Quick Hit Monday: Imaging USA Off to a Great Start; Top 100 iPhone/iPad Apps; Photoshop Tuts and Tips; and 200 Windows Shortcuts

Good Morning Everybody,

We landed in San Antonio on Friday and spent Saturday hanging with my brother who made the trip from Austin.  We don’t see each other often so it was good to get together. What I love about this convention is the fact that you get to catch up with all your friends you’ve made over the years from around the country. I’m enjoying the many HI’s and HELLO’s from the minute we hit the Marriott lobby.

PPA Charities Party Kicks Off The Convention.

Saturday evening was Imaging USA’s Charities Auction hosted by Texas School the largest annual week long get together of photographers in the country.  About 1200 photogs get together to learn from over 53 instructors conducting 35 classes. 

My class was sold out the day registration opened but there are still a lot a great classes waiting for you to check out.  Here is the link right here.  Here’s a photo of me with co-instructor Sam Puc.  Every one was having a great time at the party.  PPA Charities raised over $100,000 last year – WOW!

OK, who is that crazy monster with Sam and I? It’s the Ukandu monster.  Sam has just launched her Ukandu monster marketing campaign and I grabbed the opportunity to get my photo with Sam and the monster. Sam gave me a quick overview of Ukandu – marketing muscle for only $20 bucks per campaign -  but it’s best you check it out right it.

Another fun thing that happened was meeting the Grand Prize winners of our Digital WakeUp Call 2009 tour.  Blanca and Alex, owners of Blanca-Duran Photography, came up and said Hi. They continue to be so enthusiastic and bubbling about winning our $7500 grand prize – it was a nice visit. Check out their website and blog right here – some nice images.

Yesterday was the start of the Imaging USA Convention in San Antonio and things certainly began with a bang.

Top 100 iPhone/iPad Apps

I love the TOP 10 lists many bloggers post each year. Heck, I'm doing the same thing this week. One of my favorite sites to visit on occasion is Terry White's Top App site [link]. I don't know where he finds the time to research all the apps he ferrets each week but I'm glad he does.

If you are an iPad/iPhone/iPod app junkie you will love his Top 100 apps list of 2010 right here. I still need to review the list to see if I've missed anything. It's a fun read and he's got quite a few gems on his list.

Now A Few Photoshop Whiz-bang Tuts and Tips

Cool Senior Illustrations

Last week I stumbled on some pretty cool Photoshop tutorials. The first one can be found at TemplatePhotoshop.com. My good buddies at ACI Labs sponsor a Video of the Week and this one is quite well done on how to apply makeup in Photoshop.

What I loved about the tutorial is the very cool high school illustration pieces he was producing. I thought Woody Walters idea was one of the most original new product ideas I have seen recently. Check out the tutorial right here.

Adding Skies, Any Skies To Your Image

OK, I have to admit - I saw this in an email I received last week from Gavin Phillips pitching how easy it was to add skies and clouds to any image. I watched the video and liked what I saw. Gavin's multitude of skies can really change the look of an image dramatically. Check it out right here.

Histograms And Photoshop

PSDTUTS [link] has a nice series on understanding histograms and how you can get your best exposure.  Photoshop Basix, by Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor, Martin Perhiniak includes 25 short video tutorials, around 5 – 10 minutes in length that will teach you all the fundamentals of working with Photoshop.

This is Part 5 of the series.  The topic - What Does a Histogram Tell Us will explain the Histogram panel; specifically the Shadow/Highlights and Levels adjustments. This is a nice “gold nugget” find on the web – check it out right here.

200 Windows 7 Shortcuts All For Free!

Sorry MAC fans this is for PC users only ;~)  I get weekly updates from PC World about what’s happening in the world of computers.  Many times there are some nice treasures in their e-newsletter.  I thought this article could be helpful to lots of our DPT readers, hence the post. 

This 43-page guide covers not only the OS, but also apps like Calculator, WordPad, Windows Media Player, and Internet Explorer. It's arguably the most comprehensive keyboard-shortcut guide I've ever seen. You can download it right here.

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. We've got a full day so we need to hit the road. Don't forget, if you are reading this in San Antonio, plan to stop by at my program tomorrow and say "HI".

Adios, David

Technique Tuesday: Moving To Wednesday This Week; Studio Production Changes, and Upcoming Canon 7D vs. 5D Mk II Comparisons

Good Late Afternoon Everybody,

I hit DigitalProTalk World Headquarters about 6:30 a.m. this morning and have not hardly let my seat. Hence the vary late post again today. I had ton's of plans and details to go over with the staff today. We were recapping tour items but more importantly, my Digital Master Class for next week.

