Last Friday afternoon the local photography meet-up group for the metro Denver area got together and paid a visit to historic downtown Brighton (about 30 minutes northeast of Denver. It was a fun get-together, and with a smaller than average turnout of 6 of us, we really got a chance to not only converse and interact with one another, we also had some great opportunities for photographs. The highlight of the day was when we happened to be walking by the Brighton Armory. As it turns out, this building was recently renovated as part of a new cultural center for the area. The Operations Manager saw us walking by and invited us inside, as well as a tour of both the upstairs and downstairs areas.
Not only did we get a little piece of history about the place, we got some great shots of the building itself. With several hundred to parse through over the weekend, I’ve trimmed it to the slide show below showing some shots from both around Brighton and the Armory itself. The other thing that was exciting about this is that after expressing an interest in volunteering our photographic services for any events, they seemed interested in taking us up on the offer. We shall see what may come of these serendipitous meetings. It just goes to show you that it’s always a good thing to support the arts, and always good to think about networking – even when you are just having fun on a photo walk!
Here’s a couple links for those interested in learning more about the area and the Armory:
http://brightonarmory.org/
http://heartofbrighton.org/ArmoryVideo.htm
Enjoy the slide show and we’ll see you back here tomorrow – happy shooting!
Don’t forget too, the January Flickr contest thread is open, and the Circle theme should be producing some interesting images. Speak your creative vision and enter today!
With the increasing popularity and discussion of video (we are always hearing about the convergence of photography and videography), I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the different video hosting services, and look at their functionality. So, earlier today I recorded a video using Quicktime Pro on the Mac, and tried uploading it to 3 different popular services: YouTube, Vimeo, and Animoto. Here are the videos in that order, followed by my thoughts on each:
YouTube:
Thoughts
Price: It’s free! Nothing beats free in my book, and with the competitive landscape of technology, this is pretty hard to beat.
Quality: The thumbnail does not look right, but that’s a minor nit…on playback it seems pretty good.
Ease of use: Another pro here as well…it was easy (and quick) to upload. It took less than a minute to upload, and adding the video details was also easy. You do need a Google account to do this though, but since that is also free, the downside here is hard to find.
Accessibility: It was VERY easy to find the embed code to copy/paste into the blog. And YouTube/Google is pretty recognizable as far as things go, so it’s going to be hard to compete here. But, let’s look at the other services…
Limitations: The only one I can find is that you are limited to videos under 10 minutes. You can do HD quality, up to 2GB per video (so no data size limit), with no waiting in line for video conversion or anything like that. At first I thought 10 minute limit was, well…limiting, but after looking at the other two services, not as much.
Price: It’s free…kind of. You can go the free route, but there are downsides which I will go into shortly.
Quality: It seems on par with YouTube in terms of video quality,
Ease of use: Also on par with YouTube, and the dialogs are very similar, so kind of a 6 of one, half dozen of the other sort of comparison here.
Accessibility: Vimeo videos are just as accessible as YouTube ones are, anyone can see them if you set them up the same, so kind of an interesting dichotomy here…
Limitations: Your limitations with Vimeo are that you can only upload 500MB of data per week. This may sound like a lot, but when it comes to video, that could get eaten up pretty quick. I didn’t see a length limit on Vimeo, but could be wrong here. Another limitation on the free account is that you have to wait in line for your videos to get uploaded. I uploaded the video 20 minutes ago, and still have another 40 minutes to wait before it will start the conversion for me. If you upgrade your free account to the Vimeo Plus one, you can get 5 GB of content, HD quality, no ads, and for $60/year or $10/month. Not too pricey, but again, in a competitive economy, it’s something to consider…
Animoto:
Not reviewable – as it turns out, Animoto only allows 30 second videos for free – everything else is a paid service. The price is cheaper than Vimeo for the service at $30 per year, and it does seem to have no limitations on video length or things of that nature, but the fact that you can only do a 30 second video on their free service seems rather lame. I realize that we need to be quick and to the point with our content, but 30 seconds? Really? This one gets a major thumbs down from me for this and on that basis would not recommend it.
