Month: June 2010

Nothing But the Tail Lights

Jason4 Comments

In the course of pursuing creative inspiration, I’ve often found that just picking a subject and sticking with it can be a good exercise in creativity.  Taking something and focusing (no pun intended) on that subject and only that subject can help you see things differently.  The exercise is good whether your subject is flowers, thumb drives, coffee mugs (which I’ve done in the past), or in this case – tail lights!

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As you can tell, some of the shots are pretty cool, others – well, not so much.  Some are out of focus, some are boring, but a few just pop and stand out.  Also note that I’ve not done any post processing of these.  I just imported into Lightroom 3, re-sized for export uniformity, and boom! – done.  While I grant you it’s not always showcasing the “best of the best” of your work, it’s is important though not to eliminate shots from the project, at least initially…because these “throwaways” can help you identify what works and what doesn’t work.  What makes certain shots stand out and why?  These are all things to look at when doing little mini projects like this.  So, pick a subject and fire away!  Feel free to share your own thoughts on what works and what doesn’t in the comments, and hopefully this will help kick-start some other projects!  Happy shooting all and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

May We Salute You

Jason1 Comment

The May pool of photos that everyone contributed to was quite stunning – the listening and reading audience is quite a talented group and some of the images on here were really incredible.  Full of vibrance, vision, color and passion – it was really hard to narrow things down – but I give you here just a few from the wonderful month of May.  There really is no better way to say it than: Continue reading “May We Salute You” →

Photo Montage Tuesday

Jason3 Comments

Normally, I start the week with either a hardware review, a software review, or something along those lines, but there’s a couple things that have bumped the traditional schedule.  So, check these tidbits out to start the week:

First off, Scott Kelby has announced the 3rd Annual Worldwide Photo Walk!  It’s a pretty big deal now as there are some major sponsors that contribute prizes to this, and it’s just a super cool time.   There are usually a couple that start up for the Denver area, and if you’ll be around, let me know and I can post which group I’ll be in so you can join (or avoid) as needed! 🙂

Next up, I am having a couple really exciting podcasts coming up in future weeks, so my one that I recorded over the weekend will never see the light of day – it was a solo run, so not as much fun as, perhaps talking to Rob Sylvan (Also a NAPP Helpdesk writer) or Martin Bailey!  They are coming up soon, and we’re recording soon, so get your questions in via comments, email, or the free 800 line:  866-809-8663!

In other blog news, you may notice three new sponsors in the sidebar:  Adobe, NAPP, and Red River Paper!

  • Adobe – So, if you’re trial version of CS5 is almost up – order the full version here and you can still take advantage of great savings.  Just come through the side panel link here to get the same pricing as elsewhere, and when you do, you’ll be helping me keep costs to a minimum on the blog and podcast!
  • NAPP – For the NAPP link – you can sign up for a membership through this affiliate link and get lots of special bonuses, and the referral also helps to keep costs down too…(I think you get like 2 additional months free or something like that).
  • Red River Paper – These guys are terrific – not only have they donated prizes in the past to monthly giveaways, but their continued support and service to both myself and readers/lilsteners is now available through the affiliate link in the sidebar.  Enjoy (especially their latest Pearl Metallic paper – totally rocks!)!

Finally, speaking of contests, the May giveaway entry deadline has passed and the winner of the free copy of PTGui Pano Software is:  AlinNZ!  Congrats to him and to Alin – if you contact me via email, I’ll get you in touch with PTGui to have them send your license key to unlock the software!  Great photo, and thanks to all for participating!

May Contest Winner - AlinNZ

Click the photo to be taken to his photo stream and comment on his excellent body of work there as well.  Congrats, and for those interested in the June contest – the news is posted on the Flickr site with all the details, so head there for more info.  I’ll go into more details on it later this week, so keep on feedin’ on the blog!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!