While taking pictures, photographers really do not need to worry anymore about potentially incorrect exposures, white balances or lighting set-ups. It is now a fast and easy process to modify lighting or to recover details in deeply under- or overexposed pictures. By merging multiple photos of the same scene, Oloneo PhotoEngine not only offers an almost unlimited control over exposure and lighting but also provides a new level of creativity in digital photography.

At the core of Oloneo PhotoEngine is a fully real-time, 32-bit floating-point per channel (96-bit per pixel), ultra-wide gamut, full resolution and non-destructive image-editing engine. Oloneo’s color model handles a range of colors that largely surpasses what printers or screens are capable of displaying today. Combined with the suppression of any color shifting and clipping, it guarantees photographers against any loss of image data during the HDR process. With a simple, intuitive and responsive user interface, all image controls work in full real-time at a rate of 1/20 second or less on a general-purpose desktop or laptop computer.

You can download the beta version at oloneo.com to try it out.

So now you can edit those wonderful photos on the run and then send them to Momentz to print on eiher Canvas or Photopaper, and with momentz fast turn around time you can have them ready and waiting for when you get back from holidays.

For more information click Here to go Directly to Apples Itunes site for Download & checkout all the fantastic things you can do

Because of being in the printing & framing industry, I often get asked

"How do I get my photos out there?" or "What can I do to market my photos?"

So where do YOU begin?

A good place to start is by asking yourself:

Do you have the type of photos that people want to hang on their walls?

Your friends and family will often say you have the nicest photos in the world, but are they being

honest? Or maybe just encouraging you to keep trying?

Well a good way to find out is to join various critiquing sites such as:

www.deviantart.com

Here you are able to join the different communities within. It is a massive network of other artists and photographers from all walks of life with varying amounts of experience and most will be more than happy to help with advice. They are also great for helping with exposure, filters, HDR and various other techniques that can hone your skills.

Other sites such as www.flickr.com. can be just as helpful.

Now that you have a collection of photos that are wall worthy, How do I market them?

Besides the obvious and most expensive way of TV and Newspaper, there are cheaper options and FREE ones as well. What is the worlds most popular social networking site, that has just surpassed googles average hits and is totally free? You guessed it FACEBOOK- sign up for an account there and setup a business page that people can become fans of. Then market that, even to just your friends at first and within no time you could have hundreds, if not thousands of followers. You may not sell anything straight away,. But when people are talking about great photos they have seen, they will probably be directed to your site- which in turn can be linked to your personal website.

Getting back to those critiquing sites, you can have a signature setup which is a message that automatically displays under every comment you make. You should be putting links in there to all your other sites, even your facebook fan page. It's all about marketing and constant marketing. One thing I often see on FACEBOOK is that people will put 20+ photos on there page all at once. Whats wrong with that you may ask? Well if people have 100+ friends on their list you will disappear down their list very quickly... and you know what they say- "out of site out of mind", so what do you do? Just add 1 photo every 2 days by itself and that means that you will always have your photo displayed on someones front page. Also every time a photo is added, go onto twitter and tweet about that post and then your twitter followers may also become your facebook followers, again it's all about consistency and marketing.

In this day and age there's no such thing as a free lunch, and if you're getting a free lunch- I want some!! People will rarely come to you, you need to go to them. Finally, if you want to market in your direct area for a fairly cheap way- get some flyers printed-www.vistaprint.com.au is a marvellous site always giving away freebies, or dust off that old laser printer and print some yourself. Then go for a walk every morning or afternoon and put one in everyone's letter box. Just watch the "No Junk Mail" signs! It's good for your business, and your health, and you never know- you might just find that next perfect shot.

Cains aim is to capture what the average person would overlook by finding a perspective or elements within a scene which suit the appropriate lighting and composition he has in mind.

