The Journey Began…

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“The Journey” began with a double-stop plane ride on a double prop plane.  From Denver to Farmington, then Farmington to Page.  Each ride was about an hour, but in this cramped sardine can of a ride, there’s never a dull moment!  The pilots did their level best to keep the plane not only aloft, but sailing sans bumps.  Given the snow in Denver on Friday, the outbound trip was no picnic.  Thankfully motion-sickness is not normally a factor, but alas, no in-flight naps were possible for all but the soundest of sleepers!

Twin Props to White Pocket

After the trip, the question was now whether the unknown stranger would reveal himself.  Of course, having talked to the guy for over a year via email exchanges, shared podcasts and blog posts, it was a pretty safe bet this guy wouldn’t hack my head off with an ice ax or anything.  Still…with a trail name of “gadgetat” when he hiked the  Appalachian Trail for over 4 months straight – you never know what you’ll run into.  This guy has already indicated he beats to his own drum.  A former engineer with AT&T, HAM radio operator, and New Hampshire resident found enough internal strength of will to head out and travel the land in an airstream – not a lot of space to live in, but enough for him!

Rich Charpentier of "The Airstream Chronicles"

Not only did he reveal himself, but the easy-going nature and willingness to really engage in conversation and talk similar interests was evident.  So off we rode into the desert…with the rocks, the cacti, and the sand.  Oh yeah, and the heat – because it is a desert, so it’s warmer there than anywhere right?  Don’t forget the heat…

Desert Heat

We traveled in his Titan, not the Airstream (thank God!) – and this was a monster of a truck!  It flew down the paved roads with ease.  The size and strength was enough to reassure me that this could probably handle most off-roading adventures.  Of course, having never off-roaded much myself, the durability remained to be seen…

Rich's Titan

More tk…

Sun wind and Frost

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White Pocket

A short excursion over the weekend took me down to see Rich Charpentier of “The Airstream Chronicles“.  For those of you that follow the blog, you’ll know that Rich has been on the podcast before and we’ve been sharing war stories for a little over a year now about photography.  Well, this last weekend, we got a chance to shoot one of his favorite little haunts, the not-so-well-known “White Pocket” in the dunes.  It was quite the trip…from a windy trip down in a twin propeller plane, to some nice afternoon sun while there on the afternoon Saturday, to frost at night inside our tent!  Yeah, it got pretty cold!  So much so we ditched the tent and went for the warmth of his trusty Titan before shooting some sunrise shots of the morning colors.  Quite a spectacular trip, and while only there for 12 hours of shoot time, I managed to burn off 8 gigs of photos!  I can’t even imagine what a 3 day trip would result in (lots of post process time is my guess).

More to come with the full back story and more photos that are worked up from the trip, but for now, it’s good to be back in a bed with controlled heat and coffee!  Thanks to Rich for the invitation, and be sure to visit his blog for more of the sordid details this coming week over at The Airstream Chronicles!

In other news – the podcast and blog now has an 800 number!  That’s right, you can call in your questions and get them answered right here on the blog, or listen to answers on the podcast.  To call in and have your questions responded to directly from me give it a whirl:  866-809-8663  If you are outside the U.S., I’d recommend Skype for calls as 800 number calls are free from anywhere!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow, when I’ll for sure have some more details and photos from the trip to White Pocket!

Where do you listen?

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For those that have been reading the blog for a while, you should know that I run a companion podcast.  It’s a lot of fun to produce, and I am looking forward to putting out a new show very soon (hint, early next week).  However, while I am out of town for a few days on a special photo shoot, I thought this would be a good time to get some idea of where people are listening most.  So, if you could, take a moment to let me know how you enjoy the show:

ETA:  Sorry all, the polling service starting spamming the blog with some pretty unrelated questions so it’s been deleted.  I was looking to see how many people listened via iTunes, via PLM, or direct download…thanks! 🙂

For those that do not listen to the show,  there are a few questions I would like to ask you too.  First off, why don’t you?  🙂  Seriously though – I realize that not everyone has the time to listen to podcasts, or the resources to afford things like iPods, Touches, and iPhones, and all that stuff.  So, for the non-listening audience (just blog readers), I am trying to come up with ideas for you too.  So, here’s a chance to tell me what you want! Sound off in the comments with your ideas too – things always change and it’s the reader and listener interest that keeps me in touch, so let me know what other types of material you would like to see!  Is it more contests?  More interviews?  Worksheets and practical exercises?  Workshops and seminars?  All are options (and anything else you have in mind).  I’ll check back in on Monday to see what everyone has to say.  Happy shooting and have a great weekend!

