As promised from last weeks post on Youtube, I promised to share the “how to” on the creation of the little teaser video for transitioning from a black and white photo to color. For those that don’t remember, the video is here: Continue reading “Creating the color video”
Tag: Contest
Everything Old is New Again
Let’s face it. The economy is still not the powerhouse it was five years ago. We’re all still reeling a little bit and saving money is at a premium, while spending excessively is a luxury only for those with deep pockets! Count me in the former group too, so when someone asked me recently if it’s worth saving the coin to buy used I answered…“It depends”! I know, you thought I’d say yes, but it really does depend. Here’s where and when it can be a good idea when upgrading your camera!
Buying used cameras versus new cameras
It’s no secret by now that the best place to invest the bulk of your money is in your lenses. However, you still gotta have a camera, right? So, should you opt for using last years model and risk having a client show up with better gear than you? Or, should you just step up, spend the bigger dollars and always be on the leading edge? If it’s a matter of economics, and there’s no gear limitations that stand in your way (slow shutter speed/clicks per second, etc), my answer is to always go used. There are some of the perils and pitfalls of buying used gear though, so here’s a few tips to keep in mind when shopping around for used gear:
1. Shutter count – the shutter has an expected lifecycle of clicks it is built for. If you can get the shutter count (lots of software programs to do this) make sure you have at least 50% of them left.
2. Overall camera condition – check the camera for nicks scratches, scuff marks, and the like. If it’s all beat up, that cold be indicative of interior problems.
3. Sensor and other internals – Some problems aren’t as easily determined on a visual inspection, and it’s always best to take a few shots with the camera. Check to see if the sensor is scratched, nicked, has dust spots, etc. If it’s dust, that can be easily cleaned, but nicks and/or scratches can be a deal-breaker.
There’s obviously more to it than that, but those are the basics in looking at used camera bodies. In general, my rule of thumb when buying/selling used gear is to start at retail minus 10-15%. If the price is in that ballpark, it’s likely well cared for. I also look at seller ratings whenever possible. Fred Miranda is one of the better places to buy and sell, but Craigslist can be good since they are most often local and you can go do a visual inspection before throwing money out the window… If you’d like my take on buying and selling through FM – I’ve touched on this before here
What experiences have others had with buying and selling new gear? Any places that are preferred? Places to avoid? Sound off in the comments with your own thoughts and experiences! In the meantime, remember, it’s really not about the gear – it’s who’s behind it, so keep on shooting!
One last thing to mention today – the April contest is live (I announced it over the weekend in the free newsletter blast), and the winner will get an 8×10 image of their choice printed and mounted in a pretty cool Backlitbox! Very cool prize and thanks to the folks at Backlitbox for sponsoring the April giveaway! I promise more details are forthcoming here soon in the form of a product review, but time’s a-wastin’, so be sure to get your entries in soon! Congrats also to Evelyn for her win of the March giveaway! She’s getting a very cool Tether Table from the folks over at Tether Tools – just drop me an email to claim your prize! Here’s her winning image up in lights!
Hardware review: The Tether Table
A while ago I was thinking about what would be the best way to set up all the hardware for a studio scenario and blogging about it with the reading audience. The idea of the Tether Table came to me quickly and on approaching the folks at Tether Tools, it was met with equal enthusiasm. So, in short order, one was dispatched to me for review here on the blog – this will be the one given away in the upcoming end of month finale for the March Flickr Contest. So, without further ado, I give you:
The Aero-Master Tether Table
The Tether Table is a pretty straightforward device – it comes with the table itself, made out of T6 Aerospace Aluminum (whatever that is). Regardless of what the official name is – this table is pretty solid – I have no doubts as to whether it might bend under the weight of a laptop. What I found to be really nice is that it spins onto a tripod (sans head of course) quite nicely, and just as easily fits over the top of a light stand. The stability is also pretty equal between the two once it’s locked down.
