Can anyone guess the significance of the post title right off the bat? Any takers at all? For those that could, cool! For those that can’t, 37 is a reference to the last podcast for 2009! Episode #37 (Longevity of Lenses) is now available for your listening pleasure in iTunes and with the folks hosting the show directly on the web at Personal Life Media. It might be an hour or so actually before the show is available for download on iTunes, so hold off for a little there before downloading – you might get the previous episode! It does take a look at the subject of lens longevity much along the lines of the previous post here on the blog, but it also speaks to things like depreciation, and considers the business element of lenses too – so there’s always more in the podcast for blog readers to enjoy!
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:
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!
Yesterday we looked at things to consider when getting a new camera body…while the idea is all well and good, lenses are another story, and since we are likely to invest more in glass than in cameras (Have you seen the costs of some of the really good glass lately?), the life of a lens is something worth considering.
In all things technology-related, there is a principle called Moore’s Law which states that technology will advance at a rate of re-doubling roughly every two years. While this principle was developed primarily for computers, we can draw similar analogies for digital photography too, with the sensor being analogous to the transistor. The rate of increase has not quite been on par with re-doubling every 2 years, but the increases can be noted pretty impressively going from a mere 4 in 2001 to a current rate of 21 MP per frame for DSLR cameras (I am only looking at the Canon line-up here:
Canon 1Ds Mark III = 21MP (2007), Retail
Canon 1Ds Mark II = 16 MP (2004)
Canon 1Ds = 11MP (2002)
Canon 1D = 4 (2001)
Lenses aren’t like that though – focal lengths don’t change that much. Instead, technology has allowed lenses to become faster at the longer end of the given focal lengths. We’ve also seen the introduction of image-stabilization technologies. The addition of new technologies in lenses does not necessarily deprecate previous generations – it merely antiquates them! This means your lens may not have the bells and whistles of future generations, but it should work indefinitely if treated properly.
Keep in mind though that there is a distinction between full frame and crop sensor cameras here though, because Canon has two lens lines, the EF line and the EF-S line. The EF-S line is intended for the crop sensor cameras and cannot be used on the full frame mounts – if you try to use an EF-S lens on a full frame body, the mirror could slap down and shatter the back element of the glass, so avoid this scenario if at all possible! (There are some converters on the market that will extend the gap between the mirror and the element to avoid this, but I’ve not used them.)
Lenses are also different from camera bodies because there are no moving parts that can fail. Well, that’s not entirely true because zooms do have moving parts when you rotate the lens, and these can fail. * However, because the lens is always a closed item, the susceptibility of a lens to parts failure is not as high as it is for camera components. Shutters, for instance, have a certain lifespan for which they are rated, (usually somewhere between 50,000-150,000 actuations). Lenses don’t fail after a certain number of focal adjustments (assuming you are handling the lens correctly), and in the case of fixed focal length lenses (primes), this is even less the case.
So, a lens can literally last for as long as the vendor makes a body that will accept the mounting mechanism, and in the case of most vendors, I don’t see that changing any time soon. I’ve had my kit lens from Canon when I got my first Rebel XT back in 2004 and it still works great on my 40D – it may not be in the lineup anymore (neither is my 40D either, but I digress…), but any EOS body will accept this lens and the image quality has not deteriorated at all over time! Lenses can last forever!
How long have you kept your lenses? Do you have any “go-to” lenses in your bag that you anticipate will always be there? Let me know your favorites!
On a blog administrative note, don’t forget that there’s still a little time left in the Flickr Giveaway thread for December, so if you have any shots (the holidays are good times to capture those “Giving” themed photos), make sure to get one in for a chance to win that $400= prize package! Happy Shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
*ETA: Special thanks to Marco for pointing out in the comments that there are quite a few moving parts in even fixed focal length lenses. In addition to the focusing ring, there is also the diaphragm that moves which closes down the aperture to the correct setting for every actuation of the shutter, so there are moving parts in any lens, including fixed focal lengths.)