Cain is located on the Mid North Coast of NSW and he spends most of his time taking photos of the local area. "After exploring so much of the place, I have really come to love where I live and find it quite hard to leave! I shoot with a Canon 5dMk2 which I can attach a lens of my choice, usually a wide-angle as in my opinion, the larger the angle of view- the better!" :D Cains inspirations are Ken Duncan and Michael Kenna, Here are some of Cains Pictures

This Image is titled "SWEEP" a local photo of Port Macquarie

Cains Recent trip to Uluru

Tekapo Moonlight, From Cains New Zealand Trip

If you would like any of Cains Photos on Canvas or Photographic Paper, just Contact Cain directly

You can view more of Cains pictures on his website or on the following blog sites- just follow the links

www.cainpascoe.com.au

bleed-the-sky.deviantart.com

flickr.com/mark-of-cain

It seems that most Electronics we buy, Digital Cameras included will have some minor & sometimes major software issues. So it pays to keep up with the latest Software or Firmware as the camera manufacturers call it, since its the actual operating system for the Camera & not an add on piece of Software.

Getting the best out of your canvas prints means not just being able to use your camera or having the best scene or lighting to shoot with, but ensuring your camera is operating at its best. This is where firmware updates come in. Think of them as being like software updates for your computer, firmware is simply a software update for your camera.

You may feel that the manufacturers should have got it right the first time, but the reality is they don't and probably never will. The advantage for us is that we dont need to buy a new model until we are ready & we get to enjoy some new updated more efficient features without outlaying our cold hard cash.

Often firmwares updates can breath new life in to your camera giving you new features and genral useage improvements, for example

• Improved battery management
• Better lense focusing
• Software glitch fixes
• Better colour and contrast control.

So check out these links below for some worth while updates of the more well known brands.

• Nikon DSLR Firmware updates

NIkon DSLR Software & Firmware Updates

• Canon DSLR Firmware updates

Canon DSLR Software, Firmware Updates & Latest News

• Sony DSLR Firmware updates

Sony DSLR Software & Firmware Updates

• Lumix/Panasonic DSLR Firmware updates

Lumix / Panasonic DSLR Software & Firmware Updates

• Olympus DSLR Firmware updates

Olympus DSLR Software & Firmware Updates

• Leica Digital Rangefinder Firmware updates

Leica Digital Rangefinder Software & Firmware Updates

• Fuji DSLR Software & Firmware updates

Fuji DSLR Software & Firmware updates

Here are only a few of the new features we really hope you enjoy:

• Simpler
• iPhone & Mobile Compatible
  
• Cute New logo
  
• Brighter
• More choices- ie: more desktop canvas print sizes!!!
• More great products arriving shortly
• Regular fact filled blogs on photography, printing (lots of tips, tricks & links)

We are still the same great company behind the scenes, making the same great quality canvas prints. You can be sure that that part hasn't changed. If there is absolutley anything we can help you with in canvas printing then be sure to call or email us.

Bringing you the best in canvas prints,

The Momentz Team

Please note: When we moved your account to the new store we couldn't move your password (because it was encrypted). So you will need to use the password recovery feature to reset your password.

In this day and age of franchises and multinationals it's so refreshing to meet a young couple like Chris and Leslie Atack who own and operate Momentz The Artists Framer situated at 146 Lake Rd, on the corner of Blackbutt road. As owner operators of the business, they are passionate about their product and care about their customers.

Chris was raised in Port Macquarie from the age of two and when he and Leslie married in 2004, Leslie made Australia her home after growing up in beautiful Alberta, Canada. In 2005, Chris and Leslie purchased 'The Artist's Framer', a small framing business that had been established for quite a number of years. Almost immediately, the young couple expanded the business to include photo printing, both on paper and canvas.

The marriage of photo canvas printing with framing was a natural one for Chris. "I have been around cameras and photography all my life", says Chris, "Dad was trained in photography in England and managed camera stores in Sydney so I guess his knowledge rubbed off."

Momentz canvas prints are becoming renowned in the industry for quality. Being professional framers the finished product is beautiful. "We pay very close attention to adequate stretching of the canvas and take pride in making even the back neat  and ready to hang and because we are framers, each frame is custom  made with purpose produced 'stretcher bar', so in theory any size is possible. Other printers we've heard of use discount store artists canvases and wrap over that" says Leslie.

