While working through the material for today and next week, a friend called up and asked if I’d be interested in joining him for a stroll through downtown during sunset. Being one to never turn down a sunset, or a photo walk, or city architecture, I readily agreed. So, we met near downtown Denver. Gregg and I had been talking about setting up a sunset shot of the city skyline for some time now and we’d had some ideas for a good place to scout it out. But, tonight his motive was different. Continue reading “Colorado – Not Just Sunsets!”
Creating HDR Panos with PTGui
A while back I had approached a few companies about putting together an article on how to create panoramas. One of those companies was PTGui – and I’ve finally had a chance to put together a few images through their software to take a look at the processing and stitching quality. First impressions are good…what I especially liked is that the software has the ability to render both panoramas as well as HDR processing algorithms. While a dedicated work flow that addresses panoramas and then a separate work flow to address HDR work may yield better results, I’ve gotta say that PTGui does an impressive job for a multi-function program: Continue reading “Creating HDR Panos with PTGui”
Adobe Elements 9 Released!
You can tell that Photokina is generating quite the buzz with all the product launches and announcements that have been leaking out recently. Adobe is no different as they announced today the release of Photoshop Elements 9!
This is a great product and actually is my recommendation for the cost-conscious crowd when it comes to editing your photos. While Lightroom is a great resource for managing your photos and doing the “quick edits”, sometimes you do need the power of layers and more heavy-lifting tasks that Lightroom just isn’t equipped to do.
To add Photoshop CS5 adds a pretty big hit to the wallet, and unless you either have deep pockets, really need it for graphic work, or have a LOT of photos to manipulate, Elements is a great low-cost alternative that gives you most of what the CS5 option has, with some notable restrictions. Elements 9 retails for $99, but as always, I’ve got a treat for you! You can save $20 off your purchase by using the affiliate link below (and thanks to Adobe for offering it to me to give to readers).
There are bundles and Elements Premiere (video editing) options available too…so if you’ve got previous bundled or Premiere versions, use the following links to save $30!
Premiere Elements 9 – Save $20
Elements and Premiere Bundle – Save $30
The frenzy has started, and there’s money to be saved, so get in while the gettin’ is good! Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
Putting it all together…
A number of things have been in the hopper for a while now, and yesterday it all came to a boil with:
- Attending a Captured By The Light Seminar with David Ziser
- Launching a Drobo Giveaway Sweepstakes with Data Robotics
- Publishing the Photokina Podcast
First up, the podcast…
I had another great chat with Kerry Garrison about a week ago about when and why to upgrade your camera body. With the 60D now in the market, and Photokina just starting yesterday, there’s going to be lots of opportunities to buy. When looking at all the options of whether new features are worth the upgrade. Check it out! The show notes are more detailed, so will likely go out tomorrow separately, but wanted to let people catch it today because of a special sponsor…
Drobo 3-Day Sweepstakes Giveaway
For some time now I have been working on getting some preferred vendors in line for the monthly podcast series and the regular contest over on Flickr. One of those sponsors I have been working with is Data Robotics. I received word yesterday that some advertising dollars were still available for 3rd quarter, and if I could act fast, we could run a giveaway for Canon Blogger readers and podcast listeners.
So, the blog post for the podcast got bumped so I could add an intro there about the giveaway, (you can get all the details about the 3-Day Giveaway here.
David Ziser Denver Seminar
The other news item of note was the David Ziser seminar I attended on Monday. This is his 2010 tour, titled Captured By The Light, and I had an opportunity to assist as a volunteer for the show…taking registrations, assisting with product sales, and setup/breakdown. The seminar was probably one of the best I have attended (and I’ve taken in a few…).
The sheer quantity of material was amazing…and with the added door prizes, I can totally see the value behind this event. He had over $6000 in door prizes! In addition to the swag that was given to every attendee, including free months of memberships for things like Kelby Training, a free 1 year membership to WPPI, 20% off discounts for things like the Spyder3Pro, Animoto discounts, 4-month subscription to Professional Photographer.
It was just a great time. It was an honor to participate, and I would like to take a moment here on the blog to thank David and his staff for their down-to-earth and welcoming approach. For more information on the Captured By The Light Tour and to see if he’s coming to a city near you, check out the details here: www.capturedbythelight2010.com And if you’re not a reader of his blog, make sure you check that out too – probably one of the best resources I have in my daily feeds…you can pick that up here: Digital Pro Talk
That’s it for the double-post Tuesday – not the norm, but definitely timely enough and worthy of the additional nugget. Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
Win a Drobo!
That’s right, some special news this Tuesday for you out there in the listening audience…the folks at Drobo and I have been working together for a bit now in putting this together, and in an exclusive offer for Canon Blogger listeners only, here’s your chance to win a band new Drobo FS from the folks at Data Robotics! Valued at nearly $700, this is a super fantastic sweepstakes and it is for a limited time! Continue reading “Win a Drobo!”
