RPN Newsletter June

JUNE-JULY 2011 THE NETWORK 1

RITZ&WOLF CAMERA&IMAGE

INSPIRATIONPHOTOS FOR MOTIVATION

SPECIAL OFFER Only

for RITZPIX NETWORK MEMBERS

PHOTO TIPSSummer & Fireworks

PHOTO PROJECTSPicture Pots

PARTING SHOT

JUNE-JULY 2011 ISSUE 4

THE

by Tom ClarkGrapeville, TX

ONLOCATIONPhotography

PHOTO PATROLEducation

TECH CORNEROlympus goes Hollywood

2 THE NETWORK JUNE-JULY 2011




Often times when dramatic and tragic events occur, we find ourselves in the difficult circumstances of trying to remember everything that is affected. Your home holds so many things that are vital to your life and trying to remember each and every small detail can be just as overwhelming as the event itself.

If at any time a traumatic circumstance should strike you, the more prepared you can be to provide accurate information to those who are there to set things back in order, the more likely all of those little things will be restored just as easily as the big things.

Have you protected your memories?

There are several options available to help you protect your memories. The two most popular are Online Storage and a variety of Scanning Services. Don’t rely on your computers hard drive or the memory card in your phone. Stop in and ask us how we can help.

Don’t lose your precious memories to a natural disaster.

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INSPIRATION

pink passionby KAREN MOOREpaoli, pennsylvania

amazedby KEVIN STEWARTknoxville, tennessee

americanaby MATTHEW MCCORMACKglendale, wisconsin





freedomby KEVIN ANFINSON

folsom, california

quintupletsby ALVIN HAYES JR.

katy, texas

waitingby MONICA LAATSCH

glendale, wisconsin

cloudy waterfallby CHARLES RINEHARTbellevue, washington

i got it!by JEFF STALLARD

nashua, new hampshire









SUNNY SUMMERIt’s fast becoming that time again when we all like to enjoy the summer months and like seagulls we flock to the nearest and largest body of water! Whether it’s a swimming pool, lake, or beach, water is nature’s way of cooling us off quickly, especially during summertime. Many vacation photos are disappointing because of the harsh light that Summer mixed with water can bring.

Bright surfaces under summer sun can fool camera exposure systems as they see the bright scenes as medium gray. Light readings directly from bright scenes result in underexposing the subject. Compensating for this potential exposure error simply requires a wider lens opening or longer shutter speed. Manual cameras can be set to the wider opening of between 1 and 2 f-stops, or if you are close enough to your subject you can manually set the flash on and it will “fill in” the light.

Have people open their eyes right before you take the picture. When everyone is standing around with the sun shining right in their eyes or glare bouncing up from the water, it’s natural for people to squint their eyes. Before you take the picture, have people close their eyes. Count of three and tell them to open their eyes. You take the picture at the count of four. It’s that simple.

Polarizing filters come in handy as they reduce glare and increase color saturation. It reduces reflections from some surfaces, it can darken the sky, and it saturates the image more by eliminating unwanted reflections.

Learn to use some basic post-processing techniques. If your subject didn’t fill the frame, use an image processing program to crop the picture so it does. Try sharpening the photo and see if it looks better. Also try boosting or reducing the contrast and saturation a bit. I always try these 4 simple tools on pictures I use on Picassa to help photos look better. Don’t overdo any of them – be conservative and you will get better results.

Always have a spare battery, charger, lens cleaning kit, and plenty of storage media. Storage media is getting really cheap, even for many-megapixel cameras, so there is little excuse to not have plenty of gigabytes on hand. If your camera battery dies, you want to be able swap it, not charge it. Nothing is worse than getting stuck with a dirty lens and no cleaning kit – also make sure you inspect the lens regularly – sometimes a dirty lens isn’t so obvious in the LCD, but is when you view the photos on a PC.

Use a photo-sharing service like ritzpix.com rather than emailing photos. Emailing photos is very old-school, and very inefficient. By using a photo sharing site such as ritzpix.com, you have an off-site backup of your photos, and your friends and family can access all of them at will and even order prints. If you have a big batch and a slow connection, just start the upload before going to bed!

