Dream Lake by Tom Crossman

Thanks to everybody for some really fantastic images – it was extremely tough this time as there were a lot of just amazing shots!  Thanks also to the sponsor for the contest in November, the good folks over at Image Wizards!  The lucky winner will be able to get a print of their choice assembled by the folks at Image Wizards – up to a 16×20″ print!  (Tom, if you could kick me an email with your contact info, I’ll get things coordinated with Image Wizards!  Congrats again!

With November closed and in the books,  the new contest is now underway, and we have a new contest thread  open for entries too for December – the last one of 2011!  The prize list is a literal cornucopia of goodies!  Check it out:

 And of course, a holiday bonanza giveaway wouldn’t be the same without the particulars for entry, so here goes:

*Important*  I will cover up to $20 in shipping costs.  If the winner is international, there may be a small additional cost of shipping required to get the books to you.  If the winner is unable or unwilling to cover the additional costs of shipping, an alternate may be selected at the discretion of the judging panel (me).

So, get out your cameras and get on shootin – as we have just a smidge under a month to get the last winner in for 2011!  Thanks for stopping in and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

inspiredbytime (Josh and Jamie Noah)

Something about the idea of stacking up soda caps, the angle of view here, and the inclusion of one color tab randomly just kind of spoke to me this month.  A clever take on the theme, and nicely blurred background also gave this some points in the judging.  While many photos were well done, this is the one that stood out for me. (Believe me, it was very tough to choose!).  So, congratulations to Josh and Jamie Noah (I am guessing it’s a joint Flickr account)!  Please contact me via email to get the details and logistics done to claim your Lensbaby from our sponsor over at Stack Exchange!

Coming up this month – another awesome sponsor has stepped up to the plate.  We are finalizing the details, but the folks at Image Wizards will be sponsoring the November giveaway with an awesome print on some of their stock, which I understand produces amazing prints.  The contest details and particulars will likely be announced tomorrow, so do stop back for the specifics.

One last shout out to the October sponsors at Stack Exchange, as their contribution of a Lensbaby Composer for the monthly contest series was super generous – if you have some time to check them out, it’s really a great photography resource!

Bill M. Carroll

Congrats again to Bill – if you could drop me an email, I’ll coordinate to get your info over to the right folks at NAPP to process everything going forward! You are sure to enjoy countless resources, tips, tricks, tutorials, and other content NAPP provides to all its members!  Everyone, if you could take a moment out of your day to congratulate Bill for his awesome shot (and a great expression on the kid too!) that won the contest!

*****

Don’t forget, the October Contest is now also underway, so gear up those cameras to capture the idea of “stacks” somehow!  The winner this go around will become the proud owner of a Lensbaby Composer!

You may also notice that I dropped a hidden time bomb above – we’ve gotten an extension through Friday!  That means, if you haven’t had a chance yet, there’s still time!  It also means that if for any reason you forgot to register, there’s still a window of opportunity for you to do that until tomorrow midnight!  Only 48 hours (roughly) left, so don’t forget to participate for your chance to win!  Thanks to Drobo for both allowing the extension and for adding a second Drobo to the giveaway.  As a refresher, here’s the contest particulars again:

1. Follow me (@CBJason) and @Drobo (no need to unfollow and re-follow if you already are…)

2. Re-tweet the following text message over on Twitter:

RT I’ve registered to win a #Drobo with @CBJason at http://bit.ly/qdqg6Z

3. Share your best story about why you need a Drobo on the blog here (my blog) and on the Drobo Facebook page! (Note the embedded links… )

4.  Don’t forget to register with Drobo in case your name is picked – if you’re not registered, you can’t win!

5.  All entries must be submitted no later than midnight MDT on Friday!

Keep posting the stories – these are great to read.  As a reminder here though too – I am not picking the winner personally, it’s done by a random drawing from all the registrations.  After drawing two names, these will be cross-checked against the Twitter messages and such, so keep ‘em coming!  Some of the stories I’ve read are quite fascinating, ranging from small business owners running retouching businesses, to poetic story lines, and even PhD students working on some pretty fascinating topics that require massive storage needs.

JawDoc

His image of the Tilt-a-Whirl (or whatever you call it) really stood out for me in terms of the sense of motion and speed, so congrats to you sir.  If you could be so kind as to drop me an email, I will forward your name and info over to the folks at Camera Bits who are ready for delivery of your installation code for Photo Mechanic!  One final nod of thanks to them as well, for their generous contribution for the June Giveaway!

