Photo Centrale

Photo Scare 2011

2011-09-09T01:27:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, August 28, I went to World Press Photo 2011 exhibit for seeing the “Press - Side” (photojournalism)style photography ..Apart of ingenious ‘naturephotography’ pieces displayed at the furthest corner of all - guess what: I was stunned byhow deeply politicized and disgustingly brutal the whole thing is... Stunninglybrutal scenes of Asia,Mexico and Africa are very suggestive indeed...

The only ‘shot’I took there is a (at the entrance) poster of ‘WPF 2011’s' avatar displaying an Afghan woman who’shusband cut her nose (and years) off for running away to her parents. Needlessto say – it’s a winner image...

Setopinions aside; - I’ll let your imagination run wild. My favorite images are:

1.Joséphine Nsimba Mpongo,37, practices the cello in the Kimbanguiste neighborhood of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

2. North Korean leader KimJong-Il attends a military parade, together with his youngest son anddesignated successor Kim Jong-un, in Pyongyang on 10 October.

See the whole thing here

Cheers !

Navy Blue

2011-09-09T01:22:00.000-04:00

Place Des Anges

2011-06-08T15:50:00.001-04:00

Historical Hand colored Japanese Photos

2011-06-03T18:33:00.002-04:00

These amazing hand coloured photos of Japan from the late 1800's to early 1900's have recently hit the internet, giving an amazing glimpse into a historically private culture.

Armed with the relatively recent invention of photography, the shots were believed to be taken by Italian Adolfo Farsari. A photographer who after a brief military career, made Japan his adopted home.

Farsari's photographic work was highly regarded, particularly his hand-colored portraits and landscapes, which he sold mostly to foreign residents and visitors to the country.

His studio was the last notable foreign-owned studio in Japan and was one of the country's largest and most prolific commercial photographic firms. Largely due to Farsari's exacting technical standards and his entrepreneurial abilities, it had a significant influence on the development of photography in Japan.

MANGO

2011-05-13T17:16:00.001-04:00

Victorious

2011-05-13T17:13:00.001-04:00

May Day Reloaded

2011-05-04T04:00:00.000-04:00

Blown Away

2011-04-21T03:33:00.001-04:00

Clean City

2011-04-10T01:04:00.000-04:00

Ides of March

2011-03-22T16:53:00.000-04:00

Few Things I Got Published

2011-02-23T10:21:00.000-05:00

Published by a local newspaper / 12000 a month / real paper / black'n white / 2010

The Diary of a Young Girl

2011-01-31T08:16:00.000-05:00

Flooding Fundraiser Competition

2011-01-18T23:10:00.000-05:00

by Team_Phart 18. January 2011 20:05

Recently we have seen the devastating power of water, but it is also a life giver and the source of much joy, and that's what we want to see from you our members, in this brand new competition we hope to remind everyone that where there is devastation there is also hope.

In an effort to raise funds for those who have been affected by the awful flooding in Queensland, Victoria and Brazil. We have created a public group to run a special competition in which you can help out just by entering your images of water, for every image entered the gallery will donate 50c up to a massive $1000 to help out those affected.

The winners will be judged by our curators and the top three will receive a selection of photographic books. The top 30 will also have their images made into a book that will go on sale to raise additional funds for the relief.

So come on make us empty our purses!

ENTER FLOODING FUNDRAISER NOW!

Leica's pricey MP2

2010-12-07T17:53:00.001-05:00

by Team_Phart
7. December 2010 23:01

Leica making headlines for another reason, their 1958 Leica MP2 just sold for a record breaking price.

With a starting price of €80,000 this ultra rare camera is one of only six ever built, making it the most sought after and collectable Leica to date. It sold for €402,000 to an Asian collector, who is now the owner of the most expensive Leica ever sold at auction.

The auction took place on 04 December at the Westlicht gallery in Vienna, home to an 800 strong collection of vintage cameras. The auction saw a frenzied bidding war over its highlight piece, a Leica MP2 from 1958.

Just in case you have €400,000 to throw at a vintage camera! The next Westlicht Photographica Auction will take place on 28 May 2011. Visit www.westlicht-auction.com for more details.