Self-Hosting
In the interests of being as broad in the review process as possible, I thought it would help to also include the self-hosted option as one worth considering. There are some caveats to this though, as services and limitations would vary from one hosting service to another. I use Dreamhost, and I like their hosting, so figured it would be worth showing that here.(You can sign up from the link or from using the promo code CBPROMO to save 50% on sign-up!)
Price: Free…kind of. You do have to pay the hosting company for hosting your website, but as far as I know ISP’s typically do not charge additional fees for specific types of content.
Quality: Perfect! Since you are uploading the original video, there is no degradation in video quality – but that being the case, you are solely responsible for quality control…fair warning.
Ease of Use: Again, it depends on your host. For me and the blog, it’s pretty straightforward as I am using a self-installed version of WordPress and I am familiar enough with the functions and formats to handle it, but if you don’t want to be bothered with uploading a video via FTP, then referencing that source URL in your WordPress or website with HTML and all that, it could be challenging.
Accessibility: I hate to beat a dead horse, but it also will be a function of your host, and what format you choose to upload your videos. I uploaded the raw Quicktime video, so it will be dependent on people having Quicktime on their computer. There should be a conversion utility (I think it’s called jwplayer) that converts the .mov format to flash for easier viewing on the web, but this may need to be installed in your version. It is free, but could be a limitation as Flash viewers are more common.
Limitations: You are only limited by your own comfort level here – if you don’t want to deal with all the nitty gritty details, then this could be problematic. For those that enjoy managing all their own content, this could be ideal though, it really just depends where on the spectrum you are. For me, I am okay dealing with it, but if I had my choice between fussing over the details and using a service like YouTube to host it for me so I can go back out and shoot more, record more, and research more content, I’d choose the latter.
*****
So, that’s the top three reviewed for your consideration. If I had to vote on one, I would say YouTube gets the nod. Ease of use, lack of expense, and visibility is just unbeatable. But, keep in mind, that’s just my thoughts. What are yours? Anyone have any particular favorites or preferences for video hosting? Any I missed? Benefits and downsides? Sound off in the comments!
In other blog news, don’t forget, the post from Saturday (yes, I made a Saturday post!) allows you to embed your own photos to the comments! Share your own thoughts on the best photos of 2009 – they do have to be online (embedded via URL) but it’s a great way to share your favorites with the community at large.
Finally, time is ticking away on the December Giveaway. Over $400 in prizes including books, prints, paper, and software are up for grabs so make sure you get your “Giving” themed photo to the Flickr thread before the end of the year!
Before getting to the new video from Mpix, just once question: Did you see what they are doing at Photoshop User TV? To kick off the new season, new format, and new set, they are giving away a super cool kick %^&&* prize from FJWescott (those folks that make great lighting products). I gotta say, the new format was needed – fast paced, lots of info and no fluff no muss, all tips and tricks! That set looks super cool too guys – job well done!
Also, some major shout outs to friend-of-the-blog, Jason D Moore for his honorable mention in the NAPP sponsored contest “So You Think You Can Teach Photoshop“. I know Jason had his heights set higher than an honorable mention, but believe me – Jason really can teach the you-know-what out of Photoshop. So, if the software is what you want to get up to speed on – go check out his site and sign up for a workshop, because I’ve learned a lot from him. Major shout outs dude – congrats!
Finally, to finally break the ice once and for all on the Canon vs. Nikon debate, I came across this video from Joey L – absolutely hysterical. Thanks to the NAPP forums for the link, and if you want to know more about JoeyL, check out his recent interview on TWIP – great stuff there too. (He’s also on Twitter and worth the follow).
You’ve probably heard of Mpix before, at least because I’ve talked about them on the blog, and even shown some of the results in using their metallic inks to get some amazing prints. Well, I got three new products from them recently while prepping for an art show that is coming up the first weekend in December. To change things up a little, and give more of a “multimedia” aspect to things, I did a video on this to show you each product, as well as show you what to expect in terms of wrapping, packaging, and delivery time frames. It’s available on YouTube, but also embedded here for viewing convenience.
