technology MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2016 Capture the beauty of marine life with some easy photography tips DUBAI: Canon Middle East, the leader in imaging products and solutions, announced their partnership with Discovery Channel ‘Shark Week’ exhibition at Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo as the ‘Imaging Partner’ of the exhibition. In its role as an imaging partner, Canon Middle East has supported Discovery Channel and Emaar Entertainment, which manages Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, by providing them with EOS 5D Mark III and Legria mini X cameras. The highly powerful cameras have been used to shoot a documentary that Discovery Consumer Products and Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo have produced, highlight- ing shark conservation in the Arab world and the Shark Week exhibition project, titled ‘Arabia’s Sharks - A Journey of Discovery’. Jonathan Ali Khan from Wild Planet Productions and director of the documen- tary shares some key photography tips on shooting images underwater with marine life, especially with sharks: under and above water. The more experi- you are about to shoot. Go online and which has evolved to blend in with the balance of your image at all times. Use this 1. The advantages of digital: ence you have with your camera, the easier research the subject, read books and water. function constantly as it is the first real Digital is incredibly advantageous. it becomes to plan your images. spend time observing the animal and its means (other than exposure and focus), to Viewing your results straightaway under- setting, trying to anticipate moments of 6. Capturing The Moment: manipulate the true colors of the scene water is essential in getting to perfecting 3. Perfect your skills: behavior or action that best characterize During shark dives, your mind needs to and enable you to craft your edges. your image, and you are no longer limited Whilst essential for ALL divers to perfect the subject. Be prepared to spend hours be ready and the fingers of your hands to 36-exposures like the old days of film on your buoyancy and other diving skills, min- and repetitive dives in order to get a single should act if they playing an instrument: 8. Build your story: each dive. The ability to the delete the bad imizing your impact on the environment - shot! metering the background water, getting Take time to build a story around the frames means that the greatest limitation it is more so for photographers and video- the right exposure with f-stop corrections, images, including use of top-side is either when the battery runs out; you fill graphers. 5. Close To Your Subject: finding the best composition - everything ‘moments’ that help to complete your col- your card; or your dive time ends. The use of autofocus, auto exposure Being alone in the water is the best way should become almost automatic lection. controls, and the ability to take a white bal- to let animals come close. This is especially If lucky, groups of sharks are more likely 2. Choosing the right system: ance and change the ISO during the dive, important for underwater photography. than single animals to stay around for a 9. Be Bold but Sensible: Choose a camera system according to all help to free up the photographer to Less water between the subject and the while, providing a number of chances. Remain calm around sharks and learn your skill levels and intentions for the focus on finding the subject, composing camera means better visibility, fewer sus- After the first approach, find the best set- to detect their body language. Most sharks future. Start how you intend to continue and lighting the shots, while being careful pended particles, fewer micro-bubbles ting and concentrate on the composition exhibit swimming patterns that demon- for years to come with a system that allows not to damage the precious aquatic life reflecting the light and better sharpness. to get a wider choice and keep shooting. strate their state of mind; dorsal fins down you to upgrade as you grow your skill-set around you. In the right situation, marine creatures and arched back provides ample warning and interest levels. Become self-sufficient as you will need are often curious rather than elusive. they 7. Crafting the image: as they are letting you know you should If you decide on a compact solution, to conduct solo-dives for best results. will choose the direction, the speed, the In open water, depending on depth, move away. push your budget to include the best you angle- — and most of the time they will be light penetrates the water in a way that fil- Failing to recognize these signs may can afford, with lens adaptors and diopters, 4. Learn about your choice of subject: in the ters out the color spectrum. Good camera result in unpleasant consequences - and strobes, etc. If you decide on a DSLR, Study up and get as much information back-light in order to take advantage of models provide excellent white-balance you will only have yourself to