Most of the time, it involves answers that include explanations of pixel based editing versus parametric editing, and lots of other technical reasons as to why certain things can’t happen in LR.  But sometimes (and this is the best part), I find out they are adding to their work flow because it can be done in Lightroom!  One of the most common ones is masking effects.  When I show people this, I almost always get a “Holy Cow!” or some other variation on the “cow” part.

So, today I thought I’d share a quick tutorial on how to implement masking edits in Lightroom.  Let’s take a look at the base image I am using here – a boat dock on Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks of upstate NY:

So, the dock here is a significant portion of the subject, but it’s way darker than the rest of the image, and really could be increased by a stop or two relative to the sky.  So, rather than round trip to PS, let’s see what we can do here.  I’ll start off with making a general masking selection of the entire area.  So I check the Adjustment Brush (near the top of the Develop Module on the far right hand side), and then at the bottom of the image (over on the left), there’s a box that says “Show Selected Mask Overly”.  I check that box.  Then I just start painting!

It’s a prety broad brush I’ve used, so we need to clean it up, as some of the water got caught and that will leave an ugly halo effect if I don’t take care of it.  So, to get more detailed selections completed, I zoom in, and then switch to erase mode while still showing the mask.  This is in the lower options of the Adjustment Brush, on the right hand panel – see where it has “A”, “B”, and “Erase”?  Click the erase and start painting again to undo the mask:

You, of course, will have to adjust the size, feathering and opacity of your brush to taste, and to accommodate your brushing technique as needed (hint:  Wacom tablets work better than regular mice or trackballs).  Once you’re finished with your refining of the mask, go ahead and uncheck the option to display the mask and see your results.

At this point you can actually do something else kind of cool – hover your mouse over the dot that is on display and then slide it to the left or right as you see the exposure increase and decrease for the selected area!  Pretty cool, eh?  This same technique works with other features in the adjustment brush, whether you are working on eyes, teeth, dodging, burning, or even skin softening.  The scrubby slider is a nice feature in here.  Then, finally, one thing I’ll do is make a side-by-side comparison of the image in a before and after mode to make sure my changes aren’t too garish or over the top (you can do a side-by-side comparison, top and bottom comparison and even split the screen between the two for a more detailed look):

Looks pretty good for this quick tutorial…and here’s the final image after our masking edits are done:

Now I grant you that this is probably not a portfolio image, but it hopefully was helpful in illustrating how you can mask and edit your photos inside of Lightroom without having to do the round trip as often to Photoshop!

Like this tip/trick?  Got any other comments, questions, or curiosities of how to leverage Lightroom more in your own work flow?  Sound off in the comments!  Have a great weekend and we’ll see you here back on Monday!  Happy shooting!

*****

P.S.  This is the final weekend before the contest wraps up, so if you’d like a chance to win a copy of Photo Rescue and a cool Canon coffee mug (courtesy of the folks at Photojojo), then don’t forget to get your image in soon!  Tick tock, tick tock!  Clock is ticking! Submit your images here!

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!

Using Flash in the Snow - #1

Using Flash in the Snow - #2

Using Flash in the Snow - #3

Using Flash in the Snow - #4

Now granted, these are nothing that would ever been usable for fine art or stock type work, but it’s always fun to experiment, and this is one such case where on-camera flash works particularly well.  There’s other times when using on-camera built-in flash can also be useful though, so don’t be afraid to experiment.  Where have you had success with on-camera flash?  Share your own thoughts, perspectives and shots in the insight

• Saturday Aug 28th – Denver, CO
• Workshop will be held at:
• Arvada Center for Arts & Humanities
• 6901 Wadsworth Blvd Arvada, CO 80003

*****

On the free front – the August contest is underway on Flickr and the prize this month is a 50 sheet pack of Polar Metallic Paper from the folks at Red River Paper.  You all likely know how much I love this paper and this company – here’s your chance to find out why with your own pack of paper to push out some super prints for clients, family, friends, or even your own walls!  Submit your own image to the Flickr thread (the theme is Metal).

*****

Last but not least, the eBook has been flying off the virtual shelf, and the response there has been overwhelming too.  Read the reviews, and get your own copy from the eBooks page here!  It’s still a super deal at only $4.99 for the digital download – it includes 49 Photo Tips, explained in detail and with accompanying images to demonstrate the effect when appropriate!  Add this one to your virtual library today!  (An iPad version is due out shortly – working on the ISBN now…)

*****

That’s it for Friday!  Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you here on Monday with the Super Exciting News that I can’t share yet!  Are you ready for some excitement though?  Stop back in to find out!

Needless to say, this last one was the final push I needed as the photo opportunities here would be quite enjoyable.  Indeed they were, and I dare say I felt like having a bit of tea after capture time was finished!  What say ye all – anyone feel like a bit of tea after this?