Adding to the quality canvas product result is the museum grade industry standard lacquer with which Momentz canvas prints are finished. This finish ensures your canvas print will last a lifetime.

"We also sit down with the customer and will help them edit their photo, perhaps crop, lighten or darken and even add a special effect to make sure the end result is everything they imagined it would be. Sometimes the image may need a border so we do that " says Leslie. "Canvas prints ordered at a machine in a department store can't give you that personal service and our prices are every bit as competitive."

"Our canvas prints are sent all over Australia through our website, www.momentz.com.au and we offer this same service to our online customers. We are proud to be one of the top three canvas print suppliers , on the first page of the major search engines in Australia when searching for photos on canvas " says Chris.

When it comes to custom picture framing, Chris and Leslie have the same commitment to customer satisfaction and a quality result. At Momentz, they refuse to cut corners  (no pun intended) as some others do. "In picture framing you get what you pay for" says Chris, "the struggling artist may be tempted to go for a 'cheap' price but honestly, we've had to redo some jobs from other framers and seen that inferior backing boards have been used that aren't acid free. It's just not worth the damage this can cause to your art down the track. We like to use true timber frames also. The end result will sell the picture. I have to say that many comment on Leslie's flair for putting the right matt and frame on the picture, I guess it's experience that's made her an absolute genius at it!" laughs Chris proudly.

Momentz provide framing and photo printing services to many professional artists and photographers and are happy to discuss quantity discounts for wholesalers.

Chris and Leslie would like to invite you to visit their store in Lake Road and whether you would like to have a picture framed or a photo printed on paper or canvas, discuss your needs, they are only too happy to help. They guarantee you will be thrilled with the result!

Momentz-The Artists Framer, 146 Lake Rd., Port Macquarie. (Parking at the door, in the same car park as Doors Plus) Ph 02 65812666.

Well folks the silly season is now upon us. This means a lot of canvas prints & photo prints are flying out our door at record speeds. But you may be concerned about how long your order is going to take, and will it in fact arrive in time? The process it goes through when ordering your canvas print is as follows:

1. Order is Placed by you, and Paid for.

2. Image is emailed to our staff for proofing.

3. Proof is done & emailed, usually within 2 hours if order is placed during business hours.

4. You assess image & let us know if you're happy with borders, colors, etc.

5. Image is put into “printing” queue immediately after being approved.

6. Image is printed & sent to lacquering department, done the same day as printing.

7. After image has sat for 12 hours (usually overnight), our staff makes your custom frames & wraps your canvas print.

8. Your canvas print is taped & strung for a professional finish

9. Image is wrapped in acid free tissue paper & bubble wrap for shipping.

10. Canvas is boxed & carefully labelled for pick up via courier.

Phew!!! And thats just one canvas!!! …. Well... dont worry! Extra staff is always on here at Momentz during the silly season to help ensure we process your order as quickly as possible. But heres the list of things you can do to help make sure it runs smoothly!!

#1- Make sure you have supplied your image. If this hasnt been via the upload process on the site, please make sure you email it as soon as possible after finalizing your order.

#2- Keep an eye out for your proof!! This is especially important for anyone ordering from overseas for family or friends in Australia. Our email address may be blocked by your junk mail filter so make sure you are checking both inbox & junk mail regularly so that you respond asap.

#3- Make sure you are very detailed on any changes that you want on your proof. If you dont like the full bleed for instance and would prefer a black border, send us an email stating that.. Make sure you don't just ask for a 'border' and not mention your color preference as thats another email that has to be sent requesting that information, and therefore adding to the delay in getting your product delivered.

#4- Payment. If you dont pay via credit card immediately on the site and would prefer direct deposit, please do this as soon as possible after placing your order. Then send us a quick email with the receipt, or receipt number so that your order isnt placed in a 'waiting queue'. This will make sure that your order is processed and not delayed because of payment. If you're in a hurry- credit card is by far the way to go!

