Photography Roundup - 12/19

Summary of photo news, the latest contests, and more

By K David in Columns on Dec 19, 2015

Super Blood Moon Eclipse | diHib

Long nights in the Northern Hemisphere make for great opportunities to capture overnight images. The image above, diHib's Super Blood Moon, is an incredible example of what some planning and post work can deliver. Check out the original thread (linked in the image's title) for details on how the image was created.

Christmas 2015 Giveaway

2015's holiday season has arrived and it's that time of year when Pentax Forums gives away Christmas presents.  You can win any of the prizes pictured above, including a Pentax K-50 and lenses! Check out the entry details here.

Featured Deals

For those of you who celebrate the holidays with gifts, we're down to the wire on gifts to choose. Here are some deals that will help put a new Pentax or other piece of camera kit in your loved ones' hands.

• Pentax K-3 II - $729
• B&H / Adorama Deal Roundup - Week of Dec 14th
• 128Gb Lexar Professional SD card - $55
• Jet.com - DA 50mm f/1.8 for $90.45
• Manfrotto Pro Shoulder Bag 50, now $35
• MeFOTO DayTrip Mini Tripods at Woot $65
• Pentax K-S2 (orange) , $440 at the Pentax Webstore
• Clik Elite Venture 30 Backback - $89
• Lowepro Nova Sport 35L AW Slate Gray $15 After Rebate

Pentax Forums Roundup

Seasonal Theme Image

Official Monthly Contest #112, Seasonal, Accepting Submissions

The final official monthly photo contest of 2015 is live and ready for your submissions. Check out Official Monthly Photo Contest #112, Seasonal!

Official Month Contest #111, Motion, Voting Phase

Vote for the overall winner from among the 15 finalists in last month's Motion contest!

"Everyday Objects" Photo Challenge

Bananas | a.t.

Some of the most interesting photo subjects are around us all the time. Check out the Everyday Objects thread for lots of great photos of everyday objects.

Gear News

As 2015 ends, we're seeing little, but exciting, news. 2016 will likely be dominated, for us, by discussion of the Pentax Full Frame body. Speaking of 2016, we have a straw poll live so that Forum members can tell us what types of articles they want to see more of.

Pentax Full Frame Teasuer Image

• Big Pentax Full Frame News!
• Ricoh Theta Named Most Unique Camera of the Year by Imaging Resource
• D FA* 70-200mm f/2.8 Release Date Set

Good Reads

It's a great time of year to hunker down and read some interesting articles, dig into some evocative images, and learn a little bit about photographic history. This week, we have a good deal of all of that for you in our good reads.

• Forget All the Fancy Photo Gear, Here is What A Truly Minimalistic Photographer Looks Like
• Becoming a Commercial Photographer
• One Thing That Will Make You the Best Photographer
• Securing the Credibility of Photojournalism: New Rules from World Press Photo
• Clever Photog Builds a Fully-automatic Photo Processor
• Photographer Dave Sandford Overwhelmed by Response to Lake Erie Pictures
• Russian Miner Spends His Breaks Taking Photos Of Foxes In The Arctic Circle (Part 1)
• Russian Miner Spends His Breaks Photographing Foxes In The Arctic Circle (Part 2) 
• Fascinating Images Reveal the Genesis of the TWA Flight Center, America’s Greatest Terminal
• Enosim: Wasted Souls
• See the Eerie Life-Size Portraits Created in a Camera Obscura
• 108-year-old Article Details how Photos were Faked Before
• Rare Color Photos Of Paris Taken 100 Years Ago

Interesting Kickstarter

Glidearm

This week we look at Glidearm, a compact camera panning system that allows a good deal of expansion, built-in camera tracking, and has a lot of room for creative camera angle use. Using a design similar to that of a human arm, the Gildearm has a total pan length of four times its closed size. Using gearing with internal pulleys, the Glidearm transmits force smoothly to obtain shake-free panning shots for camera up to 2.2 pounds (one kilogram.)

As always, Pentax Forums has no connection to the product or developers. We do not endorse the product or developers and share interesting Kickstarter projects so our readers can remain current on cutting-edge photographic innovation.