Perhaps it’s just me, but it was a charming visit, and the results of both her labor and mine (to the extent that it existed wandering the gardens above) were quite gratifying!  How about you?  Do you feel like having a bit of tea?  Sound off in the comments with your thoughts and feedback!  I’ve shared a larger set of images on Flickr too, so if you’d like to see more, the full compilation is here.

Happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Simplicity in composition (there is really no place to go but dead center, and your eyes move all around there to see the legs kicked back, the vehicle lowering away (almost a perfect K, which is a compositional approach) is really well done.  It’s also tack sharp and the color appears to be spot on with the brilliant blue of the sky.  Finally, the implied speed and action of the activity  kept true to form for the challenge, so congratulations are in order for Matt Beaty!  Check out this image and the rest of his work over on his Flickr stream and website! Let’s also not forget that the folks at Lexar were kind enough to share these cards with us to help continue the contest series, so thanks to them.  Thanks also to the rest of the entrants – it really was a crowded field this month.  Next month I suspect it’s going to get even more crowded though…

*****

Speaking of next month, with the June contest now closed, it’s time to gear up for the July contest, which starts immediately!  As you may recall from the last podcast, I had the good fortune of talking with Senior Product Manager Tom Hogarty about the release of Adobe Lightroom 3 on the last podcast, and in the course of the show, was happy to announce that July will be the month where we are giving away a free copy of Lightroom 3!  Valued at $299 retail, this is going to be one for the ages (again)!

Many thanks to Adobe for contributing to the continued success of the giveaway series.  All the details for the giveaway are now live on Flickr, so stop in there to submit your best image!  Don’t forget to read the Contest Guidelines and the Rules of Engagement before submitting.  With how cool and sleek and slick Lightroom has become (and with the news being what it has been in current events lately), the theme for this month is:  SLICK!  Interpret as openly as you like (just keep it family friendly), and good luck to everyone!

As if two piece of contest news is not enough – we have about 6 days left in the comment contest where 3 lucky people will get a free copy of “Taking Stock” by Rob Sylvan (NAPP Helpdesk, iStock Reviewer and Author).  If you’ve not submitted a comment, this is a free book just waiting for 3 random peoples names to be drawn from a hat (or online number generator as the case may be), so share your own comment soon before time runs out!  (One comment per person.)

I was going to share a final announcement but am completely drained from all the buzz here…so get out and shoot, comment and have some fun – more exciting news tomorrow!  (Hint:  It’s about workshops!)

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May, We Salute You

Brad Lackey

Brittany Jones

KBTImages

moises cervantes

Paul Prior

scrapgeek

SarahinArizona

Travel Photography

whalenmdw

I’m pretty sure the artist name matches with the description and caption, so be sure to stop by not only the LDP pool, but check out these great folks threads and photostreams on Flickr too – lots of great vision and talent out there.  Thanks to everyone for sharing your images with the crowd – it’s always a lot of fun to see new takes on things.

For those interested in seeing your photos “up in lights”, be sure to add them to the group pool over at LDP.  I usually remember to check at or near the beginning of every month for some of the highlight images from the previous month…in this case May!  All were a great thrill to see, so thanks to everyone!  Keep ‘em coming!

Speaking of Flickr, don’t forget the June Contest is underway – and the winner will enjoy the generosity of Lexar’s latest line of CF cards – they contributed 2 4GB Lexar Pro 300X cards to the monthly giveaway, so thanks to them.  These retail for around $70 a piece, so this is almost $150 in prize values!  The theme is FAST because these cards sure are fast at 300x!  Be sure to share your images in the contest thread, and consider Lexar for your memory needs.  B&H is having some pretty good deals these days too, so you may want to check them out for about half off the regular retail price at $44.99!  Check them out here:  Lexar Pro 4GB 300X CF Cards

And finally, with the start of June – we have the image of the month set to a desktop calendar for the most popular screen resolutions – laptops, large monitors and regular monitors.  If you don’t see your resolution listed, send me an email or post in the comments so I can get that size entered and uploaded!. Happy shooting all, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Desktop  Calendars

• 1600×1200
• 1280×1024
• 1024×768

It was a great conversation, and I’d like to thank Tyler for taking the time to sit down and chat with me – here’s the show notes for everything that was covered on the latest episode:

News:

• Eye-Fi expanding coverage
• Polaroid 300 bringing back instant film
• World’s Largest Photo

Conversation With Tyler Stableford:

• Website: www.tylerstableford.com
  
• Video:
  • 5 Point Film Festival
  • Colorado F-16 Fighters
• News: www.tylerstableford.com/news
• Social Media:
• Twitter – www.twitter.com/tylerstableford
• Facebook – www.facebook.com/tylerstableford

Listener Questions

• Digital Frame Resolution Problem
• Older Cameras and Newer Batteries
• Joint Copyright

That’s it for the show – lots to listen to, and Tyler was super cool to chat with.  Be sure to stop by his site or catch up with him on Facebook to share your thoughts on him and his work.  One thing that didn’t come up during the show was the May giveaway for a copy of PTGui Pano Software.  Be sure to check out the giveaway thread and get your own photos in before the end of the month here.

