Capturing Suramadu Bridge

Almost 90 participants took part in Suramadu Bridge Photo Hunting which was organized by Suramadu bridge project management and Komunitas Fotografer Surabaya. This hunting lasted on May 10 at the project area of Suramadu bridge on Madura side, its pillars, and Surabaya side. It was held to document and introduce the project as well as a learning center for building suspension bridge.

From early day to mid day, participants walked across the bridge which still under construction. They were photographing various objects around it. Human interest, landscape, macro, model were their objects. They also took pictures of themselves with the bridge as the background. By considering the participants and the running of the show, it could be said the photo hunting was success. Regardless the bad weather, nothing bad happened during the sessions. nana

Free Seminar by Ali Akbar on Commercial Project

A non-formal sharing-based free seminar will be held by Creative Trees on May 30, by having a two-way dialogue in the event. A theme of modernity, "Share a Thought," will be exposed by Ali Akbar, an art director who is also a well-known photographer, at a time, in Indonesia and worldwide.

This "Share a Thought" is the third time, after Irwan Ahmett's and Mayumi's presentation. The purpose of this recent one is to give more knowledge to the participants about how an art director and photographer sees commercial project in the world of creative industry. The event will take place at the Oktagon Gallery, 2nd floor, Jl. Gunung Sahari Raya no. 50 A, Central Jakarta, from 5:00 to 6:00pm. For more information, please visit creativetrees.com. Rizal Afif

A Charity Program by Members of Bursa FN

Motivated by the desire to share, some members of bursa Fotografer.net (FN) made a charity program by visiting panti asuhan (orphanage) Tunas Bangsa, Cipayung, Jakarta. Held on May 10, 2009, the visit was coordinated by Andrie Hidayanto and Sri Sumaryanto. They shared love and gifts as well. The donation was gained from selling T-shirts at bursa Fotografer. net. For every T-shirt purchased, Rp 25.000 was donated for the charity. This fund raising successfully collected Rp 1,900,000.

On the visiting day, only a few people joined. The orphans living in this orphanage were amused by their attendance. Most of them aged less than 5 years old and lack of affection. The gifts were given to the orphanage manager. It might be just a little present, but their visit meant a lot for the orphans. The dramatic moment was when some of the orphans cried when their guests said good bye. It seemed that they did not want to be left behind. nana

Another Award for Canon EOS 5D Mark II

After awarded as the "Best Digital SLR Expert in 2009" by the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) in Europe on May 1, EOS 5D Mark II was again receiving award on May 15 as the "Camera of the Year" in Camera Grand Prix 2009 by Canon Inc. and Canon Marketing Japan Inc., sponsored by Camera Journal Press Club Japan (CJPC) - comprising thirteen photography and camera publications.

To be noted, Camera Grand Prix 2009 agrees with TIPA that EOS 5D Mark II is worth winning because of its highperformance features: full-size 21,1-MP CMOS sensor, DIGIC 4 image processor and a sophisticated Live View function, along with its advanced image quality and ease of use. As addition, it is the first DSLR camera to enable the recording of full HD video.

As your information, Camera Grand Prix was founded in 1984 and made up of chief editors of CJPC member publications, academic experts, technical writers, professional photographers and representatives from photo-related organizations. canon.com

The Declaration of FBI

Photography enthusiasts in Bangka island now has a shelter with the declaration of FBI (Fotografer Bangka Island) community. It was declared on May 9 in an occasion coupled with hunting. The photo hunting aimed to gather photography lovers around Bangka island and announced the community.

It took place on Pantai Parai, Sungailiat and attended by 14 participants with two models involved. The beach is such a lovely place for the photo hunting made the participants enjoyed it. The unexpected presence of two celebrities, Nycta Gina "jeng Kelin" and Risty Tagor, which by chance were on the same beach, made the show more alive. Participants admitted they were enjoying the event and wish to have it again. nana

"Capturing People in Daily Life" by KFS

Photo hunting coupled with workshop themed "Fotografi Human Interest: Capturing People in Daily Life" was held on May 16 to 17. It was organized by KFS (Komunitas Fotografi Semarang) which intended to explore more about human-interest photography. Prior to the workshop, KFS held photo hunting on May 16 at Kota Lama Semarang area to the harbour. The daily activity of the people at these areas was their objects.

