Cinefy is a mobile video editing and effects platform for iPhone where users create and share videos mixed with high quality visual effects. Cinefy empowers users with no editing skills to quickly insert footage, add music and apply visually stunning effects with its intuitive and simple interface.

In Cinefy, individual themed or branded effects packs are available for in app downloads, offering TV and game studios the ability to market new properties in a way that creates exciting engagement and massive viral exposure potential.

Check out some articles about it below:

http://mashable.com/2011/11/23/cinefy-brings-advanced-movie-editing-to-iphone-video/

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111122006085/en/Limited-Beta-Release-Cinefy-brings-Hollywood-effects

And sign up for the Beta on the website if you want:

http://www.CinefyApp.com

If anyone has any questions about the app / general app store stuff / development I would be happy to answer them!

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The Shutter Release Button, this is simple, you push it down to take a picture, nothing to it right? Well if you experiment with this you will notice that pushing the button halfway down will lock your exposure and your focus. This is great if you want to focus on one point, then wait for your subject to cross that point (excellent for sports.)

The Timer / Focus Light is the little white dot to the bottom right of the shutter release button above. It will blink if you set it on timed mode, to indicate a picture is being taken, it also contains blinks to denote a proper focus.

The Lens Release Button is to the right of where it says canon on the lens right in the picture above. By holding that button in and twisting the lens counter clockwise, it will easily come off allowing for easy lens swapping.

The Depth of Field Button is also important. It is located to the left of the red and white Rebel XTI logo on the bottom of the camera. You can hold this in while looking through the viewfinder to get an accurate depth of field preview for your aperture settings.

The AF/MF switch is at the top of the lens. This lets you choose whether you want the camera to control the focus, or whether you want to by using the focus ring at the end of the lens.

The scroll wheel is seen here just below the shutter release button, this will allow you to easily change your camera settings while still having your finger ready to get your shot.

The on / off switch and power light are located just to the right of the dial, these are both pretty self explanatory.

The Hotshoe is located right above the viewfinder and behind the flash. This lets you attach an external flash to the camera for greater reach and better lighting. I would recommend buying a $5 hotshoe cover to protect this if you arent using an external flash.

The Dial allows you to select various methods of photography settings, let me explain them in detail. But I should say, I detest using any setting below the “P” this is a DSLR camera. Learn to set exposure and learn to shoot in RAW, or just buy a pocket camera. If you are purchasing this camera to shoot in JPG you are ripping yourself off. Lets start at the bottom most setting:

No Flash. This is self explanatory, it disables the flash so you only capture natural lighting.

Night Portrait. Makes the camera compensate for underexposure, or dimly lit rooms.

Sports Mode. Configures your camera to take the fastest shots it can in your current lighting conditions.

Macro Mode. This mode is for photographing something close up, like the petals of a flower.

Landscape Mode. This mode makes sure everything in your foreground and background is sharp, eliminating your depth of field.
Portrait Mode. This sets your depth of field to be shallower allowing for crisp faces, and soft backgrounds.

Full Auto. This is for everyday “point and shooters” (I wince when I think of someone just pointing and shooting with this camera.)

“P” or Program Mode. This Is almost the same as full auto but allows you to shoot in RAW, and allows you to set your ISO.

“TV” or Shutter Priority Mode. This allows you to set how fast or how slow you want the shutter to fire, and your camera compensates the other settings to balance exposure.

“AV” or Aperture Priority Mode. This allows you to control your depth of field using the aperture on your lens. You can have the tip of a pin in focus, or a whole landscape.

“M” or Manual Mode. This is the sweet spot for pro photographers. This allows you to control ALL your settings from shutter speed, to aperture, to ISO. This is the preferred shooting mode of the photographic professional.

“A-DEP” or Aperture Dependant Mode. This mode is sort of a failed Canon idea in my opinion, but what it allows you to do is get a whole scene in focus if you can get a focus point on the nearest and furthest subject in the photo. I think it requires more care than Manual mode, so I rarely use it.

