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	Web www.ayton.id.au

My website photography essays, tutorials, tips & links:

see also my photography blog - click here

• my links to astronomy and astrophotography sites

• my brief lens tests for digital SLRs:
  • lenstests 1 - Olympus kit lens vs OM mount lenses in the 40-135mm actual focal length range
  • lenstests 2 - various lenses 200-500mm actual focal length on Olympus dSLRs
  • lenstests 3 - 50mm lenses (OM, Carl Zeiss) on Olympus dSLR including star tests
  • lens tests - Canon EF lenses vs Olympus ZD lenses vs Olympus C8080 lens
  • lens tests for landscapes - 24-28mm effective focal length lenses on Canon 1DMIII and Olympus E510
  • telephoto reach - a big Tamron 200-400mm EF lens on Canon 1DMIII vs Sigma 75-300mm OM lens on Olympus dSLR
  • Olympus C-8080 lens resolution tests
  • bokeh of portrait lenses

Useful photography links to other websites:

• looking for photos on the web or a place to host your photos, then check these links out:
  • my links to online galleries
• online digital photo storage for travellers:
  • photosafe
• freelance photographic models, photographers, and stylists online databases, galleries,etc:
  • see my info & links here
• online photography forums:
  • DPReview.com
  • aus.photo newsgroup
  • http://www.phototakers.com/forum/
  • http://www.shutterfreaks.com/
  • http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/ 
  • NWP - Nature, Wildlife and Pet photography forum
  • sportsshooter.com - sports photographers - mainly using Canon
  • photography-on-the.net - Canon digital photography forum
  • Australian Photography Forum (AFP)
  • Total Image - Australian forum
  • Nikon D70 users - Australian based with plenty of useful info
  • Yahoo groups:
    • MyOlympus - Olympus prosumer digital camera forum
    • Digital-astro - astrophotography using digital SLR cameras
    • Afocal - astrophotography using non-SLR cameras attached to telescope eyepiece
• photography information, tips or tutorial blogs:
  • http://www.livingroom.org.au/photolog/tips/ 
  • http://www.dphotoguide.com/blog 
  • http://blogs.photopreneur.com/ - tips on how to make money from your photography
  • http://strobist.blogspot.com/ - novel solutions and tips for flash photography
  • The Online Photographer blog
    • a humorous blog here demonstrating the farcical nature of photography criticism
  • Night Photography blog
  • Art Nude blog
  • http://blog.epicedits.com/2007/11/07/87-great-photography-blogs-and-feeds/ - list of blogs and feeds
• online photography tutorials:
  • camera and accessories manuals:
    • http://www.butkus.org/chinon/index.html
    • http://www.craigcamera.com
  • http://www.shortcourses.com/ 
  • Curtin's free online course
  • ACDSee's photo tips
  • Stephen Eastwood - fashion lighting tips
  • Nigel Holme's online tutorials - must pay $US25 to become a member - have not tried it personally.
  • photography basics:
    • integrated publishing
    • http://www.xs4all.nl/~wiskerke/artikelen/basic1.htm
    • http://www.silverlight.co.uk/tutorials/toc.html
  • photographic composition:
    • http://photoinf.com/ 
    • http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/Composition_Intro.shtml 
    • Phil Douglis - expressive travel photography tutorial
  • http://www.digitalphotopro.com/articles/
  • http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm
  • http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/
  • http://www.photocourse.com/title-photocourse.htm
  • http://www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/index.htm#site_index
  • Painting with light
  • butterflies:
    • http://www.ophrysphotography.co.uk/pages/photographingbutterflies.htm 
  • flowers:
    • http://www.ophrysphotography.co.uk/pages/hintsand%20tips2.htm 
  • jewelry:
    • http://mkdigitaldirect.com/tips/jewelry_photography_tips.html 
  • water droplets:
    • http://www.ophrysphotography.co.uk/pages/photgraphingwaterdroplets.htm 
  • fireworks:
    • Fun with sparklers - try f/5.6, ISO 100, 8 secs and rear curtain flash.
