First Place Winner of the 2011 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest: Star Gazing at Crater Lake, Photo by Ben Canales
How It Works
To enter the contest, submit your photos to National Geographic Traveler between April 5, 2012, and July 11, 2012. Photos can be from your travels or your own backyard! Submit as many photos as you’d like.
First Prize: A ten-day Galápagos Photography Expedition with National Geographic Expeditions, where the winner and a guest will travel with a National Geographic photographer
Second Prize: A two-and-a-half-day photo workshop at Santa Fe Workshops
Third Prize: Admission to a National Geographic Travel Photo Seminar
Merit Prizes: Seven U.S. $200 gift certificates to B&H Photo
Winning images will be showcased in the National Geographic Traveler magazine and on the National Geographic Traveler photo contest website.
With a 36.3 Megapixel CMOS sensor, 51-point auto-focus system, a native ISO range of 100 – 6400, and the ability to shoot broadcast quality videos at 1080p HD, you can take your photography to the next level.
The new features of the Nikon D800 don’t end there. It’s also equipped with:
A 3.2 inch 921k-dot LCD monitor
EXPEED 3 image processing engine
4fps continuous shooting in FX mode, 5 fps in DX mode
Advanced Scene Recognition System with 91K-pixel RGB sensor
High-precision, high-durability shutter – tested to well over 200,000 shutter cycles
Comprehensive high-fidelity audio recording control
Integrated image sensor cleaning system
And with all of these features listed, we’re just scratching the surface of what the new Nikon D800 is capable of.
Sharper images, greater detail and incredible resolution – capture the big picture with the new Nikon D800. With a stunning 36.3 Megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor, 51-point auto-focus system and the ability to shoot full 1080p HD broadcast quality video, the Nikon D800 takes your photography to the next level.
36.3 Megapixel FX CMOS sensorWith a huge 36.3 Megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor your photos will have more detail, than ever before. The sensor is 35.9 X 24 mm – producing such incredible detail, that the Nikon D800 can render textures and nuances equivalent to high-end medium format cameras. Define every eyelash, every line in tree bark, and every shimmer of light. You can now savour the exceptional depth in your photos and enlarge them as big as A1 posters at 200dpi.
Shoot broadcast quality videoThe Nikon D800 is capable of shooting 1080p HD video in FX & DX modes – yours to choose depending on your creative intentions. Combined with the processing power of the new EXPEED 3 processor, you can shoot broadcast quality video at 30 frames per second. Offering a superior video platform, the Nikon D800 can record uncompressed movies to an external recorder, preserving the quality of the uncompressed files.
Many filmmakers require the highly mobile, lightweight and compact advantages of a DSLR in order to cover large events, make documentaries, music videos or movies. For these professionals, the Nikon D800 is ready to create incredible cinematic experiences.
Advanced Scene Recognition SystemBuilt to help you capture stunning photos with ease, the new Advanced Scene Recognition System analyses the surrounding environment and automatically adjusts functions such as AF, AE and AWB with incredible accuracy.
Suitable for professional photographers and enthusiasts who want to take their photography to new levels.
Full feature list
Nikon FX-format CMOS sensor with 36.3 effective Megapixels
Native ISO 100 to ISO 6,400
Manipulate light to your advantage
Shoot broadcast quality video
Comprehensive high-fidelity audio recording control
Live view output on external monitors
Integrated image sensor cleaning system
EXPEED 3 image-processing engine
Advanced Scene Recognition System
Time-lapse photography
Advanced Multi-CAM 3500FX autofocus sensor module
Versatile AF-area modes
High-precision, high-durability shutter
High dynamic range (HDR)
Don’t miss a moment
3.2 inch, 921k-dot LCD monitor
Lightweight yet durable construction
High-speed CF and SD dual card slots
Native ISO 100 to ISO 6,400 – expandable to the equivalent of ISO 50 to 25,600
High-resolution, studio-quality images shouldn’t be restricted to the studio. The Nikon D800 sets a new benchmark for high-resolution DSLR cameras, with clean and crisp images across a wide ISO range.
