If you are like me, you probably have hundreds of old 35mm film negatives around your house or studio.

Until now the only way i had to bring them to life was to go for the tedious process of being in front of a desktop computer and use an expensive scanner and wait about 5 minutes for each strip of film to scan (bigger resolution you want, the more time it takes).

I have one for 35mm and medium-format, and over the years being trying to scan all my film archive, but when I get back to this task, it’s like an impossible mission!

Sure, the quality is very good and you should scan with high resolution and dpi (dots per inches), especially if you intent to make prints in the long run.

But would it be nice if there was a way to bring those film memories into the digital world in a portable, simple and inexpensive way? And without using a computer but just your phone? Yes, your phone!

Well, apparently the great people from Lomography has thought about this idea and just released a new product – The Smartphone Film Scanner.

It works with many Android phones and iPhone (all models) and the great thing about this scanner is that will scan color negative, color slide and black & white films. Also the Smartphone Scanner uses only 2 AA batteries so you can just take anywhere in your bag!

Here´s the promo video Lomography made to present the Smartphone Film Scanner:

The free Lomoscanner App will allow you to edit negative scans into positives and with other features like making panoramas from stitch together scans. But you can also use many other apps to help you scan your photos (like 645 Pro, Camera+, Pureshot, etc).

I can tell you this scanner is already in my wish list, and for just $59 / €59 its really a bargain. As soon as I get it I will make more tests and post a complete review on this Smartphone Film Scanner.

For more information and lots of tutorials to get the best of your scanning, just follow this link for the official website: Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner

The Canadian rock band Danko Jones played this weekend at the TMN club in Lisbon for their European Tour. Sold out venue to listen to the debut album – “Rock And Roll Is Back And Blue” plus older songs from the band. Outside it was raining and cold but inside the club was pretty hot!

Last time Danko Jones played on a Summer festival I was not able to come to their show, so i was a little curious about their performance on such a small place like TMN ao Vivo. Well, beside the general “3 song ” rule, it was only allowed to shoot from the top floor balcony. The club does not have a pit, but was fine for the job. 

Lens Used:

• Nikon AF-S 24-70mm/2.8G ED
• Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens

Photo Gallery

Last show from Dead Combo performing at LUX-Frágil club. During this small presentation, they played most of the songs from last album -”Lisboa Mulata” and gave to the audience just a little bit of what to expect for the next Optimus Alive show.

Lens Used:

• Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G Lens
• Nikon AF-S 24-70mm/2.8G ED

Photo Gallery

The Legendary Tigerman is truly a one man show. Packet with a customize drum kit, Gretsch guitars and lots of stomp boxes he just delivers a powerful concert! This time it was at LUX-Frágil club, where he played a small version of the full show but it was Rock & Blues at his best!

Its seems a curse or something, but I am still waiting for a chance to shoot The Legendary Tigerman on a big venue, with a proper stage and good light. Every time I´ve done his concerts is always in some small, dark club. Now that summer festivals are starting, let´s hope I can.

Lens Used:

• Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G Lens
• Nikon AF-S 24-70mm/2.8G ED

Photo Gallery

Scaled to fit today’s smaller mirrorless camera kits, such as a Fuji X–Pro 1 or Leica M cameras, our friends at Think Tank Photo just announced their first camera bag collection for Mirrorless cameras, the Mirrorless Movers™. The Mirrorless Movers come in four sizes that range in size from the Mirrorless Mover 5 up to the Mirrorless Mover 30i, which fits one medium to large size mirrorless body plus two to four lenses and an iPad.

As is their design philosophy, Think Tank placed a premium on quality. The new bags utilize metal hardware instead of plastic buckles, and only high quality fabrics, YKK zippers and a new, magnetic closure. In the words of their president and lead designer Doug Murdoch, “The Mirrorless Movers offer photographers quality in their camera bags worthy of their investment in these sophisticated, expensive camera systems.”

When you click on this special link you will receive free gear with all orders of $50 or more and free shipping on all orders if you order by May 31, 2013.

The four sizes are:

• The Mirrorless Mover 5 fits one small size mirrorless body with a small telephoto or pancake lens attached. It is sized for the Canon EOS–M, Leica D–Lux, Nikon 1 series, Olympus E–PM2, E–PL5, EP–3, Panasonic GF3, Sony NEX–C3, or similar sized bodies.
• The Mirrorless Mover 10 fits one medium size mirrorless body plus one to two lenses and additional accessories. It is sized for the Leica V–Lux, Olympus OM–D E–M5, Panasonic G3, GF5, GH2, Samsung NX5, NX11, NX210, Sony NEX–5, NEX–6, NEX–7, or similar sized/smaller bodies.
• The Mirrorless Mover 20 fits one medium size mirrorless body plus two to three lenses and additional accessories. It is sized for the Leica V–Lux, Olympus OM–D E–M5, Panasonic G3, GF5, GH2, Samsung NX5, NX11, NX210, Sony NEX–5, NEX–6, NEX–7, or similar sized/smaller bodies.
• The Mirrorless Mover 30i fits one medium to large size mirrorless body plus two to four lenses, iPad, and additional accessories or a small–size DSLR and one to three small telephoto lenses or primes. It is sized for the Fuji X–Pro 1, Leica M8, Panasonic GH3 or similar sized/smaller bodies. Small DSLRs: Canon Rebel, Nikon D3200/D5200, Sony SLT–A55/A37 or similar sized bodies.