And now, for the July Giveaway, our next prize is yet another doozy!  The good folks over at Thinktank Photo have generously sent some of their latest product line to me for review, and now up for grabs is none other than their already well-received Streetwalker Pro bag.  This holds an astounding amount of gear for its size, allows for a tripod, and much more.  I’ve not had a chance to kick its tires yet (so to speak), but you know a review is going to come up soon for this month, so keep an eye and ear open!

It retails for $159 US, and this one is a beauty!

Again, because the prize will be shipped from my location rather than Thinktank, the shipping requirementsare built into this months guidelines:

1.  All images must be between 600-800 px on the longest dimension.

2.  Each person can submit up to two images

3.  The theme is STREET, fitting for a Streetwalker Pro

4.  Contest Deadline is:  July 31st at midnight Mountain Time (GMT -7).  Add or subtract for your own time zone as needed.

5.  US Residents only…sorry international folks.

6. The photo must be included in this Flickr thread.

7. The Flickr photo must be downloadable – we share the winning photo via announcement here on the blog and in newsletters – so I need to get it to do that!

8. Have fun! Remember photography is supposed to be fun so keep that in mind as you approach the May giveaway.

9. Reminder Guidelines and Rules of Engagement links are here for easy reference.

Special thanks to not only Camera Bits and Think Tank photo, but to all the sponsors – and for readers out there, if you would like to see a product reviewed and/or offered up for a giveaway, feel free to drop suggestions in the comments – that’s where vendors look!

The link to enter the contest is here – good luck to all!

For those of you who might not know who Dave is – he’s one of the original “Photoshop Guys”, and has been teaching Photoshop classes since version 2!  He is currently the Senior Developer, Education and Curriculum for NAPP, a Certified Photoshop Instructor through Cs4, and  Certified Technical Trainer.  With several books under his belt, and a 2009 inductee to the Photoshop Hall of Fame, he is certainly no stranger to the world of Photoshop!

Here’s the nuts and bolts of our discussion, but to get the full schmear, grab the podcast either from here or in iTunes!

Talking Points:  Shooting with Photoshop in Mind

• What’s the point of Photoshop:  Fixing photos or creating visions?
• Compositing Photos in Photoshop
• Story boarding, green screens, extracting – options galore
• How do you get there from here?
• Fine Art versus Business
• Learning Workshops versus Seminars
• Watching versus Doing
• HDR:  Art form or a Solution?
• Links
  • Dave Cross Workshops
  • Dave Cross Blog
  • Dave Cross on Twitter
  • Dave Cross on Facebook

It was so fun talking to Dave about such a wide variety of subjects and we really hit on quite a bit for only 40 minutes of talk time!  Do check out his web resources there as I think the smaller sized workshop setting he has set up in Tampa will become the trend-setter of things to come.

*****

As a final reminder for the podcast and website a couple things wrap up this week:  The month long Flickr contest series, so do get your photos in for a chance to win Photo Mechanic!  Also ending this weekend is the promotional deal on the Deeper Vision eBook from David DuChemin – 20% off through July 2nd w/ promo code DEEP4.  Have a happy 4th of July, and we’ll see you next month!

In the meantime, here’s the nitty gritty details for the contest:

• The Number:  1 image per person
• The Size:  Longest side must be between 600-800 pixels.
• The window:  30 day window for capture date (nothing earlier than February of 2011
• The theme is:  Flat
• The deadline:  March 31st at midnight (my time)
• The rest:  You can read more about it at the Contest Guidelines page and the Rules of Engagement

Good luck everyone, and here’s the link:  March Contest Giveaway

For the record, the Tether Table will be very slightly used, as you know a hardware review is likely forthcoming quite soon on this equipment…but then again, that’s something to look forward to, right?

As a final postscript today, a new poll is up on the sidebar, so if you don’t visit the archives much (maybe take some time soon – lots of good stuff there! ), be sure to take a moment and sound off in the latest poll:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

And now – the moment you’ve all been waiting for:  the February co-winners, each of whom gets $150 in printing from NPL, the ones whose images were most compelling, the ones…all right already, they are:

Mason Long

Frank Sammut

You can find their respective Flickr streams of these and their other photo libraries here and here respectively!  Congrats to both of you and I’ve sent your names over to our contact with Nations Photo Lab so they can deliver the coupon codes for your prizes to you!  Thanks again to Nations Photo Lab for their generous donations for the month of February!  Be sure to tune in on Monday for the announcement of the March contest!