Flexibility like this opens up new imaging opportunities for still photographers and cinematographers. Even at high ISO settings, the camera’s intelligent noise reduction systems manage noise without sacrificing fine details, giving the nikon D800 the edge on its competition.
The difference can even be seen in low-contrast subjects such as hair and grass textures, which are often essential elements of cinema as well as high-resolution portraits and landscape images. High image quality at higher ISOs also means that you can shoot still images handheld more confidently, knowing that fast shutter speeds will reduce blur.
Manipulate light to your advantage
With the Nikon D800, our engineers have combined high-resolution performance with a wide ISO range – making many photographers dreams a reality. New methods have been employed to manipulate light transmission to the sensor’s photo diodes, delivering crisp, brilliant images with significantly less noise.
Comprehensive high-fidelity audio recording control
The Nikon D800 is designed for crisp stereo recording with a built-in external stereo microphone input. Attach the compact ME-1 Stereo Microphone to record clear sound while significantly reducing mechanical noise. An external headphone jack enables you to effectively monitor and control audio in isolation.
Live view output on external monitors
While shooting movies you can now simultaneously check the video feed on an external monitor using an HDMI connection, in addition to the camera’s TFT monitor. For those who need the purest video output for professional quality editing, you can now record uncompressed movie live view footage directly to an external storage device via HDMI interface.
Integrated image sensor cleaning system
Ever experienced the frustrations of dust reaching your cameras image sensor? The Nikon D800 automatically prevents this. Employing Nikon’s new Integrated Dust Reduction System the sensor self-cleans itself with four resonance frequencies to vibrate the optical low-pass filter and shake dust away. There’s also no need to worry if you’re shooting landscapes at low shutter speeds – you can set the self-cleaning sensor onto manual to prevent any camera shake.
EXPEED 3 image-processing engine: speed, versatility, and high performance
To process the Nikon D800’s huge 36.3 megapixel full-frame CMOS, Nikon engineers have included the new EXPEED 3 image processing engine so you don’t have to sacrifice speed for the privilege of incredibly high-resolution photos. From image processing and card recording to image playback and image transfer, EXPEED 3 manages massive amounts of data at faster speeds than the acclaimed EXPEED 2 processor. Even with specialised processing features like Active D-Lighting and high ISO noise reduction, capture speed is not affected. EXPEED 3 is so powerful that it handles data-intensive tasks such as Full HD video recording at 30fps with ease.
Advanced Scene Recognition System with 91K-pixel RGB sensor
Nikon’s revolutionary Advanced Scene Recognition System, introduced with the flagship Nikon D4 camera, is also employed in the Nikon D800. At its core is a 91K-pixel RGB sensor that meticulously analyses each scene with fine resolution. The RGB sensor can recognize your scene’s colours and brightness with unprecedented precision then use that information to implement various automatic controls and give you more natural-looking results.
The real breakthrough, however, is that the sensor can detect human faces with startling accuracy when shooting through the optical viewfinder. Along with face detection, detailed scene analysis is utilised to support more accurate auto-focus; auto exposure and i-TTL flash exposure results in a diverse range of compositional and lighting situations. The improved subject tracking is most noticeable when using 3D-tracking, which can maintain a focus on moving subjects smaller in size than with previous generations.
Time-lapse photography
Capture a variety of scenes and subjects at a breathtaking pace. The Nikon D800 lets you set intervals and frame rates in order to dramatically relay slow-moving activity at dramatic speeds. The Nikon D800 allows you to shoot time-lapse photography with replaying rates from 24 times to 36,000 times faster than normal. Time-lapse photography files can be saved as a movie file.
Advanced Multi-CAM 3500FX autofocus sensor module
Accurate AF detection is crucial for extremely high-resolution still images in every situation. The 51 sensor points in the Nikon D800’s AF sensor module work down to -2 EV (ISO 100, 20°C/68°F), the approximate physical limit of human visibility through an optical viewfinder.
For even more powerful detection, you can rely on the camera’s 15 cross type sensors in the centre to detect both vertical and horizontal lines when using any AF NIKKOR lenses of f/5.6 or faster. What’s more, AF can be activated with eleven focus points in the centre with open aperture of f/8, which is a big plus when you combine a telephoto lens with a 2.0x teleconverter to shoot distant subjects.
