Here's your chance at $50,000...

But you have just 4 1/2 days to claim your money.

Here are the details:

"PDN and Artists Wanted invite you to participate in the annual One Life Photography Competition. This worldwide search for photography seeks to illuminate your perspective: what you love, your travels, or anything that reflects your world and experience. Select your best work, submit your photos easily online and have a chance at life-changing awards."

All the details can be found right here.

Funny (that timing thing again), because I was going to post about Lou Jones today, he is (I think) one of the best "street" photographers in the world and he recently posted "31 Street Photography Tips and Tricks" which will come in quite handy when you enter the above contest. You'll find part 1 here and part 2 here.



I'm off to format some memory cards and hit the streets... I hope to see you out there.



Update: I just came across a couple more post on street photography from Chris Osburn that I thought you would find useful, part one is here, part two here.

You'll be mad if you miss out on this...

I have had the pleasure of beta testing a new product that is as close to Lightroom as you can get and when the beta testing is over I'm going to get this for free.

You can too!

If you sign up for PhotoDirector, download the beta (give it a quick spin), and fill out a short survey, then you too will get the full blown package when it's released next month.

There isn't enough room here to talk about all the cool features available in PhotoDirector, but you can read all about it online here (don't fret, there are more pictures than words as well as GREAT examples of what the features will do).

There is already almost 200,000 presets that you can download (yes, for free) or you can easily create your own.

I am not sure how much longer the beta will be open but jump over there right now and sign up before it's too late. Yes I know there are some very good free image editing software packages out there, but none of them (and most of the pay options) can't hold a candle to PhotoDirector.

The image below will show you some of the editng menu options that are available, to view it larger (so you can actually read it) simply click on it. The image will open full size in a new window.

Do you shoot a Canon EOS Rebel?

If you shoot with a Canon EOS Rebel then I can use your help.

Yesterday I received the brand new book "Canon EOS Rebel T3i / 600D: From Snapshots to Great Shots" written by Jeff Revell.

The problem is I don't shoot Canon. Sure I can read it and tell whether or not it is a good book but that wouldn't be fair to our readers who shoot Canon, nor would it be fair to Jeff.

So to be sure that the review does the book credit I am looking for a Canon shooter who can do the review for us.

If you're interested drop me an email and I will pick (probably randomly) from the submissions and send the "chosen one" the book for review.

Oh, and you will get to keep the book.

Looking forward to hearing from you Canon shooters.


(update: we have our reviewer, thanks to everyone who wrote in offering to help)

I really need your input...

I have decided to let you, the readers, decide which photography DVD's we will review first (and which will be second), here are your choices:

1. Scott Kelby's "Photo Recipes Live 2"


2. David Hobby's "Lighting in Layers"


You will have seven days to enter you choice in our survey box in the upper right of the blog.

And below you will see the results from our first ever survey "Do you like the new blog design?", I was really hoping for more "OMG Scott You Rock".

;)

What a wonderful thing to do...

Is it me or does there seem to be more severe storms, tornadoes, and natural disasters recently than we have seen in the past?

Something amazing has come out of these storms, a woman named Patty Bullion. Though she lives over a hundred and twenty five miles away from Smithville Mississippi, three days after that town was rocked by storms Patty found what turned out to be a pregnant women's ultrasound laying on the ground, then a photograph, and another and decided to post what she had found on Facebook in hopes of matching up the lost photos with their owners.

Patty has been joined by many others who have found hundreds upon hundreds of photographs, documents, letters, and cards that they have posted on their Facebook page "Pictures and Documents found after the April 27, 2011 Tornadoes"

You need to check them out, it is inspiring to see what they are doing. You can also see Patty's blog here.

It's amazing how a simple selfless act can motivate so many and mean so much.

The Art of Photography...

I came across a podcast recently that I think will be of great interest to many of you, it's call "The Art of Photography" hosted by Ted Forbes.

The Art of Photography will be of interest to the novice and professional alike, here is just a few of the topics covered in the 67 videos:

ISO

Aperture

Shutter Speed

Lighting (parts one, two, and three)

Shooting Tethered

Framing on a Budget

Choosing the Right Lens

Promoting Your Work Online

You'll also find interviews (with folks like Annie Leibovitz), book reviews, and something you don't find very often, working with film (developing, working in a dark room, and more).

Ted really covers each subject quite well and the videos are only seven to ten minutes long so it's really easy to squeeze one or two into even the busiest of schedules.

So head over to The Art of Photography, once you see what they have to offer I am sure you'll want to add them to your favorites and while you're there you can watch videos right on their website, subscribe to them via iTunes, or download the videos to watch at a time that is most convenient to you.

You just can't have too many good photography resources.

Prom night...

This past Friday night was prom night in our town and I shot the daughter of a long time family friend.

We shot in the afternoon and it was a bright sunny day, the perfect time bring the lights outside, so I had my assistant handhold a Westcott Apollo softbox to throw in some light around. I love those softboxes because they're portable, setup in seconds, and have a good size to them.

The flash was used on manual and settings were pretty low, from 1/16 - 1/32, depending on the subjects relationship to the sun. When she was back-lit (like when she was leaning against the car) the flash was at 1/16 to help overpower the sun, when she was standing in the shade (leaning against the wall) the flash was at 1/32, just enough to throw a wisp of light on her.

The flash was fired using pocket wizards.

By far the most difficult part of the shoot was photographing this beautiful young woman who I still remember as the little girl she was when we first met the family.

(click on any image to view larger and in a new window)