Believe it or not though, I’ve got a couple really good posts lined up over the next few days (amazing what happens to your content when you plan ahead, eh? )  For today, I am bringing back the “Shout outs” theme from the previous months Flickr Group contributions.  These are just a sampling from the entire month of March to the group pool, and have nothing to do with the contests.  Just some images that I thought deserved a little recognition…so, without further ado, here’s that random sampling.  Thanks to all who have so generously shared their images and who continue to do so – it’s awesome to enjoy all the talent that is out there!

I think I got the order right, but if I cross-referenced these wrong after download, please let me know.  Honors this month go respectively to the following people:

• Grey Hamster
• Josh Cohen
• KaleidoscopePhotos
• karensk7
• KBTImages
• NZSnapper
• Sue90ca
• and whalenmdw

Thanks to them especially for their creative, inspiring and thoughtful contributions!  Everyone’s were really great so it was even hard to narrow it down to a select few here too.  Keep on sharing and next month, we’ll see which ones end up on the blog.  Stop over to their respective Flickr threads and give them some praise for their excellent work!

Speaking of months – don’t forget there’s not much time left in April to enter the Balance themed contest to win an Expo Disc from the generous folks over at Expo Imaging!  Entries are taken until midnight April 30th, MDT (GMT-7).  Good luck and don’t forget to enter your images in the thread here.

Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow for more news and updates from the LDP/CB corner of the photo world!

*****

News Flash:  There’s something new abuzz in the iTunes store!

But, this does not mean you have to spend money unnecessarily.  When there are savings out there to be had, I am all for taking advantage of such opportunities.  Many savings can come from DIY projects.  Here on the blog I’ve done a few DIY projects, not only to save money, but also to experiment.  This kind of experimentation and money saving is almost always a source of creative inspiration, and usually some decent images come out of them!

Then, there are other more obvious ways to save money.  Here I am talking about coupons and rebates.  Most vendors will offer savings periodically in the form of instant rebates, two-fers (buy one get one half off) and other gimmicks to try and get consumers to let go of a little money.  Here is where you can actually get some really good deals if you plan accordingly.  If you know that you will be upgrading your camera body every 18-24 months – then buy during rebate cycles.  The same goes for lenses, accessories, and computer equipment – although with the computer items, there are sales and rebates going on pretty much all the time, so it’s to a lesser extent there.

So, if you are planning on upgrading any photo gear in the near future – take advantage of the Canon rebates.  They are going on now and you can save a few bucks (nothing stellar, $25 on flashes, $100 on the 7D, and some savings on the 5D Mark II) on your purchases.  You might want to move soon because the deals end in early April (the 3rd I think).  After all, saving money is always a good thing!

• Need the links for the rebates?  Go here to get all the details.
• Got your own money savings ideas?  Share them in the comments!
• Or tell me on Twitter!
• Finally, today is the final day for the March Giveaway so be sure you get your images in before midnight!

Have a great weekend all, happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here on Monday!

Sunrise is predicted for around 6am, which means about a 5am arrival.  Since it’s about 2 hours away from Denver, we are heading out about 3 tomorrow morning.  So, wish us luck of the light, and have a great weekend.  Don’t forget, the new contest thread is also up for the month of March over on Flickr and a fun subject will make for some great photo ops – ANIMALS! So don’t forget to take out your camera and get some shots.  Happy Shooting and we’ll see you back here again on Monday.

P.S.  Also, don’t forget that the comments are image upload enabled (if your photo is already hosted on a website somewhere of course)…so if you have any sunrise shots you’d like to share from your own neck of the woods, by all means, post away – after all, what fun is photography without sharing?

• tcrpmg:  Charger, extra cards, batteries bug spray and hand sanitizer
• DIYPhotography: SB800, trigger, gridspot, flash clamp
• playleimagery: extension tubes, reflector, filters, and a Cokin p350 hood  (plus tons of batteries)
• steelersnm: batteries, charger, cleaning supplies and business cards
• pwscott: Giotto Rocketblower
• kevin_mullins: My lucky feather
• lesault: 430EX, diffuser, wireless trigger, hair ties

Batteries seem to be a common favorite accessory, which makes sense because you never wanna be without the juice!  What about the rest of the reading audience?  Any personal favorite accessories you take along with you when shooting?  Sound off in the comments!  Oh yeah, and if you’re not following me yet, jump on board and you too can sound off in real time, as well as see your Twitter account up in lights (well, maybe not in lights, but at least mentioned when I do these questions from time to time…)

In the meantime, keep on shooting – this month the contest theme is Height and the Flickr thread is open for entries through the last Friday of the month – midnight mountain time as always is the deadline.  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow for more photo goodness!

