As of Jan. 1, 2008 on U.S. flights, if you pack a spare Li-Ion battery in your carry-on luggage, it has to be in a plastic bag or in the original packaging. Here's the verbiage from the Department of Transportation.

Passengers will no longer be able to pack loose lithium batteries in checked luggage beginning January 1, 2008 once new federal safety rules take effect. The new regulation, designed to reduce the risk of lithium battery fires, will continue to allow lithium batteries in checked baggage if they are installed in electronic devices, or in carry-on baggage if stored in plastic bags. Common consumer electronics such as travel cameras, cell phones, and most laptop computers are still allowed in carry-on and checked luggage. However, the rule limits individuals to bringing only two extended-life spare rechargeable lithium batteries*, such as laptop and professional audio/video/camera equipment lithium batteries in carry-on baggage...

You can find out more by visiting the SafeTravel.dot.gov.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, Technology, The Digital Story, Li-Ion Battery

The November 2007 Photo Assignment was "Light and Dark," and we have an excellent selection of images to show you -- 15 photos submitted by Digital Story members who demonstrate their ability to capture both the highlights and shadows of the world around them.

To produce the gallery, the pictures were first loaded into Aperture. I then added the accompanying stories to the IPTC caption field and combined it with the EXIF data from the photograph. The final step was to create a web gallery in Aperture and upload it to the Digial Story server. You can view this month's photo assignment here.

The December assignment is "Water." Start working on your contribution now. Details can be found on the Submissions page. Because of our new gallery format, you can now submit photo assignment pictures up to 600 pixels in the widest direction. Please follow the instructions carefully for labeling the subject line of the email for your submission. It's easy to lose these in the pile of mail if not labeled correctly. For example, the subject line for next month's assignment should be: "Photo Assignment: Nov 2007." Also, if you can, please don't strip out the metadata. And feel free to add any IPTC data you wish (These fields in particular: Caption, Credit, Copyright, Byline), I use that for the caption info.

Good luck with your December assignment, and congratulations to all of the fine contributors for November. It's an excellent collection of images.

Photo by Darryl Esakof

Technorati Tags: digital photography, The Digital Story, Photo Assignment

The topic of image noise often surfaces when we talk about shooting at high ISOs with compact cameras. Usually the conversation veers in the direction of trying to prevent the noise and devising workarounds toward that goal. But, is image noise always bad?

When I was a film shooter, one of the reasons why I liked TRI-X B&W film was because of its grain pattern. I would often use this film in situations where I thought the grain would add an artistic element to the composition.

Now, when I'm out and about, I'm carrying a Canon G9 as my pocket camera. In the beginning I was dead set at keeping the ISO at 200 or less. But as I'm experimenting more with this camera, I'm cutting loose with the ISO dial and having fun with the images captured in low light. Take this shot for example. It was twilight and I had just a few seconds at the intersection to roll down my window and grab the shot. (Cars behind you don't like you composing the perfect shot while the light is green.)

Because the light was low, I had to up the ISO to 800 to prevent camera shake. Even at 800, the exposure was made at 1/50th @ f-2.8 while holding the camera in one hand. I knew there would be grain, and I'm OK with it here. When I return home, I'll make a couple big prints to help me better evaluate the image. But my first impression? Image noise isn't always bad.

"Twilight Intersection" Photo by Derrick Story with Canon G9.

Technorati Tags: candid, Canon G9, digital photography, grab shot, Technology, The Digital Story

Winter presents some graphical opportunities for photographers with a keen eye. The combination of angled light with various forms of precipitation can make for some interesting abstract compositions.

Now that you've captured snapshots of family and friends during holiday gatherings, turn your lens outward and see what you can find. This shot of lingering frost in the shadow of a chimney was recorded with a Canon G9.

Photo by Derrick Story

Technorati Tags: Canon G9, digital photography, The Digital Story

"This is a shot of Boulder Creek in Boulder, Colorado during a recent snowstorm," said Mark Castleman. "There was hardly any color in the scene to begin with, so converting it to black & white actually brought out the image better. I bracketed the shot from 0ev to +2ev in 0.5ev increments to compensate for the snow throwing off the exposure and +1.0 seemed to look best to me."

