Category Archives: thoughts
It’s not the body, it’s the glass! (New Canon gear…)
Okay, while everyone is salivating (or slamming) on the new 60D Canon just announced, let’s not forget that it’s not really about the body upgrades – it’s the glass we want to invest in. And, true to form, there are also a significant number of additions and upgrades to the Canon lens line-up that bear some discussion, so here we go: Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens – Touted as the worlds widest fisheye zoom, it’s an impressive feat, but not many shooters really need such a lens. At $1400 price point, the price point will likely be too … Continue reading
The problem with words…
Recently, I learned that the Isle of Palms (IOP) in South Carolina has made it illegal for photographers to take commercial photography onto the public beaches. The specific phraseology of a recently posted page for IOP states that: “Commercial activity, including photograpy, is prohibited on the Isle of Palms beach. Unless a special exemption is granted by City Council, photographers who take portraits or photographs on the Isle of Palms beach as part of a commercial transaction are in violation of City ordinances.” For now I will ignore the part where they mis-spelled photography as ‘photograpy’ (because it’s probably just … Continue reading
What Flash versus HTML5 is really about…
Surely you’ve heard the whole ruckus about Flash versus HTML5, Apple versus Adobe, and the Conan vs Leno thing now, right? Well, before we all get too caught up in these heated debates, let’s take a step back and think about what is really going on here… For photographers, the Flash versus HTML5 debate that has been raging between Adobe and Apple for several weeks now really doesn’t matter a lot. Have you noticed that? Photographers really don’t care. By and large photographers are mostly interested in seeing where things go because it will define how they push their content … Continue reading
Hardware Review: Sigma 4.5mm Fisheye (Circular)
As things start to settle down again, I’ve got a pile of reviews pending work, so this past weekend, while in bachelor status temporarily, I really knocked out a few projects, including getting caught up on some overdue reviews and blog writing. Today, the first of these projects is the Sigma 4.5mm fisheye lens review. This is a super cool lens, and has a lot of opportunities for creative exploration. I took the typical test shots indoors to get a feel for where it’s strengths and weaknesses are, how it focuses, and then took to the streets.
Putting the Pieces Together, Dream Camera #4
You may recall that a while ago, I decided to start building my ideal perfect “dream camera”! In fact, I devoted 3 blog posts to it, and you’ve patiently waited for the grand finale, so here it is – what rounds out the list for the ultimate dream camera! For those that need a refresher, here’s what’s included so far (click the title to go the blog post where each item is explained in detail): Part 1 Full Frame Sensor EF-S support Low Light Performance ISO handling Multi-card compatibility Part 2 Megapixels Video Frame Rate HDMI support Internal wireless/Bluetooth Part … Continue reading
Ammo in the armaments
Last night the DALPUG (Denver Area Lightroom Users Group) had their bi-monthly meeting and host Brian Reyman walked us through some of the features of the Lightroom 3 Beta. It was a gret seminar and offered an opportunity for many to get an idea of what to expect. I had not realized that there are many work flow options out there because when queried, the audience responded with quite the variety of software approaches. We didn’t officially count votes, but it seemed roughly along these lines: 40% Lightroom 2 40% Photoshop CS (no query here on version #) 10% Aperture … Continue reading
Trade show transitions…
In the most recent podcast Erik and I talked about several upcoming trade shows, including PMA, WPPI, PSW, and GPP to name just a few. Lots of acronyms though and it can leave many questions open about which ones to attend. While we tried to cover the nuts and bolts of each, one thing was not really discussed to a great degree, and I thought I would share my own thoughts on the future of trade shows here today. To do that though, there are two key news nuggets that tie into today’s post to kind of set the stage: … Continue reading
How To Make Your Pictures Sing!
While recently listening to This Week in Tech (a great podcast, and I highly recommend it), the show host, Leo Laporte, made an interesting observation about the advancement of technology. He was musing about the changes that have happened in audio consumption. We listen to much of our music in iPods and portable music players, when not too long ago, we were confined to a certain space. To that end, he noted that the technology of audio in those days revolved around things like the number of amps, tweeters and woofers, quadraphonics, decibels, and much of that technical information. We … Continue reading
The Beauty of Bokeh Revisited
I know – the blog has not gotten much attention lately. My apologies – but after the job loss, and pounding the pavement, my schedule has tightened up considerably, so the “planned posts” have pretty much been exhausted as I let myself get behind. The good news is that with several opportunities on the horizon, I am a little less stressed about “real world” economics, and can dedicate some time back to the blog. A few items of note: #1 – The Year End Blowout Bash is underway – and LDP/Canon Blogger is giving away a ton of goodies. I … Continue reading
Post # 499: Audioboo Addition!
As promised, as we gear up for magical #500 tomorrow – more content has been added to the blog. This is not something that can be gotten from the feed though, so for you feed readers out there, stop over the the blog and check out the new widget in the side panel that has links to… AudioBoo! So, what is Audioboo? AudioBoo is a unique way for people with iPhones and iPod Touches to share their short audio recordings – courtesy of the folks at Audioboo.fm It’s kind of a cool concept, because the recordings (called “boos”) are typically … Continue reading
Rocket Man!
