Monthly Archives: July 2008

Still off the air (sort of)

Well, with the geographic relocation finished, we are now waiting on the arrival of our furniture (next week Tuesday) and the installation of the internet (Saturday) to return things to normal.  As to the missing post from yesterday, I am not sure why the queued ones did not publish past Monday.  I remember writing them, but did not see them in the WordPress interface once I logged in.  In any case, my apologies for the extended absence. During the interim, I am able to get intermittent access through an open wireless connection emanating from a city access point apparently positioned … Continue reading

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Monday Mailbag

In lieu of an actual post, I am writing this in advance and taking the time to answer some email and comment questions that have built up over the past few weeks.  My apologies to those that have not had their questions answered yet. but here we go: First up is Joel.  Joel asked if there is a way to attach a set of binoculars or some other device t your camera for increased magnification without having to buy the expensive zoom lenses.  The answer is a partial yes.  You can do such a thing, but your image quality will … Continue reading

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Off the Air

Hey all, it’s Friday night, nearing on midnight Eastern time, and our “D-Day” is about 9 hours away.  As the immortal words of John Denver “My bags are packed and I’m ready to go…”  Well, not really, as I still have the computer stuff, photo stuff, and food stuff to pack in the cars, but that should take a mere 30 minutes or so, perhaps an hour, and then we’re off into the wild blue yonder. Since I am not sure if I will have internet access initially, and being that this is Friday, I’ve planned ahead and taken care … Continue reading

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Thursday Thoughts

As I have been packing for the eventual move which I am sure all of you are sick of hearing about by now, I have also been finishing up a few photo-related projects while in the process of packing all our earthly posessions.  That mountainous task is almost done, and a few good things have come about as a result of it. You may or may not recall a project I began a while ago where I was collecting only the articles of personal interest I find in my magazine subscriptions.  I clipped these out, and would save them in … Continue reading

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What-s This – Week 7

Kind of funny how moving gives you new perspective on things. While packing and discarding and selling various things we’ve collected over the past 4 years, I wind up seeing things I’ve not seen in a while (or at least seeing things in a new way as I bend and lean over boxes to get through a day. The above is a different angle on an everyday object. It is a “what’s this” though, because it likely is not obvious to most. Undoubtedly, someone will prove me wrong by saying “This is a ___” and get it right in like … Continue reading

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Tuesday Two Minute Tip

That’s right, I’ve finally gotten back in the saddle for some good old fashioned Photoshop fun. Today, it’s a quickie, but then again, that’s how we like our information on the web: short, sweet, and to the point. Today I give a little tip on how you can use the Clouds filter in Photoshop. This technique works in pretty much any of the last 3 iterations of the software (I am assuming it works in CS – I got into the game in CS2 worlds…). Anyway, take a gander on the download feed listed at the end of the post. … Continue reading

Posted in News, Photoshop, Video, personal, potd, technical, tips and tricks, tutorial | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Monday Minutes

Hey gang, welcome to Monday, July 21st. Today is an exciting day for several reasons, both personally and professionally: First of all, unless traffic falls precipitously, today Canon Blogger will go over the 60,000 mark in terms of number of visitors! I am both honored and flattered to have been the source of such interest since starting the blog. Since I installed Google Analytics and got that running on October 1st, I am using that date as the unofficial start date for the blog. While the first blog post was technically made much earlier than that (August 22nd), the first … Continue reading

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Friday Flyby

Here’s a few tidbits for you this Friday – I am literally running out the door for a “last supper” with some famiyl friends before we leave for Colorado next week.  So, the post today is expectedly short.  Call it the “Fantastic Four for Friday!” Don’t forget, the Canonblogger Photo Contest.  Join the Flickr group, share a shot and win a $25 gift card to B&H! Shoot the Day! is this Sunday!  Register at Photoshelter and share pics there to win prizes too! For the latest in photo news, and to bring yourself up to speed with copyright law, head … Continue reading

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Kickstart that Creativity

In a rut?  Got writer’s block or photo funk?  Here’s some great ways to kickstart those creative juices!  This is actually part of a larger work I am putting together, called 101 Sources of Inspiration.  Here’s the first 25 I’ve put together: Inspired Photography: 25 sources of inspiration   As we all endeavor to find new ways to express ourselves creatively, we can often find ourselves in search of inspiration to give purpose and definition to our expression.  Here are a number of sources that can inspire.  Some are traditional, while others are hopefully new venues to spark those creative juices.   … Continue reading

Posted in Articles, quality, thoughts | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

What’s this? – Week 6

So, any guesses for the latest edition of “What’s This?” Last week, the crop was from some fancy ornate crown molding in a capture from an old plantation house here in SC. It was kind of a stretch as I was pulling from my portfolio, rather than taking a shot specifically with the weekly theme in mind. This week I did a mite better though. I had hoped to have a tutorial compiled for publishing tonight too, but alas, t’was not meant to be. Someone did mention in the comments earlier this week though that the title page was notdisplaying … Continue reading

