tech
The iPad just became a must have for me
I just saw the video review of the iPad Camera Connection Kit adaptor by Terry White and basically the iPad is now #1 in my gadget wish list. Terry confirmed all the things I wished the iPad would do when you connect the Camera Connector.
- Reads RAW files out of the camera
- Previews the RAW images without a problem
- Apps can read the RAW files inside the iPad
One of the great things Terry shows is that you can connect a card reader to the iPad and download from your Compact Flash cards (the card format most professional cameras still use). This is huge since the Camera Connector only has 2 options, SD connector or USB connector.
I’ve always lusted after an Epson P6000 for it’s ability to preview files and work as a photo backup on location or a trip, but it’s ridiculously overpriced so I never considered purchasing one.
Now for the same money I can buy an iPad and trust me, it’s WAY more advanced and useful. I wouldn’t be surprised if Epson started to discount the P6000 any day now.
Check out the video at Terry’s site while I go put a few more dollars in my piggy bank.
The online training space just got a little more crowded
Yesterday Chase Jarvis, the Seattle photographer that has taken over the photography world, announced a partnership with the folks from the CreativeTechs webinars called CreativeLive. They have announced a live workshop series that will be taught by some of the most respected photographers out there.
I’ve checked out the webinars from CreativeTechs before and they are really good. As in any other workshop the teacher is the key to a good learning experience. They have some great teachers and some not so great but when they are good they are worth your time (check out the John Greengo, Fundamentals of Digital Photography).
So now we as photography enthusiasts have many options to learn online. There’s Lynda.com who’s the original online training site. They have every imaginable course you can imagine on software plus a few interesting profiles from famous creatives.
Then there’s Kelbytraining.com. With Scott Kelby as the driving force behind this site there’s an amazing selection of photography and digital retouching courses. Both these sites have a monthly plan with no strings attached so you can try them for a month and see if you like them.
I’m excited to check out the new CreativeLive webinars announced by Chase Jarvis and see what they are like. Online learning is a great way to learn from home but of course for learning in person with a teacher I recommend you check out my own workshops. Having a teacher right there showing you how to use your camera or computer and being able to ask questions is one of the many advantages, check them out.
Productivity quick tips
I’ve recently been trying to keep things as simple as possible with regards to my photography as well as all the “stuff” that is part of the business. In doing so I’d like to share with you 2 of my recent discoveries.
My first suggestion has to do with reading interesting articles online. I read a lot of photography blogs and crative inspiration articles. As you might know, web pages are full of ads and “stuff” that distracts from the actual text you are reading. Readability is a tool that makes pages a joy to read. it’s a little bookmark that you place on your browser toolbar and with one click it cleans up the page and leaves only the information you want to read. Check out the following example:
Page from the New York Times as it normally appears. This is a quick news item. Less than 1 page which you need to scroll down to finish reading:
An here’s how it looks like after one click on Readablilty. No scrolling, clean borders and easy to read:
A super simple tool that makes reading articles online much easier on the eyes!
The other tool is part of the Mac OS and it helps when you are reading those great articles online and you find a word that you are not familiar with (English being my second language I often use this to learn new vocabulary). This is a shortcut to the dictionary that all Mac computers come with. Lets say you are reading an article or writing an email and you need to check the definition of a word. You simply have to place your cursor over the word and hold down Control + Command + D and a tiny pop up window appears over the word you selected with the definition. Easy and very useful.
As you can see there is also the option to select either the dictionary or thesarus at the bottom of the window as well as the option to open the Dictionary application.
Hopefully this 2 tips will be useful to you. I know that for me this little things make a big difference in my daily work routine.
Aperture 3 is out
Apple has released Aperture 3. Even though I’m a Lightroom user I’ll be checking it out to see what’s new although I see a lot of new features that already exist in Lightroom (colour labels, image presets, printing presets) but we all benefit from Adobe and Apple competing in this field.
iPhone Apps I use for photography
Since I got an iPhone the App store has become a very cool place to find interesting little programs. After downloading the obligatory utilities and a couple of fun games I started looking at the photography section of the store. Could this little phone do anything with the images it can take? The answer to this is yes, it can do quite a few things actually.
With the new iPhone 3GS you actually have a decent camera that also takes video. I’m really jealous of this new camera on the phone but my upgrade will not be happening any time soon since the new hardware would cost too much. I mean it is only a camera on a phone right? Well, even with my “old” iPhone 3GS there are 2 Apps that I’ve found indispensable for my iPhone camera enjoyment.
