Category Archives: Video
The 60D Cometh! New Canon Gear!
It’s official – about ten minutes ago I got the word from the horses’ mouth directly (a.k.a. Canon), that the new 60D is hot off the presses! Rather than spout all the technical details, (which the rest of the blogosphere will do in short order), here’s the ones I like the most and why: The Vari-Angle Clear View LCD Screen Just the other day over on Camera Dojo, I was lamenting with Kerry Garrison about how the LCD’s in Canon EOS bodies didn’t have the resolution. In addition to having the tilting LCD for a variable angle of view (great … Continue reading
Digital Photography: Where do we go from here?
I’ve often wondered about the development of technology and the patterns that go with it. As technology has advanced in other areas such as computing, the World Wide Web, and mobile platforms, cameras have also seen similar changes in recent years. The difference between cameras and the rest of the industry though is that with cameras, it’s been a very recent development. Photography has been around a lot longer than the digital world, and the underlying principles and foundations that are the basis for the craft haven’t changed much. Shutter speed and aperture size are still the dominant forces that … Continue reading
Droid 2
So, the Droid has been in use for about a week now…and I gave some initial feedback on it yesterday, but thought it might be helpful to give a short video on how to tether the Droid to a computer. It’s pretty straightforward, so here you are (special shout outs to Rich Charpentier for requesting it)… As you can see – nothing too difficult or fancy to tether a Droid, which makes for great file manipulation and transfer, which means photos are also easily archived across multiple platforms! How are others tethering their smart phones? Just as easily? I didn’t … Continue reading
CHDK is Cool!
So, while debating the intervalometer cost implications for my SLR – I decided to give the Canon CHDK a run for its money. After downloading the CHDK for the A590 and making sure it didn’t break the camera I went out in search of an intervalometer script. I think it’s a VB script, but can’t be sure…nevertheless the results were kind of fun! I tried to include as much info in the teaser as possible, but if anyone has questions on how I did all this, feel free to share your questions (or feedback if you prefer) in the comments … Continue reading
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
Keeping Your Resolutions!
As with every new year, there is always talk about setting New Years Resolutions – and setting goals is always easy to do, but what about keeping those resolutions? Sometimes it’s a challenging thing to do, because we either set goals that are vague or not very specific. For example, “lose weight” is a common goal, as is “exercise more”. From a photography perspective, we often will hear (or say) ones like “shoot more”, “get organized”, and other such platitudes. While the ideal is always good, the intangible goals are always the most difficult to reach simply because they are…well, … 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
The Scenes and Sounds of the Surf
Well, the video I had planned for today fell through, and since everyone seemed to enjoy the stills from yesterday, I thought it might be kind of fun to share some scenes and sounds of the surf down in Cabo San Lucas. It really was breathtaking, and the little shaky (hand held) point and shoot video really doesn’t do it justice…but you can get the general idea! Anyway, here’s the “Abbreviated Post Tuesday”…enjoy! Only four days left to win the $500 package of a Thinktank Photo Multimedia Bag System and the Topaz Labs Photoshop Plugin Bundle over at the Learning … Continue reading
How to build a star tracker!
Rather than go through another hardware review today, I thought I would share a different kind of hardware with you – the DIY kind! Over the weekend I embarked on a little project on building a device to track stars as they move across the sky (even though it’s really the earth that’s moving and not the sky). Now granted, there are better ways to build star trackers, but many involve electronic motors, are more complex (in my mind anyway), and can get kind of costly (at least from what I’ve read). So, I figured I’d start simple, and go … Continue reading
Busted – guilty as charged…
For the second week in a row, there will be no software review this Tuesday. The 2nd Annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk is the reason for eschewing the format again this week, so for those that miss the software reviews – go bug Mr. Kelby, it’s all his fault! (Just kidding, don’t go bugging him, but if you don’t have his site in your RSS feed for daily reading, then you are missing out…) Truth be told, the reason for the deferment again is to admit to the charges – and I may as well come clean, since my … Continue reading
The iPod Touch Unboxing!
That’s right, my replacement podcast resources is finally here, and I share the unboxing with the viewers here tonight via YouTube: Initial thoughts? It’s pretty sweet – love the App Store, the WiFi, email access, twitter access, youtube, and so much more! A few downsides though – no built in camera, and no microphone – I know it’s not for phone, but recording audio snippets would be ideal. There are apps you can download but need a mic and with just the audio jack, not sure I am gonna be able to do one of the things I had been … Continue reading
A video short on HDR and bracketing
One of the more popular posts here on the blog has been two that consisted of explanations on how to bracket multiple exposures in camera in order to capture a wider range of exposure values than is typically permitted in a single frame. Typically, these various exposures are then seamed together in some editor like Photoshop, Photomatix or other that is available to produce an effect called HDR – high dynamic range. You can get some impressive results with various techniques that appeal to different subjective perspectives. Here at the blog though, rather than take sides on such post processing … Continue reading
Photo walks, news, and a visit from Scott Kelby
So, as many of you know, Scott Kelby, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), Kelby Media Group, Kelby Training Live, and leader of the pack of Photoshop guys over at Photoshop User TV, was in Denver yesterday on his Adobe Photoshop Lightroom tour. He led a seminar yesterday that, despite several technical difficulties, was pretty rockin’ when it comes to establishing a work flow in Lightroom. Scott is also known for his annual worldwide photo walks that he started last year. This year response has just been enormous to the walks, with several cities (including Denver) filling … Continue reading
The basement is… FINISHED!