There are some instances though when a portrait orientation is more conducive and others where a landscape is equally superior.  For instance – if you want to have your images published in magazines, portrait mode might work better primarily because that is how magazines are typically laid out.  Calendars, on the other hand, because of the opposing orientation, are more inclined toward landscape setups.  Your subject matter can also dictate preferred setups too…portrait mode is called portrait mode for a reason – it is particularly well suited to photos of people.  Likewise, landscape mode is also named that way because scenes and vistas (landscapes) typically extend from left to right and not top to bottom.

Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, when a landscape orientation may work for a particular portrait, or a vertical orientation make work for a group setting of people.  So, which one should you shoot?  My easy answer is to shoot both for any particular scene.  Often what I will do is if I find a subject that I want to capture to make a picture, I will shoot it four ways:

1. Portrait
2. Landscape
3. Zoomed in
4. Zoomed out

The latter two is a subject for another post some day, but for today, I thought it’d a be a fun way to cue up the weekend by reminding everyone to try shooting more ways than one – the results may surprise you!

A final reminder for the week too – there are only seven days left in the January circles themed Flickr Giveaway.  The winner will enjoy a free copy of Photomatix Pro from the folks at HDR Soft.  Is your picture in?  Don’t delay, submit today!   Happy shooting all and we’ll see you here next week!

CES News

• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V
• Casio EX-FH100
• Samsung CL80
• Sony and Olympus announced adoption of the SD format
• Samsung TL210

Canon Camera Announcements

• A3100
• A3000
• A495
• A490

We also had been noticing a lot of the newer SLR cameras have been announcing firmware updates, so if you have a relatively new SLR, check your vendor website for details.

Sharing Your Photos

• Flickr
• Forums
• DeviantArt
• Photography Corner

Hosting Services

• WordPress
• Smugmug
• Squarespace
• Livebooks
• Self-hosting
• Paying a Design Professional

Picks of the Week

• Erik’s Pick: Nicolesy Blog
• Jason’s Pick:  Joe McNally’s Blog

Listener Questions

Print Resolution versus Screen Resolution (Jason)

SEO for Websites and Flash (Erik)

Listen to the Podcast

Catch up with me and Erik on our respective websites – you know my info, but if you want to learn more about Erik and his work, here’s his web presence links:

• Flickr
• Twitter
• Photography
• Web Design

A long show for sure – but tons of content.  Thanks to Erik for taking the time to sit down and talk again – we’re going to try to make this a regular occurrence, as well as get some others involved in the conversation! Thanks also go out to the folks at Audible for their sponsorship of the blog!  Happy shooting, and share your feedback, here, on Erik’s site, on iTunes or even with the folks at PLM (thanks to them for their sponsorship as well!)  Happy shooting and we’ll see you here again tomorrow!

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! )

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!

“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 digital photography.  Right off the bat, let me say Congratulations! Joining the digital revolution of photography and imaging is definitely exciting, and the onslaught of information can be intimidating.  A couple resources are better in this case over a huge amount of information overload.  In this case, I would recommend doing three things:

• Read the Manual!  Seriously – it may not be the most well-written thing, but it can give you insights as to what all the buttons, dials, and knobs do.
• Learn the basics of exposure – The Digital Photography School offers a great page that goes over the nuts and bolts of how exposure works in cameras – very helpful!
• Learn the basics of composition – There are so many resources on this, but I like Wikipedia because it links to many others and thus I would deem it very reliable and unbiased.  The one linked here is the article on the Rule of Thirds.  Many other sites cover this too (including mine), but this is just a superb starting point.
• Make an inventory – if this is an SLR, it means you should now be including it on an inventory of “high ticket” items in your house, and a home inventory is always a good thing to have in case of disaster!
• Get out and shoot, practice, then shoot some more!  Trial and error is an important part of the learning process, and by learning what doesn’t work, you will be one step closer to learning what does work.  So, don’t be afraid of getting out and shooting!

2.  This is an “upgrade” from a previous digital camera, and you are simply adding more features.  In this scenario, you are probably already armed with the basics, and are looking to expand your creative efforts with the increased features of faster shutter speeds, larger MP counts, etc.  Here, there’s only three things instead of the five above:

• Read the manual – there are many more options, custom functions, features, buttons, dials, knobs, and menu options.  Reading this will help get all this sundry stuff down quicker so you can…
• Get out and shoot – the tried and true rule of practice, practice, and more practice is what will gain the most in terms of comfort and ease of use for you whether it’s a new camera or an upgrade!  It also will give you an opportunity to see and note the differences between your previous body and test for things like sharpness, functionality, and all that sort of stuff while you are still in the important warranty period.
• If you already have an inventory of gear, be sure to add it here, making note of the serial, registration, purchase date and (if available) location of purchase.  If you don’t have an inventory of gear – the new addition should be motivation enough to ensure that you do get one together.  You may also want to consider your insurance situation: Do you have coverage? Do you have enough?  Call your agent to find out.