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Slideshow Secrets

As I thought about the tutorial for today, I pondered doing a quick set of tips for Photoshop, like CTRL+J for a duplicate late, CTRL=ALT+SHift+E to stamp all visible layers on to a new layer, and other such trinkets.  While debating which ones to include I was continuing the process of winnowing down the last of my photo magazines to just the articles I wanted to keep.   I was also thinking that perhaps a subject would come to me that could add a new dimension to the blog, when as luck would have it – the subject came to me. … Continue reading

Posted in Adobe, Lightroom, Lightroom 2.0 beta, Photoshop, slideshows, tips and tricks | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Monday Mindbender

I was catching up on some recent photo magazines and the August issue of Shutterbug had a pretty cool picture. The theme was “Letters”, and people were taking pictures of various letters of the alphabet. Erica Ellis had a very interesting capture, shown below: The challenge here was to see how many letters of the alphabet you could find in the image. It took me about ten minutes, but I was successfully able to decipher the outline of all 26 letters of the alphabet. How many did you get? Share your results in the comments (or over at the Flickr … Continue reading

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Back to Basics

Today as I am getting back into the swing of things after a day or so of downtime, I have a couple miscellaneous items that may be of use…  A lot of it is basic stuff, but there is a common thread to it as they all involve some concept of “back”.  So, here is a Friday Foursome of tips to improve your photos.  The theme:  Back to Basics   Back story – provide some background on how you got the shot.  Give it a personal meaning or significance for the viewer.  Often times connections with imagery are because of … Continue reading

Posted in Friday Follies, News, lists, tips and tricks | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Another blogger gone silent

It’s been rather draining this week, so in keeping with The Online Photographer, PhotowalkPro, and others like them – I am taking the day off to recharge and re-energize.  Be back tomorrow for a new day of photography fun and information.  Happy shooting, and as always, watch those apertures!

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What’s This? Week 5 – or is it 6?

This last week have been rather hectic for me, so I honestly don’t remember what week we are on for the “What’s This?” theme.   I think it’s Week5, but perhaps someone could confirm this for me in the comments.  Truth be told, I also have not had the luxury of much surf time so I don’t have much in the way of web traffic to point people to. Just a couple links to float out there for you.  First, this is day 6 of the first ever CB photo contest “Photographing Freedom”, so keep that in mind.  News and info … Continue reading

Posted in Adobe, Photoshop, personal, thoughts, web links | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The 40D versus the XT

We are now in day 5 of the first ever photo contest from Canon Blogger, so keep thinking freedom as you point that lens – it could win you cold hard cash!  Check out the details from the post of July 3rd, here. In new news, I got a good long weekend with family to shoot with the 40D, and after some pretty extensive shooting (over 1500 shots in 48 hours), I’ve had a chance to get at least a good handle on the basics of the 40D.  Granted I do not have the minutia of it down pat like … Continue reading

Posted in 350D, 40D, Canon, competition, personal | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Beauty of Bokeh

Happy Monday to all – before getting into this week’s first post, I’d like to take a moment and remind everone of the NEW CONTEST that CB has started.  The theme is Photograph Freedom, and there are prizes to be had.  More details can be found on the post from 7-3, linked here. On to new news, I was thinking about subjects over the course of the weekend that could serve as useful material for fellow photographers and aspiring photographers that has not seen much coverage lately (no sense in repeating everything that everyone else has already said 10 different … Continue reading

Posted in Articles, News, competition, content, technical | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

No Blog Friday – Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July to everyone!  Don’t forget – the contest starts today, so get out there, take pictures and win!  Happy shooting and watch those apertures!

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Photograph that freedom!

With tomorrow being the 4th of July, I will be taking the day off from blogging. I will be taking a short trip to NY to spend some time with family and close friends over the long weekend – then it’s back to SC to finish our packing and preparations for the move to Colorado. While many others will also be traveling and spending time with family and friends, we will all no doubt be snapping away with our cameras. We’ll likely be capturing our relatives, families and friends in various activities: eating, drinking, general merriment, perhaps a baseball game, … Continue reading

Posted in Announcements, potd | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Wednesday Walk around the Web returns

As the final hours approach me here on Tuesday, I still find myself struggling to capture something of interest that would be a fun topic for the “What’s This?”, so, a rather easy one is up for your guessing pleasure. Truth be told though, this is kind of lame, and as such, I would like more of the focus for today’s post to be the traditional “walk around the web” Here’s what’s going on this week in photo land: First, stop over to Scott Kelby’s blog – guest writer John Nack from a little company called Adobe will be filling … Continue reading

Posted in Lighting, News, TOP test, What's this?, quality, tutorial, web links | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Backpacks, and Belts and Bags: Oh My!

For this week (and the foreseeable future), I am continuing the “live video talks” where I share a little insight into things I use and do to with photography, and the gear that’s involved.  This week, I recall that some others have done a “What’s in Your Bag?” type of theme, and rather than just show you my gear (which is what the question basically is a lead-in for), I also share some different bags and bag systems I have used, and that I continue to use.  Bag types range from small shoulder bags, to belt systems, backpacks, and equipment … Continue reading

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