Monthly Archives: October 2009
Don’t Touch that Dial
This week we take a look at the dial on your DSLR – what do they do and is it worth it taking it off the Auto Mode? Or even putting it into the auto mode? What are the benefits? Pros? Cons? There’s thoughts both ways and I’ll look into each and give a few answers on this weeks show. Also on this weeks show, I had the opportunity to talk with Matthew Bamberg, a well-known and respected photographer and author of digital photography books. We had a great chat that you definitely are going to want to tune in … Continue reading
Let’s Make some NOISE
Or not…since Noise Ninja is designed to remove it from your images! Regardless, give it up for our latest contest winner! I gotta tell you, this month was very difficult, as there were some incredible images in the Flickr thread. Stop in there and take a look for yourself and you’ll see how tough it was to judge this one. I know – everyone says that, but seriously – there were some images in this one that were just stunning. But, when push comes to shove, the one I kept going back to was one that evoked three key things … Continue reading
That’s why they call it a “Beta” (or RTFM)
The latest buzz to hit the photography world has been a trinity of buzz and hype. First, Canon announced the 1D Mark IV, then, on the heels of that, Adobe announced the release of Lightroom 3 in Beta form. To round things out, Lensbaby came out with a couple new optical shift lenses to appeal to the creatively inclined. I mentioned the 1D Mark IV last week, and today I was going to give a rundown of what the buzz is all about with Lightroom. We all know about the new features including exporting video (musical slideshows), and I was … Continue reading
The Nifty Fifty from Sigma
After a couple weeks there of some touch-and-go blogging, rest assured, things are back into high gear this week. Today the trusty hardware review returns, and regular content is on the horizons for sure. Thanks for all the patience of those who have stuck around during some down time. Today, we’ll be taking at the Sigma 50mm lens, f1.4.
The 1D Mark Huh?
You knew it was gonna happen. A new camera body has hit the market from Canon. It was only a matter of time. The latest? The Canon 1D Mark IV! (That’s four in Roman numerals…) What’s it got going for it? Lots of features and functions. Everything is being discussed ad infinitum from Megapixels to frame rates, to video, to shutter speeds to ISO’s, and everything in between. In the end, I’ve come to one conclusion: the camera market is always changing, always advancing, and new gear is coming out all the time – from all the vendors. Want some … Continue reading
Six and OH MY GOSH!!!
In their first game this season, I shrugged – they beat Cincy. Then they beat the Browns – ok, so we have Ohio’s number. But then Division Rival Oakland fell, that should light a fire, right? Yeah, I will always be a “Ray-dah Hay-dah”, but to be brutally honest, they are not the team they once were – we’ve had their number for a while now, so that’s not an impressive win in my books. Okay, so what about Dallas? Well, I stood up and took notice then – they might not be in a transition year after all – … Continue reading
It’s all fun and games until…
It’s all fun and games until you actually are working with photography – after a family photo shoot on Friday evening, Saturday morning, then two more on Sunday (Christmas/holiday seasonal portrait work is underway), on top of the regular full time IT job, I got my first taste of a 7 day work week in quite some time. While the thrill and passion for photography is there, putting yourself out there as worthy of getting paid for the skills you have is another thing altogether.
Think Negative – not Positive
Sounds odd doesn’t it? Yet believe it or not, the use of something called negative space can be very powerful in photography. But what is negative space? The term is kind of hard to describe in words, but the best way I can think of to describe negative space is the space that has nothing, or the lack of a subject or point of focus. Things like skies are good examples of negative space. It can bring a sense of scale in ways that are otherwise very difficult to attain. I’ve shared a few shots of this here on the … Continue reading
Software Review: Noise Ninja
With the October Contest underway where the winner will walk away with a fully licensed copy of Noise Ninja, courtesy of the folks at PictureCode, today is a great day to give everyone an idea of what makes this program one of the industry leaders. Since I have talked about the presence of noise in your images before (read that post here), re-hashing the principles of what introduces noise and the artistic benefits and image quality downsides of it in your images isn’t really needed. Instead, here I will simply share some of the interface, and a few before and … Continue reading
Got an App for That?