So, how does the table lock down? There’s four little Allen screws that tie the female acceptor tube to the bottom of the table through the top. Their design makes them lay seamlessly flat so no worries about your laptop getting off kilter. Here’s a few sample shots to show you the design:
The other part that bears mentioning is the additonal kit item (not included normally with a Tether Table) is the Jerkstopper – a handy little device that attaches at both the laptop and camera end to avoid getting cables tugged out of your connection points. They really help to keep equipment from falling, plugs or connectors from getting ripped or damaged, and the add-on value is well worth the $22! Here’s the product shot from Tether Tools site to give you an idea…
The first problem I found was that it does require either a light stand or a tripod. So, if your camera normally goes on a tripod (mine does) and you have an external flash that goes on the light stand (mine does), then either the flash has to become more of a portable device (enter the wireless trigger system), or you need to get another light stand. I initially lucked out in that I am/was running the triggers through their paces for my good friend Kerry Garrison over at Blackbelt Lighting for an upcoming review this Friday, but the need for another light stand has become pretty clear to me. When I am using two-light setups though, things could get complicated, but that’s a personal gear issue, nothing really to do with the Tether Table itself, so no harm no foul there.
The second problem I found was budgetary. While the sturdy construction and clean polished look and feel are certainly features I can appreciate, being on a budget, the cost of entry to obtain a Tether Table of this caliber is a little pricey for my blood. At $179 for the Table and another $22 for the Jerkstopper kit, we’re over $200 and while it’s not inconceivable, it’s certainly rich for the enthusiast blood. For most professionals it is easily justified and likely something you can itemize in an invoice if needed. So, not completely out of reach, but up there for sure. Oh well, no one ever said photography was going to be cheap!
When all is said and done, I do think it’s a worthwhile investment. These can be invaluable in a studio or on-location shoot where you need to be moving around in between shots. The benefits of both the Tether Table and the companion Jerkstopper could be invaluable in a number of environments, including macro photography, food photography, portrait photography, and most product photography where a dedicated preview monitor would be super handy to have! To that end, I will be sad to see it go, but alas, the Contest Series gets priority! Thanks to the folks at Tether Tools for their generous contribution, and best of luck to all the participants! (If you haven’t entered your photo yet, the theme is FLAT, and the contest link is both here and at the top of the page!)
Have you got an idea for a product review? Is there something you’d like to see a test drive on? Sound off in the comments and I’ll try my darndest to make things happen! See you next time here on the blog. (And don’t forget the Facebook page where the “Behind-the-Scenes” video is posted on using this very table!…”Likes” and comments there are always appreciated too!).
The March Contest Begins
With March now underway, and the February giveaway wrapped up (check my rare weekend posts making this announcement), I thought I’d take a moment and let the cat out of the bag. This month it’s quite an exciting prize! The winner is going to be awarded a 17″ Tether Table (a $200 retail value)! As if that’s not enough, the folks over at Tether Tools have also generously have thrown in a Jerk Stopper tethering kit that prevents your cables from snagging. If you want to know more about it right now, stop over to their website and check out the product line: Tether Table Product Page
In the meantime, here’s the nitty gritty details for the contest:
- The Number: 1 image per person
- The Size: Longest side must be between 600-800 pixels.
- The window: 30 day window for capture date (nothing earlier than February of 2011
- The theme is: Flat
- The deadline: March 31st at midnight (my time)
- The rest: You can read more about it at the Contest Guidelines page and the Rules of Engagement
Good luck everyone, and here’s the link: March Contest Giveaway
For the record, the Tether Table will be very slightly used, as you know a hardware review is likely forthcoming quite soon on this equipment…but then again, that’s something to look forward to, right?
As a final postscript today, a new poll is up on the sidebar, so if you don’t visit the archives much (maybe take some time soon – lots of good stuff there! 🙂 ), be sure to take a moment and sound off in the latest poll:
[poll id="17"]
February Winners – Everyone!