Mark used a Pentax K10D, Pentax 18-55mm lens, 1/30. f/9.5, +1.0ev, ISO 100, converted to black & white in Aperture.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

Sooner or later, it happens to us all. We have to pull together a nice gift for people we care about... at the last minute! We could re-gift, but somehow that feels wrong for this particular occasion. These folks deserve better. Something special. A handmade present.

One of my most popular articles this time of year is the original Last Minute Holiday Gift Ideas. There are some good ideas there, so be sure to take a look. But wait... there's more.

Custom DVD of a Family Event -- Nearly everyone has a DVD player these days, and most of us have burner to create them. If you have a meaningful event in your photo archives, build a quick slideshow, burn it to DVD, print out a photo for the cover, and you have a custom present that will hold meaning for years to come.

Calendar by You -- iPhoto has a great calendar builder. It's designed to purchase through an online service. But you probably don't have time for that. So create your calendar, then use the Print command. When the print dialog box opens, choose "Save as PDF" from the PDF popup menu in the lower left corner. You'll now have a high resolution master that you can print out on your inkjet printer. (You'll have to print one page at a time and use paper that lets you print on both sides. Take a look at an existing calendar for the pattern.) Punch a few holes, bound with the appropriate material (such as twine for a harvest theme), and you have a *really nice* gift to share at present opening. You may even want to sign it...

Custom Note Paper -- All you need for this gift is some decent paper. Design a custom note page that leaves lots of room for writing. I like to put the name of the person receiving the gift in one corner with a nice little photo or graphic in the opposing corner. Print out the sheets so you can place "2 up" or "4 up" on an letter size sheet of paper. Then trim and box. You're in business!

And finally, I wish you and your family a happy holiday season. The best present of all is your presence...

Technorati Tags: digital photography, The Digital Story, Holiday Gifts

"I recently captured this shot of these tiny beetles on a 'feverfew daisy' in my garden," said Ruth Cooper. "These flowers which are about 1/2" in diameter, are honey-scented, and are very attractive to insects. These little fellows, (about the size of a pin-head,) apparently weren't about to miss the last drop of nectar!"

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

Is shutter lag your number one concern when shopping for a compact camera? If so, you might want to take a look at Digital Camera Shutter Lag Comparison Table on Cameras.co.uk. TDS member Mark Brokering was researching this issue for a friend who wants a compact with minimal lag time. When Mark found the table, he sent me the link (thanks Mark!).

Technorati Tags: digital photography, Technology, The Digital Story, Shutter Lag

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Gavin Stoker writes for PhotographyBLOG., "With the PMA photography trade show just around the corner and aggressive Christmas competition driving down prices, it’s surprising what kind of camera you can buy for less than £150 / $300. Take the Nikon Coolpix P50 for example -- 8 megapixels, 28-102mm wide-angle lens, vibration reduction, ISO 2000 and face detection is an impressive feature set for this price-point. We reviewed the Nikon P50’s more expensive brother, the P5100, a couple of months ago, and while it promised a lot on paper, it failed to really wow us. Can the Coolpix P50 avoid a similar fate?"

Three things jump out at me about this camera.. one, I like compacts that have the wide lens equivalent of 28mm. Combined with Face Detection technology, the Nikon P50 has the potential to be the perfect camera to capture pictures during the holidays. And third, it's a steal right now in the US, selling for $153 US on Amazon.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, product review, Technology, The Digital Story, Nikon P50

I've discovered that I'm using burst mode much more than I used to, and I wanted to figure out why. As is turns out, there are a number of factors, including changes both on the camera side and in post production.

In this podcast, I extol the virtues of shooting in burst mode, then give tips for getting the most out of it.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Water is this month's photo assignment. It's time to work with all states of water, from vapor to ice. You can read more about how to submit on our Submissions page. Deadline for entry is Dec 31.

Listen to the Podcast

Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's audio show titled, "Burst Mode." You can download the podcast here (32 minutes). You can also subscribe to the podcast in iTunes

The Digital Story Podcasts are available for direct download from Apple iPhones. I've created a special mobile download page here. Just load the page in Safari, browse the podcast line-up, and click on the one you want to listen to.