Since the next hardware review item as not arrived yet, today’s post is something of a blog announcement about a new feature I’ll be rolling out here shortly. As you can tell from the title, it’s about applications on the iTunes store. For users of the iPhone and iTouch, applications can be pretty handy tools (and diversionary too if you’re not careful!) Well, as you may recall, a while back during the “Comment Contest” I asked people to contribute their favorite iPhone/iPod photography-related applications. While the iTouch has not been fully capable of testing each of these, I’ve tried most … Continue reading
Photo Framing Follow-up
After the blog post on Wednesday, and the number of comments received, I thought that the next podcast would be well served to discuss the idea behind matting and framing in more detail. As luck would have it, that podcast just went live earlier this afternoon! You can catch the podcast over at the Personal Life Media site here: Learning Digital Photography Here’s the Show Notes: In this latest episode of Learning Digital Photography, the Grand Prize winner from the September $500 giveaway is announced, and the October contest opens up – ready for your entries. The theme this time … Continue reading
In the interests of full disclosure…
It recently came to my attention that the FTC commission has taken an interest in the reviews that bloggers provide as unbiased information on the products. I guess this came about due to some people that gave reviews of products that were actually paid endorsements, and did not disclose this information to their readership. The FTC is now apparently requiring that all reviewers release and disclose their relationship with the vendors of the products for which they are reviewing by December 1st. So, in the interests of full disclosure, I have compiled a page to disclose exactly what I get … Continue reading
Framing your work
Framing your work can be an expensive proposition. Once you get an archival mat, conservation glass, and a custom frame created for your print – you can start spending upwards of $100 for something as small as an 8×10 print. Depending on what it is you want to accomplish though, you could easily be spending as little as $10 per print to mat and frame. Here’s a few things to consider, and some explanations why: Classics are called classics for a reason – they work! I like classic looks, and the museum style frame suits that look – a thin … Continue reading
Creative Cram Session
Guilt can be a powerful thing – after the internet outage last night, I felt as though dodging a post today was kind of an easy out, and that would be doing the readership a dis-service. So, here’s a creative cram session tip for you… Try writing on a foggy window, then capturing that in camera. Sounds easy right? I tried it on the commute the other day (I ride a bus to work – easier on the wallet). Best I could come away with from a few attempts follows: Thoughts on the creative angle? DOes it work? If … Continue reading
Internet Outage
As you may have guessed from the headline – sorry to disappoint, but due to an internet outage, I was unable to upload the content for today’s post last night (yes I only write a day in advance…LOL). So, I’ll be back tomorrow with more photo goodness…
And there’s more!
First there was the blog… Then video tips got added… Then a podcast came to fruition… Audio tips got added… And now: A Newsletter! That’s right, I am happy to announce that the inaugural issue of the Canon Blogger Newsletter (CBN) is now ready for download. It’s pretty much an introductory issue more than anything else, in hopes of doing three things: Tempting your taste buds (photographically speaking) Letting you know what’s in store for future issues Getting some preliminary feedback As with anything, the first incarnation will have room for improvement, so here’s what I’d like to know…What are … Continue reading
Blurring Water
An interesting question came cruising through the blog a few days ago. While the submitter wished to remain anonymous (I asked them if I could share the details, which I always do to encourage any and all questions)…the details of the answer follow here today. You see, what this person wanted to do was capture an image that included several challenging elements…including windy conditions, early (and late) light, moving water, and a deep need for detail from front to rear. Without going into more detail, here’s basically what the shooter wants: High depth of field to capture detail (which requires … Continue reading
Guest Blogger – Kevin Mulllins
What’s in my Camera bag? by Kevin Mullins Firstly, I’d like to thanks Jason, not only for offering me a “spot” here today, but also generally, for this great blog and the Learning Digital Photography podcast – they are both great resources and Jason, I applaud you for keeping them both going so strong.
