Technology Explained, Practice
Daniela Bowker
Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! ...

When you hear the term 'high-res' thrown about with such abandon when it comes to images for web use, have you ever stopped to think just how big or how high quality and image meant for the web needs to be?

Resolution and pixels and image quality! Oh my! Saving images for the web
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring

There's an assumption that high-contrast images are more dynamic, more compelling, more inviting. Have a go at some low-contrast photography. You might surprise yourself with the results.

Low-contrast photographs don't have to be boring
Feature Articles, Theory
Daniela Bowker
Seeking balance in your photos

Balance doesn't mean symmetry; it means an internal consistency and tension within your photos. And it's a vital element of composition. 

Seeking balance in your photos
Feature Articles, Photography Theory
Haje Jan Kamps
Training your photographic luck

Great photos might be down to a little bit of luck, but most of that 'luck' you make yourself. Don't believe us? Read on...

Training your photographic luck
Feature Articles, Practice
Daniela Bowker
The ups and downs and ins and outs of ...

Photographing buildings doesn't have to mean wide-angle lenses and fretting about correcting for the keystone effect. Any lens, and angle. Don't believe us? Let us show you!

The ups and downs and ins and outs of photographing buildings

photo storage

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Video comes to photo storage app Loom

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I've been a fan of Loom since since I tried out its public beta version earlier this year. It's a photo storage service that allows you to access your images across all of your devices as well as auto-upload them to take some of the strain off of keeping your back-ups secure. It's easy to use and looks good, too. Today they've released their biggest update to date, which will allow users to play and stream videos on their iPhones, iPads, and from the website. The process that their developers have implemented lets users watch their videos almost automatically without any of that pesky buffering. As soon as you press 'play' it starts to stream the lowest quality version of the recording while simultaneously buffering the higher quality one and switching to that as soon as your Internet cnnection and screen resolution lets you. Yes, it's similar to the system that Netflix uses.

They've made a pretty video to show it off, too:

Loom already gives you 5GB of storage for free; 50GB costs $39.99 for a year, or $99.99 buys 250GB of storage for a year. However, if you refer your family and friends to Loom you can pick up an extra 5GB for free.

Yes, Loom is only iOS-only at the moment, but Android expansion is planned. Let's hope that's Loom's next major update and it comes along quickly!

So long, Everpix

Everpix, the San Francisco-based photo management and organisation app, has announced that it has commenced shut down of its service and will cease operations entirely on 15 December 2013. The idea behind Everpix, founded in 2011 by two ex-Apple employees and an ex-Odopod designer, was to bring organisation to the thousands of photos that we all have, scattered across different devices, sorting them according to creation date, making them searchable, and allowing you to share them easily by email, photo page, or social media. According to the Everpix team, in a blog post, 'We were unable to secure sufficient funding in order to properly scale the business, and our endeavors to find a new home for Everpix did not come to pass. At this point, we have no other options but to discontinue the service.'

There are full details on the shut-down process on its support site, and users will be emailed in due course, too. But the team has assured users that their images will be available for download until 15 December 2013, they will receive refunds on the cost of their apps, and their data will not be sold or transfered to any other companies. From now on, no one will be able to sync images from their devices to Everpix and sign-ups have been suspended.

You'd think with so many million photos in existence, there would be ample demand, but Everpix's demise proves that it isn't easy money. The image storage, sharing, and back-up space is a crowded place. Everpix isn't the first, and I doubt that they'll be the last, especially now that the likes of Flickr and Google+ offer oodles of free storage and the beginnings of automated back-up. If nothing else, please remember not to place all of your eggs in one basket.