First off what I consider the Photoshop of the iPhone, Photogene by Omer Shoor. This application has gotten more amazement from friends and family than any other. They just can’t believe you can do all this on the phone. Crop, rotate, adjust levels, correct white balance and more….on the phone!
Almost every shot I take on my iPhone goes through Photogene. I’m a crop fanatic (not sure if that’s good or bad) and this App lets me do so much I don’t think I could live without it. $3.00 for photo bliss is not bad.
The next app I use almost always is CameraBag from Nevercenter Ltd. Co. This App is sort of a filter application it applies effects to your photos (usually after I run them through Photogene) and saves the copy to your camera roll.
I has a variety of effects that look like a Holga shot or a faded Polaroid for example. With one swipe of the finger you can see each effect rendered on your selected photo and once you are happy with the results you save it as a copy. I’ve actually applied effects multiple times on some abstract images to create a double intensity result. It works great.
I highly recommend both these Apps if you are into photography and use an iPhone. They take your images to a new creative place. Your friends and family will not believe they came out of your phone.
Canon announces the 7D
When I read this today I thought “is Canon crazy? didn’t the 5D Mark II just come out?” Well, my panic went away when I saw that this camera is a prosumer crop sensor model. I wouldn’t have named it the 7D though. Maybe the 70D would have been a better name? oh the joy of “naming logic” of some companies. So it’s not a competitor to the 5D Mk II (even though from the front, this camera has the curvy top of the Pro models).
It looks like it’s a great prosumer model and I would love to have that new dual axis digital level on my camera.
It has a bunch of cool features and the now obligatory video recording. Nice camera overall. Check out the specs at dpreview.com
Photoshop CS4
cs4 box
I’t may seem like CS3 was out not so long ago but it has been 18 months since that version of Adobe’s suite of industry standard applications came out. Last week Adobe unveiled CS4 and I find it has many shiny new things (including a ton of changes inspired by Lightroom) that are making me look for a way to upgrade as soon as possible.
Some of them are being shown for their cool factor which is undeniable, and although they definitely are appealing to me, I’m also very interested in experiencing the many changes that have been made under the hood. Those are not flashy or have eye candy but for people who work in Photoshop day in and day out, they are greatly appreciated. In John Nack’s blog (Photoshop product manager) there is a post that mentions all the changes that happened under the hood. Nerd alert- the following is kind of geeky and very Photoshop centric so feel free to check out the flashy Photoshop CS4 here and here if this is not your thing.
So for the stuff under the hood, here are my picks:
Smooth Pixel Rendering
Previous versions of Photoshop had the problem that at certain magnifications the image showed jagged lines that didn’t render correctly. That is finally fixed and images show in perfect detail at any magnification. This has bugged me for so many years, For years I’ve had to zoom in or out to see if what I’m doing is looking right…so glad this is fixed!
Spring Loaded Keys
A great time saver. With this new option you can be for example brushing or cloning an image and temporarily click and hold another key on the keyboard, use its corresponding tool, and then let go of that key and go back to using the original tool.
Adjustment Panel
Some of the most used tools like Curves, Levels, etc. are now found on a panel (used to be called “palettes”) for quick access. Time saver again.
Live Under Cursor Preview
Sounds complex but actually it means you see a preview of what you are cloning or healing as your brush; like in the Vanishing Point tool. Nice for aligning things.
Tabbed Document Viewing & Application Frame
Tabbing as a quick way to move through all open documents instead of going through the Window menu is great for quick file reviews. And finally the Application Frame interface with its tabbed documents at the top (like a browser) makes the upgrade worth its money for me.
tabbed interface
The flashy stuff will be useful too and I really want to test the new content aware scaling, but these changes and improvements under the hood are sometimes more valuable to people who at the end of the day can get their work done faster and in a more efficient way.
So there you have it, my picks for best new features you might not know about in Photoshop CS4.
Away for 2 weeks
I will be going away on a trip for the next 2 weeks and will resume posting when I come back. If possible I will try to post some images from the road when internet access is available. For now I wanted to share 2 links I found today.
First an article on CNET showing a new form of light panel that is less than 1 inch thick and can be 30 inches high by up to 12 feet long. The potential for having lighted floors, ceilings and other surfaces is very interesting. I can see this technology in future lighting gear for photographers too.
The second link also on CNET talks about a new experimental camera chip developed at Stanford University that can create a 3D representation of what is being photographed at the same time as it captures the image. Each pixel on the chip can calculate how far it is from the subject and use that information to see its depth. A bit too futuristic but very interesting.
My new venture. Learn photography with me.
