Category — Photography

For those not familiar with Adobe’s excellent photo management/editing software called Lightroom, think of it as Picasa or iPhoto on steroids. Adobe took the management/RAW processing side of Bridge and some of the popular post-production features of Photoshop and made one solid application. I could get into why this program is great for amateurs and professionals alike, but the purpose of my ramblings is to discuss how Adobe has handled the Beta testing of the upcoming version 3.

Back in October 2009, Adobe made available the LR3 Beta 1 to anyone who wanted it. It was posted at their labs.adobe.com site, a place where betas, previews, and other unfinished product live. During the beta period, Adobe closely monitors the forums at their labs site, and takes user feed back from the pros and casual users into consideration throughout the continuing development of the beta.

Sure, there are other software developers that have been doing it like this for years, but Adobe comes full circle, offering communication back to the users through the form of video updates and email communication. Yesterday, version 2 of the beta was put up for download. Shortly after, Adobe posted a video to express their thanks to the first round of users and explain what they changed and why. I know that after all this, I will most certainly be purchasing the final product when it is launched some time this summer. It is no secret that Adobe takes software development very seriously, and their labs beta testing program just solidifies this fact.

Video demonstrating what is new in LR 3 Beta 2

What do you get when you combine one million pixels of image resolution, a compact form factor, and fully automatic shooting? A versatile digital camera that Epson calls the PhotoPC 650. The 650 brings the ease of a point and shoot 35mm to the sub-$400 digital camera market.

The first thing you notice about the PhotoPC 650 is the rubberized grip on the right side that comes together organically with your fingers and thumb. Even with one-handed operation, the 650 isn’t going anywhere. On the back side you are greeted by a high resolution 1.8 inch backlit LCD screen and an array of menu control buttons. With the LCD, not only can you see the photo before you take it, but the final result can also be displayed, allowing you to easily show off your picture-taking skills – try that with a 35mm film camera. In addition to the back LCD screen, a second monochrome LCD rests atop the camera body to display image quality mode, flash mode, battery life, shoot mode, and photos remaining. Between the two information displays, you can be confident in having all available information at quick glance.

Picture taking with the 650 is very easy. Simply open the lens cover, switch the LCD into view mode of choice (view or off), set your image quality, and depress the shutter. Lag time is about one half second, but with a half depress to bring your image into focus, shutter-lag is almost nonexistent. Images are recorded onto a compact flash card, the 650 comes with 8MB of storage, or enough to hold 35 photos in 3 out of 4 star quality mode. This is plenty of storage space for most users, but for those needing more, the camera will easily accept cards of 32MB or larger.

In the test photos I did notice a small amount of lens flare in a brightly lit outdoor shot. Macro mode was slightly blurry, but the shot could have been improved through the use of a tripod. Another slight issue was the occurrence of blacks showing up as purple, nothing that cannot be fixed using Adobe’s Photoshop 6.0.

In conclusion, Epson’s PhotoPC 650 brings affordable digital photography to the average consumer. While it is priced about three times more than a comparable 35mm camera, the cost savings in film and ability to instantly see your photo make it well worth the extra greenbacks.

See below photos taken using the PhotoPC 650

Over the last few years geotagging has become more and more popular with photographers – and with good reason, it’s nice to know where that photo was taken. The problem is that most compact cameras and even professional digital SLR cameras do not come with this ability built-in. So how are the amateurs and professionals doing it? They use devices like the Sony GPS-CS3KA GPS, or the GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr. Nikon DSLR shooters have the best option here with the plug-in Nikon GP-1, but at $200 it is not an inexpensive one.

The universal devices work like this: after you are done shooting with your compact or SLR camera, you eject the memory card and insert it into the GPS geotagging device. The device takes a coordinate reading and embeds it as a file on the memory card. When you return home and load your photos the coordinates are then synced to the image files using included software.  Confused yet? These gadgets are far from perfect, but for most users this is the only way to do it.

However, if you happen to have a smartphone with built-in geotagging (iPhone 3G, DROID, Palm Pre – to name a few) you have the ability to “manually” geotag your photos, and it is easier than you think. As soon as you move into a new area where you will be snapping photos, take a landmark shot with your phone, it could be a unique object or even just you holding up a unique number of fingers or gesture. Then take this same shot with your real camera. Your phone will have geotagged the shot automatically, so now when you get home and load up your photos, you can reference back to that phone photo to get the location info.

Obviously, this method is quite manual, but during a recent road trip up Pacific Coast Highway out in California, it proved to be quite useful in keeping track of the photos I took with my DSLR. Trust me, every redwood and vineyard looks the same! It is surprising to me that more cameras are not shipping with built-in geotagging, but this will likely change in the coming years. For now, most of us will have to deal with a sloppy card reader device or using a GPS enabled mobile phone, but hey, it is better than nothing!

See the real photos below on Flickr:

This holiday season there is no doubt that many digital SLR cameras will find their way into peoples homes and hearts. With sub $500 cameras from Canon and Nikon, the barrier to entry has come down to a very low point. Before you start filling those memory cards, consider making a small investment in the following items.

UV lens protector -This item screws over the front glass of your camera’s lens. It provides a basic reduction of UV light, but more importantly protects your expensive lens from dust, fingerprints, scratches, moisture, and other damage. My favorite example of why you should use this on every lens comes from the story of a photographer going in close on a macro flower shot and breaking his lens on a protruding twig. Starting at around $10, they are worth their weight in gold. Note that the size of the UV protector will depend on the lens. Canon and Nikon kit lenses are generally 58mm or 52mm, but double check with your particular model. If you have a few extra dollars to spend, look for filters with multi-coated glass. Hoya has some great multi-coated filters for around $30.

Air blower – Not just for the pros, these small squeeze blowers are used for blowing dust off filters, lens caps, the front glass of a lens, and much more. You may not think you need one of these silly looking things, but you do. The Giottos “Rocket Blaster” goes for around $15, and comes highly recommended.

Camera bag – if you don’t yet have a camera bag to put all this gear in, it should be your first purchase (UV protector should be your next). Camera equipment is fragile stuff, look for bags with secure sides, good padding, and weather protection if possible. If a shoulder bag is not your thing there are a number of backpack style camera bags that will do the job quite well. Manufacturers Tamrac and Lowepro have a huge selction from $20 and up.

Lens hood -This piece of gear screws or clips on to the front of your lens. Not only does it shade the lens from bright sunlight, but also offers some added protection. This may not be as important on the “kit lens” that comes with most entry-level bodies, but is a must-have for any upgraded lenses you may acquire down the road. Like the UV protector, you will need to get a specific size/style hood for each lens.

Tripod – Always use a tripod! That is the first thing you will learn upon venturing into the world of photography. In order to get consistently sharp photos, a tripod is required. For the true beginner, a $30-40 model will work. Down the road, you may want to consider investing $100-$150+ in a higher quality model from Manfrotto or Slik.

Remote shutter release – Priced between $13 and $30, they are available for most cameras. They can be used to eliminate vibration when shooting on a tripod and also allow for much easier self/group portraits. Wireless shutter release for: Nikon and Canon

For some good beginner reading, take a look at Scott Kelby’s The Digital Photography Book. Also head over to www.flickr.com where you will find a great community of photographers from all over the globe. But most important – have fun!

Read more of my articles at Examiner.com

I’m currently in the process of writing a very basic guide for anyone looking to step into the world of SLR photography. I bought my first Digital SLR Camera about a year ago and I haven’t looked back. In the mean time, take a look at this Amazon List I made containing much of the equipment that has helped get me on my feet. Feel free to contact me with any questions, also check out my Flickr Photostream!