Technology Explained, Practice
Daniela Bowker
Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! ...

When you hear the term 'high-res' thrown about with such abandon when it comes to images for web use, have you ever stopped to think just how big or how high quality and image meant for the web needs to be?

Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! Saving images for the web
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring

There's an assumption that high-contrast images are more dynamic, more compelling, more inviting. Have a go at some low-contrast photography. You might surprise yourself with the results.

Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring
Feature Articles, Theory
Daniela Bowker
Seeking balance in your photos

Balance doesn't mean symmetry; it means an internal consistency and tension within your photos. And it's a vital element of composition. 

Seeking balance in your photos
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Training your photographic luck

Great photos might be down to a little bit of luck, but most of that 'luck' you make yourself. Don't believe us? Read on...

Training your photographic luck
Feature Articles, Practice
Daniela Bowker
The ups and downs and ins and outs of ...

Photographing buildings doesn't have to mean wide-angle lenses and fretting about correcting for the keystone effect. Any lens, and angle. Don't believe us? Let us show you!

The ups and downs and ins and outs of photographing buildings

excitement

At last... Triggertrap v1 is shipping!


It's been an absolute rollercoaster of a ride, from inception, to smashing its Kickstarter funding goal, to testing, to production set-backs, to PayPal's crushing inefficiency and potentially disastrous unilateral decision-making, to yet more production delays, through nerves, excitement, terror, frustration, and finally elation: Triggertrap v1 is shipping.

Today, the first batch of universal camera triggers were dispatched from the factory in China to their eagerly-waiting recipients.

If you've followed the story from the beginning, you'll know that Haje and the Triggertrap team have lived and breathed every moment of its development. It's been an enlightening process, watching a product take shape from idea to reality, through all of its ups and downs. These guys' tenacity and determination has been inspiring. Congratulations! I hope that you're enjoying a few beers this evening.

Now I'm waiting for mine to drop through my letterbox.

Hopes dashed on 360 Panorama's Android release


Android development was delayed for the 360 Panorama app.

Interesting; very interesting. There was a teensy bit of excitement earlier today when the easy-to-use stitch-free real-time panorama app from Occipital, 360 Panorama, was made available for Android users running Gingerbread (version 2.3) and upwards, as well as its adoring iOS fans. 360 Panorama has a 4.5 star rating in the App Store, you see.

The thing about 360 Panaorama is that it's supposed to be super-easy to use: all you have to do is launch the app, sweep around in a smooth-moving tight circle, et voila! One real-time panorama ready to email to your Mum so that she knows you're not living in squalor or share directly Facebook or Twitter to make your friends jealous of the view from your roof garden.

But since it was made available in the Android Market earlier today, there have been reports of crash after crash after crash and plenty of people are complaining that it isn't compatible with their devices, in particular the Samsung Galaxy SII. And this comes after Occipital delayed the development of an Android version, citing performance issues in the Android OS; it simply couldn't keep up with the app. Now it seems as if it still can't, much to the disppointment of quite a few users. I say 'quite a few users'; complaints and one-star reviews are amassing by the minute on the Android Market and there have been vociferous complaints on TechCrunch and Engadget, too.

Hopes were so high for this. It seems such a shame. What went wrong?