For the back of the Rebel XTI I will work my way from top to bottom on the left side first, then I will do the same on the right side but I will start with the two buttons on the top right.

The Print Button, this marks a picture to print the next time you sync your camera with a Canon printer, this is more of a gimmicky idea, as I know no photographers who actually use it.

The Display Button, this button turns on or off the lcd screen, or if you are previewing an image, it allows you to see the histogram, and settings the photo was taken at.

The Menu Button. This button allows you to access the in camera settings.

The Jump Button. This will allow you to jump 10 images at a time through your memory card. This is great for navigating the multitudes of photos you may take in a day.

The Play Button, this allows you to preview an image you have just taken.

The Trash Button. This allows you to delete an image, or multiple images.

The Zoom In Button. This button is located on the top right of the camera and will let you zoom in and out of a photo, as well as choose an auto focus point.

The Zoom Out Button. This will allow you to preview multitudes of images at once, and if you press it while the flash is deployed, it will warm up the flash.

The AV -/+ Button. This will allow you to adjust the aperture if you hold it down and use the scroll wheel.

The Shooting Mode Button. This will Allow you to choose single shot, continuous mode, or timed shot.

The Metering Button, allows you to choose whether you want the light to be corrected for evaluative, center weighted, or partial metering.

The ISO Button. This allows you to control the ISO. Choose a lower iso for crisper shots, choose a higher iso for more grain, but faster shutter speeds, especially in low light situations.

The AF Button. This controls whether you want it to focus each shot individually, focus for a series of shots, or have it constantly focusing as you point the camera around.

The WB Button. This allows you to control the white balance. This will help your pictures taken under fluorescent lighting get rid of the orange cast.

The Center Portrait Styles Button. This allows you to choose various shooting styles for your photograph: examine this graph from Canon’s site for more information on that:

Standard (default setting) Vivid, sharp expression; usable in a wide variety of conditions; optimal for direct printing without post-processing high slightly high
Portrait Soft texture and beautiful expression of skin color slightly high slightly low
Landscape Sharp expression with particularly vivid results for blue skies and green hues high green-blue high
Neutral Low saturation and contrast for easy adjusting during post-processing low none
Faithful Accurate reproduction of the subject’s colors based on colorimetric data low none
Monochrome Monochrome expression similar to silver halide film in black and white; for color filter work none (monochrome) slightly high

That is all I have for now! Let me know if you have any comments or questions!

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Use a remote shutter release. They are usually not to expensive, I would recommend the wired one especially for low light situations. The reason for this is twofold, one is that you don’t screw up your perfectly framed shot by moving the tripod, and the second is to keep the camera from shaking. If you are in low lighting, the vibrations from your finger hitting the shutter can cause blur in your photographs.

Frozen Falls, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

 

Use A tripod, you can not hand-hold long exposure photographs, it simply will not work. Do not substitute a tripod for a monopod either, that is a terrible alternative for waterfall photography! Just make sure you can find a stable ground for all 3 legs. In the shot above I orinigally thought the snow would be difficult to deal with, however, It acted as a kind of cement and I did not have any problems at all!

Use a mid range f/Stop something around f/11. This will allow you to get good, smooth light without overexposure.If you want a “Velvet Effect” work down from there, hitting as low as f/36.

Velvet, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

 

Shoot at ISO 100. This will make the rest of your image crisp and clear except for the running water.

Try a high f/stop as well. Experimentation is key, when shooting a picture where I want to capture light trails, I will often go up to an f/stop as high as 32 to allow for very little light to be captured but a lot of detail in the motion of the image.

Experiment. I cannot stress this enough, experiment, experiment, experiment. Keep trying different combinations, there is no “sunny 16″ rule for long exposures, just keep trying. You may like the results even if they are not what you expect!

Mini Falls, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

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Door To Nowhere, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

When shooting indoors in an abandoned building, you will want a lens with a low F-stop. Anything between F1.4-f2.4 is excellent. This is because a lower F-stop allows us to capture light much more easily and thus get crisper portraits with a faster shutter speed.