ENJOY NATURE!





SUNNY SUMMERIt’s fast becoming that time again when we all like to enjoy the summer months and like seagulls we flock to the nearest and largest body of water! Whether it’s a swimming pool, lake, or beach, water is nature’s way of cooling us off quickly, especially during summertime. Many vacation photos are disappointing because of the harsh light that Summer mixed with water can bring.

Bright surfaces under summer sun can fool camera exposure systems as they see the bright scenes as medium gray. Light readings directly from bright scenes result in underexposing the subject. Compensating for this potential exposure error simply requires a wider lens opening or longer shutter speed. Manual cameras can be set to the wider opening of between 1 and 2 f-stops, or if you are close enough to your subject you can manually set the flash on and it will “fill in” the light.

Have people open their eyes right before you take the picture. When everyone is standing around with the sun shining right in their eyes or glare bouncing up from the water, it’s natural for people to squint their eyes. Before you take the picture, have people close their eyes. Count of three and tell them to open their eyes. You take the picture at the count of four. It’s that simple.

Polarizing filters come in handy as they reduce glare and increase color saturation. It reduces reflections from some surfaces, it can darken the sky, and it saturates the image more by eliminating unwanted reflections.

Learn to use some basic post-processing techniques. If your subject didn’t fill the frame, use an image processing program to crop the picture so it does. Try sharpening the photo and see if it looks better. Also try boosting or reducing the contrast and saturation a bit. I always try these 4 simple tools on pictures I use on Picassa to help photos look better. Don’t overdo any of them – be conservative and you will get better results.

Always have a spare battery, charger, lens cleaning kit, and plenty of storage media. Storage media is getting really cheap, even for many-megapixel cameras, so there is little excuse to not have plenty of gigabytes on hand. If your camera battery dies, you want to be able swap it, not charge it. Nothing is worse than getting stuck with a dirty lens and no cleaning kit – also make sure you inspect the lens regularly – sometimes a dirty lens isn’t so obvious in the LCD, but is when you view the photos on a PC.

Use a photo-sharing service like ritzpix.com rather than emailing photos. Emailing photos is very old-school, and very inefficient. By using a photo sharing site such as ritzpix.com, you have an off-site backup of your photos, and your friends and family can access all of them at will and even order prints. If you have a big batch and a slow connection, just start the upload before going to bed!

Is it time to Renew your RITZPIX NETWORK

MEMBERSHIP?

As a member we encourage you to check out the hundreds of amazing things you can do and make with

your pictures.

We have 4 great renewal offers to choose from,

3 ways to renew,

Earn more, pay less,

The Network that keeps on giving!

RITZPIX













FIREWORKS

Use the slow shutter speed. This will ensure you see bright “trails” in your fireworks pictures as the flaming particles spread out and begin to fall toward the ground, burning light into the image.

Get a tripod. Leaving the shutter open means that you’ll need to stabilize your camera in order to avoid any motion blur. And taking crisp, long-exposure night shots while trying to hold a heavy SLR steady with your hands is next to impossible. Find a tripod, a monopod or, at the very least, a flat, stable surface to hold your camera perfectly still.

Get a shutter release cable or wireless remote. These cables will let you depress the shutter mechanism without having to touch the camera at all, thus reducing any possible blur.

Set the ISO to its lowest setting. This will reduce graininess and noise that can be introduced by higher ISO settings.

Dial in a low f/stop. Somewhere between f/8 and f/16 is ideal.

Set Focus to infinity. Also, be sure to turn off any auto-focus settings if your camera has them. If possible, focus on the ‘hyperfocal’ distance- this is the point at which infinity is at the edge of your depth of field, so you get as much as possible of the foreground in focus.

Tip: Try photographing multiple bursts in a single image. Leave the shutter open for 30 to 40 seconds at a time to capture multiple explosions. Just be sure to cover the lens between explosions to minimize the amount of ambient that shows up. Cover the lens with your hand, a black t-shirt or anything dark and non-reflective. Don’t touch or bump the camera while you’re covering it.

