Month: October 2008

New Podcast is Up!

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That’s right, for two successive weeks now since our move, I’ve been able to find the time to record an audio podcast.  Todays show had everything to do with the absolutely horrendous performance by the Broncos last night on MNF – their season turned to the toilet rather quickly.  What ever happened to the fundamentals?

Oh, sorry, this is a photo blog, not a football one! 🙂

Okay, here’s the latest and greatest from CB. First and foremost, CB Episode #55 went up today. I took about twenty minutes to talk about off-camera lighting. I looked at the radio transmitters available, infrared transmitters and a number of different companies that deliver products. Pricing from various websites was also reported. As prices may change, and sales may happen, those are approximate according to the date of publication. So, if you have questions about off-camera flash, this may be a good starting point. I look at everything from PocketWizards to Cybersyncs, Skyports and more. It’s about a 20 minute listen, but chock full of information, so download it and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments – I’d really like to hear what people think of the “new format”.

Other news from CB – the header is updated! I’ve got new header shots rolling out every day this week, so make sure you visit the blog and look at the new images (this is for all you RSS readers out there). For the regular visitors, you may also notice that I finally took some time to sit down and add some of the common links above the header, so now you have quick access to The Online Photography Test (more questions and ideas are needed for the “Expert exam”, not linked like yet), the Colors and Textures Gallery, and my own website of personal photography work.  Finally, I also added a link to the  CB Flickr group (I’d love to see some more members sharing photos and ideas). Pretty cool stuff that I am happy to finally have in place. Thanks go out to Erik Bernskiold of Bernskiold Media for taking some time to jog my memory on the particulars of HTML editing – it’d been a while.

As promised, here are the links from the show (a.k.a. show notes):

As I said in the show, I’m migrating from the ST-E2 from Canon to the Cactus transmitters. If you’d like to hear a follow-up episode on my experiences when I am done, let me know and I’ll try to get that “in the can” too.

Well, that was just a ton of information for a Tuesday, so I’ll leave things at that, and let everyone come back tomorrow rejuvenated for the Wednesday “What’s This?” Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!

P.S.  Don’t forget the poll on the sidebar or the Photrade contest – both are ending soon so get your votes in today!

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Monday Myriad of Colors

Jason3 Comments

Well, Fall is definitely upon us as the leaves outside are starting to turn.  The Colorado skies are just rife with beautiful blues and a wonderful myriad of colors!  I was thus prompted this weekend to go out and capture just a little of the color that is so vibrant around here.  Naturally, photography cannot come close to the real thing, but I have endeavored to do my best.

In other news, I’m also rolling out some new headers for the blog this week.  I’ve finally had a chance to go through my archives with”blog header” in my mind, and found quite a few that work quite well (imho).  So, stop in over the course of this week to see a new blog header image every day!)  Also, feel free to share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section.

I’d also like to put out a reminder about the poll on the sidebar (“Has the economy affected your photography purchasing?”)…only 5 days left to participate in that (poll closes this Friday).  Also, the TWIP Photo contest is still going on, so you can enter to win a Drobo if you’re interested.  If you already have a backup solution in place, then stop over and vote for my contributed shot, as I really could use something better than a single WD Mybook setup.  That picture is also in the sidebar of the blog, and directs you to the Photrade site where you can register, vote, and participate with your own images.  It’s all free, so help a fellow photog out by stopping in to vote.  Only 10 days or so left in that contest too!

That’s it from the CB side of life for this Monday morning.  It will turn colder later this week with temps dropping below freezing, so that should push even more colors into the leaves, so I’ll see what I can do for some more colorful photos on Thursday or Friday.  How is the color where everyone else is?  Any other  captures of the fall foliage?  I’d love to see what others have got thus far, so feel free to share links in the comments.  Hope everyone else had a great weekend too.  Happy shooting, and we’l catch you back here tomorrow.

You can win a Drobo!

