Category Archives: content
Building the Perfect Camera, Pt. 1
One of the more recent episodes from the guys over at This Week in Photography had them wrapping up their coverage of PMA, where they talked tech about all the latest cameras to come out from the various vendors. Canon was noticeably absent from the show, but it didn’t detract from an interesting comment I think Ron Brinkmann said where he wished he could pull all his favorite features from each of the cameras and basically make his own. To me, the idea screamed “blog post”! So, I decided to go for it. I went through every major SLR on … Continue reading
The Moment it…”Oops”!
We all know the real phrase, made famous by none other than Joe McNally, and his well-received book “The Moment it Clicks””…(and a great read, so go check it out if you haven’t already). However, that’s just Joe… I seem to encounter more blunders than brilliance. For instance, I was working on the photos from the weekend shoot and had a rather good set I wanted to put into a panorama shot. Before taking the good set though, I decided to run a test on some older images on a new program that came which came recommended to me from … Continue reading
The Canons Keep Coming!
Last week we had the pleasure of visiting with Nicolesy on the show, and this week another Canonite graces us with his presence. It’s none other than Rick Sammon! We had a great conversation that touched on quite a few things including learning and teaching strategies for seminars and workshops, different stages of learning, and even broached underwater photography. I also got the scoop on his latest developments including his iPhone app, a new book that is forthcoming, and much more! All that on Episode #42 of LDP! Here’s the notes! Learning Digital Photography – Episode #42: Seminars and Workshops … Continue reading
The long-awaited Drobo review
I’d been waiting for the time to put together all the videos, audio, and pictures for this review for a while and I’ve finally caught up on other projects so am getting this out for the listening and reading audiences to enjoy! For those that subscribe and read via RSS, sorry because this is a video-heavy post and you’re just going to have to visit the blog to get the content today! Trust me though, it’s worth it as I take a look at how the Drobo performs in a real world environment with hot swapping drives, and the perils … Continue reading
What is it about Bridges?
As the popularity of this theme continues to grow, I am really having more fun culling through my own archives, and have several ideas for actually getting out and shooting even more “themed” sets. However, today, I present to you (courtesy of my wife, who astutely remembered that I shoot a lot of…): Bridges
What is it About Rocks?
Hmmm….seems I have a new series theme going on here – people keep asking when the next series will be posted and are also asking me for specific series sets of photos. I am not sure I have the library of images to accommodate everything, but that just gives me motivation for subject matter whenever I go out shooting again! So, if you have a series that you’d like to see from me – suggest it in the comments or via email! For the time being, here’s another popular set from the library of yours truly: Rocks There’s the latest … Continue reading
What is it about Windows?
No, I am not talking about Operating Systems, rather I am talking about a follow-up to yesterday’s photo post with the theme of “Water”. You see, another recurring theme for me is windows of buildings. Taken from various angles and in various lighting conditions, and all over the place, ranging from South Carolina, to Colorado, Mexico, and various points in between, here’s a random sampling of windows I’ve captured in camera: There you have it – just a random sampling of “Windows” as I’ve seen them over the last 5 years. Got your own archives of thematic images? Anything that … Continue reading
5 Tips to Better Landscapes
The most common questions I get here on the blog center around the idea of how to take better pictures. Whether those “better pictures” are better landscapes, or portraits, wildlife or events, everyone wants suggestions on how to approach the practice of taking pictures better. Esoteric and creative considerations aside, there are some fundamental “tricks of the trade” that, by and large, will almost always improve your craft in pretty much any genre. So, today, I thought I would take a moment to share 5 “tricks” I’ve learned that always lead to better landscapes:
Against my better judgement…
For those of you that have been following the blog for a long time (and let me know who you are, because I want to ask why!), you may recall that I used to put out video tutorials on how to do various things inside of Photoshop. After plodding around with that for a while, I came across the gurus of NAPP and realized that several were already doing it, and doing it much better than I ever could. So, rather than re-inventing the wheel, I abandoned the video tutorials in favor of just sharing my “wisdom” in the form … Continue reading
I Got a Camera for Christmas – Now What?
With the major holiday of the year behind us, many are proudly wielding new cameras…but many are also asking questions. The most popular question I am getting via emails is something along the lines of: “I got a new ______ for Christmas. Now What?” (Insert your own camera make/model in the blank) The answer to this really depends on what, if anything, you had before the new item made its way into your hands. For simplicity sake, I’ll break the response down to 3 different categories: 1. This is your first “serious” camera, and you are making the foray into … Continue reading
Video Hosting Services Review
With the increasing popularity and discussion of video (we are always hearing about the convergence of photography and videography), I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the different video hosting services, and look at their functionality. So, earlier today I recorded a video using Quicktime Pro on the Mac, and tried uploading it to 3 different popular services: YouTube, Vimeo, and Animoto. Here are the videos in that order, followed by my thoughts on each: YouTube: Thoughts Price: It’s free! Nothing beats free in my book, and with the competitive landscape of technology, this is pretty … Continue reading
Podcast #35 is now live!