Tip: For a different approach, shoot hand-held without a tripod using a much faster shutter speed and a higher ISO. You’ll also want to re-adjust your f/stop, otherwise your images will be too dark. You won’t get as many light trails from the fireworks, but you’ll pick up a higher level of detail in the actual explosion, so your shots will contain a different type of drama.

Tip: Another approach is using a long exposure time to make some triple shots of the fireworks, just keep the camera pointed in the right direction while it is taking the photograph.

Shooting Tips

E x p r e s s i o n s





You never know when that “Moment” will happen! e perfect expression. e expression that needs no explanation.

You must always be ready.

Have the battery in your camera charged at all times.

Utilize your continuous setting so that your camera will capture several frames per second and increase your chances of capturing a great moment when the encounter is brief.

Shoot from different angles. Go high looking down, go low looking up. A different perspective can add an artistic feel to your photograph.

Always try to incorporate the basic photographic principles you learn in class.

EXPRESSIONS

by EMILIANO MONROYst. paul, minnesota

Photo Patrol Education Seminar Series





Sports and Action PhotographySports and Action photography is all about timing. Let us help you understand the timing to capture the defining moment, when the action is most dramatic. We will cover topics such as choosing the right equipment, lighting, shutter speed, composition, finding the right location, waiting for the moment and anticipating the shot.

Understanding Light It’s not always about being in the right place at the right time. Discover what the pros know. Often, it’s about knowing how to capture the best shot with what you have. How to take advantage of the available light and when to use light modifiers in any photographic situation. Topics also include the importance of understanding the main characteristics of existing light. Direction, Quality and Temperature

Controlled Lighting In this seminar we’ll cover the information you need to be successful using a variety of controlled lighting solutions. We’ll first spend some time discussing the equipment that’s right for you. Auxiliary flash systems, strobe systems, or constant lighting, Then, light meters, lighting ratios, multiple light setups, and white balance.

Photographing Children From newborns to tweens, we will explore insights and strategies for producing timeless images. You’ll learn how to ensure the best-possible presentation of infants, engage fast-moving toddlers, select appropriate props and locations, and position older kids, preteens, and teens to create unforgettable images that evoke emotion and ensure great memories.

Night PhotographyIn this seminar you will get a better understanding of taking pictures in low light and night photography. We will cover flash, long exposure and how to use a combination of both long exposure and flash to create images. Topics also include equipment selection, common problems of shooting in low light and how to solve them, white balance, motion effects and much more.

Macro Photography As you get closer to a subject, a whole new world of images opens up. However, as you get closer, you have more things to control such as depth of field and lighting. This seminar looks at the aspects that need to be understood to get successful images within the close-up world. Topics include equipment selection, depth of field, lighting, composition, backgrounds and more.

Landscape HDR Photography Landscape photography is one of the most popular areas of photography. We will look at how to control framing, composition and perspective and combine it with techniques for capturing multiple exposures for HDR processing. Learn to identify a good scene for HDR photography, capturing multiple exposures & using HDR processing software.

Pets & Family Portraiture Just ask most pet owners; pets are a part of the family. This seminar takes a look at pet photography and combining pets and people to make the perfect portrait. We’ll cover basic personality characteristics of various dog breeds & cats, capturing a pet’s distinct personality, lighting essentials, composing families with their pets and much more.

Nature & Wildlife Photography We all like to take nature and wildlife images, but they often do not turn out as expected. This seminar is designed to help you capture images that will impress. We will cover the important aspects of lens selection, framing and composition, location, weather, lighting, color temperature and using flash for wildlife.

Contact a store near you for the latest seminar dates and times

Photo Patrol is a customized Education program that offers One-on-One Training, Group Seminars and of course our Free Photography Classes. Tickets to attend a series of In-Store classes have been included with every camera purchase. More than 180 class locations throughout the country have combined to conduct thousands of classes annually. To keep pace with ever-changing technology, we have launched updates to our course selections so that we can continue to deliver what you need to capture life as you see it.

visit www.ritzpixphotopatrol.com to obtain the latest class schedules

Photo Patrol Education In-Store Class Series





.