Jason2 Comments

That’s right – a drobo is up for grabs.  For those that already tune in to This Week In Photography, hosted by Scott Bourne, you probably already know about this, but he and his crew of friends (Steve Simon, Frederick Van Johnson and Ron Brinkmann) host a photo contest about once a quarter.  The goal of the contest is to get you out shooting with a theme in mind.  Well, this month, in order to motivate people they are also including a Drobo for some lucky participant.  So, how do you get in on the action?

  • Well, first, go to Photrade and set up a free account.
  • Then, join the TWIP Photo Contest
  • Finally, upload your favorite photo (that fits with the theme).

That’s it!  Three easy steps to winning a Drobo!  As luck would have it, I just happen to have a link to Photrade here at CanonBlogger.  Simply click on the picture over to your right to get over to Photrade, where you can register and then upload your own entry (or if you run out of time, you can just vote for mine! 🙂 )

In any case, it’s a great prize, and also an excellent backup solution for anyone from a beginner to a serious photographer as the scalability of it rocks!  You can learn more about Drobo here.

Don’t forget, for those RSS readers out there.  Stop over to the blog to see the latest poll and contribute.  It’s more fun and revealing when we all throw our 2¢ in the mix!  Happy shooting, have a great weekend, and we’ll see you back here on Monday!

Vivitar Auto Thrystor 550 FD

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I got a few emails asking if they could see a picture of the flash as there apparently aren’t that many of them floating around the internet.  Never one to deny an opportunity to take a picture, even if it is really old gear, here we are, the moldy oldy Vivitar Thrystor 550 FD:

Thrystor Thursday

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Even though I primarily shoot with Canon gear, if a product comes along or crosses my path that can get the job done either better or more cheaply, then I will definitely consider it.  Well, about a year or so ago, I was at this event in South Carolina called “Whale of a Sale”, where you can occasionally find some super good deals on merchandise that is either slightly dated, out-dated, or just no longer wanted.

I happened across a Vivitar Auto Thrystor 550 FD and for the bargain basement price of $3, decided to give it a go.  Well, now that I have abandoned the Canon ST-E2 system, and moving toward radio transmitters, I got a couple recommendations to look at the Vivitar flashes.  Based off the B&H page for Vivitar flash features, it should work, albeit at full power only.  But still, a second flash means more light control.  So, tomorrow I will likely be stopping by a local photo store to get some radio transmitters for about $15.  After a little jury-rigging, the wires should connect up just fine, and I’ll have a two light setup.  Grand total in costs: $32

What’s This? – Week 15

Jason3 Comments

The turtle mouth of last week kind of took us to a different place, so let’s bring things back toward photography and technology a little bit (or is it a byte?) with the latest edition of “What’s This?”  Now in week 15, we’ve officially passed the two-week mark of image posts, and I would like to take a moment to thank those that have participated and shared their thoughts in the comments section.  So, let’s see who deduces it first this time.  Here’s your image:

New Blog on the Block!

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For anyone who has been into photography for any amount of time more than 6 months, you probably already know about Scott Sherman and Michael Stein, hosts of the popular podcast, titled “The Digital Photography Show.”  It has been a mainstay listening choice of mine for over the last year and my commutes would not be the same without it.

Well, as it turns out, it seems I may have to adjust to a commute without hearing their friendly voices for a while.  Their popular show has been temporarily taken off the air by the folks over at The Podcast Network.  The TPN staff is searching for a replacement host (or set of hosts), and in all likelihood, they will find someone to fill in for the show.  However, none will enjoy the popularity that Scott and Michael had.  Their friendly and dynamic exchanges made for a great listen every time.

Scott and Michael had interviews, contests, and a lot of other resources and outlets for their listeners and even stay in touch with them (I’ve gotten a few emails from Scott myself over the past 12-18 months…).  I certainly hope they continue to stay i touch, but for the time being they are off the air.

