Tuesday
Jul132010

Landscapes in Colorado

 

Check out the landscapes gallery for 2 new photos from my trip to Colorado. We drove to Colorado, then to New Mexico and on to Texas. In the next week or two, expect more photos from Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. For now, enjoy the Pike's Peak photos I have just finished.

Thursday
Jun102010

For your Listening Pleasure

 

I'm a big fan of audio and video podcasts. I thought I'd take a few minutes to give some background on my favored podcasts, and how they have been as a TV replacement. Also I'd like to give some suggestions on a few photography podcasts.

I started listening to podcasts about 3 years ago, first out of curiosity of what kind of content was out there and stumbled on a great gaming podcast that hooked me. I started to listen to other podcasts from the same person and loved those as well. I started to look around for other programs that might interest me, and found the holy grail, the TWiT Network.

The TWiT (This Week in Tech) Network was started by a man many people many remember from old tech TV shows, and his name is Leo Laporte. I am a huge tech fanatic so this hooked me right away and with all of their programs they are currently putting out 30-40 hours of content a week. For me, this was better than TV, this fit me perfectly, and that is one of the great things about podcasts, there is something out there to fit everyone's interests.

Currently, between TWiT, Frogpants Studios and various photography podcasts, I have no need to watch TV. I gave up TV over a year ago for two reasons. I only ever watched about 3 channels, hardly worth the 900 I had available, and secondly it would save me $1000 a year. I haven't turned my TV on to watch TV since the olympics, with the exception of the occasional tornado warning weather broadcasts. Honestly, I find the commercials on TV so annoying now that I can't watch TV without getting frustrated by ads. TV is no longer of any interest to me.

I really urge everyone to at least listen to a few podcasts and see how you like them, for me they have replaced mainstream broadcast media.

 

I'll give out a few suggestions for what I listen to and what subjects they cover, I warn you this is a long list :)

Tech Podcasts (TWiT Network)

TWiT - This Week in Tech, General Tech News for the Week

Windows Weekly - Podcast on Windows News

MacBreak Weekly - Podcast on Apple News

TWiG - This Week in Google, Podcast on Google and Cloud Computing

TNT - Tech News Today, Daily News Podcasts on Tech

NSFW - All around fun and quirky netcast, absolutely hilarious and not all that NSFW

Security Now - Internet Security Show

Net@Night - Show interviewing internet startups, and people of interest in the Tech community

Daily Giz Wiz - Daily Gadget Podcast

TWiCH - This Week in Computer Hardware, Show about computer components and related news

The Tech Guy - Recorded version of Leo's radio call in show

Dr. Kiki's Science Hour - Science focused show

FLOSS Weekly - Free Libra Open Source Software, all about open source developers

 

Gaming

The Instance - Frogpants Studios World Of Warcraft Podcast

 

Movies

Filmsack - Frogpants studios watches bad movies and rips them apart!

 

Photography

GoingPro2010- Podcast for photographers going pro with their work

Photofocus- Q&A photo podcast by Scott Bourne of Bourne Media

TWiP- This Week in Photography, Weekly overview pf photo news and tips

 

 

Tuesday
Jun082010

Review of the iPad

 

I have now had the iPad for a few months and thought I'd give my impressions of the device and also how it can work into work flow as well as help the business side of photography.

First off, the iPad as a consumer device is intriguing and over the first 2 months, Apple has sold 2 million units. There is obviously a demand for this form factor. The ability to surf the web, watch movies, looks at pictures, controls your email and more cannot be understated. This will truly be a laptop replacement for long flights. Airlines don't give you enough room to eat your pretzels let alone open a laptop to work or watch a movie. The iPad solves this issue, being small and compact allows it to easily fit on the tray table in front of you. Also the 10 hour battery life blows away any laptop out there.

How will it help with general photography and workflow? The ability to place your photos on a device like this and hand it to a potential client, is invaluable. Intuitive controls and a beautiful screen will sell images for you.

As for the work flow, the iPad could really make things interesting. Obviously it can't possibly match the power of Photoshop, but I have found a pretty good competitor. An app called Filterstorm allows me to basically do any adjustments you can do in Lightroom, and do it on the run with some added features that you would even have to use Photoshop for. This app will cover 90% of what I do on the computer, which if you need to do some corrections quickly and send a picture out right there and then, it will be irreplaceable. Not replacement for the Adobe suite, but great in a pinch or while traveling.

On the business side of things, the iPad provides great calendar and email integration along with great apps for organization. I use Bento to schedule and track shoots for later reference.

I do not like how closed Apple is with their ecosystem, but they are slowly making changes to work out the most pressing issues like multi-tasking. I may even consider moving to an Android tablet if I see one that is good enough to provide what I need.

Overall I am very pleased with the iPad, and I am excited to see new apps come along and really make the iPad even better. I think one of the best examples of the power of the iPad is the following. A photographer with the camera connection kit can shoot the beginning of a wedding, and before the reception starts, do a quick edit on some imported photos, then use the iPad to do a slideshow of the ceremony for all of the guests to see. I think there are so many possibilities with the iPad, and I can't wait to see where Apple and other manufacturers take the tablets.

Saturday
May292010

Crown Royal Feature

 

Today I was reviewing some of my stats for my flickr account when I was caught off guard a bit by a redirect from Crown Royal. Yes, the official Crown Royal site had redirected someone to my flickr photos from their site.

I was intrigued by this and went to Crown Royal website where I discovered the Crown Royal news feed had my picture up as the latest post. Beyond that when I looked into the photos they had posted to this feed, I actually had 2 of the three photos posted to the feed.

Just though it would be interesting to let everyone know that I have a featured photo on www.crownroyal.com and if you want to go take a look, head to their news section.

Wednesday
May262010

Botanica Shoot

 

Shot over at the Wichita Botanical gardens yesterday. My favorite from the session is posted above. Shot into the sun, blocked by the model to create a really great effect. I love black and whites and I think it really makes this picture. Be sure to check out some more of the photos in the gallery.

I must also thank Antara for modeling for me yesterday. Very happy with the results of the shoot.

Wedding


We know how important your wedding day is, and we are committed to capturing all of the important moments of your day. Working closely with the bride, the groom and the entire bridal party, we'll bring a unique perspective and capture those memorable moments.

Modeling


Modeling for publication, advertisements and more. We provide top of the line photography services for any modeling you are in need of.

Landscape


Striving to capture the beauty and elegance that surrounds us is a passion of ours. Waterfalls to mountain ranges, we do landscape photography for every need.