The next day, the workshop was held at Vina House, Semarang. Gathot Subroto, fotografer.net's member, was the speaker. He shared his knowledge and experience on human-interest photography. The photos created during the previous hunting were discussed in the photo discussion session. The workshop was attended by 60 participants. Priyadi Paripurnawan

Limited Edition, Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 in Red

After releasing Lumix DMCTZ7 (DMC-ZS3) in black, silver and brown last Januari, this month, Panasonic announces the new addition of red DMCTZ7 in limited edition as the perfect accompaniment this summer for red color fanatics. This color was chosen based on Panasonic's international research; what the most wanted compact cameras color is. Like the previous colors, this red DMC-TZ7 has 12x optical zoom, stylish body with 22mm ultra wide angle lens, also an AVCHD Lite motion picture recording. photographyblog.com

A Guide for Mastering Nikon D700

Mastering the Nikon D700 is a new book that provides a wealth of information and professional insights for owners of Nikon D700. It is co-authored by information engineer and avid photographer Darrell Young and technical writer / Nikon photographer James Johnson. Each chapter of this book explores the features and capabilities of the D700 in detail, surpassing basic user manuals by providing step-by-step menu setting adjustments coupled with illustrations and logical explanations for each option. Frequent references to user manuals provided by Nikon (complete with specific page references) are included.

Topics include are metering systems; auto and manual mode; custom setting banks; histograms and white balance settings; shooting menu banks; auto and custom settings; picture controls and playback menus; set up, retouch and my menus; Nikon creative lighting system; etc. Not forget to mention tips and tricks from the authors. The book is distributed internationally by O'Reilly Media and costs US$ 39.95.
photographyblog.com

Three New Comers from Sony Alpha

Sony unveils 3 new easy-to-use alpha cameras, the A380, A330 and A230. The 10.2 MP A230 is the lightest, most compact alpha DSLR camera body ever at 15.9 ounces. The 10.2 MP A330 and the 14.2 MP A380 are also smaller and lighter than their predecessor models (A300 and A350).

Thanks to the APS-C sized CCD sensor working in harmony with the BIONZ image processing engine the image quality for the cameras are guaranteed. SteadyShot Inside in-camera image stabilization is built into each camera body, so every Alpha mount lens benefits from the ability to minimize blur due to camera shake. Both the A380 and A330 cameras offer Sony's Quick Autofocus (AF) Live View technology, so you can frame photos on the camera's LCD screen as well as in the optical viewfinder.

The cameras are available in two series, the L and Y series. The A380L, A330L and A230L will cost about US$ 850, US$ 650 and US$ 550, respectively. The L series one-lens kit comes with the SAL-1855 standard zoom lens. The A380Y, A330Y and A230Y will cost about US$ 1050, US$ 850 and US$ 750, respectively. The Y series two-lens kit comes with both the SAL-1855 standard zoom and SAL-55200 telephoto zoom lenses. Besides these cameras, Sony also introduces four new lenses, a flash and accessories. dcviews.com

Exhibited and Donated

Along side the Martapura river in Banjarmasin became the arena for photo exhibition held by SBPC (South Borneo Photography Club) presenting 150 photos. The exhibition was held to raise fund for charity. The fund was gathered from the photo selling and photo auction.

Various photos were exhibited, from macro, landscape, human interest, still life, to digital processing. The photos were given for free by 65 photographers, most of them are SBPC's members. Not only supported by the photographers, the show was supported by the local government and tourism department as well. In fact the mayor of Banjarmasin, HM Yudho Wahyuni opened the exhibition on May 15.

The public were enthusiastic about this exhibition. Their enthusiasm for visiting the exhibition caused a traffic jam. Photos showing floating market were sold out. Besides selling and auction, the show was also packed with photography clinic and model shooting. Restricted by the permission from the local government, the show must be shut down on May 17 at 6 pm.