  • lightning:
    • http://www.lightningphotography.com/tips.html
    • http://www.weatherscapes.com/techniques.php?cat=lightning&page=lightning 
    • http://cdoswell.com/tips4.htm
    • http://www.colorado4h.org/project_resources/erecords/activities/lightning/LightningPhotoGuide.pdf 
    • lightning safety:
      • http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/outdoors.htm
      • http://www.lightningsafety.com/
      • do NOT attempt to shoot lightning unless you are inside a house with walls, plumbing and wiring, or inside a hard topped car not touching anything metal connected to the car or house - all other situations are potentially lethal within 8 miles of a storm.
  • time lapse photography:
    • http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/ultimate-guide-to-time-lapse-photography/ 
  • abstract smoke photos:
    • http://www.photocritic.org/2007/artsmoke-photographing-smoke/#more-578 
  • cross-polarisation photography:
    • http://www.photocritic.org/2007/cross-polarization-polarizers/#more-533 
  • moonlight photography:
    • http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/night-photography.htm 
  • real estate photography:
    • twilight flash: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/08/one-light-real-estate-photography.html 
  • concert photography:
    • http://www.cameraporn.net/2007/11/26/more-thoughts-on-concert-photography/#more-131 
    • http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/wild.shtml 
    • http://www.photocritic.org/live-band-concert-photography/ 
    • http://www.boudist.com/archive/2006/02/08/tips_for_live_music_concert_photography.php 
    • http://on-no.net/concert-photography/ 
    • http://photo.net/learn/concerts/mirarchi/concer_4.htm 
    • general advice:
      • don't be annoying
      • lens hood to avoid excessive flare
      • wide aperture lenses such as 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8, 135mm f/2.0, 70-200mm f/2.8 for full frame cameras
      • camera with spot metering and good performance at high ISO
      • image stabiliser if possible as often using shutter speeds of 1/125th sec.
      • timing is important, watch for patterns/sequences of lighting, moving away from an obscuring microphone, etc
    • no flash allowed:
      • use ISO 800-3200 if gives reasonable noise results - usually 1600 but lower if you want some movement with longer shutter speeds such as 1/15th sec (with image stabiliser).
      • manual exposure and focus (lock AF) as light levels may be too low for timely AF
      • tungsten WB usually
    • flash allowed:
      • use of Slow Sync - 1st sync to capture face in light vs 2nd sync to capture movement across a stage; 
        • relatively wide aperture for narrow DOF thus low ISO 100-400 at ~1/8th sec; 
      • use it sparingly to avoid distracting performer and audience; consider Stofen diffuser / bounce flash;
  • change the shape of your bokeh:
    • http://www.diyphotography.net/the-best-ways-to-create-your-own-bokeh 
  • how to make lenticular images:
    • http://photojojo.com/content/diy/how-to-make-lenticular-images/ 
  • how to photograph birds in flight:
    • http://www.fourthirdsphoto.com/blog/?p=122 
  • food photography:
    • http://www.yum-oh.blogspot.com:80/ 
    • Phase One magazine:
      • The Food Portfolio PDF
      • Crafting The Food Portfolio PDF
  • cleaning your camera sensor:
    • http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/02/you-can-do-it-clean-your-dslrs-ccd.html 
  • creating a 100% crop for display on the web:
    • http://www.pbase.com:80/wlhuber/100_crop_ 
  • wedding photography:
    • http://www.digitalweddingforum.com 
  • making your own passport photos:
    • Australian Govt passport photo guidelines - Note : Australian passport photo head size is smaller than the UK
    • using Photoshop to resize your photos:
      • http://www.dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=22 

• online photography / design schools:
  • design-training.com - online photography and interior, fashion & graphic design schools