Use a high ISO. This will also make your camera more sensitive to light. What you set this too is optional though I would recommend somewhere around 800 for most cameras.

If you can maneuver safely with it, carry a tripod. This will enable you to brace your camera for the photos you may need a longer exposure for.

The Light Shines Forth, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

Capture texture. Abandoned building photography is really all about capturing texture, whether it be vines creeping up rotting bricks, or a cracked plaster wall, or moldy ceiling. It is important to capture the texture in great detail, which is why I will usually use an HDR technique in a lot of my shots.

Capture light. Sometimes light is the most interesting thing to capture in these buildings. The way it pours in to pitch black cellars, or the way beams of light shoot down from small cracks in the floor. Light can give you some amazing captures.

Go for the smallest details. Maybe a small flower is growing in the cracked floor. Get low and capture it. Any sense of irony or hope in the bleakness of abandonment makes for some great photos.

What Lies Beyond, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

Take a few photos specifically in black and white. This will enable you to work strictly with the light and texture, and ignore the color that is in the room. This will help you learn to work with the way light reflects. Shoot with your camera in monochrome mode, or take the photos and later convert them to black and white.

Experiment with long exposures. Long exposures in a nearly dark setting can yield some very interesting and unexpected results. Try experimenting with different ideas!

Thats all I have for now! Remember to post and questions in the comments box and I will get back to you post haste! Thanks for reading!

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The End Is Brewing, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

When shooting in an abandoned place always remember to pack the following:

A long sleeved THICK t-shirt, and a pair of tough jeans, not that flimsy Hollister crap! You will be rubbing up against some rusty surfaces, you want to make sure you are fully covered. A hard hat is a good idea for places that look like they could be buckling, or where there is an obvious danger of falling objects.

Wear thick shoes or boots. I can not stress the value of this. I have been in abandoned places many times and you nearly always see broken glass and discarded needles. Anything less than a thick boot is a terrible idea.

Get a painters dusk mask or better. Some buildings will have asbestos, or at least a LOT of mold. Wearing a dusk mask will help protect your lungs. If you see a sign for asbestos, I recommend not going in though. Its not worth the cancer risk.

Always go into a well ventilated building. For the same reasons above. HOWEVER, if the place has known asbestos, do not go in if there is even a slight breeze, as that will kick up a lot of the asbestos particles.

Get blue prints for the complex ahead of time if you can. It is invaluable if you get stuck to know where multiple exits are.

Scout the location first for the presence of police and security. I would bet you would rather spend $500 on a new lens, and not a trespassing violation.

That covers personal security. Below we will cover securing your camera.

Abandoned Houses, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

Always carry your camera in your bag if you are walking over anything with tricky footing. My current camera and I had quite a scare in the picture above. I had been climbing a sea of bricks and planks to get to a good location to take that picture. I had my camera around my neck, and I tripped, causing it to smash the UV cover I had on it on a sharp rock. Imagine what would have happened if I did not have the UV filter.

Carry your tripod on your back, not in your hand. You will need your hands free for climbing and safety. Always have your hands free when maneuvering around abandoned buildings.

If you see security, or think you may be getting busted, carry two memory cards. If you get caught they may make you wipe your memory card (they can not legally do it, but it is an intimidation method.) Take one or two shots on the other memory card, nothing special and then carry it with you. If the security comes, switch the cards, and if you are made to delete the photos, you won’t lose your shots from the day.

Linfield Bottling Company, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

That just about covers all the prep you need to do. In the next tutorial I will cover shooting methods and styles of Abandoned building photography. If you have any questions be sure to post them in the comment box!

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Jumping Jack Flash, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

Taking great motion shots can be difficult for a beginner with little knowledge of their camera. Hopefully after reading this tutorial, you will feel much more capable and ready to capture that moment when it arrives.