Versatile AF-area modes
Whether it’s a still life, a portrait, a landscape or a candid street scene, your subject matter varies, but its importance doesn’t. That’s why the Nikon D800 offers four AF-area modes, each specifically tailored to adapt to various subjects. Single-point AF is ideal when you need pinpoint focus on stationary subjects. Dynamic-area AF has three options (9-point, 21-point and 51-point) and is ideal for shooting moving subjects.
The selected AF point and the surrounding points keep your subject in sharp focus even if it briefly leaves the selected points. 3D-tracking allows you to maintain focus on subjects that are moving erratically from side to side. Auto-area AF detects human faces and prioritises their sharpness for you — an ideal choice for candid photography.
High-precision, high-durability shutter
The Nikon D800’s shutter unit has been tested to well over 200,000 cycles of release to prove durability and precision. While the shutter unit is designed to run at a speed range of 1/8,000 to 30s, its intelligent self-diagnostic shutter monitor automatically monitors actual shutter speeds in order to correct possible variances that can occur over time.
High dynamic range (HDR)
The Nikon D800 can shoot two frames in a single shutter release, but at different exposures: one overexposed and one underexposed. The camera then instantly combines them to create an image covering a wider dynamic range. The range can be widened by up to 3 EV for different looks, all full of saturation and tonal gradation, while the smoothness of the edge where the two exposures meet can be adjusted for a more natural appearance.
Don’t miss a moment
The Nikon D800 is designed to respond immediately. Once the camera is turned on, it starts up in approximately 0.12 seconds* and your finger is in position for shutter release. Release time lag is minimised to approx. 0.042 seconds*, equivalent to that of the Nikon D3S. The Nikon D800 also has the ability to shoot continuously at 4 fps in FX mode, and 5fps in DX mode. (*Based on CIPA Guidelines)
3.2 inch, 921k-dot LCD monitor
The Nikon D800’s large and sharp colour LCD monitor delivers bright, crisp image playback with a much larger capacity for accurate colour reproduction. Using an anti-reflective structure, you can count on clarity equal to that of the D4, even under bright conditions.
Moreover, if monitor brightness is set to “Auto”, the camera automatically adjusts LCD brightness according to the environmental lighting conditions measured by the ambient brightness sensor, allowing easy use of live view in both bright and low-lit places — very useful when shooting video and stills. The ability to magnify playback images up to 46x (Large-size images in FX format) is extremely helpful for spot focus confirmation.
Lightweight yet durable construction
The Nikon D800 has been designed to achieve better durability and lighter weight. The result is a camera approximately 10% lighter than the Nikon D700, yet just as rugged, weighing in at around 1,000 grams. A magnesium alloy construction protects the camera against accidental shock, and weather and dust sealing has been extensively applied and severely tested, making the Nikon D800 as reliable on the road as it is in the studio.
High-speed CF and SD dual card slots
Card recording speed is yet another crucial element of a smooth and productive shooting experience. The Nikon D800’s CF memory card slot is compatible with the latest UDMA 7. The SD card slot is compatible with SDXC (Secure Digital extended Capacity) and UHS-I. You can also use two cards simultaneously for a number of functions, such as recording JPEG and RAW data on separate cards, recording the same data simultaneously on two cards for backup.
Nikon has just Introduced their new D4, an FX-format camera that stretches the boundaries of functionality, performance and versatility.
Based on the D3 series with the addition of a number of new functions and features,
the D4 is equipped with:
New Nikon FX-format CMOS image sensor (imaging size of 36.0 × 23.9 mm)
91k-dot RGB sensor for superior image quality
EXPEED 3, the latest image-processing engine specifically optimised for the D4
16.2 Megapixels and an ISO range from 50 – 204800
Built-in wired LAN and high-speed image transfer via wireless LAN with the optional WT-5 Wireless Transmitter
Multi-area Mode Full (1080p) HD movie recording at 30 fps and the ability to record uncompressed movies to an external recorder
And all this is just the tip of the iceberg!