Given the rigors of the week, closing out the February contest was not high enough on my radar, but having stirred from the hydro-codone-induced sleep, I remembered that it’s time to close out February and begin March contests. As you may recall, for February, a $50 discount card is being offered up to all participants in the February LDP Contest giveaway, so for those of you who participated and were patiently awaiting the discount code – it’s been published in the February contest thread.
And now – the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the February co-winners, each of whom gets $150 in printing from NPL, the ones whose images were most compelling, the ones…all right already, they are:
Mason Long
Frank Sammut
You can find their respective Flickr streams of these and their other photo libraries here and here respectively! Congrats to both of you and I’ve sent your names over to our contact with Nations Photo Lab so they can deliver the coupon codes for your prizes to you! Thanks again to Nations Photo Lab for their generous donations for the month of February! Be sure to tune in on Monday for the announcement of the March contest!
And the book winners are…!
Last week Monday, the latest Learning Digital Photography podcast went out, and with it, an extra special bonus for the readers and listeners – not one, but two books from guest Nicolesy (a.k.a. Nicole Young)! I just closed the post for comments, and counted up the replies…we had 22 unique commenters (excluding twitter references) for this post, making it one of the most popular ones ever!
I know, you’re all really here to find out who the winners are, so without further ado – comment submissions #6 and #10 are the lucky folks:
Thanks to everyone for their participation…and to Chris and Joe, if you could send off a quick email to me, I’ll make sure the folks at Peachpit get in touch to arrange fulfillment for you. Once again, I’d also like to thank Nicolesy and Jason Cate for their participation in the show as well as Peachpit for their generous contribution. It was a lot of fun, and the comment contest also ratcheted things up a notch too, so hopefully we can make these more of a regular occurrence with the podcasts. With that in mind, are there any other authors, photographers, or folks you’d like me to bring on a show,? Now’s your chance to sound off and get the folks on that you really wanna hear from! Sound off (you knew it was coming) in the comments!
Happy shooting (and Happy Valentines Day for the romantically inclined out there), and we’ll see you back again soon right here – same time, same station!
Garbage leads to Beauty
Tuesday night is trash night in the Anderson household – and whether mild and comfortable, or sub-zero and bone-chilling, it’s my job to gather all the bags and roll things out to the curb on my appointed night. Last night was no exception. However, even in such mundane tasks as “taking out the trash”, one can find beauty and art if you are open to it. Thankfully, I was on this night.
You see, not only is it trash night, but this also is going to be one of the coldest nights I can remember in Colorado – we are on pace to be at 17 below zero by morning! Like I said – bone-chilling! In our house, that translates to fires in the fireplace. A bundle of wood costs around $3 and it heats the entire house to where we almost have to open windows. So, we needed no encouragement to add the warmth of a fire last night.
Also, as an admitted “guy”, there is nothing more fun than poking and stirring a fire, whether it be in a fireplace or in a campsite. So, my face was naturally glued to the fire for most of the evening. Twist twist, poke poke. Then a log here and there…and some old cardboard I tore up to throw out (remember, it was trash night). The smell of the crackling wood and ash is still lingering in my mind too. That, combined with a nice red vino made for probably one of the most relaxing evenings.
It was quite relaxing too…and even Tracy joined me for a few minutes of quiet time just gazing at the embers before finishing things up for the night (a.k.a. the trash). The flames from the fire, still flickering inside my head, were doused by the chill of the air on stepping out to the garage. The frost already on the door was right there, in my face, reminding me of how cold it actually was/is outside. (Bone-chilling, in case you didn’t get that yet.) And right then, it hit me – frozen snowflakes of ice on the window – with the light coming down behind it…just gorgeous!
When thinking about these two images, and how much I liked them, it dawned on me further that these are great examples of how juxtaposing themes can work really well together…and it all came from taking out the trash! The point: keep your eyes open, the next dose of inspiration can come from anywhere, even the most mundane task on the planet! And wit an amazing contest going on now – this is as good a time as ever to keep your artistic eyes open!