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our new Flickr Public Group. It's a blast!

Check out what you can do with an $150 underwater housing and a compact point and shoot by taking a look at my underwater gallery from the Caribbean.

Have you looked at the Park by the Numbers Camera Phone Project? If you have a camera phone, you've got to check this out.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: Adobe Lightroom, Aperture, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

Lowepro Bags for Photographers On the Go -- Lowepro gear for every type of camera rig, every type of photographer.

Add Magic to Your Slideshows -- FotoMagico presentations are so amazing that your audience will be asking how you did it.

With the PMA show around the corner in late January 2008, and the rumor mills in full churn about upcoming announcements, you might want to take all of this into consideration if you're in the market for a new Canon DSLR.

Canon shooters are safe in the middle of the line up. The 40D was released in the Fall, and it is as solid and highly reviewed as they come. If you're looking to upgrade from a 10D, 20D, or even 30D, you're safe to buy now. Nothing new is going to happen in January for those mid-line bodies.

But if you're in the market to upgrade a Digital Rebel or EOS 5D, I'd hang on a few weeks. It's very likely that announcements for new versions of those cameras will come in mid-January 2008. There's no guarantee of course, but if you have the luxury of time, why not wait and see?

Technorati Tags: Technology, The Digital Story, Canon, DSLR

I've done some testing with DNG files to see just how much hard disc space they save compared to Raw files. I worked with 8, 10, and 12.7 megapixel images from Canon DSLRs (Rebel XT, Rebel XTi, and EOS 5D).

First thing I noticed, there are only measurable file size savings if you don't embed a Jpeg (and obviously if you don't embed the Raw file too). My original Raw file sizes were 12.1, 8.7, and 7 MBs (5D, XTi, XT) and the corresponding DNGs with Large Jpeg previews were 11, 8.7, and 7.1 MBs. Some savings, but nothing to write home about.

But if I converted the Raw files without the Jpeg previews, the file sizes were a more svelte 9.7, 7.6, and 6.1 MBs each. That's fairly good savings, especially with the Canon 5D (12.1 vs 9.7 MBs) without any quality compromise.

Here's a table that shows you the overview (from my upcoming book, Digital Photography Companion). It provides you with the Raw vs DNG comparisons, and also full size Jpegs file sizes at both high quality and normal quality.

Since my workflow centers around Aperture and Lightroom, I don't really see the need to convert my Raw files to DNG. The few times I have, is when I wanted to send a high resolution file with printing instructions embedded to another photographer for output. But for most of my needs, working with the original Raw files and outputting from Aperture or Lightroom to the working format I need seems to be serving me well.

Technorati Tags: Adobe Lightroom, Aperture, digital photography, DNG, Technology, The Digital Story, Digital Photography Companion

I was able to sit down with one of my favorite San Francisco photographers and talk about World Cup, the Olympics, shooting on assignment, and making the transition at the pro level from Kodachrome to digital.

In my interview with John McDermott, we cover all of this: life on the road, Raw shooting technique, Aperture and other software packages. John is a photographer's photographer, and I think you'll enjoy what he has to say.

Technorati Tags: Aperture, digital photography, software, Technology, The Digital Story

John Harrington has published a fun, informative, comparison of the Nikon D3 and the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III. His review tackles noise issues, megapixel comparisons, tethered shooting, their LCD screens, and a host of other features. It's enjoyable reading, especially for those hungry for more information about these two flagship DSLRs.

After reading the piece, the only burning question that remains is... where did John get the cute boxing ring prop?

Photo © 2007 John Harrington.

ExpoDisc Custom White Balance -- Simply Better Color. Simply Better Pictures. Visit www.expodisc.com

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

If you want your shots of Santa to have rosy cheeks and your tree to be vivid green, then you'll be happy to read that Datacolor has released the new Spyder3Pro and Spyder3Print.

According to Datacolor: "The Spyder3Pro is a display calibration tool for serious photographers that includes the only colorimeter available on the market offering a seven detector color engine, with an aperture several times larger than other devices for increased accuracy and performance. It is designed to deliver more precise control over white point and gamma, and has easy-to-use features including a new Display Assistant that stores and easily retrieves all user device-specific information on each display to save time during recalibration."