Salute to the Flag

2010-11-29T12:35:00.000-05:00

The flag of Russia's legendary Varyag cruiser, sunk in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese war, was handed over to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in South Korea on Thursday as a token of improving relations between the two countries.
The flag, which was raised from the sea bed near South Korea in 1905 and kept in the depositary of a museum in the nearby port town of Incheon, was taken on board the Russian Varyag missile cruiser in Incheon on Thursday.
According to an agreement between Russia and Incheon, the flag will be exhibited in Russian museums for two years.

1,596-Megapixel World Series Image

2010-11-04T17:23:00.000-04:00

At game one of this years world series Major League Baseball, photographer David Bergman using a Gigapan technique took this 1,596 Megapixel image that is actually 280 images stitched together. The image took him nearly 20 minutes to capture, but the interesting thing about this shot is that the MLB have made the image compatiable with Facebook so that you can search for yourself or friends in the crowd and tag it - now that is detailed!

This is the latest of Bergman's events projects, he is a respected events and concert photographer and has also worked with alot of celebrities capturing their portraits. His other famous gigapan shot was an epic panoramic taken at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, which gained huge media attention. Bergman said "I always try to make unique images using technology and by simply seeing things a bit differently. When I got the assignment to photograph President Obama's inauguration, I knew I had to come up with something that would live up to the magnitude of the historical event."

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/ps/y2010/gigapan/index.jsp?gpId=9d0c95d7de78a4c7853e8411db304e81

Aliens

2010-11-02T14:53:00.000-04:00

Making Movies

2010-10-15T07:03:00.000-04:00

10 Tips for Getting Great Photos of Your Cat

2010-09-24T14:05:00.002-04:00

Sometimes we really wonder...with her tail curled in a perfect S-shape, head angled just a liiiittle to the right, and paws frozen in stance, our Kitty McKitterson seems to know when a camera is around. Does she know we're snapping a photo of her? She must!
Interesting then that she's so choosy about when she wants to have her photo taken. Sometimes we think she's spiting us for not letting her have a bite of our cheezburger!
While we wait for our kitty to feel a little more camera ready, we're going to capture all of her furniture-leaping, whisker-whisking, cat-napping charm with these handy bribes, er, tips!

Read more

Hasselblad Labs Release Information on 200 Megapixel Capture Device

2010-09-24T14:03:00.000-04:00

September 22, 2010 /PN - Hasselblad/ Hasselblad has been exploring next steps in creating ultra-high resolution capture. Based upon new developments of its multi-shot technology Hasselblad labs are releasing test results from a new 200 megapixel capture device.

The 200 megapixel device is based upon a 50 megapixel sensor mounted onto the Hasselblad patented symmetrical multi-shot frame, which can accurately position the sensor with a sub-micron accuracy using piezo-electrical actuators.

Capturing 6 shots with the sensor positioned accurately at a sequence of quadrants of the basic 6-micron pixel, color information from the Bayer-patterned pixels is used to create a 200 megapixel capture. The color information is composed such that it supersedes the information from a single-shot captured with a potential 200 megapixel single-shot sensor.

Over the past years Hasselblad labs have refined the tolerances of the basic sensor frame calibration to achieve the above results, and on top of the physics new color algorithms and filtering techniques have been applied to achieve the 200 megapixel image. The complete capture device is now in final testing for stability and color accuracy to fit into Hasselblad's unique generic one-profile color rendering.

Multi-shot cameras are used by studio photographers to generate images with ultra high resolution, and exact color information. Key customer segments include the world's most famous museums and studios where cars, jewelry, and costly products are shot with an image quality leaving no room for compromise. Apart from its multi-shot, the Hasselblad H4D-50MS has normal single-shot mode included as well.

Upon successful testing, Hasselblad plans to release the new ultra-resolution capture mode for H4D-50MS cameras by early 2011. All current H4D-50MS cameras will be offered this new capture mode at the factory, by using Hasselblad's new calibration and firmware upgrade, at a fee to be announced in due course.

