If You Squinch You Will Look Better in Photos

Let’s start with what “squinch” means. According to the Merriam Webster:

SQUINCH

transitive verb 1: to screw up (the eyes or face); squint 2: to make more compact.

It’s professional portrait photographer Peter Hurley who gives this advice. Hurley is not new to this kind of hints. Back in February he published a video tutorial about how to improve portrait photographs by focusing on the jawline of your subject (video below). For Hurley squinching is [quoting PetaPixel]:

the action of squinting your eyes in such a way as to portray confidence and self-assurance as opposed to the fear and uncertainty that you project when you stare wide-eyed at the camera

Squinching is not squinting, as PetaPixel explains:

One final clarifying point, and Hurley is big on this: squinching isn’t the same as squinting! The difference is minor but important. When you squint, your top and bottom eyelids close up and your eyes end up all but disappearing — you look neither confident nor self-assured.

With ‘squinching,’ you’re lifting and tightening the lower eyelid, while only letting the top one come down a hair. It might seem like a slight difference (and it is) but it’s a big deal when you get in front of the camera.

Try it out! :-)

[via PetaPixel]

Refurbished Canon VIXIA HF R400 Full HD Camcorder – $160

Canon VIXIA HF R400

B&H has refurbished Canon VIXIA HF R400 camcorders for just $159.95 (click here). Core specs:

  • Capture Full HD 1920 x 1080p Video
  • Canon 3.28 Megapixel Full HD CMOS Sensor
  • Record Directly to SD/SDHC/SDXC Card
  • Record in AVCHD or MP4 Formats
  • Capacitive 3″ Touch Panel LCD
  • Genuine Canon HD Video Lens
  • 53x Advanced Zoom
  • SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization
  • DIGIC DV 4 Image Processor
  • Baby Mode, Smart AUTO & Intelligent IS

Product derscription after the break:

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Canon vs Third Party Batteries – Which Last Longer?

Dave Dugdale from Learning DSLR Video wanted to know, and put a genuine Canon LP-E6 battery vs a Watson LP-E6. He found that the Watson must have a chip built in since the 5D Mark III can register it and track the performance. Contrary to the Canon manual saying you can recharge whenever you want, the Watson manual says to recharge only when the battery is dead. This could mean that the Watson battery has less charging cycles.

In his tests a new Watson LP-E6 lasted 1 hour and 9 minutes, a one year old Canon LP-E6 lasted 1 hour and 28 minutes. Consider that the Watson is about half the price of the Canon (or even less).

What’s your experience? Are you using third party batteries (I do)? However, be aware of counterfeit batteries: Canon has a page dedicated to this issue.

Vivitar 85mm f/1.4 for $125

Vivitar 85mm f/1.4

Adorama has the Vivitar 85mm f/1.4 lens on sale for $124.95 (click here). This is a pretty nice portrait lens with a great aperture. Core specs:

  • Creates outstanding sharp, defined images with high contrast at the maximum f/1.8 aperture
  • Superior peripheral brightness by using hybrid aspherical glass, correcting chromatic aberration
  • Super multi-layered coating reduces flare and ghosting
  • Highly refractive and dispersed optical elements (6 elements, 6 groups)
  • Maintains a compact size with an inner focus design

Rumor: New Canon EOS-1 DSLR in 2014

Canon EOS-1

According to NL, Canon will announce a new EOS-1 series body in 2014. The announcement should happen at the same time when Nikon announces the (also rumored) D4x.

The camera is defined as a “high end” DSLR, and it will come with “lenses to match”. it appears that prototypes will be tested at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. No word if this will be the high megapixel DSLR Canon is supposed to announce sooner or later. Finally, the rumor states that Canon will not repeat the mistake made when they announced the EOS-1 X: the EOS -1 X was announced before the Nikon D4 but shipped much later.