Cleaning your gear is a maintenance ritual each of us must develop that suits our own style and behaviors. For me it’s lists…logical lists that I formulate after thinking about what makes sense to me, so I can do things the same way every time. For me it’s all about consistency and repeatability. While this same technique is something I recommend for others, it may not always be the best course of action if you don’t like that kind of rigidity. However, regardless of what styles or approaches you use to clean your gear (and I’ve talked about my approach … Continue reading
Seven Super Summer Tips
Since the podcast went live yesterday, the compositional theme was kind of put on the back burner, so I’d like to bring that back to the forefront today with something everybody likes…a list! For some reason lists of bullet points seem to generate a lot of feedback, and garner the most interest, so here we go with a set of what I am calling “Seven Summer Super Photo Tips” Shoot early, shoot late – it’s the “Golden Rule” – and I think we all know about it, so this is just a reminder. Shoot often – seriously, the eye does … Continue reading
The Un-review Software
This week I am going to talk about the lack of software in the weekly software review. That’s right – the lack of it! You may be sitting there wondering which software item I am going to talk about, promote, or diss in some way shape or form, but instead of that, I actually want to talk about the general trending of software, hardware, and system resources. Why? Because we demand a lot from our computers these days. Think about it – we want our computers to do many things from surfing the internet, to designing graphics, office functions, building … Continue reading
The Meaning of Memorial Day
Nothing says it better than this – thanks Scott, to all our active troops, and all the fallen ones before that paid the ultimate price for our country: The Meaning of Memorial Day See you back here again tomorrow!
Photography Secret #1249871
There are so many tricks and little tips to taking better photos – it often seems like millions, doesn’t it? Well, it does to me. I thought of one last night that thought the listening audience might enjoy. This one is a toughie though (because it’s not that easy to do)…are you ready? here goes: Shoot for fun Yep, that’s it. I say it’s tough because we can often forget about the fun factor. We get caught up in the gear, the software, rules of composition, ISO’s shutters, apertures, marketing, advertising, booking gigs, constantly on the go, and all that … Continue reading
Creative Vision – or not!
When looking at image composition, many of the things we use as our foundation are the typical rules of the trade – things like the the Rule of Thirds, Sunny 16, Golden Mean, etc., etc., etc. While these rules are all well and good, and they definitely are some of the fundamentals that we all incorporate as we see to create beautiful images – they do not constitute the entire picture (pardon the pun). As photographers, we should also be challenging ourselves to look at things in unique and new or innovative ways. For instance, take the Eiffel Tower. This … Continue reading
No Trumpts, No Fanfare, Nada
As I was sorting through the CB archives for some content to update for todays post, it dawned on me that I blew right past post #400 without even a mention of thanks to anyone. So, at post #411 (see, I really blew right past it), let me take a moment to give some belated thanks to the listening and reading audience for the past two plus years… Your comments, feedback, emails, insights and thoughtful notes over this time have been very helpful and motivating in keeping the ball rolling, often through some rather tedious times. I’ve had people share … Continue reading
Can ordinary be interesting?
A while back I took Tracy out for an afternon/evening in Denver. I agreed to leave my camera behind, but in case she wanted to catch a moment for posterity’s sake, I grabbed the P&S one she asked for as a Christmas gift. After her initial interest waned in taking pictures, I ended up with the camera in hand (go figure) and even shared a few here on the blog (remember the bottle caps in the grocery?). Anyway, it got me to thinking about how to take ordinary scenes and make them interesting. I guess that’s part of the role … Continue reading
The Show Must Go On…
While the folks at Personal Life Media continue to work behind the scenes at getting the show re-branded, I’ve been encouraged to keep producing podcasts so, this week, the podcast returns. I have a couple fun segments including a more detailed back story from The Boneyard Beach post earlier this week, the Think Tank Photo Review, and some blog/podcast housekeeping including the inside scoop on how you can win the Streetwalker bag I reviewed! Be sure to get this week’s episode so you know what to do. The bag is valued at $140!!! As you may have noticed if you’re … Continue reading
Best 8 of 2008
A new year has begun! Happy New Year to my online friends and family! Last year was a great year – it marked the first full year of blogging for me. It showed me how challenging it is to generate new, useful, and meaningful content for readers on a regular basis. Format changes, layout changes, content delivery changes, and a host of other things have kept the blog active for going on almost 18 months now. So, what has kept things going? A great deal of fellowship and other bloggers have shared their wisdom and experiences with me, both personally, … Continue reading
The Final Broadcast… of 2008!
That’s right, this week is the final podcast broadcast for CB this year! It’s a good one though with an announcement of the new product line I’ll be reviewing. For those of you getting this in feed readers, here’s the short version: Christmas Wrap-up: A few last minute gift ideas for the photog-type in your circle The New Product Line Review Announcement (you gotta listen to find out! ) The Value of Starting Over Listener Questions and Answers Dave from PA – Hot shoe flashes: tungsten or flourescent? Lynn from WI – Are 3rd party batteries safe? Kevin from CO … Continue reading