Okay, you might be inclined to skip today’s post since it is totally a personal post, but don’t do that because it still has something to do with photography (I took some pics of the progress, but they are not really all that great n terms of image quality – horrible on-camera flash, poor lighting, and just no lighting). Nevertheless, in the interests of full disclosure, this is more just a Monday brag session! Additionally, I should also note that the project was finished a while ago (two maybe three weeks), but I am just now putting all the shots … Continue reading
An Interview with Peggy Dyer…
As you may recall, a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting up with Peggy Dyer, a professional photographer here in Colorado, and I got to learn about her latest project – One Million Faces. We got a chance to sit down a second time and I learned a lot more about her creative energy, where she finds inspiration, and about where the One Million Faces project found it’s genesis. In addition, we also got to talk in more detail about the Lensbaby series of lenses, starting with the first one ever, going through the most recent Lensbaby … Continue reading
Updating Your Firmware
A few days ago I shared the story of how an IS lens on my beloved 40D was producing some odd noises and the resulting diagnosis was to update my firmware. Rather than do so immediately (as is usually the case for me), I decided to hold off and share it as a video tutorial of sorts on what the process is like. I share a few tips on things to do before hand and what to look for. Then, you see in real time, unrehearsed and unscripted, my firmware update. As the video shows, it’s a pretty painless process … Continue reading
Tuesday Two Minute Tip
That’s right, I’ve finally gotten back in the saddle for some good old fashioned Photoshop fun. Today, it’s a quickie, but then again, that’s how we like our information on the web: short, sweet, and to the point. Today I give a little tip on how you can use the Clouds filter in Photoshop. This technique works in pretty much any of the last 3 iterations of the software (I am assuming it works in CS – I got into the game in CS2 worlds…). Anyway, take a gander on the download feed listed at the end of the post. … Continue reading
Usual becomes unusual
The tutorial for this Tuesday, you may notice is not your typical Photoshop tip, trick, or tutorial. I took things outside of the desktop and into the real world to show you examples of thinking outside the box when it comes to lighting. By now we are all familiar with Strobist, and the methods he uses to encourage people to think about lighting and how to do things in an economically friendly way. Today, I wanted to take a moment to share with you a few lighting ideas I’ve had and some of the effects they’ve produced. None of these … Continue reading
Calendar Templates, Part II
This week I wrap up the tutorial started last week on creating a Calendar Template using Photoshop. One of the things I found most useful was performing the screen captures of each month prior to beginning the place functions inside Photoshop. As you can see in the tutorial, the results came out really nicely. This whole project started from wanting to make a single-page calendar and in looking at the design offerings on Mpix, thought “Hey! I could make that!” The second half of the genesis came courtesy of Matt Kloskowski over fro the Photoshop Guys where he did a … Continue reading
Creating templates
Hey all, today is tutorial Tuesday, and I share a technique I used recently in creating a calendar template to import client photos in. I could only get about half way through the tutorial before I had to stop (I am trying to keep video tutorials at or under 5 minutes), so this will be part 1 of a two part series. Today I show you how I created the graphics with some guides, and keeping things all manageable on just a couple levels. As usual, the tutorial is linked in both Flash (web based) and QuickTime (iPod/iTunes friendly) formats … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Webinar
Okay, it’s not really a webinar, it’s a tutorial, but since I usually publish the tuts on Tuesdays, I had to come up with a clever name for the post title, and webinar was the best I could think of…it’s corny, but what the heck. This week, the final installment of creating web galleries using different applications. Previously, I had looked at how to create web galleries using both Photoshop and Lightroom, and discussed some of the basics involved there, as well as some of the pros and cons of each. In this third and final segment, I look at … Continue reading
Photoshop Reloaded – Web Galleries with a twist!
A couple weeks ago I did a tutorial about how to create web galleries using Photoshop. As one of the steps, I advised to sort through your images first and pick out the ones you want to put in your web gallery into a dedicated folder to make the process easer once you start in Photoshop – well, that advice was a little short-sighted. I got my most recent issue of Photoshop User (from the great folks over at NAPP), and read through an almost identical tutorial, with one notable exception – they used Bridge! That’s right, you can use … Continue reading
All over the map…
Well, I know I am all over the map here, with a couple different tangents going on. I had started things last week with the theme of how to create web galleries using different software platforms, and looking at some written materials for publication. When the Photoshop World keynote and Adobe Labs announced Lightroom 2.0, I felt compelled to download that and give it a quick run through. On noticing that the “dual monitors” isn’t exactly what I had hoped, thought to share my own first look of that as nothing else really showcased how it has to be configured. … Continue reading
Lightroom 2.0 Beta – First look at the dual monitor! (A preview video)
Just before I hit the sack last night, I saw that Adobe went and released Lightroom 2.0 in its beta form. I’ve already downloaded it and checked out some of the key changes. Until this release, I had used a trial version on my one desktop, and decided I’d tr it for 30 more days just a week or so ago on this main one. Well, right after recording a tutorial on creating web galleries in LR 1.x Adobe goes and does this! I shoulda known better. The NAPP staff was clearly in on the development as they’ve got a … Continue reading