Saving Money is Always Good

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In photography it’s pretty much accepted that you get what you pay for.  If you want super fast glass with pristine optics, then expect to pay for it.  Alternatively, if you’re on a budget, don’t expect apertures in the 2.8 range do bring the sharpest images.  You can also kiss things like Image Stabilization goodbye (Vibration Reduction for the Nikonian crowd).  So, yeah, we all know that photography is a field where you have to spend money.

But, this does not mean you have to spend money unnecessarily.  When there are savings out there to be had, I am all for taking advantage of such opportunities.  Many savings can come from DIY projects.  Here on the blog I’ve done a few DIY projects, not only to save money, but also to experiment.  This kind of experimentation and money saving is almost always a source of creative inspiration, and usually some decent images come out of them!

Then, there are other more obvious ways to save money.  Here I am talking about coupons and rebates.  Most vendors will offer savings periodically in the form of instant rebates, two-fers (buy one get one half off) and other gimmicks to try and get consumers to let go of a little money.  Here is where you can actually get some really good deals if you plan accordingly.  If you know that you will be upgrading your camera body every 18-24 months – then buy during rebate cycles.  The same goes for lenses, accessories, and computer equipment – although with the computer items, there are sales and rebates going on pretty much all the time, so it’s to a lesser extent there.

So, if you are planning on upgrading any photo gear in the near future – take advantage of the Canon rebates.  They are going on now and you can save a few bucks (nothing stellar, $25 on flashes, $100 on the 7D, and some savings on the 5D Mark II) on your purchases.  You might want to move soon because the deals end in early April (the 3rd I think).  After all, saving money is always a good thing!

  • Need the links for the rebates?  Go here to get all the details.
  • Got your own money savings ideas?  Share them in the comments!
  • Or tell me on Twitter!
  • Finally, today is the final day for the March Giveaway so be sure you get your images in before midnight!

Have a great weekend all, happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here on Monday!

Hardware Updates

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With the last few blog posts being software-related, wanted to take a few moments to let everyone know about some hardware updates that I’ve learned about as well:

Drobo – Yup, those proprietary RAID storage containers get firmware updates too – it’s version 1.6.8 for the Dashboard:

The Canon 1D Mark IV has a movie plugin available for Final Cut Pro available on the Canon website:

And last but not least, the Digital Photo Professional 3.8 came out a few weeks ago – also released from the Canon website.  Make sure you have the original installation CD’s for this as it’s an updater file and not the full version:

That’s it for this “Update Thursday” – just in time for the weekend’s “Backup Friday” reminder that I give out periodically – hint hint hint!  🙂  Happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

First Lightroom then CS5!

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Yesterday Adobe shared the news that they were releasing a second Beta of the upcoming Lightroom 3 – and it’s got a lot of cool new features for us to try out in this public beta, including managing video, point curve, tethered shooting, luminance noise control and much more.  Today, I understand that Adobe has made yet another software announcement:

Creative Suite 5 will launch on April 12th!

Since I just got wind of this late last night, I don’t have a lot of details on the products (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, etc.) but there are some sneak peek videos over on their launch site, and Adobe is encouraging folks to follow the hashtag #cs5 on Twitter.  Evangelists like Terry White, Julianne Kost, and many more will be talking about various aspects of the suite of products, highlighting some of the snazzier features and functions.  It looks pretty cool so far, and I think I am probably sold for a couple of reasons:

  1. Indesign – As you know, I like to write, and I am putting more and more content out in PDF and eBook form.  The ability of InDesign to assist me in that regard to put together professional looking material and to help with layout is well worth it.
  2. Photoshop – I am still on CS3, and I did not do the upgrade to CS4 knowing that I would probably upgrade every other iteration.  So, now is the time to upgrade.
  3. Business Catalyst – I’d not heard of this, but the improved layout for the CB store sounds appealing by using this software interface rather than hacking through code all the time.  Will want to check this out!
  4. Dreamweaver – An old school coder, I’ve always used text-based editors because I was a “purist” of sorts.  With the development of HTML5, the new features of CSS and XHTML, there’s a lot to get up to speed on, and when I want to just put something out to the web, Dreamweaver is becoming more and more of a consideration.