• photography calculators:
  • my photo DOF & studio lighting calculator (free download)
  • Dudak's shutter speed calculator to estimate degree of motion blur
  • Fred Parker's Ultimate Exposure Guide - charts
  • f/calc - calculator for Win/Mac/PalmOS
  • calculator links:
    • http://www.xs4all.nl/~wiskerke/html/toollink.html 
• online camera reviews:
  • Digital Photography Review and photography forums- has up to date news for the photography world & detailed reviews
  • Digital Camera Resource Page
  • Steve's Digicams
  • DxOMark - camera sensor testing - dynamic range, etc.
  • Pixel-Peeper - finds full res. images by lens on Flickr, also has an historical Ebay price charting facility.
  • Photo Review
  • Rob Galbraith's digital photography insights
  • Imaging resource - compare images from different cameras
  • Megapixel.net
  • Camera Phone Report
• manufacturers websites:
  • see Michael's Camera House links
  • Olympus:
    • Olympus Australia - phone: 1300 659 678
    • Olympus online shop US - good listing of accessories
    • Olympus Japan
    • Vision Age - Olympus-sponsored forum & news 
    • MyOlympus.org - Olympus users galleries, tips, forums, etc
    • MyFourThirds - digital SLR's based on four thirds sensor format (eg. Olympus E series) - users galleries, tips, forums, etc
  • Canon:
    • Canon Australia- Canon digital technology site including their CMOS sensors
  • Nikon:
    • Nikon Australia
  • Leica
  • Metz Mecablitz electronic flash guns
  • Quantum flash and batteries
  • Fujifilm - data sheets for Fuji films
  • Kodak
  • Tamron / Bronica
    • list of discontinued Tamron lenses
    • adaptall-2.com - review of Tamron's MF lenses
  • Gitzo tripods - new 6x carbon fibre Imm -17% lighter than 1.5mm
  • Slik tripods -
  • Manfrotto 
  • Lensbaby "cheap" 50mm f/2.0 tilt-shift lenses $US150 - Oz Ebay seller $A269 
  • Zigview live preview LCD attachment to viewfinder - ~$US299
  • Camera Armor - rubber protectors for your Canon or Nikon dSLRs
  • Eizo LCD monitors for digital photography
  • reallyrightstuff.com  - tripod heads, panorama tools, etc
• Melbourne camera retailers:
  • Camera Action
    • 217 Elizabeth St, Melbourne. ph: (03) 9670 6901
    • this is where I buy my Olympus gear - ask for Adam Moore - he knows his stuff and realises how good Olympus really is.
    • also bought my Canon 1D Mark III here - thanks again Adam, I was getting a bit desperate finding one - now to see if I can get that poorly designed Canon 1DIII wireless port plug that keeps unscrewing itself and getting lost replaced.
  • Camera House:
    • 95 Puckle St Moonee Ponds VIC 3039. ph: (03) 9370 4669 
  • The Camera Exchange:
    • Ground Floor 377 Lonsdale St Melbourne VIC 3000. ph: (03) 9670 1929 
  • Camera lane retailers & pawnbrokers:
    • 391 Lt Bourke St Melbourne VIC 3000. ph: (03) 9670 0560
  • Michael's Camera House:
    • Cnr Elizabeth & Lonsdale Sts Melbourne VIC 3000. ph: (03) 9672 2233
  • Ted's Camera Store:
    • 235- 239 Elizabeth St Melbourne VIC 3000. ph: (03) 9602 3733