#5- VERY IMPORTANT!! Make sure you have supplied the correct delivery address. Theres nothing worse than having your product sitting in a warehouse with thousands of other items with the wrong label, lost in the postal system!! Make sure you have checked & double checked for the delivery address. Note that delivery is always made during business hours, so if you arent home during these times maybe supply a work address so that you arent chasing up for delivery at a convenient time with either the Postal man or Fastway Couriers. The cards left always seem to disappear and then you're left wondering who to call, and when. Business hours delivery address is always the best way to ensure you get your parcel in time.

If you've gone through the checklist and done everything correctly, you're Momentz product should be arriving at your door in record time. Please note that we use Fastway Couriers when at all possible so we try to provide you with your tracking number as soon as its left our warehouse. If you're in regional Australia or on the far West coast, your item will be sent via Australia Post. We always register the items for you so rest assured we have done everything we can to make sure that once it leaves us, it should get to you!

So in short... If all information is supplied to us, and we have been given the approval for your proof, you image is usually shipped within 3 days of the order being placed. But remember that each step takes time and if we have to be waiting for images, or payment.. it all adds to the process and your order may be delayed. So organise & act fast and your Momentz product will be on your doorstep within days!!!

Example of a photo on canvas or "Giclee" printed from a jpeg file. Photo by Damien Tierney Photography.

Have you heard or seen the word “Giclée” bandied around in the photo printing and art world and wondered what the term actually means? If you are an artist or photographer you are no doubt fully aware of the meaning and you understand the printing jargon. However, for the rest of us who are simply trying to tread water in this techno/digital age, here is a simple explanation.

Well according to Wikipedia the word "giclée" is derived from the French language word "le gicleur" meaning "nozzle", or more specifically "gicler" meaning "to squirt, spurt, or spray”. Pronounced ‘zhee-clay’, it is actually an invented term used in today’s speech for the process of making fine art or photo reproductions from a digital medium using ink-jet printing technology.

Using ink-jet technology for print making results in extraordinarily high quality photographic images of paintings, photos or digital art. The reproductions retain all the fine detail of the original photo or artwork, either as a print on canvas or paper. In fact, a wide variety of media can be used for the giclée print. As mentioned, the art or photo can be reproduced onto canvas or photo paper, either matte or gloss (a great range is available) however, also on watercolour fine art paper and even vinyl.

The giclée technology has tremendous advantages. As well as the obvious quality, it means that an artist or photographer no longer needs to outlay large sums of money to have their limited addition images pre-printed.  Now the photos or artworks can be reproduced according to the market demand.

Another advantage is that there is no risk of deterioration of reprints while they are ‘on the shelf’ waiting to be sold. The digital storage of the image is safe (we always recommend a back up copy) and will not deteriorate, can be printed on to canvas or paper as needed and the resulting reproduction is always of superb quality.

It goes without saying that galleries, museums and professional photographers are making wide use of giclée printing. It is reported that reproductions of famous New York photographer, Annie Leibowitch can go for over $10,000 USD.

The wonderful thing is that this extraordinary printing method is available to us all, happy snappers and professionals alike, since we can have our art or photos taken on film scanned into a digital format and reproduced or  so easily print our digital photos using the giclée method  to produce big canvas or photo prints.

Firstly a little explanation of the human eye, the human eye is a marvel of design. Nothing comes close to ability of the eye to capture all the scenes highlights and shadow areas at once, even the best camera available today doesn't match that ability. A camera can only correctly expose one part of the scene at a time e.g. the foreground at the expense of the sky being blown out (little detail) or visa versa if the sky/background is correctly exposed the foreground will usually fall into heavy shadow area, or be under exposed.

So how do you get the best of both worlds? That is to have both the foreground and background/sky correctly exposed with all details visible. This is where HDR solves that problem, its achieved by taking multiply shots of the same scene at different exposures (done in HDR by varying the shutter speed only, more about this later).