blame if choose a camera that suits you equally as possible about the animal or subject using the natural light to hide their body, features so that you can control the color things go wrong! New messaging apps gain traction in workplace No more messy emails WASHINGTON: Looking to break als” have different ways of working. ness productivity,” he said. email and Skype, aiming for a broad out of a “messy” email situation, the “They want to work when they want Slack and rivals like Atlassian’s set of business tools under its nonprofit group dosomething.org to, they want chat sessions that bet- HipChat and Microsoft’s Yammer umbrella. “Microsoft hasn’t made a recently switched over to a new way ter integrate with their social media offer social media-style interfaces for lot of noise, but they have been of communicating among its far- lives,” Le Clair said. Le Clair said many messages, and some integrate with aggressive in remaining the domi- flung teams. workplaces are facing “information business applications to enable nant place in productivity applica- Moving most internal communi- overload” due to the volume of voice calls, video and other services. tions,” Castanon-Martinez said. cations to the messaging application emails that need to be sorted and Slack recently teamed with cloud Aggressive pricing is also being Slack with its “channels” for various prioritized. “The goal is to get out of computing group Salesforce to used as a way to woo businesses teams made it easier to coordinate email hell,” he said. broaden its offerings in services such away from Slack. Microsoft offers its CHINA: Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, left, and Chen Dong, right, chat the group’s social change projects as customer relations management. suite of services for $2 to $4 per user, behind a glass enclosure during a presser at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch across 131 countries, said software ‘Just sign up’ Slack also allows organizations to and Facebook $1 to $3 per user engineer Joe Kent. “All the teams Small- and medium-sized busi- create channels for communicating compared with Slack’s standard Center in northwest China yesterday. —AP have their channels and anyone can $6.67 per user. jump in and see what the others are doing,” Kent told AFP. “You can follow The Facebook model China to blast 2 the conversation a lot more quickly.” Facebook meanwhile is seeking Slack, created in 2013, has to use its advantage as “the social become a leader in a crowded field media world that millennials grew into space today of new applications aimed at help- up with,” Le Clair said. But the analyst ing workplaces move away from said it is not clear if companies and email. Facebook this month jumped network managers will move to the BEIJING: Chinese officials unveiled plans sion for two years and docking with three headlong into this segment with its Facebook platform. “Most of the for today’s launch of the country’s latest visiting spacecraft. The Tiangong, or Workplace application, aiming to employers and managers didn’t space mission in which two astronauts will “Heavenly Palace,” stations are considered leverage the popularity of the lead- grow up in that world,” he said. “They be blasted into space and will dock with an stepping stones to a mission to Mars by ing social network used by some 1.7 associate Facebook with something orbiting space lab. the end of the decade. billion people. nesses find Slack especially appeal- outside the enterprise, powered by their kids are doing, it’s not associat- The Shenzhou 11 spacecraft will be Wu identified the astronauts flying the Facebook is among an array of ing because of its ease of use on artificial intelligence “bots.” “Slack is ed with productivity and getting launched at 7:30 a.m., said Wu Ping, mission as 49-year-old Jing Haipeng and competitors vying for a slice of this both mobile and desktop devices, moving away from just being a mes- work done. Some companies even deputy director of China’s manned space 37-year-old Chen Dong. It will be Jing’s market, including several startups says Mark Beccue, an analyst who saging tool, they want to be the restrict the use of Facebook in the engineering office, in a televised news con- third flight into space following missions in and Microsoft. researched the market for Compass home base for enterprise applica- workplace.” ference. The Shenzhou mission will take off 2008 and 2012. “It is any astronaut’s dream San Francisco-based Slack has Intelligence. “There’s no friction. tions, and that’s a different ball- Analysts point out that Slack and aboard a Long March-2F carrier rocket and pursuit to be able to perform many raised some $500 million at a report- Companies don’t have to go through game,” said Raul Castanon-Martinez, similar platforms may increase the from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center space missions,” Jing said at a separate ed valuation of some $4 billion, mak- a major software license process, you an analyst at 451 Research.