Category: news

Suddenly silent…

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Hello to the possibly dozens of viewers of Canon Blogger. I must first apologize for the suddenly silent turn the blog took these past four or five days – after Saturday’s shoot, I had a few days of rather nasty flue-like symptoms. Hopefully no one was waiting on baited breath to hear the next words I utter online or in video podcasts. Anyway, I think I am in the clear now though, so have ventured out of my cave and back to the microphone. Yup, my Tuesday tutorial got pushed back to Wednesdays. I know…it’s not like I’ve been too consistent in publications thus far, but that is something I would like to change. Ideally, I would have a scheduled theme to each of my weekly posts. One that has been buzzing my head as been along these lines:

Monday – Minutiae – trivia relating to photography

Tuesday – Tutorial – video podcast released showing the latest tip/trick in Photoshop

Wednesday

Thursday – Thoughts – My chance to wax philosophic on whatever photography discussions have been on the hot plate for the past week. I bet y’all are standing in line to hear that one, eh? 🙂

Friday – Follies – Fun silly stuff to wrap up the week…perhaps a joke or two, maybe a reference to a particularly funny comic (What the Duck comes to mind, as does Dilbert).

Anyway…just a new format/schedule I am toying with. If anyone has ideas, suggestions, or thoughts on tweaking that based on what you would like to hear/read/listen to, feel free to email me. My address (as always) is jason <AT> canonblogger <DOT> com.

But, enough of all this logistical stuff, what you want is tutorials, right? Alrighty then – here’s this weeks installment:

Welcome to the Land of Confusion

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Well…I am torn now. After administering both this blog and two other ones (granted the first was very half heartedly), I am finding that Wordpres, while apparently becoming the de facto standard for blogging, is not without it’s problems. It seems themes are not universally cognizant of several features that I would have thought would be common to many bloggers – first and foremost, being multimedia. Sorry, but the plugin and configuration settings for getting basic videos to play right in a blog is just damn confusing for me. Now I grant that I am no web designer extraordinaire, but I know the basics of html, CSS, php, etc., and am (hopefully) developing my multimedia skills by virtue of this blog, but this is rediculous.

The other problem that I am noticing about WordPress is documentation. Or should I say the quality of documentation. Nothing is very easy beyond adding a plugin. Once it’s added, then you must activate it. Beyond that, configuration. God forbid you want to publish multimedia in different formats (flash for the blog and Quicktime for iTunes). The whole thing requires practically a full-time job. Blogging I thought was a venue for hobbyists who wish to share their thoughts and experiences on a more visible level. Sorry, but the requirements for blogging and podcasting are WAY beyond a “hobbyist” level.

And now, here’s the kicker….say you want to customize your blog!!! Either I am making it too difficult, or my expectations for customization are too high, but I rather do not care for the default headers others choose. I get that everyone has different takes on things, and that’s the whole purpose behind themes, but if you are going to design a theme and make it WordPress-friendly, I would ask three minimal things:

  1. Write your documentation well…don’t assume I know what php stands for, nor expect me to have read all the ins and outs of how to adjust CSS styles and scripting. I would wager that many who would be otherwise inclined to share their thoughts regularly via blogs and such toss the idea either after investigating or trying a few things and getting wrapped in a confusing set of circular logic.
  2. Consider that your “theme” is just that…a theme, which means it should be customizable, and done so easily. If you want people to use your theme, then let us change the background color easily. Let us change the header image easily…and most importantly: tell us how!
  3. Finally, in recognition of your web skills at creating themes, help those less fortunate by ensuring your theme is widget friendly, multimedia friendly, and validates. Also, if you want people to sing your praises, and continue to use your theme beyond a few months, when releasing updates and fixes, see if you can’t deliver them in a way that doesn’t re-set everything back to default values. It’s a roya pain to re-load every customization (especially when you’re not a designer by trade that instantly knows the header image is stored in the wp-content/header.php file, and that the sidebar widgets you’ve configured need to be re-installed and activated (and sometimes reconfigured afterwards). Seriously…how the hell am I supposed to remember all that crap – if I knew all that I’d design my own theme!

I would actually pay good money for a blog that did that. Any takers?

Whitening Teeth

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While it’s not the most glamorous thing in the world, when we do portrait work, a lot of the post process focuses on minimizing flaws and maximizing peoples assets. Part of this process can include giving a little more polished look to people’s teeth. Today, I walk you through the process of how to do this in Photoshop. It’s pretty straightforward, but a very useful skill to have regardless. Anyway, give it a try after watching the tutorial, and in the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts on the podcasts thus far either via email or the comments section. I’ve also published an article in m previous post that explains various settings for apertures and shutters to achieve the best composition in your photography, so check that out too.

