels/Recruiting Videos

We can create a montage video set to music including some of the best and most inspiring moments of your competitions.

Premium Photo Slide Shows

We offer a wider selection of musical choices, the option to include images from the Getty Image archive, and up to 1,000 images!

Video highlights and memories for events

Perfect for anything from Bar and Bat Mitzvahs to Weddings.

Memorial Videos

Create a video tribute to a loved one. We can incorporate still images and video footage celebrating your family’s memories together.

PowerPoint Conversions

Convert your presentation into a digital video. We can convert your materials into an exciting video resume, or presentation.

We have everything you need to make your presentation more exciting and ultimately memorable.

Video to Prints

Create Photo Books from your Videos! We can take your old home movie footage and create a series of jpeg files you can use to make prints or even Photo Books!

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Video Editing Services

Post Production Services Available at the following stores: Dallas

Flower Mound Arlington Dallas Dallas Dallas Frisco Ft. Worth Grapevine Plano Plano Cedar Hill Garland

Highlands at Flower Mound Arlington Park Square 11171 Harry Hines Blvd Old Town Shopping Center 5974 Northwest Highway Center at Preston Ridge 6733 Camp Bowie Boulevard Park West Shopping Center Creekwalk Village Preston Highlands Cedar Hill Pointe Firewheel Market

972-691-5500 817-557-2464 972-241-0582 214-691-3430 214-691-7540 972-668-7990 817-731-2716 817-481-0231 972-881-1677 972-769-9901* 469-272-3196 972-530-6164

*Production Studio

Houston

The Woodlands Houston Houston Houston Houston Houston Houston Stafford Webster Katy

The Woodlands Mall Town & Country Shopping Village Meyerland Plaza North Oaks Center Copperfield Landing Post Oak Plaza Rice Boulevard Shopping Center The Fountains Baybrook Square Grand Parkway Crossing

281-367-6564 713-467-0433 713-838-0416 281-397-7503 281-856-2419 713-621-4262 713-630-0720 281-494-6161 281-316-1330 281-574-3464

to ng h & i d ta an Exp ado, U ta! lor neso Co Min

FEBRUARY 2012 THE NETWORK

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The News Wire...

Olympus OM-D coming Spring, Kyodo News International, a Japanese news service, is reporting that Olympus will introduce a 16MP camera based on its classic OM series. The news would tie-in with a recent Olympus press advert in the UK that highlighted the letters ‘O’ and ‘M’ in the text. The report suggests such a camera would sell for over ¥100,000 (around $1300) and feature ‘high-speed autofocus and image stabilization functionality.’ Meanwhile, Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei is reporting that Sony is considering investing in Olympus and forming a business alliance.

Fujifilm which, like Olympus, has extensive medical interests is also rumored to be interested.

Kodak May Leave Photography and Focus on Printing Kodak filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy just last week and the company is strongly weighing its options moving forward. The company is not without its strengths. For example, Kodak owns a great deal of patents that bring in money from licensing. The company also does pretty well when it comes to printing for packages and other business uses and is stationed to do even better thanks to new inks.

One area Kodak isn’t doing well in - and this should come as no surprise - is cameras. It’s no secret that consumer products have been a weak point in recent years, and CEO Antonio Perez doesn’t seem to have a lot of attachment to that division. Perez says that the plan going forward is to keep Kodak “competing in large markets, where we have fundamental technology advantages, such as in digital printing, in packaging, in functional printing, in materials.”

Just because there’s a chance of Kodak dropping cameras doesn’t mean the brand is dead though. The other possibility going forward is that Kodak will instead license the brand to another company with more interest in pursuing the project.

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Sigma Announces Prime Lenses for Mirrorless Cameras After much speculation about their place in the market, it’s become clear that mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (what we like to call EVIL cameras) are here to stay. Sigma agrees wholeheartedly and has announced the launch of the Digital Neo (DN) line of lenses designed for Micro Four Thirds and E-mount cameras.

The first of the two lenses announced is the 30mm F2.8 EX DN, which provides the same viewing angle as a 60mm lens on Micro Four Thirds cameras and a 45mm equivalent on E-mount. It’s made of two aspherical glass lenses to help correct any type of aberration and offers a seven-blade diaphragm.

Next up is the 19mm F2.8 EX DN which provides the equivalent of 38mm for Micro Four thirds cameras and 28.5 on E-mount. The 19mm lens packs a trio of aspherical lenses and a seven blade diaphragm. It also boasts a minimum focus distance of 7.9 inches.

