Light Blog Post Friday: Lightroom 3.4 Almost Out; Akron Photo Series; & The Grid

Good Morning Everybody,

Sorry for the super late post yesterday – let’s just say the “bear got me”  including the fact that I accidentally deleted Wednesday’s image of the day post.  Grrrr… said the bear - I felt like the salmon ;~). Anyway, I’ve got it reposted and all should be back to normal today.

Hey, today is supposed to be super light blog post Friday but I’ve got a few items that have caught my eye.  Here we go.

Light Post Friday Tidbits:

Lightroom 3.4 Almost Out

Lightroom 3.4 and Camera Raw 6.4 are now available as Release Candidates on Adobe Labs.  Read the entire story and what’s new over at Tom Hogarty ’s blog right here.

Check Out The Akron Photo Series

I was talking with my buddy, Skip Cohen, of Skip’s Summer School and the discussion turned to his Akron Photo Series.  I finally checked it out . WOW! What a line up of speakers – past, present, and upcoming.  Eddie Tapp in March, Julianne Kost in April, Jerry Ghionis in June! Here is the link to the info.

Have You Checked Out The GRID

I just watched Kelby Training’s brand new offering, The Grid, a 30 minute talk show that discusses topics related to Photography, Photoshop, and the photo industry in general.  The first episode featured guest photographer Jeremy Cowart along with Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski.

The fascinatingly discussed topic – Facebook vs. Twitter for photographers – very interesting insights into social media.  What I liked about the format was the fact that I could play it in the background while working, for example, on my blog as I’m doing right now.

I could go on and on but instead tune in to the premiere episode right here – pretty cool listen. High Fives guys!!!

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  We are headed out early to Sandusky, OH to attend the Professional Photographers of Ohio convention this weekend. This is always a great place to see inspiring images and a talented list of presentations. Here is the link to the PPO Convention.  If you plan to attend, please come on up and say HI.

See ya’ there,  David

Thursday: Too Many Things To Do, Too Little Time

Good Morning Everybody,

Yesterday was such a whirlwind, we barely had time to catch our breath.  At Photoshop World you begin early about 8 a.m. and end late – like around midnight.  Throw in today’s early morning wakeup call for my 8:15 a.m. program, and it’s a pretty full schedule.

If you’ve never been to a Photoshop World, well – you need to check it out.  Not only are the 3-4 days a complete “brain fry” of information, it is also “ton’s of fun.  The opening ceremonies yesterday brought tears to my eyes – because I was laughing so hard.   Seeing Scott Kelby, Felix Nelson, et. doing the NAPP version of a 1980’s KISS performance in full costume and face makeup was just out of this world entertaining.

After the opening ceremony, it was a trip to the Tech Expo area to set up our booth.  I like to do that while I’m presenting at Photoshop World because it gives me a chance to visit with everyone that attended my programs and has additional questions. I also promised to autograph my new wedding book for anyone bringing it by. As well known photographer and author, Rick Sammon, told me earlier in the day, “It’s a lot more fun signing the book than writing it.”  I think I agree with you Rick.

And speaking of Rick Sammon he asked me to do a quick podcast with him for his new site dpexperience.com. I made the trip over to PhotoFocus to check it out – it looks pretty.  They have lots of stuff posted already.  I’ll keep you posted when the podcast hits.

Another cool thing about this convention is just all the training that takes place in the classroom.  It’s also about all the training going happening on the Tech Expo floor as well.  Manfroto’s booth was right next to our booth.  Joe McNally did a 30 minute presentation right next to us.  I had the dubious distinction of serving as his model for part of his session – always good fun with lots of laughs.

After the show closed, we headed to the Peachpit Party – always a great get together with many of the top Peachpit authors:  Joe McNally, Deke McClelland, Burt Monroy, and so many others.  The first time I attended the party I felt like the “king of newbie's.”  Here were all these famous people whose books I had read and I have an opportunity to shake hands, pick their brains and share a few laughs with them. WOW! What an honor.

This time around  was again a lot of fun.  We got to catch up with blogging buddy, Syl Arena of Pixsylated.com, who has a brand new book on Canon flashes coming out, being published by Peachpit Press.  Syl is a great guy and we had a wonderful visit and LaDawn and I had a terrific time at the Peachpit party.

Next it was off to the Photoshop Party at B.B King’s.  Scott’s band brought down the house.  I got some great shots and some video clips too.  I was hoping to get a quick Animoto show together, but that precious commodity called time is getting away from me again. I’ll try again later.

We need to head to the Tech Expo is just a few minutes so I’m going to wrap things up for today.  Next week we’ll get back on our regular schedule – I promise.

I’ll plan to see everyone back here tomorrow with more updates and who knows what else. 

See ya’ then.