To start off with adressing absolute beginners with their DSLR’s, turn your cameras dial to the “S” setting (or Tv on some cameras.) What you will want to do then is dial it to the fastest speed that it will let you for the lighting you are in. The “S” (or Tv) setting is known as shutter priority mode, what it will let you do is choose a really fast shutter speed to control capturing motion, while it figures out what aperture settings to use to get the best light. You will want a setting in the following range 2000 (which in reality is 1/2000th of a second,) 1000, 500, 250, or 125 (pushing it a bit.) These settings will let you effectively stop time the best. The above photo was shot at 1/640th of a a second, on a brightly lit beach.

Choose somewhere light to shoot. Your son’s indoor poorly lit basketball game is not a good spot to shoot. On the beach, or at noon, or whenever it is bright and sunny is. I suggest hand holding the camera, you will not need a tripod, as the picture is being taken so fast hand shake should not cause blur. however, always hold your camera as steady as possible.

Set your camera to continuous drive mode. That feature will look like 3 pictures, or 3 squares stacked on top of each other. This will allow you to shoot pictures back to back quickly without releasing the shutter button.

Pre-Focus your lens on the area where the action is going to be if you can. This is because your cameras auto focus is not fast enough for your subject. By pre-focusing your camera, you will have a nice sharp pictures, and will not have to wait for your camera to focus for you. If you wait for your camera to focus, you will lose the effect of shooting at a speed such as 1/2000th of a second, because you are relying on the speed of the auto focusing sensors.

Now, for those of you who are more comfortable with your DSLR’s here are a couple good tricks and tips:

Use a lens with a low aperture, something around f4-f1.8. By using a wide aperture you let more light in which will allow for very fast shutter speeds. However, remember the lower the aperture the less depth of field you have to play with, so its really a trade off depending on the picture you are trying to achieve.

Use a higher Iso. If you are shooting in a low light situation using a higher, faster iso will allow you to shoot at a faster shutter speed. Remember, the higher the iso, the greater the film grain, so make sure you adjust accordingly.

Avoid a telephoto lens, unless you are shooting from far away and need the range. If you need the range make sure you get a good lens with a low aperture like previously stated, and sit it in a tripod with not only a ball head, but a lens support as well to avoid the end of the lens vibrating when you take a shot. If you do not need range, I have found a good 50mm f2.8 portrait lens works fantastically. I also have a Nikon AF NIKKOR lens that is 35-70mm and has an adjustable aperture from f22 all the way down to f3.3. At f3.3 you can take some amazingly quick photos in low light conditions, even with the zoom.

I hope those tips help, as usual you can write in the comment box and questions you have and I will respond as soon as I can!

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Lights of Williamsport, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

Use a remote shutter release. They are usually not to expensive, I would recommend the wired one especially for low light situations. The reason for this is twofold, one is that you don’t screw up your perfectly framed shot by moving the tripod, and the second is to keep the camera from shaking. If you are in low lighting, the vibrations from your finger hitting the shutter can cause blur in your photographs.

Use A tripod, you can not hand-hold long exposure photographs, it simply will not work. Do not substitute a tripod for a monopod either, that is a terrible alternative for long exposure photography!

Use a mid range f/Stop something around f/11. This will allow you to get good, smooth light without overexposure.

Start at ISO 100 and work your way up. I usually start with a 5 second exposure with my ISO at 100 and my F/stop at 11. This gives me a good idea where the highlights will be in the photo. I then work my way towards the exposure I like the best. I will do say, a 30 second exposure at F/11, and if its not bright enough, I will do the same exposure at ISO 400 as an experiment. I will also lower the f/stop to around a 5.6 to let more light in.

Try a high f/stop as well. Experimentation is key, when shooting a picture where I want to capture light trails, I will often go up to an f/stop as high as 32 to allow for very little light to be captured but a lot of detail in the motion of the image.

Experiment. I cannot stress this enough, experiment, experiment, experiment. Keep trying different combinations, there is no “sunny 16″ rule for long exposures, just keep trying. You may like the results even if they are not what you expect!