Rural Safari

2010-09-19T18:03:00.001-04:00

Photographers are now terrorists according to TSA

2010-09-18T14:23:00.001-04:00

ScalpeL

2010-09-17T11:17:00.000-04:00

Military railway missile system 15P961 with Intercontinental Ballistic Missile SS 24 NATO code name 'Scalpel'

Disability

2010-09-05T13:37:00.000-04:00

Photographer's come out in droves to protest fees

2010-09-01T02:30:00.000-04:00

The weekend saw a huge number of photographers and artists publicly protesting the ludicrous fees imposed on them just so they can shoot Australia's iconic landmarks. We brought news of the coming protest recently here
Here's what went down:
About 1,000 commercial photographers in Australia gathered in Sydney Harbour on Sunday, using their cameras to protest against laws requiring them to have costly permits to take pictures of landmarks.
The group, with members from across the country, carried banners proclaiming "Artists have rights to sell their work" and "Capture the moment, not the photographer."
The demonstrators then took photos of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge as part of their Sunday morning protest.
Different levels of government have imposed rules concerning some iconic landmarks, including Sydney Harbour, the city's Bondi Beach and Uluru in the north, once known as Ayer's Rock.
Photographers say the rules are inconsistent and many fees are exorbitant.
"It's not just the cost of photographic permits, it's the logistics of getting a permit," landscape photographer Ken Duncan told the Australian Associated Press.
Duncan says the red tape is causing many to give up on their creative pursuit. The costs of a permit can vary, depending on location, time of day and number of crew involved.
The Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority requires commercial photographers to pay a minimum $150 AUD ($141 Cdn) per session if more than 10 crew are involved. That's in addition to $65 an hour for a site co-ordinator, $65 an hour for security and an additional $65 an hour for cleaning. Each of those services must be paid a minimum four hours.
"There are so many expenses, including travel expenses, accommodation and the cost of permits," said wedding and portrait photographer Graham Monro, who added that many of his colleagues can barely make a profit.
Let's hope something postive comes out of this. Did you get down there with your fellow artists?

Commerical photographers are not allowed to take shots of the Sydney Opera House or Harbour Bridge unless they shell out hundreds of dollars in fees. (Rob Griffith/Associated Press)

Subway Poetry

2010-08-27T14:11:00.000-04:00

Russia's First Railroad

2010-08-24T00:39:00.000-04:00

The Brick Factory

2010-08-18T08:40:00.000-04:00

Future Is Now

2010-08-17T18:14:00.000-04:00

RFS "Vyborg"