3.  Here, you are an established photographer, and this is simply adding another item to your tool belt.  In this scenario, you are likely adding another body for redundancy purposes, or to relegate your other one to a backup role.  Nevertheless, there are some important things to consider doing as you move forward:

• Use it!  Check for compatibility with all your current lenses – that everything works as expected, that there are no cracks, chinks, nicks, or other things that you should be concerned about.
• Add the gear to the list of inventory that you likely already have – make note of the serial numbers, the date of purchase, and if your gifter doesn’t mind, the place where purchased.  All this can be very helpful in keeping records current and up to date.  Check with your insurance agent and make sure you still have enough coverage for your gear – see that they get all this information too.

There you have it, some key points to keep in mind for you and your new camera.  Congratulations on the new gear, and don’t forget to get creative, because while the gear is fun – it’s really just a tool in your creative tool belt!  Did I miss anything?  Are these categories sufficient enough for most?  Do you fit into one of these categories or is another one needed for your situation?  Any other ideas for what to do with a new camera purchase?  Got any specific questions?  What kind of camera did you get?  Share your own questions, feedback, and stories below, by sounding off in the comments!

Last, but not least, don’t forget about the December Giveaway over on FLickr. Over $400 in prizes including books, prints, papers, and software that are great for any photographer!  Thursday the 31st is the last day to enter, so make sure you get your best “Giving” themed photo in before the deadline!

Happy shooting all, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

YouTube:

Thoughts

Price: It’s free! Nothing beats free in my book, and with the competitive landscape of technology, this is pretty hard to beat.

Quality: The thumbnail does not look right, but that’s a minor nit…on playback it seems pretty good.

Ease of use: Another pro here as well…it was easy (and quick) to upload. It took less than a minute to upload, and adding the video details was also easy. You do need a Google account to do this though, but since that is also free, the downside here is hard to find.

Accessibility: It was VERY easy to find the embed code to copy/paste into the blog. And YouTube/Google is pretty recognizable as far as things go, so it’s going to be hard to compete here. But, let’s look at the other services…

Limitations: The only one I can find is that you are limited to videos under 10 minutes. You can do HD quality, up to 2GB per video (so no data size limit), with no waiting in line for video conversion or anything like that. At first I thought 10 minute limit was, well…limiting, but after looking at the other two services, not as much.

Vimeo:

Review of Video Hosting from Jason Anderson on Vimeo.

Price: It’s free…kind of. You can go the free route, but there are downsides which I will go into shortly.

Quality: It seems on par with YouTube in terms of video quality,

Ease of use: Also on par with YouTube, and the dialogs are very similar, so kind of a 6 of one, half dozen of the other sort of comparison here.

Accessibility: Vimeo videos are just as accessible as YouTube ones are, anyone can see them if you set them up the same, so kind of an interesting dichotomy here…

Limitations: Your limitations with Vimeo are that you can only upload 500MB of data per week.  This may sound like a lot, but when it comes to video, that could get eaten up pretty quick. I didn’t see a length limit on Vimeo, but could be wrong here. Another limitation on the free account is that you have to wait in line for your videos to get uploaded. I uploaded the video 20 minutes ago, and still have another 40 minutes to wait before it will start the conversion for me. If you upgrade your free account to the Vimeo Plus one, you can get 5 GB of content, HD quality, no ads, and for $60/year or $10/month. Not too pricey, but again, in a competitive economy, it’s something to consider…

Animoto:

Not reviewable – as it turns out, Animoto only allows 30 second videos for free – everything else is a paid service. The price is cheaper than Vimeo for the service at $30 per year, and it does seem to have no limitations on video length or things of that nature, but the fact that you can only do a 30 second video on their free service seems rather lame. I realize that we need to be quick and to the point with our content, but 30 seconds? Really? This one gets a major thumbs down from me for this and on that basis would not recommend it.

Self-Hosting

In the interests of being as broad in the review process as possible, I thought it would help to also include the self-hosted option as one worth considering. There are some caveats to this though, as services and limitations would vary from one hosting service to another. I use Dreamhost, and I like their hosting, so figured it would be worth showing that here.(You can sign up from the link or from using the promo code CBPROMO to save 50% on sign-up!)

[podcast format="video"]http://www.canonblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/vids/VidReview.mov[/podcast]

Price: Free…kind of. You do have to pay the hosting company for hosting your website, but as far as I know ISP’s typically do not charge additional fees for specific types of content.

Quality: Perfect! Since you are uploading the original video, there is no degradation in video quality – but that being the case, you are solely responsible for quality control…fair warning.

Ease of Use: Again, it depends on your host. For me and the blog, it’s pretty straightforward as I am using a self-installed version of WordPress and I am familiar enough with the functions and formats to handle it, but if you don’t want to be bothered with uploading a video via FTP, then referencing that source URL in your WordPress or website with HTML and all that, it could be challenging.

