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Another Top Ten

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When the blog started to take off, it was partly due to a “Top Ten” list I did that included some notable sites, including the likes of Photoshop Insider (Scott Kelby), the Digital Photography Show (Scott Sherman & Michael Stein), Strobist (David Hobby), and others. Since then, I’ve done some other “Top Ten” lists all with a photo-theme to them. Well, I hadn’t done one in a while, so figured today is as good as any. But… with it being a Friday, which I typically reserve for humorous anecdotes, here’s a Top Ten to make you laugh (and intentionally not photography-related at all):

Top Ten Things NOT to say to say to a Police Officer when queried: “Do you know why I pulled you over?”

  1. Out of Doughnuts?
  2. Couldn’t catch the guy who sped past me 5 minutes ago?
  3. Lost a bet?
  4. Yup.
  5. Boredom?
  6. Quota time?
  7. “That’ll 2 Whoppers, 2 large fries, a Sprite, and a Coke please.”
  8. Oh goody, junior has a gun and a badge!
  9. Why, don’t you know?
  10. Because I hung up on your lame charity drive when they called at dinner last night?

In all seriousness, never say any of these…(for liability reasons). Got any funny ones to share as well? Post ’em in the comments! 🙂

Okay, with that, have a good weekend all – happy shooting and watch those apertures! I’ll leave you with another WTD comic for your weekend enjoyment:

What The Duck - Friday, March 29th

Adobe Creative Suite 4?

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There have been a couple of references in the past few weeks to the next iteration of the Creative Suite for Adobe. Now in its third edition, recent web searches have seen a few alleged leaks of a beta called Stonehenge on various torrent sites. Since no public beta has been released by Adobe thus far – the recommendation is to stay clear of these “leaked” versions. With the extensive proliferation of spyware, malicious viruses, rootkits and all other sorts of destructive code commonly referred to as “malware”, this practice does make sense.

However, rest assured, a CS4 is going to happen eventually. Some are obviously in the know already as they work hand-in-hand with Adobe in beta testing software even before it gets to public release beta versions. (Case in point, a coy reference from Dave Cross on a video blog entry a week or two ago.) It’s no secret that the industry leaders like Dave and others are definitely insiders as well, and get to sneak a peak at upcoming software before it ever gets to anyone else. How else could these guys get up to speed on it so quickly? Sure, they’re quite adept at their craft, and are obviously not mental slouches by any means, but knowing everything they know as soon as betas hit the web simply means they are privileged individuals, whether they care to publicize it or not.

There is other evidence though as some of the screenshots posted in various web forums and blogs seem to indicate that the next version of CS4 should be forthcoming (at least in beta) before the end of the year. While the veracity of these resources is unknown to me, there does seem to be some credence to the legitimacy of a beta already in the works, both by the historical time line Adobe takes with new product releases, as well as similarities in the names to boot! (Adobe has a product out that uses a Stonehenge theme already, called Atmosphere and you can download an EPS version of the graphic here: Stonehenge EPS File) While it’s not really all that similar to the graphic found for the “beta screen shot” seen on CybernetNews, the mere fact that the naming scheme is repeating itself suggests that something is definitely in the works.

So, does anyone else have any thoughts on the CS4 time frame, and when it might be released. Thus far, the only news I’ve seen is what you see posted above. Feel free to share your thoughts and predictions in the comments section! Tomorrow is likely a “no blog Thursday” for me as I am having my first even root canal done. Not looking forward to that! Until Friday then, happy shooting, watch those apertures!

Creating Web Galleries

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In keeping with my latest project of putting together instructional materials on how to create web galleries, I took advantage of the video tutorial this week to go through some of the basics of how to do the task in Photoshop. It’s not as smooth as Lightroom as some of the CSS doesn’t work right in Firefox (Firefox 2.x is not W3C compliant.) Nevertheless, it does get you through the bare bones of it, and addresses some of the issues that you should consider while putting together a set of images for displaying in a web gallery. It’s a little longer than your average tutorial (11:22) but the content I think makes it worth the time spent. As always, it’s in both Flash and Quicktime varieties for both web and iTunes/iPod viewing. Enjoy!

Oh yeah – anyone know how to cure hiccups?

ETA:  Posting some of these on YouTube now, so adding links back as they go live on there as well:

<object width=”425″ height=”350″> <param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/4Ueuc4hHyCc”> </param> <embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/4Ueuc4hHyCc” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”425″ height=”350″> </embed> </object>

Bright and Early Tuesday News for Canon Blogger

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Changes are underway here at Canon Blogger.  When traffic started to ramp up a bit after getting a mention on a couple of other popular blogs like Photoshop Insider, The Digital Photography Show, and Tips from The Top Floor, someone mentioned to me that I really should be monetizing the site.

Monetizing the site?  What the heck is that?  They told me about banner ads, Pay-per-clicks, and referral profit sharing through companies like Google, Amazon, and even B&H.  I love these companies!  So, after looking into the programs, thought I’d give it a go.

Well, after a month or so of banner ads, text-link ads, and not-so-sublte hints about their presence, last night I made my Monday post and in previewing it was finding it difficult to find the content through all the ads.

I don’t know about others, but I have something of an automatic filter – when I see ads, I just tune them out.  If I come across a site where the content is hard to find through the ads – I just tune the site out.  I could not, in good conscience, expect any readers I may have to go through what I hate to deal with myself when reading through online photography material and content.  So, the ads are all but gone.  With the exception of a footer ad that will simply change from its current layout to one that shows the company logos for products that I enjoy, they will not come back.

