Archive for 'Blog'

Little World pictures

Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by Daniel Freytag in @WEB, Blog, Tutorials

Do you want to make a whole planet from a panorama? Here is how:

First of all you need a panorama, it don’t have to be 360°, but the beginning and the ending should be similar. I made mine with the Pano App from the iTunes App store.

You may make an own Pano or take this one from NYC. (1.5MB)

Now open the photo in Photoshop. If necessary crop your photo, so that the left and the right end fit together!
Go to Image -> Image Size and change the picture to a square size (e.g. 700x700px). Make sure the “Constrain proportions” checkbox is unlocked!

Your picture should now look like this:

Now the final steps: Make a 180° rotation with your hole picture (Image -> Rotate Canvas -> 180°). Search in the Filter-menu for the Distorsion Tab and choose the Polar Coordinates filter. Click O.K. in the upcoming infobox.

Finally use the stamps tool to make the transition between the start and the end smoother.

It would be very cool whether you post a link to your Little world photo, which you made with this tutorial in the comments below!

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Litepanels – MicroPro

Posted on 15. Aug, 2010 by Daniel Freytag in Blog, Reviews

Earlier this year Litepanels supported me with one of their MicroPro lights. As I started using it I began to love it.

Facts

  • Powered by six AA standard batteries or the 5-16V DC input jack
  • 96 white LEDs
  • 5.5” W x 3.75” H x 1.5” D (139.7mm x 95.25mm x 38.1mm)
  • delivered with a carrying bag, 3 Gel Filters and a Ball Head with Show Mount

The MicroPro is based on the LED technology which has the advantage that it is energy-saving (These 6 AA batteries hold up to 3-4 hours), so you don’t have to cary tons of batteries with you! Another positive point is that it isn’t producing any heat. The manufacturer says that all 96 white LED lights conforms to Approximately 50 W, what is quite amazing. Something else I really love while shooting is the dimmer knob, because you don’t need everytime the full power, so you can dimm it from 0 to 100%. This dimming feature works very well, without flickering.

1⁄4 warming filter and 3200°K Tungsten conversion filter

1⁄4 warming filter and 3200°K Tungsten conversion filter

The standard package is delivered with a White Diffusion filter, a 1⁄4 warming filter and a 3200°K Tungsten conversion filter. I mostly have the Diffusion filter mounted, the two others I don’t use that often.

Something which is nor a positive thing nor a negative thing is it’s case. It fulfills his purpose, but is a bit bulky on top of a camera.

Litepanels Ball Head

Litepanels Ball Head

Negative

Actually I found only one negative thing, and this one has nothing to do directly with the camera: The Ball Head

It is delivered with the standard package but I suggest to buy another one, like the Manfrotto 482LCD. I make this recommendation because every time I pointed the MicroPro in the right directions and adjusted the screw the Ball Head turned away.

Possibilities where to use the MicroPro

For product shoots

As a spotlight, e.g. on this can

For interviews

Conclusion

The Litepanels MicroPro is a wonderful LED light which has it strengths in interview, portrait and detail shoots. For bigger and wider shoots you have to take one of the Litepanels 1×1 series (which I’ve actually not yet tested)

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music resources

Posted on 20. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Freytag in @WEB, Blog

© Katharina Hopp / pixelio.de

© Katharina Hopp / pixelio.de

Well, there are tons of music platforms on the internet, but I will only post some.

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Growl-Styles

Posted on 28. Okt, 2009 by Daniel Freytag in Blog

Growl-Icon Just a small list of Growl-Styles [...]

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