2010-08-14T11:30:00.000-04:00

Hot Shots

2010-08-05T15:23:00.000-04:00

Crossing the Gulf

2010-07-31T17:40:00.000-04:00

Green

2010-07-27T18:26:00.000-04:00

Rocket Man

2010-07-18T05:32:00.000-04:00

Dead End

2010-07-15T11:54:00.000-04:00

Fusion

2010-07-09T12:14:00.000-04:00

Captain of Blues

2010-06-25T03:45:00.000-04:00

Toy Soldiers

2010-06-22T14:55:00.000-04:00

Kiss

2010-06-03T15:16:00.000-04:00

The New Times

2010-06-01T08:06:00.000-04:00

Bottom of Things

2010-06-01T08:01:00.000-04:00

Coming Home

2010-05-25T08:35:00.000-04:00

Hangover

2010-05-19T09:03:00.001-04:00

Sports Illustrated

2010-04-29T03:59:00.001-04:00

35 Degrees Fahrenheit

2010-04-07T16:27:00.000-04:00

Exposé

2010-03-11T01:48:00.000-05:00

Dirty Dancing

2010-02-19T04:20:00.000-05:00

Winter Gallery

2010-02-17T10:06:00.008-05:00

Milky Way

2010-02-02T17:36:00.000-05:00

Milky Way

2010-01-31T17:03:00.000-05:00

Wild Horses

2010-01-23T09:35:00.000-05:00

Russian Christmas

2010-01-07T10:10:00.000-05:00

Year Of The Tiger

2010-01-01T15:25:00.000-05:00

Tales of the Past

2010-01-01T15:20:00.002-05:00

Ready to Roll: Wish You All Wonderful Holidays

2009-12-23T07:12:00.000-05:00

Stolen Colors

2009-12-16T07:33:00.000-05:00

Code Green

2009-12-06T14:57:00.000-05:00

Homo Sewers

2009-11-24T08:30:00.000-05:00

My Circus

2009-11-04T10:52:00.000-05:00

Windows Update

2009-10-26T14:22:00.000-04:00

Nirvana

2009-10-22T18:45:00.000-04:00

Russian Crazy Pilot

2009-10-12T16:54:00.000-04:00

When September Ends

2009-09-30T19:11:00.001-04:00

Cornered

2009-09-28T06:10:00.000-04:00

SkyNet

2009-09-20T15:31:00.000-04:00

Waiting For The Sun

2009-09-17T17:06:00.000-04:00

Just the Two of Us

2009-09-11T03:18:00.000-04:00

Back to School

2009-09-03T09:46:00.004-04:00

Cat Working

2009-09-01T09:04:00.000-04:00

Anti - Photo

2009-08-24T09:06:00.001-04:00

Sleep Walking

2009-08-12T09:15:00.002-04:00

Lie Flat Sleep Deep

2009-08-12T08:53:00.002-04:00

Terminator 4

2009-08-12T08:21:00.002-04:00

SOMEBODY TO LOVE

2009-05-05T18:50:00.001-04:00

In the memory o

Darling Pretty

2009-04-30T00:38:00.003-04:00

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T05:12:00.000-04:00

Back 2 the Future

2009-04-06T16:47:00.000-04:00

KURSK

2009-01-21T21:26:00.002-05:00

From Russia with Love

2009-01-17T19:51:00.002-05:00

EFFEN WOT-KA

2008-11-16T22:26:00.000-05:00

Forever Young

2008-11-13T00:47:00.001-05:00

Secrets of Bookkeeping

2008-10-18T14:01:00.002-04:00

My Autumn Garden

2008-10-11T20:16:00.004-04:00

Americas

2008-09-05T09:12:00.003-04:00

Bohemian Rhapsody

2008-07-23T13:27:00.007-04:00

Bohemian Rhapsody

Garbage

2008-06-02T03:10:00.003-04:00

Just a thought...

Alcohol Kills !

2008-05-12T01:13:00.004-04:00

No comment...

City of Kronshtadt

2008-05-10T15:15:00.003-04:00

In my humble opinion, this is the most beautiful city in the whole World. I love it.

Pronounced As: Kronshtadt , city, NW European Russia, on the small island of Kotlin in the Gulf of Finland, c.15 mi (20 km) from Saint Petersburg. It is one of the chief naval bases for the Russian Baltic fleet. The harbor is icebound for several months each year. It was founded (1703) by Peter I as a port and a fortress to protect the site of St. Petersburg, and it was the commercial harbor of St. Petersburg until the 1880s. The port lost its commercial value after the development of St. Petersburg.
The visit (1891) of a French naval squadron to Kronshtadt was followed by a Franco-Russian military agreement heralding the formation of the Triple Entente of France, England, and Russia. Mutinies of the naval garrison took place in 1825 and 1882 and played a part in the revolutions of 1905 and 1917. In World War II, Kronshtadt played a major role in the defense of St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) against the Germans. It is also spelled Cronstadt.

Simplicity

2008-05-03T20:00:00.002-04:00

Looking for simple things in life ? I think I found a few...

Ready or Not

2008-05-02T15:12:00.004-04:00

Another weekend is almost here. Thinking about what I'm going to do...The photo below (took it last weekend, my table) is a quite likely scenario. A thunderstorm rolls over my roof.

Have a good time.

Water

2008-05-01T21:58:00.006-04:00

This is actually my first attempt (far from being the best) to “build” so-called “composite” image. Have to learn a LOT...

Mr K*

2008-04-13T19:44:00.004-04:00

Meet the Man
I love him more than anything in this world.

Get your own Slide Show!
Click here for more

Making of 'The NightLife'

2008-04-08T20:42:00.015-04:00

What if there is a lack of objects and subjects to photograph? Sitting in my cave I'm in the situation frequently. Or maybe I’m just too lazy to get out there. Last night I’ve decided to set up a stage on a small table in my room. The requisites I used:

The ashtray

The cigarette

The glass with a plastic Coke in it

Two plastic sheets off my dinner table

Picture of me to place on the “Bar’s” wall (being egoistic I guess).

My camera

Excellent PhotoFiltre software.

I didn’t actually draw, copy or paste; the hardest task was to compose everything in a frame the way I liked. Had to adjust color theme in order to create an illusion of everything is “bending right together”.

The whole stage is actually 3 by 3 feet in size.

End result? The NightLife.

Adobe revises Photoshop Express Terms of Use

2008-04-06T14:22:00.008-04:00

https://www.photoshop.com/express/pxterms.html

""...........
Last Updated on April 3, 2008.

Changes are not marked in red. Please read entire document. Please also note that these revised Terms will apply to all of Your Content as of the Effective Date.

If you do not agree with these revised Terms, please remove Your Content from the Service by the Effective Date.