-David

Monday Morning - Reporting From Florida; Time Magazine Says Photographers Are Weird, Client Ordering In Lightroom, and Blu_Ray Backup

Good Morning Everybody,

LaDawn and I are settled into our hotel, our home away from home for the next few days. We are back in the Tampa, Florida area to wrap a few more videos for Kelby Training. It’s always a kick to come down here and work with the terrific NAPP team in putting these videos together. Yes, it is work, but a lot of times it feels like play. Anyway, we are happy to be here for a few days. I've got a few quick hits for you today, so let's get to it.

Time Magazine Says Photographers Are Weird
Yep, that's what they said. I picked up last week's issue of Time Magazine, I'm a regular reader, and there it was, a story that was discussing Nikon's newly introduced D90. I had just finished doing my first article on, "Where Had All The Business Gone" and now I was presented with another reason right here in a respected national magazine.

Here are the opening lines of the second paragraph, "It's pretty well known that professional photographers are weird, which is why I worship them. They are persnickety about all things yet have pulses that never exceed 60 beats a minute." Here is the Time article link right here. That's it! - That's why business is down for so many photogs - we are just plain weird. Heck, even my own dad always wanted me to get a real job. I know it was a "tongue in cheek" remark, but all the same it speaks to the perception many have for the business of professional photography - 'nough said.

Lightroom Galleries And Client Ordering
Chris, a resident computer gurus at my Fall Master Class, dropped me a note to tell me about this cool little application over at Lightroom Galleries.com. Download their Lightroom template, fire up Lightroom, and create your own gallery where your client can easily browse their up to 800+ images, pick their favs, and comment and order any image. Once they sign off on their selection, you get the email with their picks and you are good to go to process the order. A lot of people are loving it. Sounds great and I think it has possibilities - check it out right here. Thanks Chris!

200 Year Archival Storage Now Available From Delkin
Delkin just announced their new USB 2.0 outboard Blu-Ray drive. Now you can burn all those RAW multi-gigabyte wedding images to just one or two discs. Delkin says it only takes about 30 minutes to burn a full 25 gigs to one of their "200 year life" archival discs - not bad. Hey, this looks like the way to proceed, but $25 per disc - Whew!! I do believe this is the way to go - eventually, but I'm waiting for the price to drop on the disks. Anyway, here is the link to the Delkin info.

Monday - HOT NEWS, The Missing Tutorials, And The Weekend Browse

Good Morning Everybody,
Good to see everybody back from what I hope was a great weekend. Well, I've been running the blog in a bit more condensed fashion this past week - more stories rolled into one post. Let's keep it moving along that way for a while and you guys let me know what you think. Also, the past two weeks has brought quite a surprise to me for the Technique Tuesday videos. Generally they get about 25,000 to 40,000 views.

The last two have only got 2500 views. I placed them after the "read more..." jump and I think they got missed so I'm bringing them back to the main page this week. Here are the links to the tutorials you may have missed.
Best Studio Setup For Sales
Perfectly Perfect Lighting - Part 1

Just a quick note on the Skribit suggestion widget on the right - we have several new suggestions so far and I'll be reporting on them soon. You can add additional suggestions and/or vote on the existing topic ideas as well - so let your voice be known.

Now some HOT NEWS! I'm on the air, I'm on the air! When - this Wednesday - 8:00 p.m. CST. And, yes you can even ask me questions. My buddies at Marathon Press have just started a series of webinars featuring some of the leading speakers in the country including Bruce Hudson, Vickie Taufer, Andre Amyot, Julia Woods, and Helen Yancy just to name a few. They have quite a line-up scheduled already. Here is the link to register and see what speakers are coming up. Check it out, I hope to see you Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. CST.

What else is happening. Have you checked out PhotoshopUser.com I received a call several weeks ago asking if I could forward parts of my Photoshop World power points down to NAPP World Headquarters. The guys have some new project going on and they wanted me to be a part of it. Well, here is the deal. If you are a NAPP member you can go to the April Orlando Photoshop World practically for free, well sort of.

Excerpts from many of the programs, the parties, the Tech Expo - can now all be viewed in the privacy of your own computer screen. NAPP has put together a compilation video of all the happenings of that wonderful week in April. I just checked it out and it's pretty cool. A lot of the instructors are featured, including yours truly, for 10 - 15 minute segments.

What's also cool is the behind the scenes look at Midnight Madness, After Hours Party, Portfolio Review, and a ton more. You've got to be a member of NAPP to view the presentation though. There are 26 segments in all about 2 1/2 hours. It's all fun to watch, plus you get to learn something new along the way and you just may decide to head out to Las Vegas in September for the next Photoshop World. All REALLY good stuff.