During these three days exhibiton, SBPC sold 27 photos. From selling and donation, they gathered Rp 30,000,000. A large amount of money will be allocated for cash and stuff. The cash will be given to disabled children foundation, while the rest will be spent to help the education of street children. nana

Pentax K-7 Announced

Pentax has announced the K-7 mid-level DSLR, based around an updated version of the Pentax 14.6 MP CMOS sensor. The K-7 adds a new movie recording function. Movie clips can recorded at different sizes - 640 x 416 pixels, 1536 x 1024 pixels, or 1280 x 720 pixels (16:9 high-definition TV proportions) - at a frame rate of 30 frames per second.

The K-7's high-speed continuous shooting mode captures as many as 40 images (in JPEG recording format) at a maximum speed of approximately 5.2 images per second. The K-7 will be available in July for a recommended selling price of US$ 1,299.95 with the optional D-BG4 battery grip available at the same time for US$ 229.95. dpreview.com

TPAS Returned to Belitung

The Photographers Adventure Series (TPAS) returned to Belitung after their visit on August 2008. Their second hunting to Belitung was their 8th series which lasted on May 21 to 24.

Four days in Belitung gave them much time to unveil the beauty of this island. Jembatan Kubu area was their first destination. Then, they went to Tanjung Kelayang, Tanjung Tinggi, Kampung Nelayan Tanjung Binga, Bukit Berahu, and spent the night in Belitung Timur.

Next, they moved to pantai Serdang Manggar, pantai bukit batu area, Burung Mandi, Laskar Pelangi elementary school, and Tanjung Tinggi area. Third day, they sailed to pulau Pasir, pulau Belayar, pulau Haji, pulau Burung, and pulau Lengkuas. Finally, after the full agenda and nonstop activity they ended their journey by visiting Tanjung Pandan on the last day. However, it is not over yet, TPAS will continue their adventure to Thailand on August.
Ruby Cahyadi

Canon DSLR Remote for iPhone and iPod Touch

"Hey, would not it be cool if there was an iPhone application that let you trigger your camera?" That was the idea of Dan Harlacher, the onOne Software's senior product manager, which now comes true.

On May 25, 2009, onOne Software sent the application to Apple, and the result was the new product named onOne's DSLR Remote. To operate this, all you need are the iPhone or iPod Touch, supportive Canon EOS DSLR camera, laptop or desktop computer installed with the DSLR Remote Server software and a USB cable to connect Canon EOS with your computer. Firewire or Canon's Wireless File Transmitter can replace the USB cable too, while your iPhone or iPod Touch will be connected to the sever application through a wireless internet or ad-hoc wifi network.

The thing you can do next is accessing the features on your camera, such as shutter (with the on/off bulb mode functionality), shutter speed, aperture and white balance. Meanwhile, focusing and video recording is not possible remotely. If you have a Canon EOS DSLR camera that supports Live View, you can even use your iPhone or iPod Touch as a viewfinder.

As an introductory, this device will be available at the iTunes App Store at US$ 9.99, while later, it will be sold normally for US$ 19.99. A "Lite" version (can only fire the shutter) is also available at US$ 1.99. ononesoftware.com, imaging-resources.com

Google's Camera Car in Mission

Recently, a gray four-door sedan has been traveling on Manhattan (US) city's streets. This car just exactly looks alike with the others except for its 360-degrees panoramic cameras on its roof photographing every sidewalk and building. It is on a mission for Google, creating a virtual streetscape for Street View, a feature of the Google Maps website. Earlier, it was seen in Brooklyn, capturing bike messengers, cabdrivers, panhandlers, FedEx workers and doormen.

Uniquely, a lot of photographers trying to catch this phenomenon into snapshot photos, which next are uploaded to their blogs or Flickr. People are competing to capture this unordinary car, but Google does not divulge the car's route.

When it was operating in New York, they only clued that the car was in that town for about a month to update the city's current Street View. Moreover, they do not want to expose the technology used by the cameras. nytimes.com