Adobe Photoshop Express Additional Terms of Use

Effective April 10, 2008

You can find the current Adobe Photoshop Express Additional Terms of Use at: https://www.photoshop.com/express/pxterms_old.html

1. Acceptance of Adobe.com Terms of Use

Welcome to Adobe’s Photoshop Express service (the "Service"). Your use of the Service is subject to these Additional Terms which supplement the Terms of Service ("General Terms") located at https://www.photoshop.com/express/terms.html and incorporated herein by reference. Adobe Systems Incorporated ("Adobe") reserves the right to update and change, from time to time, these Additional Terms and all documents incorporated by reference. You can always find the most recent version of these Additional Terms at https://www.photoshop.com/express/pxterms.html and the most recent version of the General Terms at the URL indicated above. Capitalized terms used in these Additional Terms shall be defined as set forth in the General Terms or in these Additional Terms. In the event of any inconsistency between these Additional Terms and the General Terms, these Additional Terms shall control with respect to the Service.

6. Use of Your Content

This section hereby replaces Section 8(a) (“Use of Your Content”) of the General Terms.

1. By Adobe

Adobe does not claim ownership of Your Content. However, we do need certain rights from you, with respect to Your Content, in order to operate the Service and in order to enable you to do all the things this Service affords you the ability to do. Therefore, with respect to Your Content, you grant Adobe a worldwide (because the internet is global), royalty-free (meaning we do not owe you any money), nonexclusive (meaning you are free to license Your Content to others) fully sublicensable (so that we can permit our affiliates, subcontractors and agents to deliver the Service on our behalf) license to use, reproduce and modify Your Content solely for the purposes of operating the Service and enabling your use of the Service. With respect to Your Shared Content, you additionally grant Adobe the rights to distribute, publicly perform and publicly display Your Shared Content (in whole or in part) for the sole purposes of operating the Service and enabling your use of the Service and to sublicense Your Shared Content to Other Users subject to the limitations of Section 7 below. These limited licenses do not grant Adobe the right to sell or otherwise license Your Content or Your Shared Content on a stand alone basis. Further, you may terminate Adobe’s right to distribute, publicly perform and publicly display Your Shared Content by making it no longer shared. You may terminate the remainder of Adobe’s rights by removing Your Content from the Service. (Detailed instructions on how to do these things can be found at [see site] Upon removal of Your Content from the Service or upon making Your Shared Content no longer shared, Adobe shall have a reasonable time to cease use, distribution and/or display of Your Content. However, you acknowledge and agree that Adobe shall have the right to keep archived copies of Your Content.

2. By Other Users

You hereby grant Other Users a worldwide (because the internet is global), royalty-free (meaning that Other Users do not owe you any money), nonexclusive (meaning you are free to license Your Content to others) license to view, download, print, distribute, publicly perform and publicly display Your Shared Content subject to the limitations in Section 7. If you do not wish to grant these rights in Your Shared Content then do not share Your Content with Other Users. While you have the ability to remove Your Content from the service and/or the public areas within the Service and thus prevent future licenses from being granted, you acknowledge and agree that once Your Shared Content has been shared, Adobe can neither monitor nor control what Other Users do with it. (Detailed instructions on how to remove Your Content from the Service and/or the public areas within the Service can be found at [see site]

7. Use of Shared Content

Section 5 (a) of the General Terms shall continue to apply to Adobe Materials. With respect to User Content, however, Section 5 (a) of the General Terms is hereby replaced with the following:

Adobe grants you a worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive license to view, download, print, distribute, publicly perform and publicly display content shared by Other Users with you via the Service or that Other Users make publicly available via the Service (“Shared Content”), subject to the following conditions:

a. Your rights granted by this Section are limited to your personal, informational, non-commercial and, in the case of a business, internal purposes only;
b. You may not sell, rent, lease or license the Shared Content to others;
c. You may not modify or alter the Shared Content;
d. You may not remove any text, copyright or other proprietary notices contained in the Shared Content; and
e. When you embed Shared Content on a web page, you agree that you will include a prominent link back to the Service from that page.
...........""

No comment. Except for: I’m just astonished by the level of ‘legal’ idiotism accomplished in a ‘civilized’ world. Again.

My Tabblo anniversary

2008-04-06T10:42:00.007-04:00

Today is exactly 1 year since I joined Tabblo. Made a small montage to mark the anniversary. You can view it here or just click the image.

Am I Blogging ?