Sigma has not yet announced a release date or price for these lenses.

Tamron’s Latest Mom-to-Mom Photo Exhibit “Taking Photos Indoors” Unless you’re living in one of those wonderfully warm states to the south, you’re probably dealing with gray skies and roads covered in snow. It’s exactly this time that outdoor photography loses its appeal. The choice between braving the cold and staying inside with some hot chocolate is an easy one to make.

The latest installation of Tamron’s Mom-to-Mom program is all about shooting photographs indoors, with color, texture and lighting being themes throughout. You’ll find photos of children, pets and family as well as advice on how to capture a similar picture of your own.

Check out their website, http://tamron.myphotoexhibits.com/

FEBRUARY 2012 THE NETWORK

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Long Island - The Compact Road Warrior from our Friends at TAMRON Article by Jennifer Gidman Zumpano - Images by Ken Hubbard

Capturing the natural environment on an afternoon trek requires a multipurpose zoom lens—and the Tamron SP AF18200mm Di-II does the trick.

When you’re heading out into the great outdoors for a day of recreational shooting, a versatile zoom lens can be the ace in your photographic pocket. Ken Hubbard recently took some time to wander around the scenic seascapes of Sunken Meadow State Park and the picturesque valleys of Hoyt Farm, both located in central Suffolk County on Long Island, New York.

His travel companion: Tamron’s SP AF18-200mm Di-II, which recently made its official debut at PMA 2005.

This high-powered multipurpose zoom lens, one of the premiere lenses in Tamron’s Di-II lineup, offers photographers with a wanderlust a wide range of focal lengths, from wide-angle to telephoto. “The range of the 18-200mm was perfect for me— with a 1.5x conversion, it brought me to the 28-300mm range, which is ideal for travel photography,” says Hubbard.

The 18-200mm’s compact size doesn’t hurt, either. “The weight and size of this new lens is also perfect for the traveling photographer,” says Hubbard. “At just 3.3 inches long and weighing only 14 ounces, this lens can stay on your camera all day without weighing you down or getting in the way,” he says.

Adventures in Versatility Modeled after the product concept of the 28-300mm XR Di lens (when converted to 35mm format, it comprises a focal length equivalent to the 28-300’s), the 18-200mm lens offers digital photographers a wide-angle to telephoto focal length range that will allow them to explore nearly every photographic possibility without having to change lenses.

“This lens covers everything, from wide-angle shots when you’re in a tight spot and limited space to a midrange of 85mm (perfect for portraiture) to 200mm telephoto for landscape images such as distant mountains that you want to bring in close,” says Hubbard. “When I first shot with the lens, I had only a few hours to test it out. This range made it very easy to find closeup, wide-angle, and everything in between during my limited timetable.”

The lens also realizes a revolutionary minimum focusing distance (17.7 inches, with 1:3.7* macro capability), allowing photographers to easily achieve the close-up capabilities they need. “The 17.7-inch minimum focusing distance was actually one of the most useful aspects of the lens for my day in the parks,” says Hubbard.

Sauntering along the Sunken Meadow shoreline, Hubbard was able to run the 18-200 from one end of its focal length range to the other when he spotted a set of freestanding binoculars poised on the boardwalk. “The images of the binoculars were shot at both 18mm and 200mm to show the powerful focal range of the lens,” he explains. “You can capture your subject from a wide-angle view, and then get a nice closeup of the same subject. This helps with 10 THE NETWORK FEBRUARY 2012

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tech

CORNER

your creativity in re-creating a certain scene. When you’re limited with your focal length, you’re limited with what can be created in that scene. The 18-200mm lens gives you the ability to capture your subject even if you can’t get as close as you’d like.”

Hubbard put the zoom to the test once again when he stumbled upon a quaint wooden bridge nearby. “I knew the angle and the cropping of the shot I wanted, but the only place to achieve that was pretty far away from the bridge,” he recalls.

“If I didn’t have that extra length from the 18-200mm, I would have never gotten the shot.”

He captured the bridge at 200mm, with a shutter speed of 1/750 and an ISO of 400mm. “I used an f-stop of F/8 because I wanted a limited depth-of-field to help create a more interesting image,” he says. “The 1/750 shutter speed was used to keep the image sharp.” [See “Boat Ban” below for more on fast shutter speeds and image sharpness.]