You can get the Spyder3Pro for $170 US at Amazon

Technorati Tags: digital photography, Technology, The Digital Story, Spyder3Pro

We've been good photographers who have embraced the concept of workflow, invested in software, and have tried to go about our business in an orderly fashion. So what's the payoff?

I had begun to wonder that myself. Oh, sure, there have been small victories here and there. For example, I wanted to find this photo that I call "Head Stomp." I had captured it back in Sept. 2006, and I needed it for a project. Thanks to my organizational software, it took me a matter of seconds to locate it, then export it in the size and format I needed. Nice.

But the real payoff appeared when I started working on my latest book, Digital Photography Companion, and had to organized hundreds of photos that I've captured over the last few years. I talk about that experience in this week's show.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Water is this month's photo assignment. It's time to work with all states of water, from vapor to ice. You can read more about how to submit on our Submissions page. Deadline for entry is Dec 31.

Listen to the Podcast

Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's audio show titled, "Payoff." You can download the podcast here (30 minutes). You can also subscribe to the podcast in iTunes

The Digital Story Podcasts are available for direct download from Apple iPhones. I've created a special mobile download page here. Just load the page in Safari, browse the podcast line-up, and click on the one you want to listen to.

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our new Flickr Public Group. It's a blast!

Check out what you can do with an $150 underwater housing and a compact point and shoot by taking a look at my underwater gallery from the Caribbean.

Have you looked at the Park by the Numbers Camera Phone Project? If you have a camera phone, you've got to check this out.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: Adobe Lightroom, Aperture, digital photography, iPhoto, podcast, software, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

Lowepro Bags for Photographers On the Go -- Lowepro gear for every type of camera rig, every type of photographer.

Add Magic to Your Slideshows -- FotoMagico presentations are so amazing that your audience will be asking how you did it.

In the film photography days, I had this odd, greenish, disc that I could peer through to get some idea of how a scene would look in B&W. I never thought it was that effective, and I don't even know where the darn thing is today.

Partly because I don't need it anymore. I can now use my digicam to evaluate any scene's potential in B&W. I was working with this technique as part of the writing for my latest book, Digital Photography Companion that will be out in March. (Between now and then, I'll give you sneak peeks of the techniques and photos I'm preparing for the book. Virtual camera clubs are about sharing, after all.)

I carry my Canon G9 with me most of the time, and one of the things I use it for is to evaluate scenes for B&W conversion. It has that beautiful 3" LCD that displays images well in the field. I don't like to shoot in B&W with digital cameras per se, rather, capture in color and convert to grayscale later on the computer. That way I know I have all of the information for the shot at the time of capture, plus I have the color version too if I need it later on.

But I do like knowing how a scene is going to translate to B&W while I'm shooting it. That way, I can make capture adjustments on the spot that give me a better idea of what I'm going to do later in post production.

So for a few shots, I switch to B&W mode on the G9 to give me a real preview o the scene. With the shot that I included here, for example, experienced B&W photographers would have guessed that the red coat would translate to about the same tonal values as her black slacks. But to see it in the field is a good reminder of some of the adjustments that I'll have to make later, or to have her change wardrobe if I don't like the look.

One final note, if you shoot Raw+Jpeg in B&W mode, your camera might render all of the images in color when you upload them to the computer. Software applications tend to ignore the accompanying Jpegs (which are your B&Ws) and build the previews right off the Raws (that have all the information).

If you haven't played with previewing in B&W, give it a try. You might see something inspiring that energizes your shoot... or saves it from disaster.

Technorati Tags: Canon G9, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story, B&W

The next time you fire up Adobe Lightroom, you'll be asked if you want to download the 1.3.1 update that is primarily a bug and compatibility fix. Adobe also released Camera Raw 4.3.1 that fixes support for the Nikon D100 and the Olympus E-3. You can download both the Mac and the Windows versions of ACR from the Adobe site.

Microsoft released the HD Photo Plug-In for both Mac and Windows that allows you to open and save any HD Photo file -- .wdp or .hdp -- in Adobe Photoshop.

