photography digital information

photography digital information

Stuff you need that's on sale this week...

A motion shot of mine...

Called "moving water"...
(click to enlarge)

Even David Ziser is shooting RAW...

Those who know David understand the significance of that statement, for those who don't, let me explain.

David has been a photographer for quite some time and his approach to how he shoots and how he runs his business is purposeful, pragmatic and without wasted time or steps.

He believes in getting his client the best product possible in the fewest steps. David can tell you how much time (on average) is spent on every image that passes through his studio.

There is a (good) reason for everything he does in his workflow, he doesn't make changes willy nilly, change is always purpose driven, which is one reason why so many people flock to his classes and seminars.

Part of that workflow has been shooting jpeg, small file size, thus lending itself to efficient processing.

David has been "dabbling" with shooting RAW lately and sharing his experience with his readers, and finally this last weekend he shot his first wedding in RAW.

Which fits perfectly with his philosophy of making change when it means giving his clients their monies worth.

Here are three blog entries about his RAW experiences:

Superior RAW white balance

RAW and Lightroom

David's first RAW wedding part I & part II

If you haven't tried shooting RAW you should, you'll be amazed at your post processing options.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Advancing your photographic education...

One of the keys to my photographic education was provided by PhotoVision.

They have an outstanding library of educational photography DVD's - I have their 6 DVD (each) sets Portrait Techniques Vol. I & Vol. II, Wedding Techniques Vol. I & Vol. II, as well as the 2 DVD set Marketing & Management.

Each set is about 12 hours in total length and you get to watch over the shoulders of such greats as Gary Fong, David Ziser, Parker Pfister, and Ken Sklute just to name a few.

You will see complete weddings, or portrait sessions from setting up the lights through post production. The photographers will explain what they are doing and why. You will get things like the best place to position yourself during the wedding ceremony, lens selection, and using available light.

I got more useful information from my PhotoVision DVD's than I did from all my other books and tapes combined.

The reason I bring this up is because PhotoVision has an out standing offer that anybody looking to improve their photography should take advantage of.

PhotoVision 2008 is an annual subscription that consists of a 2 hour DVD sent to your door every other month and that includes:

• New Features for Photoshop CS3
• Current Trends and Styles in Portraiture
• Approaches to Location and Studio Lighting
• Successful Marketing Concepts
• Adobe New Lightroom Secrets
• Latest Direction in Wedding Techniques
• Up-to-Date Digital Workflow Solutions
• Studio Walk Throughs

PhotoVision 2008 usually is $149, but you can get if for just $35, no that's not a typo, just $35 will give you a years worth of photography education.

If you use the coupon code "edpierce" while checking out PhotoVision 2008 is yours for $35.

Why are you still here? Go place your order!

Motion Photography...

You have heard me talk about Digital Photography School before, and they should be listed very high in your "places I need to visit often" list.

I wanted to share with you two articles they have on motion photography:

How to Capture Motion Blur in Photography

15 Stunning Images Using Blur to Portray Movement

These should get your creative juices flowing.

Ramona at Full Speed by by WisDoc

HyperDrive COLORSPACE revisited...

Back in February I told you about my HyperDrive COLORSPACE (I kinda gushed about it) and one of the things I mentioned was its ability to recover images from a damaged or corrupt memory card. The problem was I didn't have a bad card to prove the point.

Until recently. Not only did I get a bad card, but a wonderful story to go with it.

In Kennebunk Maine there is a great school, the Heartwood College of Art. Once a year the schools president, Berri Kramer, goes to Africa on a photographic mission for Mbali.org.

Here is their Mission statement:

Mbali.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness, and understanding for child headed households in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, and elsewhere. Profits from the sale of Mbali’s Bracelets are donated to Community Outreach Centers there. These centers help with the education and well being of orphaned children.

Well, on her last trip (and for the first time) Berri did not shoot film, she "went digital". But when she got back to the states she was in for a shock, no matter what device she used, no matter what she tried, the cards could not be read, the images could not be viewed.

Without these images a lot of time, money, and effort (essentially the reason for the mission to Africa) would be for not.

After all other efforts had been exhausted and no images recovered my phone rang, "can I use your COLORSPACE?".

Within seconds of the first card being plugged into the COLORSPACE images started appearing and being download.

Bottom line, every single image was recovered/downloaded. My COLORSPACE proved its worth.

Because the images were recovered the Mbali’s Bracelets project continues moving forward.

Life is good.

If you are interested in learning more about this project you can visit their website here, or contact them here.

(recovered image – click to enlarge)

May 2008 Photo Contest Winners...

Here are the May 2008 photo contest winners, click on either image to view a larger version:

The first is Richard Stanton, he took this shot while hiking in Italy.

Location: Amalfi Italy
Equipment Used: Nikon D100 with a Nikon 12-120 VR lens, f10 @ 1/40 second
Post Production: shadow detail captured in Photoshop CS3

The Next winner is Danny Morehouse who had passed this church many times before he finally photographed it.

Location: North Plains Oregon
Equipment Used: Canon XTi with a 24-70/2.8 lens, f8 @1/500 second
Post Production: RAW processing in Lightroom with final edits in Photoshop CS3 using NIK Color Efex

Both May winners will be receiving either a LumiQuest Softbox or a LumiQuest Pocket Bouncer and the book "Flash... The Most Available Light".

Congratulations to both May winners and a big thanks to LumiQuest for providing these great prizes.

The June contest is now open!
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