With the major holiday of the year behind us, many are proudly wielding new cameras…but many are also asking questions. The most popular question I am getting via emails is something along the lines of:
“I got a new ______ for Christmas. Now What?” (Insert your own camera make/model in the blank)
The answer to this really depends on what, if anything, you had before the new item made its way into your hands. For simplicity sake, I’ll break the response down to 3 different categories:
1. This is your first “serious” camera, and you are making the foray into 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!
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 jam-packed our houses with stereo components, our cars with subwoofers, and on and on. To get truly high quality audio you needed to have resources (a.k.a. money), and the producers of that audio content was restrictive because of the costs.
Not today – these days you can plug a $5 microphone into a USB port on a $400 computer, say or sing anything you want, and almost instantly have beautiful high quality digital recordings of whatever you like. This is a good thing though – because even though more people are recording audio, what matters is what the message of that audio is saying. I can’t just go on the podcast and talk about nothing because no one would listen…although sometimes it feels like I am blathering on and on! 🙂 As the old saying goes, “content is king“! Leo’s observation was that in the audio world, it’s a wonderful thing because anyone can produce audio, and there are now more voices for creativity. With the lower cost of entry to producing high end audio, two questions came about. The first is “What does that content say (what is the point, or message)?” The second is “How do you want to consume that media?” (With the options being whether you want it on a CD in your car, on your iPod at the gym, on your computer as you work, or where ever.)
It was a very astute observation, and that description applies to other media as well. I am, of course, thinking about photography. Think about the analogy for a minute. For the longest time we had the film world, and as ASA speeds got better, grain got finer, the size and quality of image development improved as technology permitted. With the movement to the digital world, and the subsequent “Megapixel Wars”, capturing high quality detail in your photography was no longer such an arduous process. I believe we are at a crossroad now in digital photography, where the technology has expanded to a quality level that anyone is able to produce excellent quality images, in terms of technical details. The portability factor for audiophiles doesn’t really apply as much to photography though as the medium is more portable by definition. You are also looking at the image rather than listening to it.
The advances in the technology of photography has also introduced a creative outlet for many where it previously did not exist. The decreasing costs of production have allowed many to find their “photography voice”. With the holidays upon us, many are likely to get a shiny new camera with lots of bells and whistles, and for some out there, this will be an opportunity to “sing”! It’s an exciting time to be a part of the chorus because with so many voices, there are lots of melodies and harmonies to be heard and enjoyed.
This will undoubtedly lead many to ask “So, how do I make my pictures sing?” It’s a great question, and one that I have been tackling in some way, shape, or form for some time now from various points of view, including technical, compositional, and subtle intangibles that are all part of this larger question of how to better express yourself photographically. There’s more to come on that, and I’ll be sharing more thoughts on this in the weeks to come. But it is a good exercise, so I would like to throw it to the reading and listening audiences. As we take a blogging break over the holidays, ask yourself (and post your thoughts here in the blog) the following two questions:
Can pictures really “sing”? Why, or why not?
If so, what does it take to make your pictures sing?
Share your thoughts in the comments below! As a reminder, you can also now embed photos in your comments by using the link to attach a URL. Happy shooting, Merry Christmas, and we’ll see you back here next week!
P.S. Don’t forget – next week is the last week to add your “Giving” themed photos to the December Giveaway! Should be lots of opportunities to capture some photos with that theme over the weekend! There’s over $400 in prizes will go to one lucky person, so post your best photo to the Flickr thread here. The guidelines are posted there, so be sure to check those to make sure your entry is counted…Happy Shooting and good luck to all!
With time becoming and ever-increasing commodity, the ability to utilize speech recognition software has both benefits and disadvantages. And in the interests of sharing my initial experiences with speech recognition software here on the blog, today’s post comes to you courtesy of and open-sourced software application called “E-speaking”. On the initial install, I decided to take roughly ten minutes to let the program get used to my voice before it was accurate enough to consider using for writing a blog post.