    • Highpoint Shopping Cntr, Shop 236-237, Rosamond Rd, Maribyrnong VIC 3032. ph: (03) 9317 4477
  • Camera Lane:
    • 391 Lt Bourke St (cnr Hardware Lane), Melbourne.
  • Elizabeth Camera Centre:
    • 219 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.
  • Vanbar:
    • professional photography gear + online store; 159 Cardigan St, Carlton. VIP discount card $20/yr.
  • Kayell 
    • professional; mainly Canon, Nikon plus studio gear.
    • camera rental available with 36 month terms
    • 108 Johnston Street, Collingwood ph: (03) 9416 2848
  • Baltronics - mainly for professionals; no prices on website
  • Photographic Warehouse (cameras) & AC & DC Distributors (photo batteries) - Shop 5, Nicholson St, Bentleigh. PO Box 84, Bentleigh, 3204. ph: 9578-3074 or 0415 858 170
• Australian online photography stores:
  • Dirt Cheap Cameras - Sydney-based online retailer with a wide range of goods at reasonable prices
  • DVdreamtime - Canberra-based online retailer - mainly sells Gitzo tripods, Tokina lenses, Delsey & Naneu backpacks & camera accessories
  • other online stores:
    • Quality Camera Sales - online Australian store specialising in Canon
    • Camera Store - online store
    • Camera warehouse - online store based in Sydney - no grey imports
    • Adeal - Altona, Melbourne, Victoria. Mainly accessories, Tokina, Leica, Samsung cameras and lenses, Gitzo, Manfrotto tripods
    • Photo production House - Prahran - online digital printing service; Leica accessories and older Gitzo tripods.
    • GicLee media supplies - inkjet canvas, fine art papers
    • FilterShop.com.au - online camera filters
    • ManfrottoShop.com.au - online Manfrotto tripods & stands store at Madsens (NSW)
• Australian 2nd hand cameras:
  • Ebay.com.au 
  • PhotoCo camera house - online 2nd hand equipment
• International online photo stores:
  • Cathay Photo - Singapore-based online shop but need to email them for specific prices and delivery charges
  • B&H Photo - US-based online shop - do not take Visa cards from non-US countries - need AmEx.
  • Adorama - US-based online shop 
  • Jessop's - UK-based
  • KEH
  • Collectible Cameras - Arizona-based 2nd hand equipment
• photographic studio & lighting needs:
  • Studio Light, Sunshine, Vic ph: 03 9352 6209:
    • distributor in Australia for studio lighting systems such as Visico, painted muslin backdrops, etc
  • Aurora Lite Bank - studio lighting equipment - distributed in Australia by PhotoAdd
  • PhotoPro electronics - monoblocs, etc; Mt Waverley, Melbourne.
  • photographic backgrounds:
    • Regal albums and photo supply - Ebay store based in Melbourne - muslin or gauze
    • Oz plaza - Ebay store based in Victoria
    • Envisage - Ebay store based in Adelaide
    • Fotogz hand dyed linen backdrops 2.8m 
    • Dragon Image, 161 Victoria Pde, Collingwood
    • Ingrid Fondali Italian
• photographic studios for hire in Melbourne:
  • Shoot That, 8 Stawell St, Nth Melb -  incl. use of lighting & equipment.
  • Baltronics - Richmond -  large range equip. available for rent at 20% discount
  • Aperture Studios - Richmond