The latest episode of Learning Digital Photography is now live and ready for your download and listening pleasure. As always, there’s news, interviews, and listener questions and answers – and this time it’s a theme of Treats, Travel and Tips. I had the pleasure of bringing Andie Smith back to the blog/podcast and we actually had a chance to sit down and really chew the fat on a lot of stuff. News Nikon Contest – $100,000 Giveaway! Saturday Night Live recorded on a Canon Techie Tips for Shooting at Holiday Events Interview with Andie Smith AndieSmithPhotography.net Andie.Smith on Flickr @AndieSmith … Continue reading
December Calendar and blog alert
Happy Tuesday folks! A few curve balls have been thrown my way recently, so the content may shift a little and be more sporadic as I make some adjustments both professionally and personally. However, in the interests of keeping things positive, the December Calendar is ready for download! Enjoy the Christmas-themed desktop: Here are the dimensions available: 1600×1200 px 1280×1024 px 1024×768 px And for those of you that know the specifics of the curve ball – there’s a donation button on the sidebar! If you like the desktop calendar download, feel free to help off-set the curveballs from there … Continue reading
Creating Compelling Captures – the Podcast!
Last week we looked at 5 different ways to create compelling captures here on the blog. Well, today the latest podcast is available where we go into a little more granularity on the subject. A little dash of some photo news and tidbits are thrown in too, but more importantly, the previously hyped and promoted conversation with David DuChemin is now live and ready for your listening enjoyment. We look not only at how to create compelling captures, but also at how the idea of controversy fits into the picture. Can controversial pictures make for more compelling images? What defines … Continue reading
Useful Resource
In the interests of giving people enough time to participate, here is the awaited review of Scott Kelby’s Digital Photography Book, Volume 3. To be eligible to win this book, simply comment on this post – you have until Friday to make a comment – the winner will be announced then. One entry only per person, and free shipping to anywhere in the US. If you live outside the US you can still participate, but shipping won’t be free. Details to follow for the winner… Good luck all and thanks to those at NAPP and Kelby Media for sending the … Continue reading
A Look Ahead…
Just a few news nuggets today of some things that have been going on and simmering on the proverbial stove for the past few weeks. Many of these are now starting to bubble up to the surface, so here’s a little hint as to what I’ve been up to, and what is ahead for the blog and podcast…
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
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
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
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
Tuesday Top Five Nuggets
In lieu of a software review, today instead just a couple news nuggets for you. 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 … Continue reading
For the Love of Gravy Focus on the Eyes …. Please
I hear a lot of chatter out there about how many photographers are in the market, and how soccer moms with a camera are taking your clients. Are you sure they are taking your clients, or are you losing them because you are not trying to be the best photographer you can be? (sounds like the army!) Just because Digital SLR cameras are affordable doesn’t mean everyone can be an amazing photographer. Your job is to be the best photographer you can be, and stand out among the others. How, you ask? Well, start with the basics as it builds … Continue reading
Five Elements of Control: #5 Composition
You knew it had to come back to this, right? I know, everyone is screaming by now “But Jason, you’ve talked about the Rule of Thirds until the cows literally came home!” Truth be told though, most people think about compositional positioning with their subject matter. While it’s true that subjects are ideally placed on a hot spot or along one of the gridlines in the ROT grid, but you can break the rules too, ya know! I say, put anything you want on a grid spot. Or don’t have a specific point of interest! Make the subject of your … Continue reading
Five Elements of Control: #4 Context
Have you ever seen something that looks so out of place that it catches your eye? Well catch it with your lens too, because contextual positioning of subjects in interesting or unusual/unexpected areas creates visual interest. This is what I refer to as controlling the context of your subject. So many times I’ve heard people tell me “but how can I change the surroundings?” The answer lies not in changing the surroundings of subjects you want to shoot, butin reversing that idea: find unusual subjects in your given surroundings. Say you are on a photo walk and in a city … Continue reading
Five Elements of Control: #3 Geometry
Earlier this week, we looked at the idea of how contrast/luminance can impact a photo, and that your creative style may tend toward a wider contrast or a narrower contrast. Then, yesterday we looked at how the element of color can impact a photo, both in the sense of how colors can balance and compete against one another, and how bright versus dark colors can play off each other. Since we’re moving from more theoretical to more tangible elements that we want to include in our photos, next up is the geometry of our photos. So, what is geometry? Basically, … Continue reading