Have you had similar experiences with Mpix? Better? Worse? What are your thoughts on the quality of their service? Feel free to sound off in the comments, or over on YouTube. For the time being, keep on shooting, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!
Well, the video I had planned for today fell through, and since everyone seemed to enjoy the stills from yesterday, I thought it might be kind of fun to share some scenes and sounds of the surf down in Cabo San Lucas. It really was breathtaking, and the little shaky (hand held) point and shoot video really doesn’t do it justice…but you can get the general idea! Anyway, here’s the “Abbreviated Post Tuesday”…enjoy!
Only four days left to win the $500 package of a Thinktank Photo Multimedia Bag System and the Topaz Labs Photoshop Plugin Bundle over at the Learning Digital Photography Flickr Thread. Get your photos in soon! Happy shooting all and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
For the second week in a row, there will be no software review this Tuesday. The 2nd Annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk is the reason for eschewing the format again this week, so for those that miss the software reviews – go bug Mr. Kelby, it’s all his fault! 🙂 (Just kidding, don’t go bugging him, but if you don’t have his site in your RSS feed for daily reading, then you are missing out…)
Truth be told, the reason for the deferment again is to admit to the charges – and I may as well come clean, since my “friend” Gregg Lowrimore was kind enough to capture me with the evidence in hand. So, before the rumor mill starts blowing things out of proportion, let me just post the evidence myself and be done with it:
Busted with a Nikon!
So, there it is – the “Canon Blogger” – holding a Nikon!
*****
The back story: I was holding the gear for a friend who had to use the facilities during the photo walk, when Greg happened to make note of the fact that “The Canon Blogger is holding a Nikon!” He snapped a picture of me (smiling happily for fellow photogs – and now you see why I prefer the other side of the lens than being the subject of the lens), and now is holding me ransom until I come clean.
He is, of course, kidding, but let me tell you that Gregg’s photography is far from a joke – you simply must visit his site as he’s got an incredible portfolio of work there, and is someone that I could definitely learn a thing or two from (including his skullduggery)! Please take a moment to visit his site here: http://www.lowrimore.com and get a taste of what I am talking about.
The other photo walk news I have is a short video of some of the results from the Worldwide Photowalk. Most of you have probably seen this by now, but I would be remiss if I did not share it here on the blog. Rather cool too that Scott also generously shared some of his blog space yesterday to the video as well. Regardless, here it is, and please, feel free to stop over to YouTube and share your own comments:
Since this was totally a “fun” post and not much depth or deep meaningful content here today, I promise to be back tomorrow with something that everyone enjoys – another podcast! (Episode #27 if my counting is correct…) Happy Shooting all, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
That’s right, my replacement podcast resources is finally here, and I share the unboxing with the viewers here tonight via YouTube:
Initial thoughts? It’s pretty sweet – love the App Store, the WiFi, email access, twitter access, youtube, and so much more! A few downsides though – no built in camera, and no microphone – I know it’s not for phone, but recording audio snippets would be ideal. There are apps you can download but need a mic and with just the audio jack, not sure I am gonna be able to do one of the things I had been dying to do after getting this. There may still be a way so Googling and researching to see. In the meantime, we shall wait and see! Look for a more detailed review of this in upcoming weeks! Until then, just a couple reminders for everyone:
The Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk is this Saturday in cities all over the world. There are still openings and it’s free to join. You could win prizes too, so check for a city near you at www.worldwidephotowalk.com to see. You can still join the fun if the group leader is okay with it, but if you are not registered, then you can’t contribute images or be eligible to win!
The OnOne Software Plugin Suite 4.5 Giveaway is going on for the entire month of July, but time is starting to tick against you as we are halfway through the month. This is a $500 retail value and some lucky winner will walk away with this package for free! Details and rules for participation are at the Flickr thread. If you own the software already, tell a friend as it’s an NFR copy. If not, then chime in as the deadline will be here before you know it!