However, you can stay abreat of all the news and developments over on Scott’s personal blog until they re-launch with a new name/identity.  So, to do that, stop over to Scott’s Photo Blog and tag it in your readers.  Thanks to bot of them for the wonderful job the did, and know that no matter where you both land, know that there will be many of us that find you to pick up right where we left off!

Monday Morning Quarterback

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After a rather exciting weekend photographically I thought today might be a fun way to share my experiences with the readership in the form of an audio podcast!  That’s right, I am going to try and get established again with a weekly podcast you can listen to.  Today, I talk about my experiences with the Colorado Strobist group over on Flickr.  Also, I hit on the subject of learning on your own versus in a community.  It’s kind of an interesting mix of two related schools of thought, and hopefully will get me back on the band wagon for audio podcasts on a regular basis.  You’ll recognize the theme music, and that should stay consistent, but it will likely stay in audio format for the forseeable future.

For a few of my shots from the outing, stop over at the Flickr pool and look at the contributions from CB_Jason.  It’s always fun to get feedback, and I do listen to what everyone has to say.  I thought the lighting was good, but my post processing left a little to be desired (in retrospect).  Comes from having not the best monitor to work with in my 5 year old Dell 19″!

Anyway, give a listen, it’s much more portable now, and I only ramble on for about 5 minutes or so.  Let me know what you think and if there are any subjects you would like to see discussed in future episodes!  Happy shooting, and I’ll have another new topic for your reading pleasure back here again tomorrow!

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Be careful with Adobe updates!

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I was just in the NAPP forums (a great place to learn by the way), and learned about the ACR update.  Since I already am good on the gear compatibility side, I went to the readme.txt file to see if there were any other updates to the programs that I should be aware of (Podpress has made me very cautious about updating too soon…)

Turns out there are some LR issues with a few tools and with XMP sidecar files versus database entries.  If this is all gibberish to you, then don’t worry you are probably fine.  For the more technically inclined though, their readme file is something to look at before you upgrade ACR this go-around.

Linked here

Proof positive that the old adage of “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” can still apply in a modern world.  If you don’t have a specific need for the update (a very recent camera purchase), I’d hold off until the next update ships as this could break Lightroom to a degree, as well as prevent respecting of previous edits if you use the database option for XMP data.

In more CB-specific news, the last poll finally wrapped up today.  With 30 responses, here was the final tally:

The newest poll is now up on the sidebar.  2 weeks does seem to return more meaningful information as that gives people enough time to respond.  Feel free to chime in at your leisure.  The question is:  Does the current economic downturn had an impact on new photography-related purchases?  For those reading in feed readers, stop in to see the options and vote!  Let’s try to crack the 50-count this go around! 🙂

On a lighter note, the WTD series this week was really pretty darn funny.  Here’s my favorite:

Have a great weekend everyone, Happy Shooting, and we’ll see you back here Monday morning!

Three Thoughtful Tips

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As the day starts to fade into the last few hours, I realized nothing had been prepared for posting today.  At times like this, I either decide to make it a “no blog” day, or put together a few brief thoughts, that are tied to photography.  The latter won over today, so for the readers who continue to visit on a regular basis, you are in for a treat (or a trick, since we are getting kind of close to Halloween!).  So, here’s my three thoughtful tips for the day:

  1. If you’ve got some blown highlights or high contrast pictures that just aren’t working – try a black and white conversion.  Add a vignette and you may actually have a shot worth keeping.
  2. In a pinch, your on camera flash is still a flash…granted not the best one, but with even a piece of regular copy paper in front of it, you can diffuse it and spread the light a little more.  It may not be ideal, but better than the glaring brightness of direct flash light.
  3. In tough lighting and no gray card?  Stick your hand out.  Yup, it may not be the best metering source, but your skin can be used to neutrally balance a shot.  From there you can find the rest in post process…

Got any other ideas off the cuff?  Share them in the comments!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!