Quick Hit Monday: Eye-Fi, Amazon, Flickr – Best Friends; Photoshop On The iPad; iPad Lighting; My Exciting Lighting Kit at B&H; Design Road Show; and a Little Humor

Good Morning Everybody,

Man oh man, we needed the break and have really been enjoying the last few days in California. Friday we were up bright and early and took the 3 hour Napa Valley Wine Train trip up through the valley. The scenery was stunning and the food more delicious than ever – definitely a must do if you are in the area.

We stayed the weekend in Rohnert Park, CA - just a short drive from Sonoma Wine Country. We spent Saturday in Sonoma and Sunday in Napa - so many wines, so little time;~). The visit to Domaine Caneros [link] was the highlight of our Sunday travels. Domaine Caneros is the home of some of the finest champagnes in the world, and I have to say, they tasted mighty good.

We finally landed in San Jose, world headquarters for Adobe, by early evening, got settled in and watched the the Oakland Raiders beat Green Bay in overtime - LaDawn is quite the football fan. She is so good at the calls, I always say that when the refs go to the review the instant replays, they are really calling LaDawn to see what she saw. She is ALWAYS RIGHT on the calls.

Today it's over to Google for my program at 3:00 p.m. It will be cool to see the Googleplex again and catch up with our friend, Mike who arranged the presentation for today.

That's kind of the line up for today. We've head back home on Thursday and are just going to cruise the area and enjoy the sights and other good things to be found in the area. Blog posts may be coming in kind of late and may be short and sweet but I'll still plan to get something up each day. I promised LaDawn more time for us this week - probably good idea after all her hard work on our tour ;~)

My quick hits today are all over the place today so let's get right to them.

Eye-Fi, Amazon, and Flickr Are Best Friends

Recently I picked up Canon's new G12 camera with the intent of giving the Eye-Fi cards a try. These are the memory cards with the wi-fi built in so you can easily transmit your images to your computer or Flickr account without any other gear.

Way cool I thought. I still haven't given it a try yet, but with this recent announcement from Amazon, I will be on my way shortly. Here is the deal. Head over to Amazon [link] and pick up one of the new Eye-Fi 8gig Pro X2 cards and Amazon will buy your Flickr Pro account for one year. That's a pretty good deal if you ask me. I'm ordering my Eye-Fi card today.

Oh, you camera doesn't take a SDHC card, no problem. Pick up the SDHC-MMC Adapter [link] that let's you use the Eye-Fi card in your regular compact flash card cameras, for example your Canon 7D. That's my plan this week. I give you more details once I receive the card and adapter.

Adobe Photoshop On The iPad

Yep, that's what I've heard. Rumors have it Adobe is working on just such a project and showed some preliminary features of the app recently. Here is the link. I actually think this is a good idea. Thanks to 1001 Noisy Cameras for the heads up on the news.

With the iPad’s ability to upload RAW files so quickly and it's ability to share those same files so easily, Photoshop would be a very cool app to have sitting on this cool little tablet.

Adobe is just a few blocks up from our hotel. I just may head up there this week and take a peek in their window and see what I can find out. Sounds like another job for Snoop, the Newshound;~)

Even More Uses For Your iPad - Studio Lighting

I can't believe folks go to this amount of effort to make a video but this video at FStoppers.com right here is pretty funny to watch. It shows how Jesse Rosten used $4500 worth of iPads on a commercial shoot. I think I still would have opted for a few flashes through my Zumbrellas. Hey, all in good humor - check it out link.

Want To See Exactly What Lighting Gear I Use For All My Shooting?

You can find out right here. That's right, after three years in the making, and 100's of emails later from me, B&H, and lots of photographers wanting to know, B&H has introduced the Ziser Exciting Lighting Kit [link].  It is the complete combination of all the Quantum gear, flash heads, batteries, radio transmitters & receivers together with monopod and umbrella adapter all in one package!

I'm really honored that put the Exciting Lighting kit together because it shows that lighting does not have to be complicated to obtain a great result. Nor does the lighting need to break the bank either. I always said, "It's always about the light and how to use the light that makes for a beautiful image."

You see the results I post here at DPT all the time  - most are done with my Exciting Lighting kit. Once again, check it out right here. Now you want to know how to use it, right? Then spend $25 bucks at Kelby Training and watch any of my 6 on-line videos which will show you how easy it all comes together.

My thanks to B&H for putting the entire Ziser Exciting Lighting Kit together.

Graphic Authority In California This Week

Graphic Authority was one of tour sponsors for our just competed CBTL2010 tour. I've known Charlie Moser for a few years and think his company puts out a great product.

Graphic Authority is giving 4 hands on seminars in California this week kicking it off in Irvine, CA today. It’s called the Graphic Authority Design Road Show [link].  A lot of the folks attending have called it one of the best hands on training sessions they have attended. You can find out more about the GA tour right here.

And Now, Totally Unrelated To Photography

We just finished the mid-term elections. Some folks were elated and some were not. It spite of the outcome and regardless of where you stood on the issues, there was plenty to smile about as one followed the news. I love this link to the top 100 signs seen at the rally to Restore Insanity or Fear sponsored by the Comedy Channel.

Hey, it's Monday and a good "giggle" is a good way to start off the week – ENJOY!

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. I'll have got to spend some time preparing for tomorrow’s Technique Tuesday. I'm just not sure what it's going to be. Check back and see ;~). Hope to see ya' then.

Have a good one everybody, David