International Street Photography Award 2012

Posted by Brett Jefferson Stott

THE STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS
International Awards 2012

The International Street Photography Award is looking for exceptional international photographers that display a unique style and depth of work in the genre of street photography. The genre crosses over into portraiture, documentary and art photography.
See the 2011 winners

What is street photography?
The London Street Photography Festival defines Street Photography as:
“Candid photography which captures, explores or questions contemporary society and the relationships between individuals and their surroundings.”

PRIZES & CATEGORIES
The international winner will receive £2,000 cash PLUS a solo exhibition in London PLUS an all-expenses paid trip to the exhibition launch and awards ceremony in London in June 2012 – total value £10,000.
Selected finalists will be exhibited and one image from each entrant will be showcased in a digital display in the same gallery.
The first 500 applicants will be automatically entered into a draw to win some fabulous prizes including: a signed print from one of the 2011 exhibitions, an Olympus PEN camera, £100 Blurb voucher, a Crumpler Muffin Top camera bag, photo-books by Magnum and Thames & Hudson. Categories include an overall winner, a runner up, and 10 finalists.

ENTRY FEE
£30.00
• Participants from certain countries receive a 50% discount on the entrance fee.
• You can submit between 5 and 8 images within the fee.
• One image from ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS will be displayed on a large screen during the Awards exhibition and profiled (optional) on the LSPF website.
• ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS who enter will receive a £28.95 voucher to print their own book with Blurb, which expires on 31 March 2012.
• FEEDBACK: For an additional £15, LSPF can provide written feedback by an Award judge on your submissions. Choose the “Written Feedback” drop down when you submit your images to the Awards.

REGISTER ONLINE

APPLICATION DEADLINE
05 January 2012

International Street Photography Award

Posted by LondonStreetPhotoFestival

Hi all, I am Director of the London Street Photography Festival and wanted to tell you about our very new and exciting Street Photography Awards.

The International Street Photography Award is looking for the world’s best street photographer as part of the first annual London Street Photography Festival in 2011.

Open to photographers (and photographs) from anywhere in the world.

THE INTERNATIONAL WINNER RECEIVES:
• £1,000 cash
• All-expenses-paid trip to the exhibition launch in London to the value of £1,500
• An Olympus PEN camera (worth over £500)
• Open Award catalogues and £100 book voucher from Blurb to print their own books

HOW TO ENTER:
1. Submit five to eight of your best street photography images from anywhere in the world.

The London Street Photography Festival defines Street Photography as:
“candid, un-staged photography which captures, explores or questions contemporary society and the relationships between individuals and their surroundings.”
Street photography is perhaps more easily defined as a method than a genre. The results can fit into documentary, portraiture and other genres, but the key elements of spontaneity, careful observation and an open mind ready to capture whatever appears in the viewfinder are essential.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 31 March 2011
ENTRY FEE: £30.00
SELECTED ENTRIES submitted will be projected during the Awards exhibition and profiled on the LSPF website.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS who enter will receive a £28.95 voucher (free!) to print your own book with Blurb.

Go to: London Street Photo Festival

Posted by LondonStreetPhotoFestival

Yashica Mat 124 G – The last TLR camera made by Yashica

This camera review is posted by raypg

After a long waiting time period I finally got my Yashica Mat 124 G, and I can say it is fantastic and a different experience shooting with a TLR camera.

The Yashica Mat 124 G was created between the 1970 and 1986, this camera was the last TLR camera made by Yashica, It´s almost similar with the Yashica Mat 124 the only differences is the almost black elements of the body and it has gold contacts.

The technical details it has an aperture of  f/3.5, shutter speed from Bulb to 1/500, It can handle 120mm as well as 220mm film, you can use studio lighting  and has a self time. The Yashica Mat 124 G has an internal light meter that uses a 1.3v mercury battery that is no longer available but you can get a replacement with the same voltage from Wein Cell from Amazon, ebay, etc.

Where you can get this TLR camera? well this is very simple I got mine on ebay, just find the one that is in a very good condition and with the light meter working. Mine as you can see in the photo above is like new but I found the Mercury battery spill and probably damage the light meter wires. I think is a simple repair solution but I still have no time to send it for repair.

Other way It works perfectly all the internals are mechanical so the battery is only for the light meter reading. But in the TLR world is better to use an external light meter.

Here are some samples of the first 2 rolls of film shoot in Black and White and as I already shared before using my DiY Film Scanner to share is over Flickr.

