Digital Camera Fiend - A Camera Review

The Boulevard at Dusk, originally uploaded by thepres6.

A snapshot of classic Americana. There are so many strengths in this photo: the complimentary palette of colors, the composition, the angle of the shot, the vivid background, the reflection off the car…it’s hard to know where to begin when praising this photo, taken in Florida.

Oded Balilty was covering the violent struggle between Jewish settlers on the West Bank and Israeli forces last year when he captured this poignant shot of a lone Jewish woman challenging Israeli security officers.

“I saw this woman hesitate a little bit, and I saw the line of the police and I just grabbed my camera,” Balilty said. “It just was there.”

Balilty, an Associated Press photographer based in his hometown Jerusalem, went to this illegal West Bank outpost near Ra’malla where troops in riot gear were clashing with hundreds of stone-throwing Jewish settlers. Israel’s Supreme Court had earlier cleared the way for demolition of nine homes at the site.

At one point Balilty and his colleague decided to split up to cover more ground. It was then that he came upon the scene that would garner him the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography–photojournalism’s highest award.

“I feel like I kissed the moon. It’s amazing,” Balilty told AP reporters after receiving the award. “I never even imagined it would happen to me.”

Balilty, (pictured left) was born in 1979 in Jerusalem and has spent much of his career covering Israeli-Palestinian issues.

During his days in the Israeli Army he was a photographer for the magazine of the Israeli Defense Forces. After completing his military service he shot for ZOOM 77 agency and the daily paper Yedioth Ahronot. He joined the AP’s Jerusalem photo staff in 2002, as the Palestinian Intifada was climaxing.

He is also part of a team of photographers who were Pulitzer Prize finalists in the breaking news category for their coverage of the war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.

Originally uploaded by down_the_rabbit_hole. Taken with a Canon EOS 30D.

Night shots can present extremely difficult photographic conditions. The dark night when this photo was taken in Jervis Bay, Australia posed quite a challenge, yet the photographer managed to capture a breathtaking shot.

“A lucky moment, in that all the elements were there, but tricky in putting them together because it was so dark I couldn’t see anything through the viewfinder,” the photographer said. “Added to this I was on a suburban street so I had to time the shots in between car headlights destroying the silhouettes of the trees.”

The silver reflection from the moon contrasts nicely with the tree silhouettes and inky sky.

The composition might be stronger if the tree branches didn’t partially obstruct the moon, but as the photographer noted, stepping to the side to avoid the obstruction would have ruined the symmetry of the photo.

Taken with a Nikon D200, this photo has amazing color and perspective. Is that Donald Duck peeking in at the top of the dome?

The photographer used Capture NX, a digital imaging software from Nikon, to enhance the photo’s color.

Released in Summer 2006 as the successor to Capture 4.4, Nikon designed Capture NX so that both novices and advanced users can utilize it. This software allows users to enhance images without the use of masks, selections or layers (terms Photoshop users are quite familiar with). 

Capture NX is priced at $129.

Originally uploaded by razorbern.

A brilliant photograph that displays geometric beauty. Sometimes through the camera lens everyday objects are transformed into art. This photo is striking because of the lines and spirals that pull your eye to the center. The contrast of light and dark is also appealing.

Originally uploaded by dæxus.

Patience is a virtue, and for no one else is that more true than the photographer (or maybe a feline stalking its prey).

“I just felt like a war correspondent waiting on my knees and elbows in the sand (as bemused people walked by) for the opportune moment when true emotion could be captured,” the photographer said of this shot taken in Thailand.

The shot is brilliant in that both the chick and the cat appear to convey obvious expression–a rarity for animals. The cat’s look is one of intent purpose, nature taking its course. The chick, beak agape and legs in motion, appears to be scurrying for its life.

Of course, we don’t know the outcome of this saga with certainty, but the photographer reported that the chick didn’t hold the pregnant cat’s attention for very long. Apparently the chick lived to tweet another day.

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Another amazing macro photo with an enhancing title to go along with it. The photographer who captured this extreme close-up of a tulip bud reported that the subject was on a window sill with direct, but weak, sunlight shining straight into the bloom.

“It looked stunning and irresistible,” the photographer said.

Macro photography can be tricky depending on the subject due to their slower shutter speed. A good macro camera lens is a must in any photographer’s equipment cache. A short macro telephoto lens (90-105mm) is great for portrait works and other close-ups. Try the longer macro telephoto lenses (180-200mm) for great close-up action shooting.