That’s right, two people will be announced the winners for the February contest and giveaway!  Each winner will receive a generous donation from Nations Photo Lab – a gift certificate worth $150 of free printing!  That’s right, $150 of free printing from Nations Photo Lab! This prize is available to anyone, regardless of whether you are a current NPL  customer or not.  The theme for February, as chosen by our always talented Sue from the Flickr group (due to her win during the non-award winning off month submission) is the applicable theme of Love!

A couple new wrinkles that are being thrown in this time for such a huge contest…first off, all previous winners are usually ineligible for consideration in the month immediately following their winning entry – we are starting with a new year, so it’s also a clean slate, so everyone is eligible!!!

The second wrinkle (and probably the most exciting), is that for February only – every entrant will receive a $50 gift card to Nations Photo Lab – just for participating! That’s right, all you have to do is submit a qualifying entry in the Flickr contest thread for February to win a $50 gift card for printing on any product of your choice at Nations Photo Lab! *   So, all that’s left to say are the criteria to qualify.  It’s super easy:

• Make sure your image is theme-appropriate (and family friendly/work safe).
• Make sure I am able to download your image from Flickr.  (See the explanation for how to make sure I can download it here.)
• Each image considered must be in the contest thread.
• Each person is entitled to submit one image for eligibility.  Multiple entries will not be considered.
• Each image must conform to the standard guidelines in terms of dimensions (longest side must be no longer than 800 pixels or shorter than 600 pixels).
• All images must be taken after January 1st, 2011!
• Entrants retain full copyright and ownership of images, but allow me to display the image here on the website to display when winners are announced, and in the monthly newsletter.
• Entries must be submitted no later than 11:59pm on Sunday, February 27th, 2011.
• Last but not least, have fun with the images you capture!

Questions about the submission process should be addressed in either the Contest Overview Page or the Rules of Engagement Page.

Last but not least, you may be interested in how to get to, sign into and participate in the Flickr Contest thread!

Good luck to everyone and remember to have fun!

*ETA:  In the interests of full disclosure, the $50 certificate is for new customers, so if you are already an NPL customer, feel free to enter your images as well, but the goal here is to not only encourage people to take pictures, but to print them, and to consider Nations Photo Lab as your lab of choice.  I use NPL almost exclusively (except in rare cases where they don’t have what I need, like printing on aluminum) and highly recommend them.  Here is your chance to sign up for an account for free and get up to $50 worth of printing just for participating in the contest.

First up, congratulations go out to Evelyn B. for her winning metal-themed image:

Not only is this a perfectly-lit image, but the details are spot on, and it totally fits the theme of Metal!  Congrats to Evelyn B. from Flickr – please email me your contact information so I can submit to Red River Paper for you to get the pack of Pearl Metallic Paper (which this would look fabulous printed on btw…)  Thanks to the folks over at Red River Paper for their generous donation of a pack of this really awesome paper (it really does make images just jump off the page!).  Thanks also to everyone for their entries – again, a tough decision!

*****

And now for September, the theme is Movement.  Why, you ask?  Because if you want to shoot, and be mobile or moving from one place to another, one of the best things you can have in your gearbag is a mobile gear bag!  I am speaking of none-other than the Black Rapid R-Strap!  This device straps across your shoulder and holds your camera comfortably at your hip while you walk and talk, then quick as a wink you can pull your camera up and take a shot of whatever strikes your fancy!

I’ve had one of these since the 4th generation (RS-4), and with many improvements and advances in design, they are now in their seventh generation (RS-7).  Valued at nearly $60, this prize is sure to bring a lot of interest.  The Contest Guidelines and Rules of Engagement apply, so be sure to stop over at the Flickr thread, check it all out, and get your images in – the more the merrier!

Since we’re on the contest topic, we’ve had quite a laundry list of prizes over the last…15 months!  Here’s a sampling from that list:

No doubt – a wide variety of software, gear, and other photo goodness.  I know what’s in store for the rest of 2010, but as we move through the end of the year, would love to hear your ideas for fun prizes and giveaways?  Sound off in the comments with your ideas, or shoot me an email from the “Contact Me” page (or via email).  It’s your comments that will define what the prizes are for 2011 (within reason of course…), so let’s hear from you!