What would you do?
Saturday was an interesting day. The dog had to go into the vet for a follow-up early in the morning, so off I went at the crack of dawn. It was early and nary a car on the road. I got to the vet office and without much of a line, went on in and saw the vet pretty quickly. The stitches needed to stay in for another two weeks, but a shot vaccination was due, so we got that taken care of.
The “big task” of the day now complete, we saunter out to the car – the dog very happy to be in and out so quickly. The front door opens to get the rear door lock (I don’t believe in power locks apparently), and in that instant, she decides she wants to hop in front. Why not, and up she goes. All happy-go-lucky, I decided to hit Starbucks for a cup of coffee. Since we didn’t have any co-pay thanks to the wellness plan for the dog, literally at the speaker I upped the ante to a Grande White Mocha. 3000 calories of delicious!
The dog is all shaking and quivering as she has never been in the front seat before…a little too nerve-wracking for her. With two cars waiting in front of me, I decide I have the time and put it into Park, trot over and let the dog go from front to back seat. Hopping back in, the cars start moving again.
On reaching the window, I hand a $5 for the breakfast, and am told:
“Your drink was purchased by the car in front of you sir – we see this happen sometimes.”
Stunned, I realize I was just given a very generous gift, for apparently no reason. The car was gone, and I am sitting there dumbfounded. Here’s where you get to guess the ending! Did I:
- Say thank you and drive away?
- Ask the total for the car behind me and pay it forward?
- Chase down the car in front and give them $5?
Vote in the comments – answer revealed tomorrow! 🙂
Quick Tip Day – Photoshop Crop Tool
The podcast was supposed to go live today, but I have been sorta swamped with some other stuff (including fixing the RSS feed for y’all – now fixed w/ my apologies for the technical glitch). So, in lieu of that, a quick tip to share:
In Photoshop CS5 one of the JDI (just do it) features that was “fixed” was to add a Rule of Thirds guide to the crop tool. It’s quiet handy to have and is turned on by default:
Most people I know (granted they are photographers and not graphics designers) absolutely love this functionality! However, a few have asked me if there is a way to disable it. Naturally, pretty much anything in Photoshop is customizable for your own purposes. So, if these “Marching Ants” lines are distracting to you though, and you want to turn them off, you can do this from the Options bar at the top of your display. Simply look for the dropdown menu just to the right of “Crop Guide Overlay” and choose the option that best suits your needs.
As with most tools in Photoshop, the Options menu gives you a lot of flexibility to configure things however you like for most purposes. So, be sure to check the Options bar the next time you are inside of Photoshop!
Got an idea for another Photoshop or Lightroom tip? Feel free to share your own ideas and questions in the comments section! Have a great day and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow…
Water and Light
The idea of writing with light is nothing new to photography, the very word itself means to paint with light (from the Greek photo, meaning light, and graphos meaning write), the most successful photographers through time are ones that have incorporated an effective use of light in their work.
While reading through the Sept. issue of Rangefinder, I found myself re-visiting the subject yet again, and with artists who I’ve seen and admired before, including Clark Little and Eric Curry (you may have seen Eric’s work featured over on David Hobby’s Strobist site periodically…brilliant lighting setups!). The whole idea gave me a moment of pause – how much of my own work has been cognizant of the power of light? (It was a very Joe McNally/National Geographic type of moment if such a moment could be attained by an aspiring one rather than successful ones like those mentioned above.)
Nevertheless, taking cue from their inspiration, I perused my own portfolio for the theme of light. It was actually quite extensive, so much so that another theme had to be incorporated to pare things down further. Since Clark Little’s work has always been a source of inspiration and envy, I decided to go with a water pairing. How have I managed to capture both water and light effectively? The exercise was a good one, and looking at your archives with a new vision or perspective has always been one I encourage. So, without further ado, here’s my take on combining the themes of water and light:
As inspiring as it was for me, take this cue as a source of inspiration for yourselves…pick a theme (or two), and peruse your archives (or go shoot with the theme in mind), and see where your creativity will take you. Got ideas for creativity along these lines? Share ’em in the comments too, as ideas for inspiration are all around us. Check out what everyone says in the comments section below!
Happy shooting all, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
Encouraging the Slide…
I’ve had this podcast done for a while and for some reason completely forgot to post it to the feed with all that’s been going on. My apologies to Andie Smith as she was the guest for the show (I’m sure she has been wondering what the heck happened!). Granted, the news items are somewhat dated and not as current as I’d like, but I digress… In any case, without further ado, here’s the show notes: Continue reading “Encouraging the Slide…”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
It’s Not Too Early to…
Start thinking about plans for 2011. Typically, you want to be planning months ahead of time for the business world. Whether you are a professional photographer for events such as weddings, a stock photographer or a portrait photographer, or even just a hobbyist. Here are some tips to planning ahead for the holidays and beyond! Continue reading “It’s Not Too Early to…”