Digital Imaging Basics Success with digital cameras begins with an understanding of the fundamentals. First, some camera operation basics that are universal to all types of cameras and using automatic exposure modes. Then, the importance of aspect ratio to print sizes, understanding image size in pixels, JPEG image compression qualities, print resolution, file formats, and file size. All are important factors that affect the display quality, editing possibilities, and storage aspects of the digital image.

Photography 101 Got the basics of digital images? Start taking better pictures! Learn the key principles that will improve your photography skills, no matter what type of camera you use. Including: camera handling technique, creative lens use, focusing tips, artistic compositional elements, and some tips on using the built-in flash.

Save, Display, ShareFor many digital camera owners, learning the methods to archive and then access your digital images is just as important as camera operation. Also discover the exciting new ways available to display digital images and the other options and possibilities to share your life’s memories

Understanding ExposureUnlock the full potential of your camera by understanding the “out of automatic” exposure modes. By learning how to adjust the Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO you can change the creative properties of your image! Then, learn how your camera’s light metering system works and how the light metering overrides can improve exposure.





OnLocation PhotographyAffordable, Professional Photography that comes to you.

Yes we make house calls. Our skilled photographers will come to your location, wherever you are - home, office, school or field. Ritz & Wolf Camera has been in the photography business for over 90 years, so you can trust your important events to us. We offer a full range of photo products to compliment your photo shoot. Professional photographers without the professional expense!

*Family Portraits *Business Portraits *Business Meetings *High School Seniors *Engagement Parties

*Sports Photography *Pet Portraits *Anniversaries *Family Reunions *Senior Living Centers

*Retirement Homes *Booster Clubs *Day Care Centers *Dance Recitals

*Proms *Parties

Our photographers can capture the REAL you.

We can take care of your business images right at your place of business.

Don’t worry about capturing your family reunion, we’ll do the work for you.

Our sports/game photography allows you to capture the best possible moments of your childs sporting events.

OnLocation Photography





OnLocation PhotographyOnLocation PhotographyNew Markets Just Added!

AtlantaChicago

New YorkPhiladelphia

Check your local store for availability

Already available in Minnesota, Utah, Dallas and Denver.





DID YOU KNOW?The Olympus Pen® Goes Hollywood

For most people, “Secretariat” is a compelling, feel-good story that charms, whether you are a horse-lover or not. Secretariat won the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973, the first racehorse to do so in 25 years. The motion picture based on actual events puts you right into the action and even more exciting, showcases how advanced Olympus technology played an important role in making this film.

The compact size and HD quality of the Olympus PEN camera offered the ability to capture a horse race from vantage points that had never been done before. Olympus PEN cameras were mounted on the ground at the starting gate, as well as on the jockey’s helmet and glove, the horse’s saddle, a pole right next to the horse’s feet and in dirt around the track, capturing moments of authenticity and extreme close-ups of the intense racing action, and shots illustrating speed and dirt, excitement and chaos. Not one PEN broke during the filming; further proof that Olympus products allow you to “capture it all.”

Check out this Olympus “Behind the Lens” video, http://bit.ly/PENsec, featuring the film’s Academy Award-winning Director of Photography, Dean Semler, to learn more about how the PEN was used in this remarkable film. You can also view some of the ground-breaking horse-race footage captured with the Olympus PEN E-P1 in the official Secretariat trailer.

Quotes transcribed from Semler interview:

“The Olympus PEN camera enabled me to get cameras in positions where I have never been able to get them before.”

"I was amazed immediately at how small it was, how light it was, and also what sort of a great image it could give me at the same time so we can get the cameras in as closely as we could, safely."

"If I was doing Dances with Wolves now, I could put this on the end of a pole and get it amongst the Buffalo."

ILC - Interchangeable Lens CamerasThe future of photography,The best of both worlds,

SMALL like a compact camera, packs the QUALITY of a DSLR!