That’s it for today – happy shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow to wrap up the week!  Don’t forget, the September Newsletter will be coming out soon, so if you haven’t signed up yet, be sure to hit the sidebar so you can get your free monthly download of digital deals, photo finesse, and lots of other cool stuff from the site! (Or you can visit the new page I am working on here to help me test the system and work out some bugs…)

Just a short post today as I’d like to remind everyone about the monthly contest series.  This month the winner will get a  free copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.  No strings, no catches, no anything – just enter your best photo in the July Flickr thread (the theme is “Slick” – because Lightroom is just super slick and super cool!)

This isn’t a beta, or a trial, or even just an upgrade – this is a full edition of Lightroom 3, and it’s yours for the taking – so check out the giveaway details in the Flickr thread.

There’s a very limited window left (submission deadline is Saturday at midnight) and it’d be a shame to miss out on a chance to win this free software, donated by the folks at Adobe!  Click the link in the upper right corner of the website to enter today.  Good luck, and most importantly – have fun!

Flickr Thread for Entries

Okay, enough dancing around the subject.  The winner is:

Bryan F

Seriously, I don’t know if I can keep doing these contests, because every month the decision gets more and more difficult to make.  It was a real toss up, and the only reason this one topped the others is because of the sense of tension brought to the image as well.  I just kept coming back to it saying “Wow…”  So, congrats to Bryan F – he is officially now the first repeat winner on LDP, and also he marks the winner who took us over the threshold of $200o in giveaway prizes!  Pretty cool if you think about it – on many counts!

In new contest news – the May contest is now underway, and the theme this month is:

WIDE!

The reason?  Well, by now you should know that themes are typically based around some premise of the prize, and since the prize this month is the well-respected PTGui Panorama Software (thanks to the folks over at PTGui for their generous sponsorship).  Given the nature of the contest theme, there will be a slight variation this month:  images should be no wider than 1600pixels on the longest side.  The theme lends itself toward panorama shots, so it would be silly to restrict the dimensions to prevent any decent panos.  This will also be noted in the contest thread up on Flickr.  Get clicking and above all, have some fun!  Deadline is the last Friday in May (28th).

Oh, and in case you can’t keep that in mind – download a May Calendar (yup, they are back at least temporarily…more on that on tomorrows blog post).  For now, feel free to download your own desktop sized calendar from the links below:

• 1024×768
• 1280×1024
• 1600×1200

For those interested in the technique, be sure to tune in tomorrow.  Otherwise, happy shooting, good luck in the May contest, and we’ll see you back here mañana!

You can see the rest of Sue’s portfolio on her Flickr stream here…

Before anyone asks, the March contest info is not up on FLickr yet, but I should have an announcement for that later on tonight.  I’ll give you a WILD hint though about the subject and the prize!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

P.S.  Sue, if you could email me at jason <at> canonblogger <dot> com or message me on Flickr, I need to get in touch with you about the prize delivery for February…congrats again!

Why you ask?  We have a winner for the December Giveaway!  I am happy to announce that the winner of the December Giveaway Bonanza is none other than:

Frank Sammut!

Frank’s shot of a childs hand, offering up a gift perfectly symbolized the concept of giving, and his blurred bokeh of the holiday theme in the background was just beautiful!  He’s got some great work on his Flickr page too, so stop by and check it out and tell him congrats!

Congratulations to Frank for winning the giveaway package!  Frank, if you could drop me an email:  jason <AT> canonblogger <DOT> com, I’ll get you all the information and relay you to the donors for the giveaway.  Thank you to everyone for participating, and especially to the sponsors, including:

• David DuChemin (for a free copy of both Within the Frame, and VisionMongers)
• MPIX (for a free 16×20 gallery wrap print of Frank’s choice)
• RedRiver Papers (for the specialty paper bundle)
• HDRsoft (for the license to a copy of Photomatix Pro)

It’s also time to anounce the theme for the January giveaway.  We’re going to move away from the seasonally tied themes, so people don’t feel restricted there as different areas are in different seasons.  Instead, we’ll be going with something that is going to inspire some dynamite entries for sure:  Circles