We are doing a completely different version of the class which is demanding a lot of coordination with staff, models, and my photographer coaches, too. We just wrapped that meeting and are excited with our new plans for next week.  I can't wait to give the new format a try in spite of all the added complexities.  Thank goodness, I have a good team around me to help make things go smoothly.  Stay tuned - I'll keep you posted next week.

Instead of trying to get my Technique Tuesday Episode up super late today, I going to hold off till tomorrow.  Look for me to go back on some kind of regular schedule with the tutorial hitting in the morning.

And just so your visit to DPT today was worth the trip, let me fill you in on a few things we're trying around here to enhance studio workflow.

Making A Few Workflow Changes - Hopefully For The Best

As I write this, I've got my IT buddy, Paul, checking out the computer network.  While on the road, my team has been complaining of things running mighty slow. We're checking network speeds, transfer rates, network conflicts – almost anything could be causing the problem.

I’m sure part of the problem is simply the larger file sizes we are dealing with these days. Heck, the 5d Mk II files and the 7D files are much larger than what we dealt with back in my 40D JPEG days.

The other part of the problem is hard drive speed and too many USB drives attached to too many computers.  Storage, even cheap storage, is hanging off of two many photogs' computers these days.

On a whim and at the clerk's suggestion at Micro Center yesterday I picked up a new D-Link NAS Raid chassis with two 1-T Western Digital eSATA drives spinning at 7200RPM.  We are hoping that will speed things a bit.

We are trying a different Lightroom production strategy at the studio.  Because Lightroom does work on a network, at least for now, I've picked up a couple of the little Toshiba pocket drives - only $149 for two 320 gig drives from Sam's Club.

The plan is to copy an entire client folder to one of these pocket drives then let it travel to each workstation as needed to complete the order. That makes all the Lightroom folders, image files, and anything client related all in one place.  We'll back things up on a daily basis for safe keeping.  I'll keep you posted as to our success at the new workflow.

DAZNOTE: I was planning to use the brand new Western Digital Passports for the above mentioned project, but they kept crashing my computer - very weird.  I've always had good luck with them in the past, but the latest crop of them just are not the same.  I have no clue what gives.

Canon 5D Mark II vs. 7D - Inquiring Minds Want To Know

Lots of folks have been commenting in the Skribit Widget in the right column about my doing some comparisons on the two cameras.  Well, the DWUC tour has made that impossible to do since I've only had the camera for a week or two.

That's all about to change shortly.  As I said, we've got my class starting next week and I plan to run the Canon 7D through it's paces.  I'll have some definitive results for you then - stay tuned.

And speaking of Canon cameras what do you think of Canon's new 1D Mark IV announcement? I'm REAL curious about it's new 6 digit 100,000 ISO speed! Can't wait to see the tests on that one.

Hey gang, that's it for me today. I've got to tend to things back on the farm so I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early.  See ya' then,  -David

Back To Normal Monday

Good Morning Everyone,
It's been a busy 3 weeks with all the travel to Manzanillo, WPPI and Photoshop World, so it feels good to be home for a while and get caught up on a few things around the studio. The travels are great, the conventions were inspirational, all the info is great - but I have to say, "There is no place like home."

Although the studio is not super busy this week and I have the week end off we still have a few projects in the works. It's nice to have a little breathing room this week in which to get them completed.

One of our projects is to review the computer backup strategies for our 6 computer studio network. A friend of mind in Columbus who runs a very successful family portrait and senior studio just had a visit from an IT consultant who quoted him $14,000 for a new server and tape back-up system. No offense here, but it's not "brain surgery" and I think that's a bit high for a business the size of our studios. Anyway, Kent and I are comparing notes so I'll keep you posted as to how things come together the next few weeks.

I'm also looking forward to the blog getting back on schedule, so let's get right to it.

Losing Your Memory These Days ?

Too many programs open and running on your computer has got it running at a snail's pace? Well, here is how to fix it. I have to admit, I almost didn't run this story. I'm thinking, "What does this have to do with photography?" Then I think of my own situation - too many things running on my Duo Core Dell 3 gig machine with 2 gig of memory - really slows me down.

This "for geeks only" article over at Lifehacker right here may be just what you are looking for if you are in the "same boat" as me. It shows how to reclaim the memory that your computer is hogging. Check it out, it will help speed up your machine.

Real Blast From the Past

I remember Lotus 1-2-3, IBM's XT computer, the first space walk, Disney in Japan, Hooters opening in Florida, Flashdance, and Return of the Jedi. Yes, all of these happenings in 1983. But who can remember this piece of ground breaking news that same year? Watch this 60 second video for the ground breaking news: Here is a hint - CPU at a 5 MHz clock rate and had 512 KB or 1 MB RAM - all that for only $21,000 in 2007 dollars. Enjoy the video. That's it for today, Gang - have a great one. --David