Gabriel O Pensador, the famous rapper from Brazil came to Lisbon yesterday to present the new tour and album: “Sem Crise”. At Teatro Tivoli he played loud and clear his message about poverty, racism and violence in a mixture of Funk, Jazz, Bossa Nova and MPB.

Friendly as always with the press, Gabriel´s management allow me to shoot the first 6 songs! This is much more the usual rules, and if I am mention this fact, is to let you know that there´s still artists that respect photographers work and they know how important is to bring their message to places where some people will never have the chance to see them live.

Lens Used:

• Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens
• Nikon AF NIKKOR 24mm f/2.8D Lens

Photo Gallery

Adobe introduced Creative Cloud just over a year ago. It is a subscription service for using all of its tools for creative users, photographers, videographers, etc. It was an option, you could still buy and purchase the software and upgrades for the CS6. But yesterday Adobe, at its Max conference in Los Angeles, drop a big bomb. Everyone was expecting the announce of Creative Suite 7. But no…

Fact is, Adobe is ending Creative Suite, and for all of us that use and have purchase their software, the only way to keep using the tools is to subscribe to Creative Cloud for $29.95 per month for limited time.

I’ve been an Adobe software user for about 20 years, Photoshop and Lightroom on a daily basis. This means I will need to pay a rent to keep using Photoshop with new features and latest versions. And you will never own the software!

Well Adobe, I don’t like the fact you are changing the game!

More and more companies are pushing people to subscriptions services. It’s happening with music, games and movies. But you still have the option to buy CDs or DVDs. In this case, there’s no option.

Hope other software companies don’t take this path, or better yet, this can make others invest more on the editing software alternatives already in the market.

How about you, what’s your thoughts about Adobe decision and how it’s going to influence your work?

As you have notice, I only post my work into my photoblog. The reason is simple, I administrate the servers, my domain and I can do whatever I want concerning all the content and design. Yes, you might try to download or do a screen capture of my work, but still I can control everything that happens on my end.

Also, I’ve always read the license terms for any service I sign-in, so when was time to open a Facebook page and a Google+ profile, I was sure to not skip a line and what impact could have by sharing my photos on these networks.

And I was not happy, when you share a photo or any other content, you are basically giving a royal-free license for them to use and reuse and sometimes, in case of Google+, it’s a life time term! To all the professionals and creative people out there this is just unacceptable!

Maybe you’re using the social media to meet new people, share pictures of your friends at parties, and not concern about your privacy. Well if that’s you, it´s fine. But I am talking about pro photographers that are depending on their work to promote, get assignments and payed jobs.

Every day I read reports from other fellow photographers and how their work got stolen and used without any permission. For example, the recent cases where websites with portfolios are completely copy or some site in Dubai used Zack Arias portrait pictures from the Coke CEO assignment.

So should you take the risk of sharing over these networks, give them your license rights and still be prepare to get your work stolen for any use? Is it worth it?

In my opinion, it’s not. My advise, get yourself a unique, compelling website or photoblog for your clients and public came visit and enjoy your work. It might cost you some money at the beginning, but you will see that will be worth it in the future.

For more information of the licensing rights for using Facebook and Google+ services, and what all the terms meaning, I recommend this very informative article from Liz Masoner:

Facebook vs. Google+ Licensing Rights: Who is More Photographer Friendly?

Full house to celebrate 10 years of Dead´s Combo music. This mixture of R&B with Fado made Dead Combo to be one of the most original music projects from Portugal. During this time they have tour in many countries around the world, and last night they have return to the city that saw them born – Lisbon.

During these years, I have shot several Dead Combo concerts, so I knew very well how is the light design and set during their performance. Its not a easy task to capture the mood and ambience that goes on Dead´s Combo stage within a very low light.

Also this theatre is a great venue on a beautiful building, but there´s no pit or special place for the press.
In case of the photographers, most of the time the shooting is from the soundboard.

To summarise in my head, I decided to bring the 24mm and 50mm prime lenses, because they are fast (great for low light), especially the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G Lens, its a great lens for this situation, small, light on weight and very sharp.

Of course if you are going to shoot from the soundboard all the time at this venue, the primes don´t do you any good, cause it´s just too far away, but thanks to the promoter and the artistic director of the Teatro São Luiz, I was able to shoot from other spots in the room.

Again, sometimes it can be a frustration not being able to shoot at higher speed (shutter) and having more light on stage at your disposal, but by using the right combination of ISO, fast lenses, steady hands and great patience, sure its possible to pull it off!

Lens Used:

• Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens
• Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G Lens
• Nikon AF NIKKOR 24mm f/2.8D Lens

Photo Gallery

This is just a quick preview from the Dead Combo concert performed at Teatro São Luis.
Full set with my photographic notes will come in the next hours.