Fair warning on the tutorial this go around – I think I have the format issue figured out for those on Macs and to increase the portability factor, but these files are pretty big (.mov format), so it may take a while for you to get these downloaded. I will still have the flash as an option for web viewing, so feel free to view online and download for playback later at your convenience. Since iTunes picks up the first uploaded attachment, the Quicktime version will appear first. The flash-based version is right below that though, so pick your poison. Let me know if either of these doesn’t work for you. Thanks and looking forward to the feedback on this one! Have a good night and happy shooting!

Link to Quicktime format for downloading: Whitening Teeth

Watching paint dry…creating worlds

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Today as I entered the final stages of my home projects (2nd coats of paint), I proceeded to enjoy some Sunday football as the paint dried. Not being one to sit around much lately, I kept the TV on in the background and looked around for something else to do on the project list. Since I was waiting on the last coat of paint to dry, I was left to either watch football, watch paint dry, or create a new tutorial. Creativity won out, so here’s the latest installment for the video tutorial series…creating globes via special effects in the program we all know and love – Photoshop! Enjoy, and I’ll post back later this week with the series of home improvement projects I’ve been working on so much lately.

Special Effects Globes

Weekly Video tip is finished

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The regular video tutorial for this week has finished production and is ready for viewing here at Canon Blogger. This week’s subject: Using path selections to define your workspace. This is a great technique for adding text in a non-linear path (horizontal or vertical). You can use any of the pre-set marquee shapes and sizes, or make a custom one for your needs. Today, I used this technique to create an alternate logo for Canon Blogger. Other outputs could include posters, stationery, web graphics, designs, templates or pretty much anything that needs some graphical influence.

Shots of the completed housework should be forthcoming within another day or two as well. It’s been a week-long process, but I am almost done (just as well after all the electrical, plumbing, painting, and drywall work)… more news on that later. For now, just enjoy the vid, and as always feel free to leave feedback here or via email: jason <at> canonblogger <dot> com :

Path Selection Tool

News lag

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It’s been a quiet few days as some home tasks have been taking up a lot of my time.  Over the course of the weekend, I began an electrical project (replacing outlets with GFCI), a plumbing project (replacing faucets in bat), and construction (drywall patching, and accessoy replacements in bath and shelving downstairs).  All that on top of the usual family routine of dinner and dog walks has put a bit of a crimp on my posts.  Having said that, the day off on Monday allowed me to put a video podcast in the can for release on Friday, so that should be forthcoming in 48 hours.

In Photo news, I was reading Scott Kelby’s blog the other day when he mentioned the website Pixel Perfect where Bert Monroy demonstrates various techniques using Photoshop.  The production quality is professional and just goes to show how far I have to go to gain that kind of quality in delivery and recording.  Such is the difference of an amateur tutorial versus an established and professional photo professional and Adobe evangelist.  Perhaps some day…

Anyway, Bert Monroy did a fantastic tutorial on how to create a smoking gun entirely inside of Photoshop.  Great technique and it’s a highly recommended 5 minutes toward learning PS techniqes.  Check it out here.

A special “Thanks”…

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Today we honor all veterans of the Armed Forces of the U.S.A. I would like to take a moment to thank each and every one of those that have and those who continue to serve to protect our country. Our freedom and way of life was paved by your predecessors and continues to find new outlets in the world thanks to the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. To all those who serve – we salute you!

One of the side effects of honoring our veterans is that I got an extra day off work today. So…lucky viewers and listeners, I was able to get another podcast out, which means there will likely be two this week (I may even get an extra “in the can” for next week”!) So…first up is a technique for creating reflections of objects or selections inside of Photoshop. Great for making web graphics, outputting to holiday greeting cards, and for presentations in many venues. Check it out at the link or the embedded version to the blog:

Visit here: Reflections in Photoshop

or watch below:

After a flea market and a fair…it’s time to flop

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Today, bright and early, my wife dragged me out of bed to attend the mother of all garage sales, the Jr. league’s annual sale event in downtown Charleston.  For those of you that may not know, the Jr. League is a non-profit group of women who’s mission is to…

“The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. (AJLI) is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.” – from their website here

As one of their charity efforts here in Charleston, they have a garage sale, or flea market of things they have donated over the last year.  Proceeds go toward charities and funding of the organization itself.  In the interests of promoting these efforts, (and to see if we could find some good deals), Tracy and I braved the crowds…and walked away having donated $27, and collecting for our own uses probably over $150 worth of goods in the way of end tables, coffee tables, and a Vivitar flash (two guesses at my contributing efforts…:) )

So, after a return home to recoup, eat, and re-gain our energies, my wife went to tre-charge by taking a nap while I tackled the end tables that needed some minor sanding.  By 4pm, it was time to do the new arrangements.  After moving each piece of furniture about fifteen times, we (meaning she) found a new setup she likes enough.   Next were the requisite weekend jobs of grocery shopping, walking the dog, and other odds and ends.