This image I use a strobe triggered using the Yashica PC Sync input

So far is a fantastic camera if you are looking more quality in your photos that you can not get in your Holga or Diana camera.

I hope you find this helpful, ah I just forgot  you can get this camera around $80-$400 dollars over ebay just be sure to get the one in better conditions.

I wrote this in spanish in my blog but I really need to shared here.

This camera review is posted by raypg

Website link – The negative

(This website link posted by Timopart)

I will shamelessly plug my blog: timirving.blogspot.com

Photography with film and old cameras plus art and the odd gallery visit.

Photo Transfer Light Switch Cover

Posted by judy.whatilivefor

After seeing photo transfer techniques all over the blogosphere, and seeing that my younger sister doesn’t have a light switch cover for some reason, the stars aligned and in a rare stroke of brilliance, I decided to make a customized, photo transfer light switch cover for her.

Using the techniques found at Still Alive, Sabby in Suburbia, and The Feminist Housewife, I made a beautiful light switch cover that hopefully even my teen sister can enjoy.

Other than requiring a ton of patience and a gentle touch, the process is fairly simple. First, paint the light switch cover. Once it’s dry, apply a coat of Mod Podge and allow to dry.

Print off or obtain a Xerox copy of your picture to desired size. We have a laser jet printer, which worked perfectly fine. I’ve also heard ink printers work too. Because of my sister’s obsession with London after spending last Christmas there, I printed a picture of Big Ben. It fits perfectly along the bottom and even follows up the side of the cover.

Coat your picture with Mod Podge and firmly press onto the cover. Using your fingers, squeeze out any air bubbles. (Ignore the text on the back of my paper, it’s just recycled…)

Wait as long as you can stand it to let this dry. I waited over night, which worked much better than the few hours I allowed the photo transfer tiles I made. Spray the back of the paper with water and start rubbing with the pads of your fingers. The fibers of the paper will start falling off and you will be able to see the image on the cover. Keep rubbing until there are no fibers left…if you leave any they will dry leaving your image looking like a ghost. If there are fibers left, just re-spray and keep rubbing.

If you want to add words, print the words backwards and use the same technique as you did for the picture.

Once all the fibers are gone, touch up with paint and cover with a coat or two of Mod Podge. Screw the cover into the light switch and have the coolest cover ever!
Thank you Nitsa for giving me this chance to share the fun I’ve had with photo transfers!

Judy from What I Live For

Phototuts+

(This website recommendation posted by mshutch)

Phototuts+ is a source of learning on all aspects of photography. The site pumps out regular tutorials on composition, equipment settings, post-processing, film photography, retouching and much more.

Film Photography Podcast Website Review

(This website review posted by inwardstudio)

Looking to learn more about shooting film? Appreciate and irreverent approach to life? Love the New Jersey accent?

Film Photography Podcast is for you. Michael Raso and Duane Polcou head up the cast of characters that explore many aspects of film photography. The Impossible Project, Kodachrome and old cameras fill much of the time in this bimonthly podcast.

Each episode also includes a camera giveaway. Now, these aren’t the lastest high pixel count cameras coming from Japan. These are Ebay finds and listener donations. Canon AE-1s and Agfa Clacks are some of the more poplar giveaways.

Raso also gives away film from his personal stash to anyone who will write in. All he asks in return is some info about yourself and that you load the images to their Flickr group. I’m personally waiting on a roll of Kodachrome to come my way.

If that weren’t enough, the part I find most interesting is Raso’s progression as a photographer. Even though he has worked in the B movie genre for many years, he only recently started shooting still images on film. In each episode he talks about the “new” cameras, films and processes he’s discovered. His newby nature is balanced by Polcou’s many years of experience as a photographer. The combination is perfect.

Inkjet Photo Transfer To Canvas Using Mod Podge

First of all, I have to thank Nitsa for such a comprehensive collection of mixed media art and wonderful tutorials!  This site truly inspires me and led me to my first attempt at image transfer.

Here’s what I did:

After painting my 11×14 canvas with acrylic craft paint, I used my inkjet printer to make 8×10 prints of my photos on regular copy paper.  After the paint had dried, I coated my photo (ink side) with Mod Podge and placed it on the canvas (Mod Podge side down).

To make sure I had good adhesion, I gently rubbed from the middle of the photo and then out to the corners.  I also went over the paper with my rolling pin (still don’t have a brayer!) to remove any air bubbles.  Then, I let this dry overnight.