Accessibility: I hate to beat a dead horse, but it also will be a function of your host, and what format you choose to upload your videos. I uploaded the raw Quicktime video, so it will be dependent on people having Quicktime on their computer. There should be a conversion utility (I think it’s called jwplayer) that converts the .mov format to flash for easier viewing on the web, but this may need to be installed in your version. It is free, but could be a limitation as Flash viewers are more common.

Limitations: You are only limited by your own comfort level here – if you don’t want to deal with all the nitty gritty details, then this could be problematic. For those that enjoy managing all their own content, this could be ideal though, it really just depends where on the spectrum you are. For me, I am okay dealing with it, but if I had my choice between fussing over the details and using a service like YouTube to host it for me so I can go back out and shoot more, record more, and research more content, I’d choose the latter.

*****

So, that’s the top three reviewed for your consideration. If I had to vote on one, I would say YouTube gets the nod. Ease of use, lack of expense, and visibility is just unbeatable. But, keep in mind, that’s just my thoughts. What are yours? Anyone have any particular favorites or preferences for video hosting? Any I missed? Benefits and downsides? Sound off in the comments!

In other blog news, don’t forget, the post from Saturday (yes, I made a Saturday post!) allows you to embed your own photos to the comments! Share your own thoughts on the best photos of 2009 – they do have to be online (embedded via URL) but it’s a great way to share your favorites with the community at large.

Finally, time is ticking away on the December Giveaway. Over $400 in prizes including books, prints, paper, and software are up for grabs so make sure you get your “Giving” themed photo to the Flickr thread before the end of the year!

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!

This plugin comes courtesy of Jeffrey Friedl, and one of the greatest features of it is the cost – absolutely free!  Well, that’s not exactly true, you do need to spend one cent via Paypal, but for a penny, check out what you can do:

I started off downloading the ZIP file (and it works for Windows or Mac) and expanding the archive.  Then I moved the plugin to the root of my Applications folder on the Mac (you can choose where ever you want to store plugins, you just have to tell Lightroom – and for me this is an easy place).  The icon for it looks like this:

Flickr Uploader Plugin Icon

Nothing too spectacular yet, and there’s a little bit of installation and customization needed.  Your needs may vary based on how you want to use the plugin, Flickr, and Lightroom, but the cool thing is that Jeffrey has put together a plugin for most online locales including Smugmug, Zenfolio, Facebook, Photobucket, and many more.  So, if you use another resource, it’s worth checking out.  I’ll continue here for the Flickr plugin and you can decide for yourself if it’s worth adding this tool to your workflow.

Next up, I went ahead and configured the plugin from inside of Lightroom to use my Flickr account.  Here’s what I did. To start, click on Export, just as if you are exporting to disk or some other resource

Open Export Dialog

One the export dialog box is open (and here’s the tricky part), look to the far right of the gray bar across the top that says “Export to Disk”.  You’ll see two little arrows which means there are menu options:

Files on Disk

If you click on those arrows, you’ll get a new dialog box (bet you didn’t know that was there – did you? ), and the Flickr option will show up.  Select the Flickr dialog one for our purposes here:

Flicker Exporter

Once you select the Flickr Exporter, you will get a new dialog box that will start the authentication process that Lightroom will use to log into Flickr.  If you have multiple Flickr accounts, or specific authentication methods you prefer, these steps may change a little based on your needs.  But here, I am doing things the most straightforward way:

Flickr Authentication

Next up, if you are logged into Flickr already, the plugin will open a page that will grant access to the plugin.  So, it helps if you are already logged into your Flickr account on the internet.  So, you’ll get a dialog box that looks something like this from the plugin to that effect:

Warning Notice from Plugin

On clicking the OK button, it will take you to the grant access page, and you’ll get another dialog box that grants the plugin access to post photos to your Flickr account (which, after all, is the goal, right?).  The one notable difference you will see in yours is that my face won’t be staring back at you like here.  That is the avatar for my Flickr account, so your screen should show your avatar – if it shows something different, then you are in the wrong account (but I guess that goes without saying)!

Granting Access from Flickr Side

A second confirmation screen from Flickr will also let you know that this is a 3rd party application, and just acts as a security measure to make sure you are aware of what that means.  Click the button that says “OK, I’ll authorize it”, as shown below.  Again, while it goes without saying at this point, your dialog will look a little different different.  If it doesn’t and you see my avatar in your Flickr account, I am gonna be calling soon!

Authorization

Finally, you will get a confirmation screen on Flickr, noting what you’ve done (they make it pretty clear what you’ve done, and how to delete it if needed on the Flickr side):

Flickr Confirmation

On return to the Lightroom interface, you’ll get a confirmation screen there as well – just click it to continue:

Lightroom Confirmation

On granting access, you’ll get an authorization code, which for obvious reasons I am not going to post here, but make a note of that code and enter it back when you return to Lightroom.  On completing that you will be presented with the Flickr Uploader Dialog.  Here I am going to show you a few key ones that you have to scroll down to be aware of in making your uploading preferences.

