Quick Hit Wednesday: Holiday Specials Expire Friday at Midnight; Super Long Exposures: Pics To iPad-No Wires; Sci-Fi Fantasies; and Geeksville Revisited

Good Afternoon Everybody,

The thaw is in the air. Weather rumors are that the temperature will break above freezing today. Looks like we'll have to move the Christmas leftovers in from the "outdoor refrigerator" ;~).

So, have you ever had this experience? I get LaDawn one of the new  digital LCD TVs for Christmas. Not one of the giant models but a much smaller version so she could check the news while getting ready in the morning. Since she only watches one station for the news, I figured no need for cable.

Since all then analogue stations went to a digital broadcast signal last June, I planned to pick up one of the new digital antennas and just grab what I could from the free airwaves. I did just that - plugged in the antenna, instructed the TV to search for channels, and planned to settle for whatever popped up.

I figured I'd pick up at least the three network stations and probably 3-4 more UHF stations that we received in the old days. I hit the GO button on the controller and the new TV set out tracking down all the FREE digital stations floating on ten FREE airwaves. About two minutes later and much to my surprise, the TV found not just the 7 stations I was expecting, but found, 30 MORE stations too! WOW! All for FREE and without cable.

The TV also has 58 web apps built in too. That includes Pandora Radio, one of our favorites, and Netflix, another favorite - plus Facebook, Twitter, Weather, News, the New York Times, QVC, CNBC, and a lot more, too. I was blown away. Heck, with all those options, who needs cable or the Dish anyway.

By the way, the TV was a Vizio model MODEL#E322VL - highly recommended.

OK, time to move on with today’s post. Here we go...

Holiday Specials To End In Two More Days!

Hey gang, just a quick note. All the specials happening right now at out Digital Resource Center go away in just two more days - Friday at midnight! Head on over - here is the link - and check out the goodies. We have the best deals of the year with some discounts ranging all the way up to 70% off! Like they say, "If you snooze, you'll lose."

Shoot It, See It, Show It!

In a previous post I mentioned that I had picked up one of the new (and pricey) Eye-Fi cards. The plan was to shoot wirelessly into my laptop or my iPad. I spent a little time on setting things up while we were in Cabo a few weeks ago but didn't have much luck. I'm planning to give it another try next week while we're in Orlando.

Anyway, for those of you who would like some more info on how to get the EYE-FI card to work, you've got to check out the video at fStoppers.com. These guys got it together and have it working like a charm. The video shows them shooting on location at Rockefeller Center in NYC and having the image pop up on their iPad a few seconds later.

The applications for his technology is endless - checking your image on a large screen, previewing the shot setup with your client, sizzling your in-studio portrait shoots - the list can go on and on. Once again, check it out right here - way cool!

Super Long Exposures, Super Cool Results!

Before the holidays, I mentioned to LaDawn that I would really like a neutral density filter so I could play around with super long exposures. Gladly, Santa obliged and I found the filter under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning.

OK, you're wondering what kind of images you can make with a neutral density filter screwed onto the front of your lens, right? I'm glad you asked. I found this next story at photoble.com, a fascinating site I've just discovered. This post featured 20 super long exposure photographs - all very interesting. Check out the images right here.

And You Thought James Cameron Did A Great Job With Avatar

OK, that was my favorite movie last year - I wish I had seen the 3-D IMAX version. Maybe next time. Anyway, just how far can you push "green screen" shooting and the digital technology these days? The answer to that question can be found in the link right here.

The link points you to a YouTube video showing this phenomenal video created with real people on a Zero budget, green screen, and digital imagery. Be sure to watch the "behind the scenes" video too. All very cool for us digital geeks. This link came from the ever entertaining link finder, John Nack, from Adobe.

Now Kodachrome Is Really Dead

Many of you may or may not know that Kodak discontinued the gold standard of transparency film a number of years ago. That didn't stop photographers from hoarding it though. Those that did could only get it developed at Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kansas [link] - the only lab on the planet earth that offered the Kodachrome processing service. Heck, you can pick up this nifty t-shirt commemorating the fact right here at Dwayne’s.

That is about to end very soon. They will be out of chemicals by the end of the week. Kodak has no plans to remanufacture any more they say - just not enough demand. Anyway, you can read the entire story right here. It's a nostalgic read for many of us who grew up using what most considered the best transparency film in the world. Remember the famous photograph of the 12 year old Afghan girl on the cover of National Geographic years ago - it was shot on Kodachrome film. Anyway those are bygone days now.

A Little More Geeksville Fun

I caught his story on Sunday morning while watching the CBS show [link] by the same name. It seems that Google has digitized a gazillion books and has coupled that with their NGram app [link]. The results you get are quite interesting.