That’s right, we’re going with a shape!  It should be interesting to see what comes in.  As always the standard guidelines apply:

1. Make sure your image is between 600-800px on the longest side.
2. Try to keep things within the current month.  Archives are okay, but preference will be given to current photos
3. Images should be family/work safe
4. Should be posted to the Flickr thread for the current month contest
5. Deadline for entries is Friday, Jan. 29th (again, 3 weeks)
6. The folks at HDR Soft have been very generous and have offered up another copy of their Photomatix Pro bundle for the January winner – so if you are into the HDR craze, or are interested, there’s another chance to win your very own licensed copy!

The January Flickr thread is up, live and ready for entries, so get out and shoot!  Happy New Year and Happy Shooting!

P.S.  Can anyone tell me anything different about the site?  (For you feed readers, come on over and check things out – something is different! )

Thanks to everyone who continues to share their photos in the Flickr Community.  I will try my best to get some “favorites” put out monthly from this group, as that is one of many New Years Resolutions I am going to try to commit myself to for 2010.   Some are personal, some are inspired by others.  I’ll likely share more of these commitments going forward as well.  Do you have any resolutions for the 2010 calendar year?  Sound off in the comments!

Finally, stay tuned for the December Giveaway Winner which will be announced later this week too!  Tomorrow, be sure to stop back for more top picks from 2009.  Happy shooting and we’ll see you then!

I can’t guarantee I will have a post ready for tomorrow, so this could also be the last post for 2009 as well.  It’s always fun to look back and review the year this close to the end.  I’ll have some more details trickling out once we’re into 2010, including the always popular “Best Blogs”.  There does seem to be a trend as in 2007 I posted my “Top 7 of ’07″, followed by the Top 8 of ’08, and most recently, the “Top 9 of ’09″.  Can you guess what is coming soon in January?

Here though, it seemed appropriate given that the podcast was released today, to note that it is episode 37 of the show.  That means 37 episodes in 52 weeks – that’s more than one every other week.  I am not sure what the average show length is, but am guessing it is in the 30-45 minute realm, which means some people out there have spent at least 26 hours (over a day!) listening to me talk about photography!  Got another day available for 2010?

I hope so because we’re going to have a lot more fun and cool stuff coming up in the podcast, and on the new radio show for newcomers over at WebtalkRadio!  More guests, more articles, more tips and tricks, and yes…more contests!  These shows and articles and contests though really are here for you, the listener and reader though, so if you want me to cover anything specific, please feel free to let me know in the comments of the blog or via email!

Anyway, enough of the “back story”.  Here’s the show notes:

Photo News:

• National Geographic Available on Hard Drives
• Autostitch for iPhone
• iPhone gets a camera upgrade

Listener Q&A

Which Lens?

• EF-S 15-85 f3.5-5.6 IS USM          (=24-136)
• EF-S 18-135 f3.5-5.6 IS                 (=28-216)
• EF-S 18-200 f3.5-5.6 IS                 (=29-320)
• EF-S 17-85 f4-5.6 IS USM             (=27-136)

Scripting Resources:

• http://www.kirupa.com/motiongraphics/ps_scripting.htm
• http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/jennifer/photoshop-scripts.html
• http://www.ps-scripts.com/bb/

There you have it!  Enjoy!

Last but not least…don’t forget the contest deadline is rapidly approaching – tomorrow midnight is your last chance to get your favorite Giving photo into the Flickr thread to be eligible for the prize bonanza!  Lots of stuff is going to go to some lucky participant, so get it up there and good luck!  Happy New Year one and all, and we’ll see you next year here on the blog/podcast/etc.!  Happy Shooting!

1.  Membership:  Being a member of organizations has perks, and there are several out there that can help different types of photographers for different reasons, but three that I would highly recommend are membership to NAPP (of which I am a member – $99/year), PPA, ($194/yr)  and ASMP ($140/yr).  If these are a little out of your league – a Flickr Pro membership is only $25, and gives you access to lots of things that aren’t available in the free version.

2.  Prints and Framing:  I’ve talked up Mpix before, and would highly recommend them as a printing outfit for anyone, but regardless of your preferences, giving prints as gifts is always appreciated, especially when accentuated by frames, and photographers are no different.  Gift certificates to places like Mpix, and even your local frame and print shops is something that will not only be appreciated but used!