And finally, Sigma updated their Sigma Photo Pro to 2.3. This is their application for processing files captured with Sigma cameras.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, software, Technology, The Digital Story

OK, here's one I can't quite figure out. While traveling back from Southern California on a recent road trip, I encountered this bathroom with not one, but two toilet paper dispensers. One roll was positioned high (about elbow height when standing) and the other the normal low position next to the toilet seat.

I have my theories about this arrangement... but I'll just keep them to myself.

I captured this high/low arrangement with an Apple iPhone under existing light. I could have gone out to the car for my DSLR... but, well, that would have been just too weird.

Photo by Derrick Story

If you want to see one of the reasons why I was driving around in the first place, take a look at this pyrotechnic plane.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

Thanks to the release of the Lightroom 1.3 Export SDK, we're starting to see some handy export plug-ins for Adobe's all-in-one photo management application. Over at Jeffrey Friedl’s Blog, he has provided some very useful export plug-ins for Flickr, Smugmug, and Zenfolio. So you no longer have to fool with workarounds to get your images out of Lightroom directly to these other services.

Technorati Tags: Adobe Lightroom, digital photography, software, Technology, The Digital Story

I use AA batteries for a few of my digicams and for all of my electronic flashes. When I have a big event, I can go through 6 sets (of 4 batteries) in a shoot. One of my frustrations is that, if I haven't used a set of NiMHs for a few weeks, the batteries can be partially drained when I put them in the device, giving me only half the shooting time compared to a freshly-charged set.

According to Mike Pasini over at Imaging-Resource, Sanyo's new Eneloop AA NiMH batteries have "a new super lattice alloy which increases the electrical capacity of the battery, reduces the internal resistance and allows higher discharge currents -- all good stuff in a digicam."

Mike and company get into some good battery specs in the article, and it's worth taking a closer look to learn what an improvement these new cells are. And the best news? You can buy a kit of 4 batteries and a charger for about $20. If you already have a NiMH charger, you can buy the batteries alone for for just $9 a set. What a great stocking stuffer for your favorite photographer (even if that's you).

Technorati Tags: digital photography, gadgets, product review, Technology, The Digital Story, Batteries

The first step in an accurate color workflow is ensuring your computer monitor is calibrated to printing standards. In this podcast, I cover some steps you can take right now with no additional equipment, then discuss the advantages of using a monitor colorimeter. Even affordable units, such as the Huey for less then $80, can lead to more accurate printing and web pages.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Water is this month's photo assignment. It's time to work with all states of water, from vapor to ice. You can read more about how to submit on our Submissions page. Deadline for entry is Dec 31.

Listen to the Podcast

Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's audio show titled, "Monitor Calibration." You can download the podcast here (26 minutes). You can also subscribe to the podcast in iTunes

The Digital Story Podcasts are available for direct download from Apple iPhones. I've created a special mobile download page here. Just load the page in Safari, browse the podcast line-up, and click on the one you want to listen to.

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our new Flickr Public Group. It's a blast!

Check out what you can do with an $150 underwater housing and a compact point and shoot by taking a look at my underwater gallery from the Caribbean.

Have you looked at the Park by the Numbers Camera Phone Project? If you have a camera phone, you've got to check this out.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, equipment, Huey, ICC Profiles, software, Technology, The Digital Story

Lowepro Bags for Photographers On the Go -- Lowepro gear for every type of camera rig, every type of photographer.

Add Magic to Your Slideshows -- FotoMagico presentations are so amazing that your audience will be asking how you did it.

Back in March 2006, I reviewed the Huey colorimeter and was lukewarm about its performance. Even though I loved its price ($80) and thought is was a snappy looking device, I wasn't sold on its screen calibration ability.

Well, I pulled it out of mothballs the other day, downloaded the latest driver from Pantone, and tried it again on my MacBook Pro. It worked great. And the profile the Huey created seems spot on. I retested again and got results that were just as good.

Go figure. It could be me of course. But I think some nice improvements happened in software over the last year and a half. So now I feel very good about recommending this this $80 colorimeter. What a difference software can make...

Technorati Tags: digital photography, Technology, The Digital Story, Huey