2008-04-04T12:53:00.008-04:00

Ok, here I’m. Not even a month passed since I started this blog. Just like Freddie Mercury was singing ‘Am I dreaming?’, should I sing ‘Am I Blogging’ now? I won’t. Why? Because, quite frankly, I don’t think I’m. Not even sure I know what blogging is. Reading thru hopelessly numerous articles, I’ve learned that 75 percent of Google blogs are spam. Does it mean that if I spam 75 percent of a time I’m a blogger? Is it even true? I don’t know either. I’m learning, or trying to learn, but there is too much information. Ugly, dark and dangerous gadget jungle. Advices on good content with no content at all. Search results rendered to scores of meaningless keywords. Staring at Google Analytics, Banners, Histats, StumbleUpons and RSSs, I keep asking my self the same question: can I just be Me? Or should I write this at all? Still searching for answers in my own Search Box.

Have a nice weekend.

Concerns raised over content ownership terms with Adobe Photoshop Express service.

2008-04-01T23:03:00.014-04:00

Here is what I read on Adobe site:

http://www.adobe.com/misc/copyright.html

""......
Last updated on 4/30/2006

Please read the Terms of Use carefully before accessing or using this Site.

ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS

By accessing or using this Site in any way, including using any Services, downloading Materials or merely browsing the Site (capitalized terms defined below), you agree to and are bound by the terms and conditions set forth in this document and in any changes thereto that Adobe may publish from time to time (collectively, the "Terms of Use"). If you do not agree to all of the terms and conditions contained in the Terms of Use, do not access or use this Site.

ADOBE’S RIGHTS TO SUBMITTED USER MATERIALS

For all of your User Materials that you post or otherwise submit to the Site, including (a) comments to Communications Venues, (b) feedback, (c) bug reports, (d) piracy reports or (e) product suggestions, you grant Adobe and the users of this Site an unrestricted, irrevocable, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free and fully paid up license under all Intellectual Property Rights to use, reproduce, publicly display, publicly perform, copy, edit, modify, translate, reformat, transmit and distribute such User Materials, with or without having your name attached to such User Materials, in any manner or form and for any purpose, with full rights to sublicense such rights through multiple tiers of distribution, and you also acknowledge and agree that Adobe is free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques that you provide for any purpose without any compensation to you. You acknowledge and agree that Adobe shall not be liable for any failure to store User Materials on the Site at any time
...........""

Here is what i read on PSExpress General Terms:

https://www.photoshop.com/express/terms.html

"".......
General Terms

Effective 3/1/2008

1. Acceptance of Terms.

1. By (i) using this Web site or any other web sites of Adobe Systems Incorporated, its affiliates and agents (“Adobe”) with links to these Terms of Use (the “General Terms”) (the “Site”) in any way, including using, transmitting, downloading or uploading any of the services or functionality (“Services”) or Materials made available or enabled via the Site by Adobe or users of the Site (“Users”), or (ii) merely browsing the Site, you agree to these General Terms and the Adobe Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference. “Materials” includes any (x) information, data, documents, images, photographs, graphics, audio, videos, or webcasts, (y) products, and (z) Adobe software code and associated documentation (“Software”), in each case made available or enabled by Adobe or users of the Site.

8.Use of Your Content.

Adobe does not claim ownership of Your Content. However, with respect to Your Content that you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Services, you grant Adobe a worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, derive revenue or other remuneration from, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish,translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such Content into other Materials or works in any format or medium now known or later developed. “Publicly accessible” areas of the Services are those areas of the Adobe network of properties that are intended by Adobe to be
available to the general public. However, publicly accessible areas of the Services do not include Services intended for private communication or areas off the Adobe network of properties such as portions of World Wide Web sites that are accessible via hypertext or other links but are not hosted or served by Adobe.
...........""

Well, I guess with such TOS it’s still good enough for hotlinking images to this page...
It is probably a good idea to wait anyway until PHExpress matures, cleans up of bugs and polishes its legal shell. Somehow I feel there are plans for premium services and much more.And what do I think right now? ....

Tabblo.com: Photo Sharing with a Soul

2008-03-31T14:28:00.012-04:00

I stumbled upon Tabblo while scanning for a photo sharing service almost a year ago.