3.  Seminars and Workshops: Having been to only one, this is something I would love to get more experience with, and there certainly is no dearth of these available.  Kelby Training is the one I know best, but there are literally dozens of outfits that offer on-hand seminars and workshops on everything from lighting, post processing,  One that interests me specifically is the Santa Fe workshops, where Joe McNally teaches, but others are all over the country from Maine to California, Florida, and everywhere in between.  If you know of any particular seminars and workshops, feel free to post links in the comments!

4. Software:  High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography is here to stay, and for those of you interested in getting great results, you’ll need some software to help you process those images.  Photoshop is okay at it, but if you want better results, a 3rd party product that is dedicated for the tone mapping and processing is really required.  The one I like (and that most others like as well), is Photomatix, from the folks at HDR Soft.  They have educational discounts as well for students, teachers, and the like.

5.  Video:  I know, convergence and the ability to shoot video inside your camera is becoming increasingly common, but this video recorder is just too cool (and low cost) to shrug aside…I am talking about the Flip video Ultra HD Camcorder.  For $150 from B&H, it’s a super deal, and the recording quality is superb.  I’ve seen lots of people with these, and I’ve seen the results – remarkable quality for the cost.

So, get out those credit cards, and get the gift that suits your photog best!  In the meantime, we’ve got a couple things going on here now at the blog, so be sure to chime in before the end of the year:

• December Giveaway – Win $40+ of prizes, including books, prints, paper and software
• Share your Best photos from 2009 – I’ve added the ability to embed photos in the comments section, so if you have an image you like from 2009 and it’s online, share it in the comments for Saturday’s post

That’s it for today – happy shooting and happy holidays as we count down the remaining days to Christmas!

1. What was my best photo?
2. What was my biggest accomplishment?
3. What software/hardware really stood out above the rest for me?
4. What was my favorite book of the year that I read?
5. What new blog became a staple in my reading?

So, rather than me telling you, this year you have an opportunity to tell me what your favorites are!  Feel free to sound off in the comments or via email…the address as always is jason<at>canonblogger<dot>com

In the blog notes for the week – the latest podcast is up, and lots of blog/podcast news to share.  I also took a more detailed look at photography and the law, and some of the resources I rely on.  Lastly, as always were the listener questions and answers.  Enjoy the show, and here’s the links/show notes:

Blog/Podcast Notes and News

• Canon Blogger Fan Page
• December Giveaway (theme is “Giving”)
• DIY Photography Article – Astrophotography
• Photofocus Article

Photograhy Legal Resources

• Photographers Rights
• The Photo Attorney
• Jack Resnicki and Ed Greenburg in Photoshop User Magazine

Listener Questions and Answers

Enjoy the show – as an added bonus I added another link in the show notes that wasn’t actually IN the show.  Anyone know which one it is?  Winner is the first person who guesses right in the comments!  Oh yeah, and here’s a link to the show on PLM and iTunes!

So, that’s it for this week – looking forward to hearing people’s thoughts of the year!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again on Monday, have a great weekend!

So, the second one came out okay, but the plain background of the table didn’t really work all that well…it needed something else – Christmas lights!  So, I got an extra garland that wasn’t used in the house and threw that down, encircling the paper.  But something was still missing…a little color.  What goes with green and white?  Red!  Enter a blanket strategically placed underneath it all to add a touch of color.  So, took a few shots, and liked it, but the shadows seemed kind of muted, and the lights were getting a little blown out.  Hmmm…could I be dreaming of an HDR Christmas?

An HDR Christmas

The fact that the little star burst off the one light happened was purely incidental, but I think helped the overall composition.  How about the reading audience?  What are your thoughts?  Does it work?  Need something else?  What about your own holiday-themed work?  Feel free to share thoughts, feedback, samples and such in the comments!

In other Friday news, CB now has a Facebook fan page, so if you get a minute – stop by the Facebook page and sign up.  I’ll be sharing more photos, tips, tricks, and such there in the weeks to come as well, and you won’t know unless you’re a “fan”!  For those of you getting your news from the feed, the direct link to the Facebook page is here.

Don’t forget, the December Giveaway is also still underway – over $400 of super cool prizes including software, books, prints, and papers!  Just a cornucopia of prizes, all waiting to be given away for free! Just enter your photo at the Flickr thread:  December Giveaway. The theme this month is GIVING. Interpret however you like and good luck to all.  The rest of the contest details are here.