And now from the "Weekend Web Cruise" - I know some people call it a link roundup but it still a quick listing of a few items I found pretty darn interesting for our readers. Here we go.
Here is a thought provoking article on 10 Reasons Professional Photographers Charge What They Do. Being a pro photographer myself, I think this piece hits the nail on the head. Give it a read right here.

If you are into HDR, Matt Kloskowski had a great post last week just brimming with his thoughts and overflowing with his favorite links on the HDR subject right here. But wait, there's more. Be sure to survey Matt's Comments section of the post too. Many of his readers have left several additional links to more HDR sites. This is something that has intrigued me as of late and Matt's article is a great resource on the subject. Check it out.

Still got more time on your hands, then check out a recent post over at CameraPorn.net - 60 Photography Links You Can't Live Without right here. Of course DigitalProTalk is glaringly absent from the list, so just how good could it be anyway ;~) Besides that obvious oversight, it's a good read with some great links.

Hey gang, that's it for today. Stop by tomorrow for Perfectly Perfect Lighting - Part 2. This weeks topic will cover how to balance you off camera flash exposure with your on camera flash. See you then, -David

Slow Moving Friday

Good Afternoon Everybody,
I'm doing a late post today because of my very late post yesterday. We are getting ready for yet another big wedding tomorrow and need to get some orders up to Zookbinders, our wedding album bookbinder, before we head to Tampa for the Professional Photographers of America national convention. It is always fun and exciting to visit with many of our "photo buddies" at the show. I really love looking at the latest, greatest equipment, new arising star companies and viewing the prints on display.

After that, we have a short 3 day break and are heading to Daytona Beach to catch up with my globe trotting daughter. Then it's back to Oldsmar - near Tampa - to shoot 2 videos for NAPP, so stay posted to DigitalProTalk next week and I'll keep you posted on convention news and anything else that looks interesting.

NAPP Has the Real Dell Deals!!!

OK, OK, the truth of the matter is that this morning I have been setting up my new Dell 27" Flat Screen True Color monitor for a good part of the morning. I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the results. Twenty Seven inches - that's how big our family TV was years ago - now I got a monitor that big on my desk!!! Anyway, here is the deal - the price of this monitor jumps all over the place - last week it was $1019, now I see it at $995 today.

But now here me loud and clear - if you are a NAPP member the price plummets! I'm a corporate customer with Dell and that usually gets me a better deal - but not on this monitor, it was still $1019 when I checked. So here is the deal - call Dell, tell them you are a NAPP member - no fibbing please, or we may see you on an episode of Law and Order - ask for the best price on the equipment you need. Bottom line for me - I purchased the monitor for $905 and free shipping - Sweet!! Heck, the savings paid for my NAPP membership for the year! Thumbs WAY up to NAPP! Here is the NAPP link for info on one of the best associations in the world.

Hey, Technique Tuesday 10/16/07

Good Morning from Oldsmar, Florida.

Yep, LaDawn and I are at the near center of the universe down here in Oldsmar, FL - world headquarters for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals - NAPP. Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped in to say "hi" to the whole gang down here. It was a good visit and Mr. RC Conception - your host on Layer's TV - and his beautiful wife took us out to an absolutely wonderful dinner at City Fish Grill. Paul, NAPP's IT manager, joined us and we all had a great time.

Don't forget to check out "Carrot Cake" lighting below - it's a great insight as to how a group of "geeky" guys and girls "entertain" themselves at dinner - although, LaDawn would not like to counted in the geek count. I've been invited to be a guest on Photoshop TV, which is filming today, so be sure to catch the episode when it airs - I'll keep you posted as to "when." Anyway, off to "Technique Tuesday!"

Wednesday - Kind of Busy Around Here

Good Morning Everybody,

Sorry for the later post than usual today. LaDawn has interviews all day for a position that opened up here at the studio. So with applicants coming and going has things hopping around here a bit. We have a few "Senior" photography sessions later today. And a few things that have been on the back burner for days have suddenly moved to the front burner - like my profile I promised Jason Moore over at Jason Moore Photography. One very cool thing he does over at his blog is run nice profiles on some of the very notable people in our profession - like John Nack, Scott Kelby, and David Hobbie - otherwise known as the Strobist. It is a nice read and I'm honored to be asked to participate. Here is the link to the profiles he has published to date.

Also, our buddies at NAPP asked me to prepare about 12 Hot Tips for an upcoming issue of Hot Tips issue Photoshop User Magazine. Boy, at 12 words a minute typing speed that may take days to wrap ;~) And, don't forget to listen to PhotoTalk Radio this week as we will be talking about all things lighting, composition, digital, and wedding related. Here is the link for show times, etc. On another note - I've got the new radio transmitter for the 40D on loan from Canon for a few days and will give you a report on that early next week.

But, as they say, "it's good to be busy."