Boat Ban

Tip Box

During his promenade through Sunken Meadow State Park, Hubbard spotted a “No Boats” sign hanging on the middle of the bridge he had photographed earlier. “I’m not Boat really Ban sure what the sign was referring to, since you normally walk across a bridge—you During through Sunken Meadow Park, Hubbard wouldn’this usepromenade a boat to cross it,” Hubbard laughs.

But whileState the 18-200mm lens allowed spotted Boats” sign hanging onhad theto Hubbard a to “No capture this creative closeup, he middle of the bridge had photographed think about the best way he to retain image sharpness. earlier.

“I’m not really what “The most important aspectsure to this shot the was sign the was referring to, since you normally walk shutter speed,” he says. “Any movement of the across bridge—you wouldn’t use zooming a boat to camera awill be exaggerated when you’re cross it,” Hubbard laughs.

But while in so close, so the higher the shutter speed,the the 18200mm lens allowed Hubbard tosharp capture this better your chances of getting a nice, image.” creative closeup, hehandheld had to think about the Hubbard shot the sign at 200mm, F/8.0, best way to retain image sharpness.

“The using a shutter speed of 1/750 and an ISO of 400mm.

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PHOTO PROJECTS Do you dream in color or black and white?

Do you only see the world around you in color or black and white?

We are not trying to psychoanalyze anybody or interpret the meaning of your dreams.

Have you ever thought about what that image would be like in black and white instead of color?

Many cameras today have a “Black and White” mode built into them already. If your camera does not, most image editing programs and just about every online imaging site has a black and white filter option.

Your challenge...spend 1 month taking the color out of your photographs. You eyes will be opened to some truly amazing images. Think about the emotion and the drama you can create with a colorless photograph.

Taking the color away can help the viewer focus on a particular subject. Take a close look at the water drops on the leaf. By turning the image into a B/W, you eye is drawn to the water drops a little bit more then in the color version.

Take a look at this small town cityscape.

It’s seems to be a quiet small town. Once you remove the color it adds a historic feeling to the image. Let your imagination run wild. Maybe it was once the home town a of famous president or the town hall that overlooked the bay during the early war.

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Seeing the World in Mono

And when we are talking about drama and emotion, take a look at the subjects to the left and below.

Remove the color and you intensify the feeling of the photo.

Check out the brides below. The color images are beautiful and the B/W images are classic.

Remember for the next month look and photograph everything in B/W!

FEBRUARY 2012 THE NETWORK

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Photo Patrol Education Two New Photo Patrol Educational Services now being offered in select areas Group Tutoring

(Groups are limited based on educational topic) Group instruction on specific camera model operation or other digital photography instructional topics for groups may be available.

Photo Excursions

Expand your photography horizons with a Group Photo Excursion. Our RitzPix Photo Patrol Consultants will take you on a field trip and teach you the specific techniques for capturing the moment as accurately as it is seen.

For detailed information on all Photo Patrol Educational Services visit

www.ritzpixphotopatrol.com

v Private/Group Tutoring Pricing Information

v Photo Patrol Consultant and Seminar Locations v Photo Patrol Consultants Pictures and Biographies (Categorized by Location)

v All Class Schedules (Categorized by State and City) v Class Support Files (Glossary of Digital Photography Terms, Mac & Windows Keyboard Shortcuts, and more)

v Special Event Schedules

(Details on hands-on photo excursions, manufacturer classes, and other educational opportunities being conducted throughout the country.

New digital photography educational information and opportunities are continuously developed and being added to the Photo Patrol website.

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3 Steps to Success!

Photo Patrol is a customized Education program that offers One-on-One Tutoring, Fundamental Digital Photography Classes, and Advanced Digital Photography Seminars. More than 180 class locations throughout the country have combined to conduct thousands of classes annually.

1. Private Tutoring One-on-One consultation that can be tailored to fit your specific needs. Whether it be operation of your specific camera equipment, computer or software training, even hands-on training for your specific photographic purpose. Almost any educational need is available either in-store or on-location.

2. Digital Photography Classes 4 classes are included with camera purchase and are designed to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles of digital photography that apply to all cameras.

3. Advanced Digital Photography Seminars Inexpensive advanced digital photography seminars designed to expand on the basic classes. Seminars are scheduled periodically throughout the year at select locations and offer tips and techniques on a wide variety of specific photographic topics.

visit www.ritzpixphotopatrol.com to obtain the latest class schedules FEBRUARY 2012 THE NETWORK

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parting shot

by HILARY PETERKA houston, tx

here’s looking at you