It’s still clearly is not accurate enough to rely on 100 percent of the time as a stakes clearly will be made that require human correction. however it can aid in getting most of the content puts together for the purposes of blog posts, article writing, and book writing.
one of the biggest problems was in getting the software to recognize the term “blog”, “web log”, and the letter E. a dish rally it also had problems with punctuation from time to to time. The software also is better able to capitalize sentences when you remembered to state that you need a “.It ” at the end of a sentence. The other problem is that the software had specifically related to word press is the phrase, “new paragraph” which will automatically add an additional blank line between paragraphs. This was rather it easily overcome though, by having my hands near the keyboard.
two of the programs that I am looking to review stand here on the blog include “dragon naturally speaking”, and “Mac speech dictate”. Requests are currently In with both companies to see if they have demo versions of their software for review purposes . When I hear back from them I will let you know what their responses are.
if you have any recommendations, suggestions, or ideas for how to improve blog posting efficiency through programs like these please feel free to e-mail me here on the log, or in via the comments below. My apologies in advance for the grammatical punctuation, and other errors that are evident in this blog post, but I did not want to over-edit the content so you could see this state of speech recognition software.
as we move into the new year I am looking forward to reviewing an ever-expansive set of applications, accessories, and hardware here on the blog. If you have ideas for specific types of applications, accessories, and hardware please feel free to e-mail me as always at my e-mail address: Jason @ canonblogger .com . Thanks for tuning in and we will see you back here again tomorrow.
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 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.
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!)
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!
Is your shopping done? Mine isn’t – I am going to be braving the stores tomorrow for some last minute ideas I had that popped in my head over the weekend. Unfortunately for Tracy, she is not a photographer, so camera-related items are not really an option. But, if you are running out of time and ideas, rest assured, I’ve got a few more here for you today. Fair warning though, because when you’ve waited this long to shop, the sticker prices for items are generally in the higher end rather than the lower end. (You may recall that I did a list of 25 for under $25 a few weeks ago.) So, without further ado, here’s the final recommendations for this holiday season…
1. Membership: Being a member of organizations has perks, and there are several out there that can help different types of photographers for different reasons, but three that I would highly recommend are membership to NAPP (of which I am a member – $99/year), PPA, ($194/yr) and ASMP ($140/yr). If these are a little out of your league – a Flickr Pro membership is only $25, and gives you access to lots of things that aren’t available in the free version.
2. Prints and Framing: I’ve talked up Mpix before, and would highly recommend them as a printing outfit for anyone, but regardless of your preferences, giving prints as gifts is always appreciated, especially when accentuated by frames, and photographers are no different. Gift certificates to places like Mpix, and even your local frame and print shops is something that will not only be appreciated but used!
3. Seminars and Workshops: Having been to only one, this is something I would love to get more experience with, and there certainly is no dearth of these available. Kelby Training is the one I know best, but there are literally dozens of outfits that offer on-hand seminars and workshops on everything from lighting, post processing, One that interests me specifically is the Santa Fe workshops, where Joe McNally teaches, but others are all over the country from Maine to California, Florida, and everywhere in between. If you know of any particular seminars and workshops, feel free to post links in the comments!
4. Software: High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography is here to stay, and for those of you interested in getting great results, you’ll need some software to help you process those images. Photoshop is okay at it, but if you want better results, a 3rd party product that is dedicated for the tone mapping and processing is really required. The one I like (and that most others like as well), is Photomatix, from the folks at HDR Soft. They have educational discounts as well for students, teachers, and the like.
5. Video: I know, convergence and the ability to shoot video inside your camera is becoming increasingly common, but this video recorder is just too cool (and low cost) to shrug aside…I am talking about the Flip video Ultra HD Camcorder. For $150 from B&H, it’s a super deal, and the recording quality is superb. I’ve seen lots of people with these, and I’ve seen the results – remarkable quality for the cost.
So, get out those credit cards, and get the gift that suits your photog best! In the meantime, we’ve got a couple things going on here now at the blog, so be sure to chime in before the end of the year:
December Giveaway – Win $40+ of prizes, including books, prints, paper and software
Share your Best photos from 2009 – I’ve added the ability to embed photos in the comments section, so if you have an image you like from 2009 and it’s online, share it in the comments for Saturday’s post
That’s it for today – happy shooting and happy holidays as we count down the remaining days to Christmas!