Here’s the launch page for all the detailed information on the new CS5 Suite:  Have you checked out some of the features of the CS5 suite yet?  What do you like?  Are you going to upgrade or take the plunge?  Sound off in the comments with your thoughts and feedback!

Last but not least – don’t forget that we are in the final week for the Cheetah Quickstand Giveaway – share your photos over on the Flickr Contest Thread!

Lightroom 3 Beta 2

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As teased a few hours ago (Mon night – see previous post), Adobe has released a second beta of the forthcoming Lightroom 3.  Since there’s not much out there on it, I figured I’d give it a whirl to share a couple screenshots of what you can expect to see. Here’s the Beta 2, installed on the Mac: Continue reading “Lightroom 3 Beta 2” →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Lightroom 3 adds video!

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Extra Extra, read all about it!  Adobe has announced the second beta release of Lighroom 3!  For the first time ever that I know of, there is a second round of beta testing for an Adobe product that it has released to the public.  With even more improvements and performance enhancements, the latest release of Lightroom 3 is very exciting!

Probably the most exiting feature is the addition of video management! Now keep in mind, you can’t edit videos in Lightroom (yet), but given the movement of photography and videography toward convergence, this is not surprising.  In fact, as I recall, Tom Hogarty alluded to this when he interviewed on the podcast last year!  Those guys at Adobe are pretty impressive, with R&D having that much lead time!  If only I had caught the innuendo then!  🙂

Here’s the full (unedited) feature set from the Adobe Labs website:

  • Improved performance throughout the application for faster importing and loading of images
  • Native tethered shooting support for select Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras
  • Luminance noise reduction has been added to the previous color noise reduction improvements available in the first public beta for outstanding overall high ISO quality
  • Support for importing and managing video files from DSLR cameras for better overall photographic workflow control
  • Improvements to the import experience in the first beta to reflect public feedback
  • Improved watermarking functionality from the first beta to reflect public feedback

Lightroom 3 beta 2 builds on the enhancements introduced in the first Lightroom 3 beta release:

  • Brand new performance architecture, building for the future of growing image libraries
  • State-of-the-art noise reduction to help you perfect your high ISO shots
  • Watermarking tool that helps you customize and protect your images with ease
  • Portable sharable slideshows with audio—designed to give you more flexibility and impact on how you choose to share your images, you can now save and export your slideshows as videos and include audio
  • Flexible customizable print package creation so your print package layouts are all your own
  • Film grain simulation tool for enhancing your images to look as gritty as you want
  • New import handling designed to make importing streamlined and easy
  • More flexible online publishing options so you can post your images online to certain online photo sharing sites directly from inside Lightroom 3 beta (may require third-party plug-ins)*

For all the details and more info, including the download link (it’s free!), visit: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom3/

Accidentally interesting

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Last night I was working on a deadline for the PhotographyBB March Magazine issue (check for that to come out shortly – another couple weeks), and found myself trolling through my archives of images searching for examples to help illustrate my point.  I came across a shoot I did solo a while back where I was down in South Carolina.  I was on a dock trying to catch the fading sun to the west, and catching your stereotypical sunsets in SC isn’t easy because there’s too much LAND in the way…not enough water!

This was actually where I first learned the value of checking your entire surroundings because sometimes the best shot may be behind you.  I turned around and caught this image:

Plain Boathouse

Nice enough, but not really something I wanted to include in a portfolio of sorts to include in the now well-known PhotographyBB Magazine!  Then I noticed something…apparently I had tried multiple exposure settings while on a tripod…I was bracketing!  I had the same f-stop, same ISO, but the shutter speed was changing.  Back then I was shooting with my venerable XT (now sold), and the whole idea of bracketing and even HDR was just not even close to being on my radar.  Yet here I am now years later, trolling through archives with an opportunity to go back in time.

So, I pulled the 4 or 5 images together, cobbled them over to Photomatix and ran some tone mapping (didn’t even look at the settings, just was testing a whim to see if it would produce anything).  Well, let’s just say it was…interesting.  It clearly showed my sensor was absolutely filthy (sky splotches everywhere), and I clearly hadn’t learned the fine tuning of checking the edges or even cutting off important lines (like ship masts) from the composition.  Nevertheless, the result was…accidentally interesting.  I’ll leave it to you to judge:

SC Boathouse