When these multiple images are combined together using software (Adobe Photoshop or Photomatix) you get an image that has a far greater tonal range (Higher Dynamic Range) than normally seen in a single shot. But before we continue with a step by step guide, read through the next step to make sure you have the necessary items to create a HDR photograph.

What Do I Need to Take HDR Photographs
    •    A Tripod
    •    A Digital SLR or digital compact with full manual modes.
    •    Software such as Adobe Photoshop or Photomatix. (Some camera's have in-built HDR functions e.g. Nikon's D300)

How to Take A HDR Photograph
Ok lets knuckle down and get on with the how to part of this tutorial. Setting to take a HDR image is easier than you might think. (Step 1) Compose you image on a tripod, when you have then scene you want composed, then lock off you tripod screws and things. The last thing you want happenning is for the tripod head to move slightly while half way through this proccess. (Step 2) Preferable if you have the option shoot in RAW mode, this way you retain the greatest level of control over the image later. (Step 3) Focus the scene to how you want it, then switch your camera to manual mode (M) also switch your focus to manual mode (this is usually located on the front of the camera body beside the lens).

Then (Step 4) is setting your Aperture, this remains constant and does not change as you take multiply shots. F11 is a good place to start if you shooting outdoors. The Aperture cannot change because this would effect your depth of field, and hence ruin the effect when you combine the photos together in the software. (Step 5) involves setting your shutter speed for each shot, and increasing or decreasing it. What we are aiming to do is capture a range of light over a number of F-Stops. So for example, use 1/15sec, then 1/30sec, then 1/60sec... etc. Until you have a wide range of exposures, you will notice the image below was taken with 2 stop increments, and only 3 were need to compile the example image above. (See the image below) You should end up with at least one underexposed image, the correctly metered image and an overexposed image.

TIP: To make this process a little easier, most Digital SLR camera's have a "Bracketing" (BKT) option, this will do the hard work for you. Simply just set how many shots you would like e.g. 3, 5, 7 up to 9, notice that these are in odd numbers. Then it will also allow you to set the F-Stop value between each shot e.g. 1 or 2 stops. Set you camera to continuous shutter mode and fire away.

Creating the HDR from the Photos
The next part of the tutorial involve importing the images into a HDR ready program, like Adobe Photoshop or a specifically designed program like Photomatix. There are many tutorials out there describing this process. If you are using Adobe Photoshop then try this tutorial, or if you are using Photomatix then try the tutorial located on their own website.

You can download a trial version of Photomatix, this is the software that I personally use. It works extremely well (and no I'm not getting paid to say this) and easy to use. In my humble opinion it gives you a better result than Photoshop.

Final words of caution when using HDR photography

"...with great power comes great responsibility" - Spiderman's Uncle

Ok , ok maybe its not that drastic a thing, however there are a few problems that you may run into when you first start shooting HDR photos. The first is that you may find the your images are rather grainy. This is due to the fact that the blending process introduces grain, you can reduce this by shooting on as low an ISO as possible e.g. ISO100. Even at this setting you can expect to find that the image has the grain of a photo taken at ISO400. So this means that if you shoot at ISO400 your photo will come out with the grain similar to a shot taken at ISO800 and so on. So its best to stick with a really low ISO for best results.

The second thing is that there is a massive scope for photos becoming seriously unrealistic, mild to wild style. Now if it is used in moderation, a HDR photo pushed to the limits can look good, but watch out for image degradation in the detail and highlight areas.

The third area to watch out for is with human skin tones... HDR is not very good at keeping things realistic.

The final thing is just get out there and experiment. A well composed photo is still what will make a great photo, not the effect. I personally like a HDR that's' been changed in to black and white.  (see  above example) There is a bigger range of flexibility to push your contrast in a black and white photo as opposed to colour.

Well I hope you have enjoyed the article, please don't feel like the article has ended on a negative note, I really really like HDR Photography (check out the Flickr HDR gallery for some stunning examples, link below) its a fantastic tool to have in the photographers tool box. It can create stunning images that more closely represent what the human eye can see every minute of the day.