This first shot (above) shows the top part of the dialog, and shows how you are authenticating on Flickr.  Now, use the scroll bar on the right side to move down through the options.  First stop, the Photo Set.  On authenticating, the plugin will pull your complete list of photo sets from Flickr.  If you don’t have any photo sets built, then none will be here.  Since I do have photo sets, it will default to the first one alphabetically.  You can change the sort order, and specify what photo set (if any) you want the uploaded image to be added to, as desired.  For this example, I did not add the photo to an existing set, or create a new one.

Photo Set Choice

Pretty straightforward, but let’s keep scrolling through a few more key items you will want to think about utilizing or disabling depending on your work flow.  The next one I think warrants mentioning here is the groups.  One of the ways you can increase the visibility of your photos on Flickr is by participating in groups.  More people look at them, you’ll get more feedback, and sharing our photos with others is the goal anyway, so go ahead and add the appropriate groups here.  I selected the group “CanonBlogger” for obvious reasons!

Publishing to a Group

Only a few other options that I think are useful from this plugin, so we’re almost done.  Next up, is another social networking one that I tend to use fairly regularly – Twitter:

Twitter posting

Last but not least are the meta tagging options you have available to you from the plugin interface.  The options are just to diverse to go into detail here, and I prefer to tag photos on Flickr differently than in Lightroom, so I leave these blank, but in the interests of full disclosure, here are some of the tagging and naming options in the plugin dialog:

Tagging Photos

If you think about it, for a penny, this is a pretty good deal (I went ahead and made a donation, which I would also encourage you to do as well – Jeffrey has clearly put a lot of time into developing these plugins, and he needs to eat, just like the rest of us).  So, there you have it – the process of finding, downloading, installing, configuring and using the Lightroom Flickr uploader.  As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, there are other uploaders available as well, and I am going to probably go get the one for Smugmug as I have an account there too.  It just makes the sharing of your photos that much easier.  (Who knows, the Facebook one may also make its way into my utility belt at some point once I get more comfortable with it…)

If you have questions or problems with the installation or the uploader itself, Jeffrey has a good FAQ page here that should answer most questions for you.  If not, I am sure he has an email address available somewhere for specific questions not addressed online.  For my work, I think this plugin totally rocks!  It’s going to become a staple in my work flow, and if you are into social media at all, I would highly recommend it for those purposes as well.

In talking about all of this, it bears mentioning that some of us are not fans of Flickr, Twitter, or Facebook, and while I can understand the hesitation of some, it’s really a matter of personal preference, and maximizing the time you spend on your computer.  if these outlets aren’t your cup of tea, that is totally fine.  But if you have the Flickr plugin – it is that much easier for you to participate in the Monthly Giveaways here at Canon Blogger/Learning Digital Photography!

With those thoughts, I’ll leave well enough alone as this post has gone on long enough for one day.  Happy shooting (and uploading) and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.

Since I am all about standing up for your rights as a photographer – I followed her link to the video on YouTube.  While the video was interesting, there seemed to be some confusion on both the photographer’s perspective as well as the metro authority guy.  Yeah, the guy with the badge mis-quoted metro rules, and used some heavy-handed tactics to get information from the photographer.  But, all he was trying to do was get general information from a guy with a camera (who in my opinion was being as uncooperative as possible, all while video-recording it surreptitiously).

So, in the interests of hopefully offering some general guidance for photographers that like to go out and take pictures in public areas, here are a few tips to shooting in public, and how to conduct yourself:

1. Know your rights.  Yes, you have the right to take pictures in public places, with a few exceptions.  A great starting point is a nice PDF that Bert Krages has put together. Keep in mind also, that just because you are outside, does not necessarily mean you are “in public”.  Malls, for instance, are privately owned, as are some metro and rapid transit systems.  While they are accessible to the general public, they can be privately owned, and as such, have guidelines for taking photos and filmography (and the guy in the video actually linked to the website for the metro, which clearly states that a form should be filled out and submitted in advance – that they generally will work with people, which he apparently was not interested in…because he produced no such form and did not indicate his awareness level to the authorities).  If you have any doubt about your area, check the locale’s website, and if there’s a phone number – call – it pays to be informed!
2. Be open, honest, and friendly with authorities.  One of your greatest tactics in defusing possibly fractious and unpleasant situations is a willingness to cooperate.  Not having any identification, or an unwillingness to present that ID, is not a step in the right direction.  Neither is muted responses of “just taking photos”.  Usually, if you are open, honest, and friendly, any concerns over your activities are allayed.  Yes, officers should be the same way, but in the event that one isn’t – wouldn’t it be better if you were the one in control of your faculties?*
3. Have your own ammo!  No, I don’t mean carry a weapon, that’s not going to help.  What I mean is to carry your ID with you.  Carry a copy of the Bert Krages PDF, and even better, carry a few business cards.  Make sure the card has your name, phone number, and web address (or blog).  Show that you take your profession (or hobby) seriously.  Heck, even carry a little 4×6 wallet of photos with you (it can never hurt to have a sample portfolio with you – you may land a gig!)  Finally, keep a notepad and pen or pencil with you.  If things really do deteriorate, and you feel you are being held illegally, make sure to note officer names and badge numbers.  Don’t resist anything though because that will accomplish nothing, and just exacerbate the situation, making things worse.
4. Feed the cat!  Showing an interest (even if misguided) in you as a photographer should be a compliment.  Take it as such even if it was not intended that way.  Start showing anyone inquiring about what you are shooting some of your work.  Whether that work is from the back of your LCD, your small 4×6 wallet shots, or your business card, it can immediately defuse a situation because you are being open, honest, and forthright.  Trying to hide things only makes you look more suspicious.  Remain happy and excited about your craft, while also respecting the job that authorities have.  They see things that are potentially unsafe in their eyes, and whether the situation is unsafe, threatening or not, the best way to defuse that is to show them you are safe.  Show them you are after an artistic vision or a creative perspective, and not a confrontation.

