Wow, I was not ready, or even prepared for this one! Thanks to Chase Jarvis, I just heard about the new release. $200 for new, $100 for upgrade. Many new features which I can’t wait to see. I’ve used aperture for years, and considered switching to Lightroom 3 when it comes out. That said… hearing some of the features and seeing them in action may break that deal.
More to come!
John
Just wanted to plug my other “blog”, my iPhone 365 project. Almost a month into it, and despite a few late posts and some other issues, it’s going pretty well.
So stop by and check it out!
Also, look to the lower right and if you aren’t already, become a fan of mine on Facebook!
Big weekend ahead starting with prepping the house for the baby shower, going to the Rick Sammon workshop at Unique Photo, visiting family I haven’t seen in years and most importantly the baby shower. I did want to post two shots in today’s post, to give them equal time, of our dogs Leroy and his younger brother Gus.
Take care!
~John
With digital photography, it’s very easy and fun to get caught up in using the multitude of effects programs out there. Nik has been a joy to use to achieve some astonishing treatments.
Link and blog title from Photofocus and Scott Bourne.
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With the announcement of the Apple iPad today, I certainly see how much of a tool this can be for professional photographers in their arsenal. Whether its to present your work to clients, complete paperwork, or reading a good book on improving your skills (ok, so that part I really had to think of real quick), I see so many upsides to this product.
The iPhone has been a fantastic part of my reportoire, from the different photo apps to organizational items. The inclusion of iWork and iBook are really fantastic. Now, I will always wait for the bugs and kinks to be ironed out, but as I move forward with building my photography business, this is one product that I can see down the line being very beneficial.
Below is a link to an article by Scott Bourne about what the iPad may mean for photographers. An excellent read and I completely agree with his points.
Bravo Apple!
~John
Click here. Very informative article:
What the Apple Tablet Will Mean to Photographers « Photofocus.
Just a poll on which one you use. Mainly out of curiosity.
~John
Things are beginning to come together for my photography biz, thus the “Taking Flight” title for this post. Thanks to some great people on twitter who’ve pointed me towards some great ideas, I’m currently working on a few things:
Establishing a fee list
Creating business cards that are unique and helping out a local business
Promoting myself more and more
This is a really cool effect that looks very much like HDR photography, but is not. It’s part of the Nik Color Efx Pro 3.0 suite. As you can see I’ve used it many times, and it also works really well with black and white images. You do have to play around with it a bit so that you don’t overdo it (unless it’s intended) as your shot can end up looking really strange. For me, it really depends on the image and moving the sliders around until I find the settings that are just right for that photo.
While I’m at it, I’d like to mention my iPhone 365 Project over here. Check it out, leave me a comment if you’d like.
Have a good one!
~John
In reflecting back recently, I wanted to post about some of the books that I have found most influential in my growth as a photographer. I highly respect each and every author and their advice, techniques and words of wisdom are worth reading.
Scott Kelby and “The Digital Photography Boxed Set, Volumes 1-3″
Written in an easy to understand, casual style, Scott takes you through almost every aspect of photography and includes pretty much every useful tip that you could think of. He has no qualms about pointing you in the direction of equipment to suit your needs based on your budget, or naming products he thinks are absolutely necessary. An excellent series for those starting out and a fantastic refresher for the established photographer.
Brian Peterson and “Understanding Exposure”
More than any other book, Brian has explained through his prose and wonderful photographs, how to interpret light and exposure. I know many consider this to be the “Bible” of photographic exposure.
Brian Peterson and “Learning to See Creatively”
This book by Brian Peterson really helped me develop my creative eye, and think in a completely different way and see things around me that I would often overlook. Another excellent read!
Michael Freeman’s “The Photographers Eye”
Just a fantastically visual book on composition and design. This really made me think a lot more about the way I compose my shots beyond simply the rule of thirds, etc…
Scott Kelby and “The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers”
Though I did start out using Apple Aperture exclusively, I see that Lightroom will be more practical for shooting large events (weddings, parties, etc…). Thus I refer back to Kelby who is the resident expert on all things Adobe. Great book. Easy to read. Highly recommended. Can’t wait for the full version of Lightroom 3 and i’m sure his next version.
Joe McNally’s “The Hot Shoe Diaries”
A great read on how photographers achieved certain shots using flash units. Less of a how to work a flash than a “this is how I got this particular shot”. Opens your mind to what you can do with flash.
Chase Jarvis’ “The Best Camera is the One That’s With You”
Of course, I had to include this book because Chase’s work with the iPhone has been very inspirational. It floors me to see what you can do with this little 2 or 3 megapixel camera and some apps, not the least of which is his own. Chase has also combined the book, the iPhone app and a great streaming site simultaneously to really make using the iPhone as a strong piece of photographic equipment. For many of us, it is hard to carry around our Canon dSLR’s everywhere, but we can take our phone everywhere and catch things we normally would miss. This book and the images on his site exemplify this point perfectly. Also it’s a damn good coffee table book!
That’s it for right now. I hope that you take a look at these great resources and perhaps find them as useful as I have. I’m sure there are more out there, so if you have any suggestions, leave some in the comments section!
~John
I’ve noticed that many photographers have started 365 projects on New Year’s Day, and thought I’d jump in the game. While I missed the boat with 1/1/10, I have started mine, and the focus is on a year in pictures using the iPhone. I tried this before on flickr, but didn’t want that project to compete with my regular photography that I upload. So I’ve gone and created a site solely dedicated to this project, minimalist in theme here:
I’m sure that I’ll be adding thoughts and descriptions to it, but it’s pretty bare bones.
Also, if you happen to be reading this and have a blog yourself, let me know if you are on cool photo blogs – I cannot seem to undo the strikethrough!
^John
Can someone get my power back faster than PSE&G? - posted on 14/03/2010
'Fleur De Sel' http://hpstm.tc/xp by @jfphotog #hipstamatic - posted on 06/03/2010
'Red Cup' http://hpstm.tc/xm by @jfphotog #hipstamatic - posted on 06/03/2010