Love is All You Need
As most of you know, we took December and January off for the holidays. This hopefully gave everyone time to recharge, enjoy a little down time and just relax with family and friends for December and January. Well, it’s February and we are back in full force with the first contest of 2011. The sponsor for this month are the folks over at Nations Photo Lab. They really have ramped things up a notch for the new year, because this not only marks the first contest of the new year, it’s also the first contest where we will have not one but two winners!
That’s right, two people will be announced the winners for the February contest and giveaway! Each winner will receive a generous donation from Nations Photo Lab – a gift certificate worth $150 of free printing! That’s right, $150 of free printing from Nations Photo Lab! This prize is available to anyone, regardless of whether you are a current NPL customer or not. The theme for February, as chosen by our always talented Sue from the Flickr group (due to her win during the non-award winning off month submission) is the applicable theme of Love!
A couple new wrinkles that are being thrown in this time for such a huge contest…first off, all previous winners are usually ineligible for consideration in the month immediately following their winning entry – we are starting with a new year, so it’s also a clean slate, so everyone is eligible!!!
The second wrinkle (and probably the most exciting), is that for February only – every entrant will receive a $50 gift card to Nations Photo Lab – just for participating! That’s right, all you have to do is submit a qualifying entry in the Flickr contest thread for February to win a $50 gift card for printing on any product of your choice at Nations Photo Lab! * So, all that’s left to say are the criteria to qualify. It’s super easy:
- Make sure your image is theme-appropriate (and family friendly/work safe).
- Make sure I am able to download your image from Flickr. (See the explanation for how to make sure I can download it here.)
- Each image considered must be in the contest thread.
- Each person is entitled to submit one image for eligibility. Multiple entries will not be considered.
- Each image must conform to the standard guidelines in terms of dimensions (longest side must be no longer than 800 pixels or shorter than 600 pixels).
- All images must be taken after January 1st, 2011!
- Entrants retain full copyright and ownership of images, but allow me to display the image here on the website to display when winners are announced, and in the monthly newsletter.
- Entries must be submitted no later than 11:59pm on Sunday, February 27th, 2011.
- Last but not least, have fun with the images you capture!
Questions about the submission process should be addressed in either the Contest Overview Page or the Rules of Engagement Page.
Last but not least, you may be interested in how to get to, sign into and participate in the Flickr Contest thread!
Good luck to everyone and remember to have fun!
*ETA: In the interests of full disclosure, the $50 certificate is for new customers, so if you are already an NPL customer, feel free to enter your images as well, but the goal here is to not only encourage people to take pictures, but to print them, and to consider Nations Photo Lab as your lab of choice. I use NPL almost exclusively (except in rare cases where they don’t have what I need, like printing on aluminum) and highly recommend them. Here is your chance to sign up for an account for free and get up to $50 worth of printing just for participating in the contest.
And the November Winner is…
From the title, you likely correctly guessed that with the end of November comes the end of a monthly contest cycle. The prize for November is a pack of the fabulous Polar Pearl Metallic Paper from the generous folks over at Red River Paper! Continue reading “And the November Winner is…”
Welcome to NAPP!
For the month of October, the theme of the contest series has been STUDY…and people have been submitting their images to the Flickr thread in hopes of winning a years’ subscription to the well-respected National Association of Photoshop Professionals. I’ve spoken highly of them before and their educational approach to not only Photoshop, but much of the Adobe family of products, as well as to graphic and web design, oh yeah….and photography… is literally unparalleled. With over 70,000 members worldwide, it’s an impressive organization and I have learned a lot from my own participation in NAPP events, seminars, and their community forums. Winning a year membership to NAPP is like giving a fisherman (or woman) the keys to a lake full of fish, and time needed to learn to use the nets. NAPP membership can literally change your life! Continue reading “Welcome to NAPP!”