Once all was said and done, the last day of the Coastal Carolina Fair was in full swing, and we decided to head over for at least an hour or so to eat some yummy fair food.  Funnel cakes, tacos, pizza, pretzels, and about 10 Tums later, we are now home again, and fully tuckered out.

So…the tutorial will have to wait until tomorrow.  Sorry all, but the traffic was horrendous – it took us an hour to go 10 miles!   Be on the lookout for a new one tomorrow though,  on a cool technique for creative digital presentations of your photos…it’s done I’ve just not had time to produce it yet (oh, and one other thing – going back to the flash presentations for the time being – the wmv files aren’t logging on my analytics account…)

An amateur audio adieu and adios

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Funny store I thought would be worthy of sharing on the blog today…

As a blogger about photography, the last position I thought I would do is find myself in is spending my hobby monies on audio equipment, but… since I never really do things halfway, I decided to invest in some additional audio accessories. Until recently, my techno-phile tendencies were limited to two Windows-based PC’s, a Linux box that acts as a file/print server, and a Canon DSLR with a complement of a solid tripod, 3 accessory lenses, replete with multiple CF cards and gear bags.

A month ago, I added a Macbook Pro to the tool belt, and quickly saw the benefits of adding a peripheral keyboard and additional audio tracks, so saved some monies to bring that into play. Now, as I crawl up the underside of that learning curve, I decided it would be silly to keep recording the audio tracks on inferior gear ($20 combo headset/microphone).

So, I entered the audio realm full bore. First off, a Samson condenser mic. (This came with the keyboard actually as my birthday monies combined well to cover the cost.) After that, another wave of funds covered the accessories to both mount the microphone to a wall with two goosenecks serving as my “poor man’s boom”, and connecting cables to patch the audio to the computer. Filled with exuberance, I plugged the mic in and got set to record my first video podcast with new tracks and audio setup.

Much to my chagrin, the mic did not work.   After about ten minutes of troubleshooting, and a phone call to B&H to confirm my suspicions, I learned that condensor microphones require a dedicated power source, often referred to as phantom power supplies. Another investment on the order of roughly $40, and I am just about there.  However, the powersupply is another day or two away from arrival, so my next podcast will still have the popping “p”s and “b”s, but I am happy to say, it will be the last recorded at the “amateur audio level”…

So….in my next podcast (coming out tomorrow), I will bid an amateur audio adieu and adios!  (You  had to know the alliteration would return eventually!)  In any case, be on the lookout for another podcast soon – digital framing!  Enjoy the weekend all and happy shooting!

Life Lessons (and a tutorial)

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The last week has been an interesting one… I got a call at work saying that my wife was at the doctor’s office and they were transferring her to the hospital as a precautionary measure for some elevated blood pressure levels. Needless to say, the next few days I was not thinking much about getting a new podcast tutorial out. After getting every test known to mankind done, the good news is that she is fine and will be sticking around for a while. The bad news is that she needs to go on some blood pressure medication and she has now joined the ranks of Vytorin membership (although her dosage is lower than mine).

That was Wednesday and Thursday.

Friday was pretty much a “recovery day” and I attended to the typical daily minutia that was not taken care of on Wednesday and Thursday.

Saturday, I had a photo assignment for a real estate agency, so I headed out to Daniel Island and shot the property from every angle you could think of. On the way back, I stopped off to get some pumpkins for carving today at one of the local farmer’s market vendors. The pumpkins and flowers made for such vibrant colors I couldn’t help but take some pictures there too.

So, now it’s Sunday and I’ve settled down in to do the post processing from my shoot yesterday, look at my fantasy football setup for the day, and record a tutorial for the blog!

It’s a quickie today, but something that has a lot of uses, and is so easy once you know how to do it, you’ll find yourself playing with Photoshop more and more as a result. The subject is creating backgrounds, and it’s pretty cool. Check it out: Creating Backgrounds in Photoshop

In the meantime, here’s one of the better shots that came from the pumpkin outing:

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