The new Nikon D4 is the new professional standard in photography that will help pro shooters open up an exciting world of new possibilities.
Perfect for professional sports photographers and for photojournalists who require the best image quality in the most diverse situations.
Full HD video The D4 is Nikon’s first Full Frame FX Body with Full HD video 1080p functionality.
Ethernet & Wireless upload With an Ethernet connection and a wireless transmitter for uploading, you can transfer your images across the world within just minutes of capturing your shot – perfect for sports photographers, photojournalists or anyone who wants to share their shots instantly.
16.2 Megapixels Capture stunning depth and detail for magazine quality prints and web publishing.
We love to hear about your experiences. Have you test-driven the D4? Tell us what you think?
Her submission entitled The Spirit of Laughter, was a special moment captured of 2 bashful girls giggling in hysterics as they celebrate the completion of a 102km Yalari commemorative walk to the Aboriginal community of Cherbourg in Queensland, Australia.
In the background are 9 RQR Army Reserve soldiers and Yalari.org volunteers who completed the trek with 37 Indigenous students to commemorate the walk done in 1902 by Aboriginal people who were forcibly relocated to the Cherbourg reservation.
This image represents the spirit of hope the community shares through the laughter of its children.
Every now and then a real game-changer comes along!
Nikkon has just announced its latest creation – the Nikkon 1.
They said they “could have done everything the easy way and used existing technology. But we decided to go back to the drawing board and re-imagine how cameras are designed.”
The result is an intelligently designed, beautifully crafted camera system fashioned to bring new levels of speed, simplicity and enjoyment to the way you capture your world.
Astonishingly fast, stunningly compact both in terms of the chassis and adaptable lenses as well as amazingly precise, both of the first-generation Nikon 1 cameras put the power to shoot impressive stills and movies right into the palm of your hand.
Exceptionally intuitive to use, they offer fully automatic operation. Equipped with a fast autofocus system and a high-speed image processor, they ensure the best possible shots in any situation.
Built to let you shoot images you would never have believed possible, they can start recording images before you fully press the shutter button and continue after you’ve clicked. WOW!
Drawing on over 50 years of expertise when it came to crafting the cameras’ 1-mount system, Nikkon have created a-one-stop shop for your “point and shoots” with the latest technology and features such as filming movies with soft-focus backgrounds and GPS tagging.
The 1-mount is what allows you to use the Nikon 1 system’s range of interchangeable 1 NIKKOR lenses. Engineered to ensure each lens communicates perfectly with the camera, it enables still image and movie recording without compromise.
What do you think?
Leave your review and comments below. We’d love to hear from you.
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Original article source: THE AUSTRALIAN July 30, 2011 – Guy Allenby
Images photographed by IMPRESSIONS. Real Estate Marketing. Photography.
If you’re worried about the price you’re likely to achieve for your home in a sluggish market, the last thing you’ll want to be doing is invest more money in it before you sell.
But that, say the property stylists, is exactly what’s needed. As Richard Armstrong, director of Melbourne’s the Makeover Group, puts it: “There’s a popularity contest held every week in the suburbs. They’re called auctions.
“In any market, whether it’s booming or on its knees, if you have genuinely comparable properties sitting next door to each other, then the one that is done well is always going to sell for more and faster.”
Michele Ardon of Michele Ardon Interior Design, a property styling specialist in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, says in a small market vendors simply need to spend money on some degree of property styling.
“They are simply not going to get the return they want if it [their home's presentation] is average,” she says. “If it doesn’t stand out from the crowd, what is there to attract the prospective buyer?”
In the US they call it “home staging” and the queen is Debra Gould (aka the Staging Diva) who writes endlessly on the subject and runs training programs for people looking to set themselves up as professional home stagers.
As Gould puts it: “A house is a product that has to be packaged and marketed to the right target audience at the right price.
“In a slow or buyer’s market, any house is just one of many for sale in a neighbourhood. Real estate agents may say the only way to sell is to drop the price, but this ignores the positive sales impact of improving the product.”
How to improve the product and how much to spend doing it depends on the particular property, but there are some basic rules.
Ardon says the minimum spend is about $6000 and up to “$30, $40, $50,000″, depending on the value of the home, balanced against the possible return.