  • Bronek Kozka - Collingwood

  • Springworks Studio - Clifton Hill

  • LabX - St Kilda  student ID discounts for folio work.

  • Wyndham Art Works - 3mx3m space for long term hire in Laverton Nth

  • Dragon Image

  • Nic Mason - Yarraville; 4x8m with 4m wide cyc-wall; 

  • Ripe Studios, Sth Yarra

  • Sited Figures - Melton; 10x5x5m;

  • In Your Face - Eltham

• camera, lens and photographic equipment hire in Melbourne:

  • Ben's hire

• camera clubs and networks:

  • Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP)

  • Australian Commercial & Media Photographers (ACMP) - est. 1991; if > 2yrs fulltime professional career;

  • Australian Photographic Society - est. 1962; magazines: Image and Australian Photography included in $80/yr membership

  • Australian Camera Clubs

  • Victorian Association of Photographic Societies - has details of all camera clubs in Vic.

  • Melbourne Camera Club 

  • Corio Bay Camera Club -  north Geelong 

  • Geelong camera club - south Geelong

  • Kommune photography/art school - workshops and studio hire

  • Western Region Arts Network (WRAN) - western suburban network for artists & photographers in Melbourne. est. 2006.

  • photographers.com.au - voluntary listing of Australian photographers with a brief portfolio

• photography book stores:
  • The Printed Image Bookshop - thousands of photo books including rare ones. 232 Chapel St, Prahran, Vic.
  • Bay Park Photos - online store (Sydney) - cameras, books (good prices), accessories
  • CameraBooks.com - online camera book store based in Canada ship internationally
  • Photographic Instruction Book Service - PO Box 17, Brighton Middle, 3186. ph: 9592-5577; fax: 9592-5566;
  • Great Photo Books - Indiana based website of photography books
• photography workshops:
  • Richard White, Mansfield
  • Centre for Contemporary Photography - 404 George St, Fitzroy. Gallery, resource & education centre. Weekend photo workshops $220.
  • Brunswick Street Gallery - art nude workshops at a reasonable price
  • John Mitchell photography  - landscape photography half-day and full day one-on-one in NE Victoria's parks
• photography magazines:
  • Photographic Trader - used camera trading magazine at newsagents
  • McKeown's cameras & View Camera (large format cameras) at Mainline Photo (Sydney)
  • Erotic and Art (European magazine)
• photographic print / processing labs in Melbourne:
  • online digital printing posting to Australia & Internationally:
    • Digital Works - Hallam
    • Moo.com - UK based company; packets of printed, laminated cards, etc.
  • ink for digital printing:
    • www.clickinks.com
    • www.inktechnologies.com 
  • lab processing in Melbourne:
    • Image Science - 14 Purcell St, Nth Melb (make an appointment before visiting ph:9348 9808):
      • pricing & ordering brochure
    • Lab X - St Kilda:
    • Bond Imaging - Richmond - now mainly digital image printing.
    • Prism Imaging - 504 Abbotsford St, Nth Melb 3051, 03 9326 6635
      • comprehensive print and mounting service; 10% student discount;
    • Vanbar - Nth Melb
      • Fujimoto SHP5080 printer:
        • up to 20"x30", but max. jpeg size 6.5Mb
• photographic galleries in Melbourne:
  • see also links to art galleries
  • Centre for Contemporary Photography - 404 George St, Fitzroy. Gallery, resource & education centre. Weekend photo workshops $220.
  • Ballarat - Daylesford Foto Biennale - regional photography exhibition held every 2 yrs in September as from 2009.
• photographic equipment and services expos:
  • Australian Digital Art & Photo Technology (adapt) exhibitions
  • Photokina - 26th Sept. 2006, Cologne, Germany
  • Australian Photographic Collectors Society photography markets in Melbourne twice a year email next on Oct 14, 2007 8am-1pm The Camberwell Centre
• photography album/folio suppliers and binders:
  • Applied Leather Art - hand-crafted leather albums from Sydney
  • Corban & Blair 
  • Irwin & McLaren, 64 Cubitt St, Richmond ph: 9428 5829
    • book binders, photo albums
  • Whites Law Bindery, Caulfield South
• self-publishing of photo books, calendars, etc:
  • Lulu.com - online site allows you to self-publish photobooks, calendars, etc by generating a print-ready pdf which Lulu then process and bind.
  • Momento.com.au - create your own photo book using their free pdf tool & they will print, bind & deliver a book from it, and allow others to purchase it.
  • Blurb - allows others to preview and purchase your book online if you wish
  • My Reflections - Australian company - your book is not hosted on their website for sale to others
  • PhotoBooksWA - Australian company - your book is not hosted on their website for sale to others - mainly hardback A4 books, plus calendars, posters, etc.
  • MyLifePrinted - 
  • AsukaBook - high end albums but must be ordered through professional photographers only
  • Pikto - Canadian
  • Happy Album.nl - Fotoboek
  • Bookroom.com.au
• photographic digital manipulation services:
  • PictureGraphs - Melbourne-based, consumer-oriented production of framed montage-type prints
• photography imaging software:
  • general image editing software:
    • Photoshop
    • Paint Shop Pro
    • Photo-Paint
