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Quick Tip: How To Protect A Cyclorama With A Tennis Ball

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If you own a cyclorama you know that part of the job of owning such a wonderful thing is that you have to occasionally re-paint it.  (If Amazon does not shut you down first). I was visiting Stefan and Rosi from RawExchange in Germany, and they showed me a great tip. (RawExchange are my partners in the Image Manipulation Store and actually shoot many of the packages).

When you move a light-stand on a cyclorama it skids and leaves marks. If you are just before a cyclorama-re-paint it’s no biggie, but if you have just painted your surface white, it could be quite annoying.

The team’s solution was to place tennis balls on the legs of the light stands to help them slide easily with no marks.

Have to say that this is probably the best use for a Tennis ball I’ve seen.

Amazon’s New Patent: Why We Should Probably Chill Out

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There’s been news circulating around of a new patent Amazon’s recently secured itself with, and it sounds a bit ridiculous when you take a look at the headlines coming out. For those who don’t know, Amazon basically patented a type of photography where one light is shining straight at the subject, along with light completely filling the background; in other words, seamless white background photography.

The patent was granted back in March, but news of this made the rounds just yesterday, angering many voices in the online photography community. The good news, however, is that there might not be that much cause for concern in the first place.

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You Can Close The Studio, Amazon Patents Photographing On Seamless White

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I am not really sure how to tag this other than a big #fail for the USPTO, or a huge Kudos for Amazon’s IP attorneys. In a patent simply called Studio arrangement Amazon took IP ownership on what we all call shooting against a seamless white backdrop.

The patent describes the arrangement of elements in the studio to make a product shot. it even details the F-stop, ISO value and focal length you need to use [bold text by me]:[Read More…]

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