*As a sidebar, I have had a few anecdotes with people in positions of authority, whether they be uniformed officers of the law, or hired security.  The first happened at Charleston Airport.  I had arrived a little early to pick up some relative a while back, and since the light was nice (and I had my camera).  I started walking around the parking garage, looking for interesting light and angles in the building.  After about 20 minutes an officer rode up to me on her bicycle, and asked if I was taking pictures.  I (excitedly) said something to the effect of “Yeah, I am here picking up my in-laws and arrived early.  It’s some great light and the angles in here are really cool!  Check it out!”  I then  offered her my camera, and showed a few shots from the LCD.  (And they were cool too! )  She asked if I did work professionally, and I said, not yet, but if she knew of anyone that wanted some work done – I did just get some cards made up – do you want one?  She took it, smiled, nodded and rode off.  (A month or two later, a bank called me and asked if I had any landscapes that they could look at for putting on their walls…)

The other was here in Denver.  After work (when I was still working…*sigh*), I made my way down to the bus depot called Market Street Station.  I missed my bus, so had half an hour to kill…and, with my camera readily available, started walking around looking for interesting light, textures and scenes.  After about ten minutes an RTD guy walked up and asked if I had slipped or something.  No, why? Saw you taking pictures of the stairs.  “Oh, no…just an enthusiast photographer, and saw some cool scenes – here, check out the stuff I got”  I showed him the few shots, and he asked if I had a business card.  “You Bet!”  Turns out his daughter was getting married!  (She had already booked a photographer.)

The larger point of these two anecdotes is that when approached, I was friendly, open, willing to share, and defused any potentially volatile situations with pleasantries and willingness to accommodate curiosity.  After all I don’t want to spend time in jail, or in a detention facility for anything – I want to take pictures, and that is what it is supposed to be about, right?  Let me know – am I off base here?  Do you disagree?  Am I going overboard with pleasantries? Sound off in the comments or via e-mail!  This one could be interesting, so I’ll ask in advance to keep things family-friendly!

Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!  (Oh yeah, and don’t forget the December Giveaway – $400 in prizes by merely posting a “Giveaway” themed photo to the Flickr thread!)

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!

• 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 on Twitter
    
• Recommended Reading
  • American Cowboy
  • Texas Highway
    
• Listener Questions and Answers
  • Gift Ideas
  • Monopod Recommendations
  • Why the 800×600 Aspect Ratio for Giveaways?

That’s it for today – make sure you go grab the podcast from either the folks at PLM or via the iTunes feed.  I’ve now added a page (check the top header) where you can go grab them if you forget…

Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

• 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…)

Winter Wonderland

The theme for the contest was “Winter” and though it was a little early for this, Yvonne took her creativity to new levels by doing some rather unique post processing on an image and it worked!  It looks like she converted this to black and white or added an infrared filter of some kind.  Not sure what exactly she did, but it sure gave me shivers when I looked at it, so, congratulations to Yvonne for your creative vision, and for winning the November giveaway.  If you see this before I get a chance to find you, send me an email to claim your prizes.  I’ll be sending Yvonne a $25 gift card to B&H Photo, a DVD for the Best of Photoshop User TV, Season 11, and a book from Matthew Bamberg.  Be sure to stop by Yvonne’s photo stream on Flickr, and her website for more wonderful photos and to congratulate her.

Thanks to the folks at NAPP for the DVD, to Matthew Bamberg for contributing a copy of his book, and for everyone who participated.  I know it was challenging as many people noted that it wasn’t very “wintery” in their area yet. Hopefully though, Yvonne’s creativity showed us that you can create wonderful winter-like scenes any time of year – you just need to post process a little.

Stay tuned for the announcement of the December giveaway this Friday, while recovering from your turkey-induced tryptophan slumbers!  Believe it or not, tomorrow is not going to ne a no-blog day – something special is scheduled for your reading enjoyment.  Regardless, have a Happy Thanksgiving, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!  Don’t forget those cameras, and keep on shooting!