Until next time, happy snapping. Oh and don't forget to come back and get the best of your HDR's printed on to a photo on canvas, your family and friends will be blown away... but we won't tell them how we did it right?

Genuine pigs taste better

Number One - A good canvas print will use pigment-based ink vs dye-based ink. What is the difference?

Pigment inks settle better into the grain of the canvas. As the ink dries the pigment particles bond into the canvas fibers. Hence pigment-based inks are more water resistant than dye-based inks. Pigment inks are fade resistant. A quality print will use an archival ink, that means your canvas print will last up to 75 years or more.

Remember the choice of ink directly affects the durability of the photo canvas.

Made with Love

Number Two - The frame should be hand made. This may not seem like a big point because after all you don’t see the frame right? Thats true the frame is hidden from view. However think about this, if the frame is not strong enough the stretched canvas could twist or warp the frame... and trust me a warped picture that won’t hang flat against the wall is not very cool. Some canvas printers have been known to use inferior pre-made plastic or cheap timber frames, it saves them time and money making your print. But wait a minute where’s the love?

Our hand made frames are produced by us using proper picture framing machines, they come out dead square and super strong. We even bevel the front edge of the wood frame so that it wraps easier around the corners... that’s the love right there!

Excuse me... Did you say museum as in the Louvre?

Number Three - It's necessary to coat the finished canvas with some protection against water or scratching. This can be done in two ways. The first way is to use a museum grade lacquer, the lacquer bonds well to the canvas and gives it a gloss finish. The second way is to use a laminating machine which melts a plastic film over the canvas. Both ways are effective at giving the finished canvas protection and enhancing colour.

Peace, Harmony & True Colours

Number Four - What you see is not always what you get. This couldn’t be more true in the case of printing. As computer monitors age the colour and luminosity can change, so it can be very hard to judge the colours correctly, because what looks fine on your monitor can be different to what is displayed on someone else’s. In modern photo printing labs the monitors and printers are calibrated so colours are accurately printed.

Choose a lab that takes the time to calibrate their equipment.

Don't settle for less, get heavy!

Number Five - Canvas comes in different grades. A good quality canvas is heavier compared to a cheaper grade. The weave is also important. A close, tight knit weave is much better to print on than a cheaper canvas. Some canvas printers try to save cost by printing on poorer quality canvas, but the end result speaks volumes.

Be image conscious, we are!

So there you have it, five ways to make sure you are buying a quality printed photo on canvas. So take the time to investigate before you buy and you will end up with a real canvas print well worth the money you’ve spent.

You can have confidence that when you buy a Momentz canvas print we've taken the time to implement each of these steps. We demand the best and so should you.

Correcting White Balance at YouTube (as above)

White Balance explained at Wikipedia

Another helpful YouTube Photography Video

(1) Snap away with your camera

Any photo you can imagine we can put onto canvas. Canvas suits any type of photo from old photos your great grandma had in a drawer to photos you just took on your brand new 12 mega pixel camera! Canvas suits people photos, landscape photos, animal photos, any photo can be put onto canvas!

(2) Upload your picture to Momentz

Please don’t downsize or crop your photos before uploading them. We try to work with full size images to get the best quality. Even if you are working with a digital camera that shoots in raw format, we work with photoshop and can open the file. We can work with nearly any type of photo file. JPEGs are the most common out there but we also use GIF and PSD files. If your photo is an older printed photo you will need to have it scanned. Any local photo shop with a scanner should be able to do this for you, just ask to have it scanned at highest quality. Once you have uploaded your file to our site we jump to action!

(3) Hang on your feature wall

Within 3 weeks of having your image uploaded to us, you should have your brand new canvas print in your hands! We can have your print done within 3 days depending on workload so if you’re in a hurry just let us know.. please take note that we can’t guarantee shipping time so try to have your image to us as soon as possible if you are on a deadline. The canvas print will be completely finished and ready to put onto your wall for you to enjoy! It’s that easy!

Adobe Photoshop Express Online