Photo Transfer Tutorial

Inkjet transfer, packing tape transfer, transferring with transparencies, transfer to mirror and ceramic tile, gel transfer etc. $5 Download

The next day,  I lightly coated the dried paper with water using a spray bottle.  Then, I began rubbing the paper off.   This step had to be repeated a few times to remove all traces of paper.  As other bloggers have said, you will get a ghost like appearance to your image if paper is left on the canvas.

After removing all of the paper from my image, I printed out the lyrics to a favorite song using the “mirror image” function in the Print setup of Microsoft Word.

I transferred the words, let them dry and removed the paper using the same technique as above.

To finish the piece, I used watered down gray craft paint to add some age to the piece, wiping off any excess paint to get the look I wanted.  Then I added some homemade embellishments.  To seal it all up, I coated the entire piece with Mod Podge.  After that dried, I hung them up and admired my work.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my first adventure in photo transfer.  I have always had a love for photography and this site has given me so many ideas to use with my favorite hobby.

Sabrina

NEW eBook: Spice up your photos

Inkjet and photo transfers, texture layering, mixed media, hand painted photos and much more. $10 DOWNLOAD

If you don´t have a film scanner then DiY

One thing that I love about film photography is the magic involved with the chemicals to revel what your eyes see against your camera.

I always try to experiment with film, you never know when it is going to end with, last year I created a pinhole panoramic camera I ended with 6 photos from one 120mm film of 6 x 12, a lot of fun. But my problem was in fact that my scanner does not support 120mm film even the new 6×12 frame photo of my pinhole camera.

eBook: So much more than Photography

Creative and extreme scanning, image transfers, texture layering and much more. $10 DOWNLOAD

So I did a little search on flickr and find a cool solution. I did my own film scanner so, my option only to be able to show my experiments was to take a photo from the film. So I created a film scanner using a shoe box I cut the hole and add a 6×6 and 6×12 mask, cut a hole in the top for the flash, and then add some paper to diffuse the light.

Here is the inside of the box, I added 2 layers of wax paper to diffuse the light.

You only need to take a photo of the film and then in Ligtroom or Photoshop invert the colors and have fun. Now  you can get a digital copy of your film experiments. This work for me, I know It may not be the best but to share on flickr works fantastic.

Here is one of my experiments using the DiY film scanner

I hope you enjoy this tip, I originally wrote this post on my blog but its in Spanish so I thought it will be cool sharing here the tip. If you need help you can leave a comment on my blog or on my flickr.

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First Attempt at Mod Podge Transfer

I was so inspired by this site that I had to try this technique.  This is a picture of my first attempt at image transfer to canvas using Nitsa’s mod podge technique.  I used an image printed from my inkjet (or is it ink jet?) printer on plain copy paper.

Here’s what I did:

I first chose a cool  image from one of my magazines, scanned it and converted it to black and white.  I played with the contrast until the image looked like an ink stamp.

Then I painted a 12″x16″ canvas board with silver and white acrylic paint and let it dry a couple of hours.  I printed out some background clip art and mod podged it to the painted canvas.  I smoothed out the background images as best I could with my fingers since I don’t have a brayer.

After 15 minutes I painted a coat of mod podge over the entire canvas. I waited another 15 minutes and applied another mod podge coat.

I let the mod podge dry about 30 minutes.  Mod podge dries pretty fast which is a plus because I am super impatient.

With my heart beating fast because I didn’t want to mess up, I brushed the ink side of the black and white image of the man and woman making sure I had an even layer.  In hindsight, I think I put too much mod podge.

I carefully held the image over the part of canvas that I wanted to place it.  I set it down gently and smoothed it out with my fingers working from center out.  I made sure there was good contact ink to canvas contact.

After a couple of hours, I sprayed water onto the paper until I saw the image start to appear through the paper. Then I started gently rubbing the layers of paper off.  I think I was rubbing too hard on one small part because some of the ink started to come off.  I panicked so I stopped where I was at.  I left too much paper on the image which made the image look ghostly.

When it dried it was pretty hazy but I thought if I painted mod podge on it it would look more clear.  Well, the image of the couple still looked ghostly.  After looking at it for a while, I started to like the ghostly effect.  I then really liked it when my kids told me it looked cool. 

I am so happy I found this site.  Nitsa’s work is amazing and her techniques are simple and fun to do.   This is the first blog site I have joined and actually submitted something.  Hope you like the piece!  Pat  ^_^