Here’s what you do. You enter a word or words into the search box and press the button. The NGram app will search all the millions and millions of words used over the years going back to 1800 and show you the trend of that word's frequency of usage. "Who cares,?" you say.

Well, I've done several searches over the last several days and am constantly amazed by the results. For instance, try searching digital and photography - that tell you anything? Here is the link to the NGram app. Enjoy!

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. I've got my entire shooting team coming over this evening for a little holiday cheer and we got to get things organized for our last Holiday celebration.

Plan on stopping by tomorrow for another scintillating episode of Business Day Thursday: Adding $12,000 To Your Bottom Line Over One Weekend. You're going to love it.

See ya' then, David

Kodak Survey Shows that Professional Photographers Remain Ardent Users of Film

I just got this email from Kodak about a recent survey they ran. I read the article and and my "jawbone hit the floor". Here is the first sentence from the article. "ROCHESTER, N.Y., Sept. 19 -- A survey of more than 9,000 professional photographers in the U.S. shows that film continues to have an avid following, with 75 percent of photographers saying they will continue to use film, even as some embrace digital imaging technology. Read the whole article right here. I had to check the century to see when the article was written. During our Digital WakeUp Call tour last year, I surveyed nearly 9000 photographers with the same question. Our results showed only 5% at the most still used any film at all, 90% shot digital exclusively, and 5-6% of them never shot film before. Anyway, you got me, I love Kodak. They have been very supportive of professional photographers and their professional associations as long as I've been in the business. I just don't know where Kodak got the numbers, maybe I'm missing something here. So, how about one more survey - Do you shoot "All Digital, Part Digital/Part Film, All Film?" Please cast your vote in the right column.

Inventor of the Digital Camera Voted into the 2007 CE Hall of Fame

Following right on the news of Hasselblad's new offering, I thought it would be intersting to see the specs on the first digital camera. In this photo, Kodak engineer, Steve J. Sasson, holds a camera he constructed. It is the world's first known still image digital camera. The camera used the newly developed Fairchild black and white 100 X 100 Pixel (.01 megapixel) CCD as an image sensor and required 23 seconds to record a single image onto digital cassette tape. The camera weighed 8 1/2 pounds. Mr. Sasson was just inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame. We've come a long way baby!

Early Tuesday News

An early good morning to everyone,

Here are a few interesting news items I thought I would try to post before LaDawn and I head to the airport . I also promised a recap of my wedding over the weekend - look for it later today - some cool stuff.

On with the news:

Sept. 4, 1888: Photography Leaps Into the Late 19th Century
Yep, today was the day - 119 years ago, that George Eastman received a patent for the first roll-film camera and registers the name "Kodak." This article is a nice read for the photo-history buff. Here is the link.

Vincent Versace - Podcast - Nikon D3/D300:
With all the new camera announcements over the last few weeks, I thought I would point you to Vincent Versace's podcast on the Nikon D3 and D300. Vincent Versace, Photographer, Trainer, and Author. One of Nikon’s “Legend Behind the Lens” and premier product beta tester joins host Scott Sheppard for a first hand look on Nikon’s newest digital SLRs. I'll be seeing Vinney at Photoshop World this week - what a terrific photographer. Here is the link to the podcast.

In Depth Canon 40 Review:
Let's give Canon equal billing here. I just saw this review of Canon's latest and greatest 40D. I had my hands on one this weekend - Sweet. Click here for the link.

Which Batteries for digital and How to Make Them Last:
I just replaced some of my NiCads before the wedding this weekend. Want to know which batteries are the best? The Strobist had a nice piece on just that topic. Give it a read right here. Now that you've made the battery choice, how do you make them last. Here is the tell - all article - right here - posted over at John Nack's blog that gives you the low-down. I feel so recharged already.

World’s Fastest-Shooting Digital Camera:
This story has been popping up all over the web lately so I thought I would post it more as a - "Look to the Future" item. Just where is all this technology going these days? Just when we think we hit the megapixel sweet spot and all is perfect, new technology points our imaginations into a new direction. Here is the news piece. Casio has just revealed plans of an as yet unnamed twelve times zoom, six megapixel CMOS based digital camera which can capture a burst of full-size six megapixel images at sixty frames per second and VGA AVI movies at an astonishing three hundred frames per second (obviously shutter speed allowing). Exact specifications and details are currently a little vague but we do know that it has a 2.8" wide-screen LCD monitor, electronic viewfinder and sensor-shift image stabilization. You say so what? the "so what" is this - things are moving fast, think of the posibilities. It's great to be along for the ride! Click here for the story.

Hey Gang, that's it for now - got a plane to catch. Check back for the wedding recap story later today. See you in Vegas! --David