SASC Building Lights, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

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Matthew Martin, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

There are many great ways to get low light photographs, below are some of the he basic rules for great low light photography:

USE A TRIPOD, or GET CLOSE TO YOUR SUBJECT. These are extremely important rules to follow if you want your picture to come out clearly. For the photo above I was perhaps a foot or two away from his face. Don’t be afraid to get close, or you will end up with blurry photos.

Use a higher ISO. Sure ISO 80 looks great on the shot above, but it was a bad idea to use it. By using a higher ISO (some cameras can hit ISO 1600 quite easily) your camera is much more sensitive to light allowing for shorter exposure times to avoid a blurry capture. I am not saying to crank your camera all the way to ISO 1600, but using an ISO above 400 would definitely have helped in this situation.

Use a remote shutter release. They are usually not to expensive, I would recommend the wired one especially for low light situations. The reason for this is twofold, one is that you don’t screw up your perfectly framed shot by moving the tripod, and the second is to keep the camera from shaking. If you are in low lighting, the vibrations from your finger hitting the shutter can cause blur in your photographs.

If you are shooting relatively closely get a good low light lens. Any lens like a 50mm f1.8 will do. You really want to get a lens with a low F/Stop. The lower the number the wider the aperture letting in more light. 50mm prime lenses with a low F/Stop are excellent for portrait and low light situations. If you plan on being further back, do some research into a 24-70mm 2.8 style lenses. There are many great low light lenses out there to choose from, so do the research for your particular camera and model.

Hope these tips help, as usual you can post any questions in the comment box and I will address them here. Keep shooting!

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A short review: I LOVE it.

Photophlow lets photographers connect in new ways never before imagined. You can seamlessly connect with people from different countries, and all come together to discuss one photograph, or many. you can also join different “rooms” allowing you to discuss and share different styles of photography and design. I highly recommend everyone try it at least once, and serious photographers should definitely give it a whirl. Photophlow also makes an excellent place to host a Q&A about your pictures, which I plan to do as soon as it goes public.

If you are serious about sharing and discussing your pictures, Photophlow is the new Flick, Aim, and Facebook all in one. Get addicted today!

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Stippich Stairs, originally uploaded by Daniel Hellerman.

Below is an ordered list of exactly what you will need to take the perfect HDR portrait:

One of the most important elements of HDR photography is the Tripod. It is near impossible to take a good portrait using the HDR technique in any lighting condition, so always pack a good tripod.

Position your model away from direct sunlight. Unless you want to go for an extremely over saturated feel for your photograph. The reason behind this is simple, HDR helps capture and bring out detail in the shadows as well as the light, and smooth those details together. You do not want the photos you shoot below a “0″ EV setting to be over satured, or else your image will not always process correctly in an HDR program like Photomatix, and you will lose the detail in your shadows.
For a typical HDR shot I set my cameras bracketing to take 3 shots, at a 1 step EV spacing. This lets me end up with a normally exposed photograph, one with -1 EV Spacing (darker,) and one that has a +1 EV spacing (Brighter.)

I shoot with an old Olympus E-10 DSLR and as it does not have a very high ISO setting available to me (ISO 320 MAX), I tell my subjects to stay very still, if they move even slightly, and I am not going for any sort of motion effect, I retake the shot. It is important even if you have a very fancy camera, that your subject stays still, even if they blink, a closed eye in one of the 3 shots that are being combined, can degrade the image quality a lot.

Position your model in a comfortable pose. I can not stress this enough. An uncomfortable pose will be much harder to capture for a beginner. If your model is in pain, they will tend to shift around a bit where they are sitting / standing. This will once again effect your image quality allowing for a very blurry shot.

Use a remote shutter release. They are usually not to expensive, I would recommend the wired ones, but a wireless should work just as well. The reason for this is twofold, one is that you don’t screw up your perfectly framed shot by moving the tripod, and the second is to keep the camera from shaking. If you are using a larger zoom, or are in low lighting, the vibrations from your finger hitting the shutter can cause blur in your photographs.

I hope these tips help you all. I have compiled them as best I could from my experience. If you have any questions feel free to put them in the comment box below, and I will address all questions and concerns as they come in!

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