Armstrong puts the figure you should fork out at “between 0.5 and 2 per cent of the property’s value”.
“I would say 25 per cent of homes in the Sydney metropolitan area are being styled,” says John McGrath, chief executive and founder of McGrath Real Estate.
“People are wanting a one-bedroom flat styled right through to a four-bedroom house.
“We think there are three key pillars to selling a property and they are pricing, marketing and presentation.”
A lot of properties only need a few thousand dollars spent to get them right, says McGrath.
“Most people spend between $3000 and $8000, and my gut feel is that it adds between 5 and 10 per cent sale value.”
He says it can be as simple as removing or adding furniture.
“An agent should be able to give you advice but we do use outside style consultants, too. At the very least re-styling your property will make it sell a lot quicker,” McGrath says.
“The amount you may need to spend – and the possible return you can hope to get – depends on the value of the home we’re talking about,” says Armstrong, who believes – for the purposes of property styling guidelines – you can divide the Australian market into three broad categories: houses up to $800,000; houses between $800,000 and $2 million; and the $2 million plus property.
To ensure a house, in any category, has the best chance of achieving the best price, the minimum that a vendor should do to their property is “make sure everything is finished”, says Armstrong. “That’s [property styling] at the barest, most basic level. It’s things like cracks in walls, broken windows, broken handles.”
The next things that need to be done with all properties is to de-clutter and decorate in colours that are “warm, neutral and light”, he says. “Make it inviting so that people walk in and imagine themselves living there.”
Sometimes a stylist may go as far as a complete strip out of a client’s possessions.
“If I’m going to be a client’s style police,” says Ardon, “then we need to clear the place out, make it look empty and put in some good quality pieces. Sometimes it’s just a case of de-cluttering and renting a little bit of furniture, putting a few things in that make the place stand out.”
Also crucial is the property’s presentation to the street.
“What people experience at the front of the property will always set their expectations of what they are going to get once they walk in the front door,” Armstrong says.
This can mean giving the front yard “good crisp lines”, tidying, pruning and-or replanting garden beds, not to mention modernising the property’s exterior colours.
Armstrong had a client repaint the outside of a worker’s cottage in Melbourne’s Fitzroy.
“I honestly believe it added 30K or 40K to the property,” he says. “The heritage colours that were popular 20 years ago – the soft yellow and the Brunswick green – getting rid of that sort of stuff and working to a more modern colour palette says to everyone doing a drive-by: ‘We’ve got modern colours on the outside because we’re modern on the inside too.’ ”
Once inside (at least for homes worth more than $1.5 million) Armstrong advocates spending money on a “lifestyle” revamp to give it the contemporary feel that will appeal to most possible buyers.
“You have to make sure the door handles are updated, light fittings are updated and things like dishwashers, stoves and that sort of thing are updated as well,” he says, adding that this stage might also include investing in a stone benchtop in the kitchen or “significant amounts of landscaping”.
Armstrong maintains that for every $1000 spent the vendor can look to add an extra $3000 on the total price achieved.
Ardon is more upbeat about the rewards of giving a property a makeover. “At the bottom end, if you spend $5000, then you can expect to get $15,000 to $20,000 [more],” she says. “At the top end I think [the return] is in the one to five or one to six ratio.”
That said, she also believes the sluggish market means vendors must make sure their home is memorable.
“You use elements of surprise,” Ardon says. All the basic principles of making your home attractive apply, but in a particularly slow market (not to mention one that already may be more property styling savvy, such as Sydney’s upmarket eastern suburbs) you also need to add “something prospective buyers will remember when they walk out”, she adds.
Perhaps a bright colour for the kitchen bench’s splashback or “wallpaper on a wall as you walk in the entrance”, Ardon says.
“They will have seen six or eight houses and they’ll remember the one with the red splashback.”
Gould, the Staging Diva, has likened the process to speed dating. You may see eight houses one weekend but “you’ll reject most and possibly choose one property to go back to for a second look”, she says.
“Home staging or house fluffing is all about creating the best first impression, paving the way for potential buyers to fall in love.”