That’s about it for this Friday – have a great weekend everyone! Going on a sunrise shoot in the mountains tomorrow wit the Meetup group here in Denver, so it is going to be an early riser for me tomorrow.  Start time of 4am!  More on that next week!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here on Monday!

• A free copy of the “Within the Frame”, the wildly successful and great book donated by David DuChemin!
• A free copy of “Visionmongers”, the latest book from none other than David Duchemin!
• A free copy of Photomatix, the software known for its HDR processing, donated by the folks over at HDRSoft!
• A free 16″x20″ gallery wrap of a print of your choice, printed (and donated) by the folks over at MPix!
• and as if that is not enough, the folks at Red River Paper have also expressed interest in joining the gievaway frenzy, so it looks like there will be a paper bundle in the mix too – (more details on the bundle specifics as those come in!)

With over $400 in free stuff, this is surely going to generate a lot of interest, so this go around, the guidelines are a little stricter than normal.  Here they are:

1. Limit of one photo entry per person.
2. Also, please make sure your photos are taken during the month of December.  I know – there’s a few days missing, so it’s less than a full month to shoot, but the theme is somewhat appropriate…more on that in a minute. Just remember, no archives!
3. The  longest side of your image should be no larger than 800px or shorter than 600px.  Don’t confuse this with a 800×600 aspect ratio – the second side of the photo can be any length you want – just make sure the longest side is no larger than 800px and no shorter than 600px.  All entries should be posted in the Flickr Contest Thread.
4. All entries must be live before midnight December 31st.

So, the theme is all that remains.  Since it’s a season of holidays far and wide, we’re going to go with the theme of:

GIVING

That’s it – interpret however you like.  Just tie in that theme somehow, and enter your best photo in the Flickr thread.  Good luck all, and may the best shot win!  Happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!  Many thanks to David DuChemin, Mpix, HDRSoft, and Red River Paper for their generous contributions.  Now, let’s wow them with some amazing photography!

P.S.  Just a little reminder that the blog is still taking donations to not only help offset the cost of maintenance, but also now to help pay the bills – the “curveballs” referenced the other day was an abrupt notice that my position was being terminated.  So, please help to keep things alive and online through the holiday season!  I am going to try to get some extra special content out there for everyone so you can also get some use out of this feeble old mind for any donations (or purchases…) but no guarantees there yet.  (Special thanks to Rob Jones from Towner Jones Photography who has already donated very generously to the cause though…)

To help shed some light on the subject (get it? ), we talked to Becky Thomas (aka BecThomasPhoto on Twitter) on the show.  A great conversation, and lots was covered so be sure you give it a listen.  Thanks to Bec for her time – it was a lot of fun.  Make sure you stop over to her site as well for a great dose of inspiration.

Photo News

• Panasonic Sound System NW-10
• Facebook Automated Photo Tagging (Face Detection)
• Price Cuts on Photo Storage from Google ($4096 for 16 TB)

Photo Technical Tips

• Pros and cons of increasing ISO
• Pros and cons of opening your aperture
• Pros and cons of slowing the shutter

Listener Questions and Answers

• Camera Prices/Lines – What camera should you get?
• Difference between a Lightroom catalog versus photo backups
• Which stock agency to use?

The former is a little to late to push out on a Saturday, but the latter is accomplished easily enough, so I turned to my trusty Random Number Generator website (which I learned about from friend-of-the-blog Datchichfirgs), and entered the post count total into the fields.  With a whopping 29 entries (double the previous post comment record),  I gotta admit, it was kind of a rush!

And, without further ado, the moment you’ve been waiting for, and sans drumroll (unless you want one here), the winner is none other than poster #19:

Mary Angelini!  Her clever response posted above wins her the book!  (And I kind of like the off-beat stuff from time to time myself – at least it means people are reading) Congrats to Mary – please email me so I can get some  information and get this book out to you!

For the 28 that didn’t win, don’t forget, there’s still the Flickr LDP monthly giveaway – simply submit a photo (or two or three) to the Flickr Group to have a chance at the bundle of prizes for the November giveaway, including a $25 B&H gift card, a book from author Matthew Bamberry, and a DVD for the Best of Photoshop User – 11th Season.