    • ACDSee - nice image browser $US50 or $US130 for the pro version aimed at improving workflow for photographers.
    • Breeze Browser Pro - $US35 - batch resizer; RAW processing;
    • Faststone - freeware batch resizer, watermark insert;
  • Photoshop plugins:
    • Optikverve Labs Virtual Photographer - a free must-have
    • Harry's filters - more than 60 types of effects - free
    • Richard Rosenman - many free + depth of field generator $US30 + more
    • Flaming Pear - many free
    • Xero - many free including one of my favourites - cyborg
    • Cybia - 
    • the Pluginsite - links to more
    • Fred Miranda's:
      • Stair Interpolation for creating large prints $US25
    • DxO Filmpack - simulates film
  • noise reduction software:
    • Neat Image
    • Helicon Noise Filter
    • Noise Ninja - review here
    • Noiseware -  trial version places watermarked grids on image
  • sharpening software to replace USM:
    • Photokit Sharpener from Pixel Genius
  • RAW image readers and editors:
    • see RAW files
  • EXIF image tag readers:
    • ExifTool 
  • GPS data tagging software:
    • http://www.geosetter.de:80/en/ 
    • see also GPS
  • panorama image stitching software:
    • Panorama Factory - good automated stitcher, 30 day shareware.
    • PanoTools - freeware but you need to do a lot of manual work. You can buy an interface for this at www.ptgui.com - preferred tool for Alfred Molon.
    • PanaVue Image Assembler - not freeware, but provides very high stitching accuracy and manual stitch point correction. Allows for vertical stitching of photo rows. Stitches individual photos with extremely size differences. Handles camera tilt in the elevation angle (deviation from the horizontal direction) - a feature most other stitchers do not have.
    • PhotoVista - 30 day test version.
    • http://autostitch.net/ - free demo version - fully automatic but jpegs only & not always get good results
    • http://philohome.com/panorama.htm - also has robotic automated panorama heads
  • high dynamic range (HDR) image production and tone mapping from multiple images of differing exposures (ie. bracketed exposures):
    • Photomatrix or Photomatix - free basic version, but need pro version ($US99) to do tone mapping.
    • Photoshop CS2
    • see tutorial here
    • HDRSoft
  • depth of field adjustment:
    • Helicon Focus - automatically stacks images taken with different focus points to generate an image with much greater DOF.
  • lens distortion correction:
    • DxO Optics - remarkable software correction for lens aberrations for most Canon, Nikon, Fuji dSLRs - $US299
      • reviews:
        • http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/dxo/optics-pro.htm 
        • http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/software/optics-pro.shtml 
    • PTlens:
      • automatic correction for images with EXIF data of camera and lens which matches its database but RAW Shooter Essentials creates jpegs with EXIF data that is not expected by PTlens and thus such jpegs won't work unless you remove the added manufacturer name from the EXIF data of the camera.
    • Photoshop CS2
  • lens resolution, MTF and aberration testing:
    • Imatest
    • i3a
    • Putora 
    • resolution testing charts:
      • Sine Patterns ISO-12233 charts
      • Danes-Picta 
      • Precision Optical Imaging
      • Stephen Westin's vector graphic chart - free - should be printed as large as possible (17x22 inches (A2) minimum; 24x26 inches (A1) if possible for 8+ megapixel cameras)
  • file recovery software for when you can't read your image files on your memory card:
    • http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm
    • http://www.rfc1149.net/devel/recoverjpeg 
  • batch stamping text onto images (eg. copyright, EXIF info):
    • BetterJpeg
    • Irfanview via File>Batch Conversion>Advanved>Overlay
  • website photo gallery generation software:
    • Through-the-lens gallery constructor - freeware, based on XML/XSL technology
    • JAlbum - freeware, Java software but produces htmls for upload uses css & javascript.
      • automatically creates folders and thumbnails which link to original jpgs which remain unaltered.
      • various skins.
    • Menalto's Gallery - freeware php-based
    • free php web content management systems:
      • mambo server
      • Wiki 
      • e107 
    • Zoomifyer - create images that user can zoom in/out 
  • slideshow software:
    • Photodex ProShow Producer 
  • printing software:
    • see printing
  • examples of retouching model photos before and after for magazines:
    • Glenn Feron
    • Greg Apodaca
  • software to control your camera while taking photos:
    • see remote control of cameras
• digital photo frames (LCD panels designed for displaying photos):
  • Digivista
• other photographic directories:
  • photographydirectory.org  
  • freephotogallery directory

Disclaimer: prices quoted are subject to change and are in $AU unless otherwise stated - check companies/websites for their latest pricings. I do not sell products or market services from any of these links to external websites, nor is their linkage here necessarily a recommendation by me.