The site pumped up in a search and immediately “got me” with its unique interface and options. In no time I signed up.
Sure, there are Flickr, Shutterfly and others, they let you upload photos and share in a slideshow format. But most of these sites don’t offer you the chance to design cool collages from your photos with a host of styles, color backgrounds and on-screen controls. Tabblo does. It puts special emphasis on presentation and functions more like a software application, offering features like dragging and dropping and editing all on the same Web page, without the annoying constant reloading that characterizes so many photo sites.
A “Human factor” is an important part here. Tabblo also encourages community interaction through its Web site, so that the tabblos become a form of simple social networking. Just as MySpace.com lets you create a list of “friends,” Tabblo allows you to add people to your “circle” so that you can see when those people create new tabblos. You can even make tabblos that combine your own photos with those belonging to people in your circle, if they allow you.
The editing section here is very impressive. Smooth and quick, it lets you drag photos around the screen, choosing the best fit for your collage. Automatic swapping of images works wonders as well. When you mouse over the photo, buttons and control appear. These include a Remove Picture button and on-screen editing options in the top left of each image: Scale & Pan, Show Effects and Rotate Photo. Scale & Pan is very useful, instantly showing a window in which you can zoom in or out and pan around the image. Show Effects alters the image to black and white, sepia, oil paint or negative style. You can also drug the image corner to resize photo virtually in any way you want.
When designing your collage, literally hundreds of combinations offered. You can design virtually anything you like including variety of Posters, “PhotoCubes” and Photo Books. Printing services available as well.
When you’re done, invite others to see your creations. They don’t have to sign in or register. Or keep it private, it’s up to you.
I conclude now: Tabblo is one very unique and simply the coolest photo sharing service I’ve ever experienced. Period. Thanks a bunch, guys and keep up the good work.

Monkey Blues with Photoshop Express

2008-03-28T01:32:00.024-04:00

Monkey Blues

Here is what can be done with Photoshop Express' "Embed" function.
At a first glance this is the heaviest photo sharing service application I’ve ever tried. At slow connection speeds you have to be VERY patient. Well, let’s not forget this is a beta release and hope for the best.
With connection fast enough, enjoy cool options and spectacular slideshows. In 2 days of service there are thousands new galleries uploaded. Just be creative, Adobe provides the rest.

Adobe Launches Photoshop Express Public Beta

2008-03-27T23:23:00.004-04:00

Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced Adobe Photoshop Express public beta, a free Rich Internet Application available to anyone who wants to store, sort and show off digital photos with eye-catching effects. During the public beta period, Adobe will solicit Photoshop Express user feedback on product features and functionality, which will continue to evolve over time. As the newest addition to the Photoshop family line, Photoshop Express has taken much of Adobe's best image editing technology and made it simple and accessible to a new online audience. Photoshop Express allows users to store up to 2 gigabytes of images online for free, make edits to their photos, and share them online in creative ways, including downloading and uploading photos from popular social networking sites like Facebook.

Simple, Fun and Accessible

Upload and sort digital photos anytime, edit non-destructively to always preserve the original image, and share from anywhere, on any Web browser.

In a few easy clicks, make standard edits, such as removing blemishes and red-eye, converting to black and white, cropping and resizing, and much more. No experience is required to add special effects that will impress friends and family.

Use Pop Color to select an object in an image, mute the background color of the photo and swap the object's color, so it jumps off the page.

Make photos look like drawings with Sketch effects.

Use Distort feature to distort facial features or objects within the images for a comical or artistic effect. Even users with limited photo editing knowledge, can simply select what looks best from a line-up of sample photos, which provides a series of visual hints showing different variations of the added effect.

Variety of Creative Sharing Options

Upload and show off photos and slideshows in your own online "Gallery" hosted by Adobe.

Conveniently embed or link photos to social networking sites and personal blogs without having to leave the application.

Make your slideshows look better with animation that makes photos float and fly across the screen, allowing for viewer interactivity and unique presentation styles.

Photoshop Express is the latest step Adobe is taking to leverage the advanced technology that underpins its award-winning creative products and deliver it to new online communities.

Free and Available Now

Adobe Photoshop Express beta is available now for free via any Web browser at http://www.photoshop.com/express

Photoshop Express was created with Flex, Adobe's free, open source framework for building RIAs. Flex applications provide a consistent, rich user experience across operating systems and all major browsers, including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and others.

An Internet connection and an up-to-date Flash Player 9 are all that are required to experience Adobe Photoshop Express.

In its early phases, Photoshop Express is available to US residents-only in English. Users may experience slow performance if accessed outside of the US. Future plans include availability in other languages and countries.
"