Well, there’s some other good news too. Wacom delivered the something to me door yesterday to review here on the blog. I’ll be doing a more detailed write-up for both Windows and Mac in the near future, but thought y’all might be interested in the unboxing – seeing what you get from the good folks at Wacom when you order a:
BAMBOO FUN!
So, here’s a little teaser video for those that are interested:
This might be fodder for an upcoming contest or giveaway, but only time will tell, so keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime, here’s the rest of the Friday news:
Get a good laugh at What the Duck (here’s my favorite)
Check out Jason Moore’s blog – he draws something positive from my negative too (thanks Jason!)
Okay all, that’s it – been a crazy busy week, and I am tired, but also geared up for the weekend. Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here next week for hopefully a little more of an uplifting series of content!
One of the more popular posts here on the blog has been two that consisted of explanations on how to bracket multiple exposures in camera in order to capture a wider range of exposure values than is typically permitted in a single frame. Typically, these various exposures are then seamed together in some editor like Photoshop, Photomatix or other that is available to produce an effect called HDR – high dynamic range. You can get some impressive results with various techniques that appeal to different subjective perspectives.
Here at the blog though, rather than take sides on such post processing methods, it’s more fun to show people how to do things, and then let you all take your own liberties either with the approach or with your processing afterward, or both to get results that appeal to you! With that in mind, the feedback I’ve received from the previous discussions included a large number of people that asked for visuals of the process (I guess they are all visual learners).
Well, rather than take several dozens of images showing all the various settings and then explaining how I got toeach, a video seemed a more appropriate approach. So, here’s the video short for those of you that requested visual aids. It’s not the most professional but you should be able to get the gist.
This would also be a good time to remind everyone that we are in the dwindling days of the Adobe Lightroom contest. You can win your own free copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, courtesy of the folks at Adobe, simply by entering images you’ve taken in May over at the LDP Flickr thread. Limit two images per person, but there’s still room for many more entries (no limit on the number of PEOPLE that can participate!) just join the group for free and post your images. Good luck to all and may the best photo win! (Final results will be posted in June – I’l send my top ten picks back to Tom Hogarty for final judging when he’ll pick the winner!)
That’s it for today – I should have the podcast up tomorrow, but as always, no promises as my schedule has been fluctuating at work lately. Happy shooting, and I will be back with more news, information, insights, tips and tricks tomorrow, whether in written or audio form. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
Okay, you might be inclined to skip today’s post since it is totally a personal post, but don’t do that because it still has something to do with photography (I took some pics of the progress, but they are not really all that great n terms of image quality – horrible on-camera flash, poor lighting, and just no lighting). Nevertheless, in the interests of full disclosure, this is more just a Monday brag session!
Additionally, I should also note that the project was finished a while ago (two maybe three weeks), but I am just now putting all the shots together and into a photo montage and tracked to music. YouTube compression also takes away from it to a certain degree, but you can get the gist. Thanks go out to my brother-in-law Bill, for letting me use a track off his bands’ CD. if you want to know more about the band, they are called Billband, the CD is called “Blurred” and the track is called Original Blend. They can be found at www.billband.com
And now – the basement slideshow:
Like the video? Think it was horrible? Want to learn more about how to create engaging and interesting videos and slideshows? Already know how? Share your ideas,feedback, suggestions, and such in the comments either over at YouTube or here on the blog. n the meantime, Happy Shooting and be sure to stop back tomorrow for the completed presentation of another project – the weekly podcast!
Been fighting a bug that’s been going around for the past few days so don’t have much news or information from a photography perspective to share. On a personal note, I finally caved in and got an iPod for listening to the spate of podcasts that I enjoy during my daily commutes. The playback, interface, and storage capacity makes for a world of difference. For those that are interested in which iPod, I put together a little YouTube video to show the “unboxing”:
Enjoy and Happy Shooting! We’ll see you back here tomorrow (when I’ll hopefully have a podcast ready for all…)