Thanks to everyone for participating in the Comment Contest, thanks to NAPP for sending out the book, and we’ll have another one soon – that was a lot of fun!  In the meantime, keep on shooting, have a great (rest of the) weekend, and we’ll see you back here on Monday!

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 is Fall (open to interpretation).  Specs, guidelines, and such are discussed including dimensions, dates for submission and more.

Also in this episode, a primer on framing your photos:  things to look for and avoid when matting and framing work.  I look at what gallery and show fine art venues usually require versus home or personal use.

Finally, the popular listener question and answer segment returns, with some great ones coming from all over the globe!  Download today!  Happy shooting!

The links mentioned in the show follow as well:

Rich Charpentier’s Website and Blog

Flickr Contest Thread

Redimat

American Framing

[display podcast]

Feel free to comment here and contact with me via email if you have an idea or thought to share about the show.  Thanks, as always, for listening and reading.  Have a great weekend, happy shooting, and we’ll see you back again on Monday!

• First up, the finalists of the $500 giveaway have been determined.  These six finalists are being considered to win a pretty impressive package of stuff including a Thinktank Photo Multimedia Bag System and a complete set of the Topaz Labs Photoshop Bundle.  View the finalists gallery here.

• Next up, a recommendation:  Even if you aren’t a subscriber to the Rangefinder Magazine (although you should be), you can read the current issue online here, (it’s a PDF download) which includes in the most recent issue an interview of none other than David Hobby, founder and author of the world-famous Strobist blog.

• From Scott over at one of my favorite daily reads (Weekly Photo TIps), there is a new PBS series starting this week on National Parks.  I am definitely setting the DVR for this series!

• As a longtime fan of DIY-projects, this one on making a tripod for your P&S (or iPhone) out of a paperclip was just too cool to leave out of the list.

• And finally, for those that just insist on getting a photo fix regularly, visit former contest winner John Dunne’s blog, My Chi to see a great dilemma as he is torn between a color and a black and white version of a sunrise scene on the Promenade (psst….I like the black and white version!)…

Well, that’s it for today, be sure to stop back tomorrow for another dose of inspiration as we hit the midway point of the week (a.k.a. hump day)!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you then…

You can also think of the ROT grid for any point of interest, not just subject points of interest.  And, since we know that light (luminance, contrast, whatever your semantics prefer), geometry, color, and context can all be points of interest, then you can put any of these there and create visually grabbing photographs.

The greatest part of this exercise though, is that now we are looking at everything in a lot of new and creative ways.  I bet you are asking yourselves lots of questions now:  Does that light look good?  DO those colors complement each other?  What about that round  wheel in a square table – that could be interesting, right?  Keep on thinking and looking at the world around you from different angles and perspectives.  Sooner than you realize it (if not already), your eyes will dart all over the place looking at things and you might not even be conscious that you are doing it.

When we migrate these exercises from the front of our brain to the back of our brains, making them automatic to the point where we no longer need to even think about looking for things – we just do it, then believe it or not, the compositional perspective also becomes second nature.  You are already looking at how the light and colors on this corner of the room are really awesome contrasts to the darker shadows on the other side – and how cool is it that the funnel of light literally cuts through the darkness on that gridline?!

Some days you’ll have epiphanies, realizations, and great moments to capture, while others you may not see as many.  Rest assured though, once your brain and eyes are trained to look for it – you’ll see it everywhere you go.  So, take a look at the world around you – see what catches your eye – ask why if you like, but enjoy your moments, because these are the ones where you can really get creative with composition and take your photography to the next level!  Just remember the Five Elements of Control:

Luminance
Color
Geometry
Context
Composition

Have a great weekend everyone – this officially wraps up my first week-long thematic series of blog posts.  Hopefully you’ve found each one rewarding individually, and I would welcome any feedback, thoughts critiques, and comments, because this will likely become an eBook download.  I’ll expand on each element some more, and include even more photos as examples of each, along with detailed critiques and highlights to help show readers why certain ones work, and others don’t.

So please let me know your thought!   Who knows, feedback may get you a free copy of the eBook and a mention in the credits if you do!  Thanks too, for all the comments already throughout this week, with your comments and insights on both the written word and photographs.  We’ll be back to regular posting starting Monday!  Until then, Happy Shooting!

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