This is not to say that I will not refer people to companies that I purchase and find good deals from – on the contrary, B&H, Amazon, and Google are still excellent companies – it was CB that was not so great in its implementation of “ad-supported” content.  I promise, that will never happen again.

Monday Mental Challenge

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This week I am taking a different tack on my blogging for two reasons. First, I’d like to start featuring more articles, both as individual segments that can stand on their own, but that also could become part of a larger work. Based on feedback I’ve received from family and friends, it seems I do sometimes have a knack for the written word. I’d like to share some of these articles with the blogging community i the hopes of receiving more critical and objective feedback on their usefulness. Second, the thrust behind this initial thrust of articles is based on some repeated questions I’ve received in both the blogging community and the photography community of local and online brethren. So, in at least a tangential sense, the larger scope of this is not only to compile a series of articles that is publishable, but also as independent topics that can serve as tips and helpful resources for those that do read this with any regularity. Continue reading “Monday Mental Challenge” →

At long last…

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Well, the tooth ache is aching for a reason – apparently I am about to join the millions of Americans who must experience a root canal first hand. While I can take pain, a pain in the mouth is much more difficult for me to deal with than a pain anywhere else. Having had my share of broken bones, back aches, hang nails, migraines, hang overs, sprains, burns, scrapes, scars, and all that other stuff – for some reason oral vulnerabilities seem to cut me to the quick.

My guess is on that day, there will be no post. But…until then, I will try to keep to my regular schedule. So, here’s some Friday fun to share:

Happy Easter, happy shooting and watch those apertures!

Thursday’s Thought – HDR photography

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After Scott Sherman and Michael Stein’s most recent show from DPS, where they bring in Jeff Revell and talk about HDR photography, I am reminded of the attention that HDR got when CS2 first came out. I had tried some HDR back then and it really didn’t come out too well, likely because of the tone mapping that Jeff referred to.

So…now armed with CS3, and the recovery slider, I decided to re-visit some shots that were good candidates for HDR. As it turned out, with the recovery slider and a little bit of attention in Photoshop with normal layering, I turned out a few pretty good ones without having to go the HDR route. Here’s two:

waterfall.jpg

woodedpath.jpg

So… anyone else into HDR photography out there?  Share your thoughts, shots, and links to your own work in the comments.

Wow – Wednesday went fast!

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Wow…a long day at work, a short dinner, and a few diversions, now it’s 9:30 and the only “news” that I know of is that Canon released a firmware update for 2 cameras in the line – the 5D and the 30D.  News hit the wire yesterday, and there’s a pretty good synopsis of it at the Adorama site, along with links to grab the updates.  Check it out here:  Canon Firmware Updates

In other news, today it seems Macworld got the bead on a new X-Rite product, called the Colormunki Photo

I am sure other news is out there to be had, but I’ve still got a frog in my throat, so will have to assume y’all know the news reels for the day.  Since it’s kind of a skimpy web gem Wednesday, here’s a POTD I contributed to a thread over at the NAPP forums, theme of the thread:  BOATS

Cypress Gardens, SC

Enjoy the break from the weekly post-news.  We’ll catch up more tomorrow.  As always, happy shooting and watch those apertures!

Adding Blur – and some more Photo Walk News

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Sometimes, no matter how careful you are with your setup, the in-camera limitations simply cannot compensate for a vision you have, whether it be the color range of an image, its tonal range, or even the depth of field you want to achieve. A perfect example of this was posted in our regional clubs photo site www.scphotogs.com last week. I shared a technique for adding blur to an image. While normally you wouldn’t think blur is something you want to add, as intuitively we are trained to think of images as sharp and crisp subject matter that is in focus. blur is something that can really enhance an image. I shared a technique I learned with the photog-friend, and in light of the tip, decided it would make a good tutorial as well. Check out the link for it at the end of this post. Here’s the web-version of the finished product, and a link to Jon’s photo site if you’d like to see more of his work.

jobblog.jpg

Don’t forget to vote on the poll to the right, asking how many cameras are in your house? We’re still a long way from the 100 mark, so it’ll be staying up for a while…unless we start “rocking the [proverbial] boat”. Another thing I always like to remind people about is that I am offering up some of my own imagery for sale on the artist site, Redbubble. Click the link to visit my profile and see the images I have for sale (at a steal too – just wanted to share a few with the community!) Lest we not forget, B&H is also the place where pretty much everyone gets everything photography-related, so if you visit their site, use one of the banners here. It’s the same price to you on all gear but B&H does help off-set the hosting expenses with each purchase made through these links, so help a fellow photog out! 🙂 Continue reading “Adding Blur – and some more Photo Walk News” →

Monday Morning Meltdown

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As a part of our daily routine, my wife and I take our dog for a walk every day of the week. Usually we both go, but if I am busy, or she is, the other will take the dog out so she gets her daily exercise. (The vet told us the dog was a tad on the heavy side – we just think she’s curvy!) Well, due to the time change, the sun was just coming down to the golden hours, so I couldn’t help but grab the camera and take it along in case some chance opportunity came up to get some good pictures of the dog. She’s a good girl, but she’s become very much like my wife in that they both look away (or flip me a particular finger or paw)) when I point the lens at them. Continue reading “Monday Morning Meltdown” →