Okay, the end isn’t near, but the end of the year is near, and it’s time to start doing wrap-ups all over the internet and other publications. Heck, even Time Magazine has a photos of the year, as did Rangefinder, and many blog authors are doing the same. So, in the interests of always “doing something different”, I am inviting everyone that listens to the podcast and reads the blog to share your own thoughts of 2009 in the comments. Here’s the questions that I always think about at the end of the year:
What was my best photo?
What was my biggest accomplishment?
What software/hardware really stood out above the rest for me?
What was my favorite book of the year that I read?
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:
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!
Last couple days have been rather busy, so I’ve not had the time to get ahead in the blog postings. Clearly, Wednesday was a missed day,and here today just a few short notes to share as kind of a PSA (Personal Service Announcement) 🙂 :
1. The CanonBlogger Facebook page is active (and available on the sidebar). Some have asked if there’s a way to make the posts there at least partially public to view links. As far as I can tell, there is not, so I will try to tweet those and post links in blog notes as well. Regardless, I am trying to add content in multiple places so if you can’t catch it in one place, there’s other outlets available too. No guarantees thought that I will always hit all the outlets, but the ones I try to keep up with regularly are Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, the podcast and here. Sometimes the content will be different, sometimes repeats, but it should all (at least theoretically anyway) be fun and or interesting! 🙂
2. Speaking of the next podcast, it is almost ready for publication – I still am getting the show notes completed, and it draws on the theme of Monday’s post about Photographer’s rights. Think of this podcast as an expanded edition of the post with more in-depth thoughts and analysis, as well as some other news, notes, and the listener questions and answers. It should be out tomorrow.
3. The first official eBook from yours truly should also be available soon – it’s going through a review process right now, and I need a little more feedback from two of the reviewers before the final changes are made and it is posted to the store. Right now a simple one is posted in there on Shutters and Apertures. Not a lot to chew on, but if you need a refresher on the technical basics, it’s a good foundational resource and is only a buck ($1). Give it a spin, and let me know your thoughts – feedback on that can help increase the quality of future eBooks as well!
4. On a very non-photography related note, I wanted to share two other podcasts that I enjoy here. The first is titled “This American Life” and it truly is one of the most engaging podcasts I listen to. These guys are what I aspire to produce in terms of quality podcasts some day. Great stories, truly engaging, and totally enjoyable! The second is called “Radio Lab“. I’ve been a fan of this for about a year or so now, but the reason why I am bringing it up here is because their most recent episode, titled “In C” they talked about a musical piece that was remixed by a group at Grand Valley State College where my brother-in-law is the conductor. Not only did Grand Valley State get a mention in the introduction, but Bill personally got a mention at the end of the podcast. It was a doubly-cool show for me, not only because of the music, but because someone I know is now connected to that show. How cool is that? Anyway, check these two podcasts out when you have a chance, because even without the familial connection, they are definitely two of the better ones out there!
6. I am honored to have had the Star Tracker article, photography, and videos that I have shared collectively posted as an ensemble over at DIY Photography. If you get a moment, stop over there and help me thank them for being given the opportunity to present there – really is flattering to have your work accepted outside your own blog (I always like my own work! 🙂 ).
7. Finally, don’t forget the Dcember giveaway goingon over in the Flickr thread right now – the winner goes home with note one but two books from David DuChemin, a free 16×20 gallery wrap print of their choice from Mpix, a copy of Photomatix Pro from the folks at HDRSoft, and an awesome set of papers from Red River Paper. All you have to do is submit a photo with the theme of “Giving” in the thread before the end of the month. About 2.5 weeks left, so time’s a wastin! Here’s the link to the contest thread…as well as a link to the Contest Page that goes over guidelines and tips to ensure your submission is considered! 🙂
I am sure there’s other news out there, but I am fading fast and the Christmas tree lights just shut off, which means I am not far behind, so just keep on shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow to wrap things up for the week! 🙂