NEW DIRECT BUTTON FOR HD MOVIES.Recording HD movies with the E-PL1 is simple thanks to an easy-to-reach red “direct button” (red record button) on the back of the camera body. If you’re about to snap a photo and you realize a video would capture the spirit of the scene even better, simply press the record button and instantly you’re capturing videos! Easily toggle back and forth between capturing stills and video by using your index finger to press the shutter button or your thumb to press the red record button. Having the ability to shoot still images and videos opens up a world of imaging possibilities.

NEW easy-to-use LIVE GUIDE SETS THE SCENE BEFORE YOU SHOOT.The E-PL1’s Live Guide simplifies great photography and gets the results you desire at the touch of a button. Want a brighter or darker subject, or a sharper or softer background? Want more vivid or muted color in your shot? Want warmer or cooler tones? Simply press OK while in iAuto, select Live Guide and press up or down arrows on the back of the camera to slide through all these photographic effects on the LCD and make adjustments before snapping the shot. Forget about learning technical things like f-stops, shutter speed and white balance, and jump right in by composing, adjusting exposure and more within your scene before the shot is taken. Helpful tips for photographing children, pets, flowers and more are also available.

EXPAND YOUR CREATIVE HORIZONS WITH BUILT-IN EFFECTS.Olympus appreciates that you may not have hours to spend retouching your images on the computer. The E-PL1 has six in-camera Art Filters, including a new filter called Gentle Sepia. This filter gives your images and videos a soft warm sepia cast similar to historical images from the early days of photography, and joins Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pin Hole, Grainy Film and Diorama (the filter that makes everything look as small as the E-PL1). With the E-PL1’s Multiple Exposure function available for still image capture, you are free to tell a visual story your way. The image capture options enable you to shoot one shot, then another and combine them in real time, or capture both shots separately and combine them within the camera later.

STABILIZE ALL OF YOUR LENSES.Instead of selling more expensive lenses that have image stabilization inside them, Olympus takes a different approach by having image stabilization built right into the body of the E-PL1. That means that any lens attached to the E-PL1 will deliver blur-free images thanks to three modes of In-body Image Stabilization that automatically compensate for camera shake in low light or when shooting without a tripod. Since the PEN cameras are the world’s smallest interchangeable lens cameras with In-body Image Stabilization, you’ll feel comfortable taking the E-PL1 on the road with you to capture the action.

BIG SENSOR, NOT A BIG BODY.At the heart of the E-PL1 is a large-size image sensor that’s the same sensor as the one inside the Olympus E-30 and E-620 Digital SLR models. The only difference between this sensor and what the pros use is that this big sensor is

inside the much smaller body of the E-PL1. This high-performance 12.3-megapixel Live MOS image sensor (8 times larger than the average point-and-shoot camera sensor) delivers excellent dynamic range, accurate color fidelity, and state-of-the-art technology to reduce noise and capture fine image details in both highlight and shadow areas.





tech CORNER





by ANGEL RODRIGUEZnasuhua, new hampshire

by CYNTHIA MAXELLsandy, utah

by KIMBERLY WORLEYbatavia, illinoisby GRANT LAEHR

denver, colorado

LOSE THE COLOR AND CREATE THE EMOTION!Take the color from your image and you gain a whole new feeling. Many cameras today come with a Black & White function built-in. Or you can convert your images at our in-store print bar kiosks.

Either way, it’s an easy option that can add another dimension to your photographs.

PHOTO PROJECTS





PUT YOUR FACE ON A PLANTER!

It’s simple and fun project. It’s not something that you can go out and purchase a kit for.

1. Find your favorite photo. We suggest a close-up shot.2. Get a planter.3. Go to the local cra store and purchase a glue/sealer all-in-one.4. Print your favorite photograph the same size as the height of the planter.5. Carefully glue you picture to the planter.

It’s fun! It’s unique! e kids will love it!

by Sara OsterhoutEden Prairie, MN



parting shot

carnival lights

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RPN Newsletter June