February 2008 Archives

"Edge" - Results from Photo Assignment 23

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The January 2008 Photo Assignment was "Edge," and we have a sharp selection of images to show you -- 23 photos submitted by Digital Story members who demonstrate their ability to cut through the croft and present these excellent shots.

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 March 2008 assignment is "Paper." 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: March 2008." 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 March assignment, and congratulations to all of the fine contributors for January. It's an excellent collection of images.

Photo by Luis Faustino

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Tethering a camera to your computer allows you to capture images directly into it. This is particularly handy for product shots and in-studio portraits when you want to see a full resolution version of the photo right away. With a tethered camera, you click the shutter and the image appears on your monitor. Just like that.

Many DSLRs will have tethering software bundled in their kit. Both Canon and Nikon provide this feature on most of their advanced cameras. Check their software disks for more information.

Aperture 2 also provides tethered shooting. You can refer to this chart to see if your Canon or Nikon camera is supported. In general, tethered Nikon DSLRs work with both Tiger and Leopard, and Canon shooters must be running the Leopard for this feature.

If you have a camera and software that supports this technique, I suggest you give it a try. It's a great feeling to click the shutter, and then see the image appear instantly on your computer monitor.

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"Nor Sleet, Nor Snow" - Grab Shot 140

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"Below is a grab shot I took recently at Lee Canyon Ski Resort in the mountains just outside of Las Vegas," said Kevin Miller. "I am sure most of this Fed Ex employee's deliveries were done in the valley below under the relative warmth of the sun, hence the shorts. The uniform definitely seems out of place in the snow."

And yet he pushes on...

Kevin used a Canon 30D, with a 200mm lens set to f/2.8 in Aperture Priority mode. ISO was 100, and shutter speed was 1/2000 of a second.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

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

Event Calendar

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


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Compact cameras can deliver terrific video as well as stills. This week's podcast features a movie I captured at the Tampa Aquarium during an evening event sponsored by Kodak at Imaging USA.

The lights were on in the ray and shark pool, and I got down low with my G9 mounted on a Gorillapod to shoot the activity through the glass. You can hear conversations I have with passer-bys asking about the camera and its abilities.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Empty is this month's photo assignment. Empty spaces, empty containers, empty lives... lots of possibilities for this one. You can read more about how to submit on our Submissions page. Deadline for entry is Feb. 29.

Listen to the Podcast

Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's video show titled, "A Visit to the Tampa Aquarium." You can download the podcast here (2:21 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.

Event Calendar

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


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Sponsor Notes...

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.

If you have your own web site, QuickTime Pro makes it easy to take video snippets off your digital camera and post them there. Its "Export for Web" option under the File menu presents you with some sophisticated publishing options... except now they're as easy to implement as checking a box.

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The process couldn't be simplier. Open the movie you want to publish. Choose "Export for Web" from the File menu. Select the options you want: iPhone (WiFi), iPhone (cellular), and/or Desktop. Choose as many as you want. When you hit the Export button, QuickTime will create a folder with the different versions of the movie in there. It also creates a web page with instructions for publishing to your site.

My little bonus tip is this. Open that web page of instructions in your text editor, change the text to what you want to say, save the html file as a new name, and upload the entire folder to your web server. That page contains all the scripts you need, perfectly formatted, and pointing to your movie. As long as you leave everything in the same folder, you're set.

That's how I created this version of A Visit to the Tampa Aquarium. It is viewable in a web browser, on Apple TV, or on an iPhone. The built in script identifies what type of device is accessing the page, then serves the appropriate movie for that device. It's really quite clever.

You already know that I'm a big fan of the movie mode on our digital cameras. Now sharing those movies on your own web site is as easy as capturing them in the first place.

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On first encounter, the Sony DSC-T200 is just too beautiful to be taken seriously. I was seduced by its slim design -- about the same proportions as an Apple iPhone -- with "folded" 5X Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar zoom lens, an 8 MP image sensor, and a 3.5" touchscreen LCD, all housed in a brushed metal housing that feels as good as it looks. There's no way this camera can perform as well as it looks.

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Field Test

I decided to take it out in the field and test its mettle (or test its metal in this case). Well, for starters, it just slid into my front pants pocket. Oh man, that was too easy. But, when I got in the field, I did encounter my first aggravation. The touch screen wasn't responding very well to my finger taps. "I just knew it," I muttered. Only to discover that there's a nifty stylus that attaches to the very nice wrist strap, and it totally solves the problem.

In bright light, the LCD was a bit hard to see. And there is no optical viewfinder. So this is a legitimate complaint about the camera. However, the screen is quite viewable in all but the harshest of light.

When you slide down the front cover to reveal the 5X Zeiss lens, the camera fires up quickly. In fact, overall response time, including shutter lag, is fantastic, especially for a compact of this size. Oh, and that lens: sharp.

Improved Menus

Sony's menu system has really come a long way. I once not cared for their approach, but now I like em. If you get lost, just hit the Home button in the upper left corner. From there, you can access submenus for: Shooting, View Images, Output, Memory Tool, and Settings. It took me about 15 minutes to get the hang of this. To make things even easier, the Display had three modes: Normal (lots of controls), Simple (just a few basic controls), and Image Only. When you're in Normal mode, it seems like there's an icon for just about any control you would need. Oh, and there's a button to turn off and on the live histogram. Very nice.

Good Technology

The T200 includes all of the current technology you would want: Face Detection, image stabilization, full frame SD movies at 30fps, and an nice array of scene modes. The macro mode is terrific on this camera, and what really impressed me, is that I could use the flash when only inches away from the subject and still get a great exposure. And if I didn't like it, there's a nifty pair of flash exposure buttons to increase or decrease it a tad.

As for the pictures themselves... very good for a compact. All the normal rules of the road apply: keep the ISO down to 400 or below and you're in great shape. The movies were solid too. The prints I made from the T200 were sharp with good color.

Pros and Cons

There are a couple things I don't like about this camera. I'm not a fan of Memory Sticks, but that's what you have to use with Sonys. The camera has an accessory HD cable for viewing your still photos on an HDTV, which is cool, but the camera doesn't include an HD movie mode, or even a 16:9 movie capture. Seems like a missed opportunity. And for an 8 MP compact, the DSC-T200 seems expensive at $350 US.

But the pros are strong indeed: beautiful design, great lens, big LCD, sharp pictures, easy controls, latest technology, and very easy to carry around.

I really didn't want to like this camera. I was planning to use it for a while, then sell it to recoup my investment. But darn, if I didn't really get attached to it. I just couldn't help myself.

Sample Pictures

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For the second shot, I turned on the "Flash" WB to warm up the scene.

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I've found another great use for the microwave over. I was shooting some water shots recently and actually found a way to soak my sneakers. I'm not talking about a little wet, I mean drenched from stem to stern.

I tried just letting them air-dry for a couple days, and got nowhere. Because I was staying in a hotel, I didn't have a traditional clothes dryer available. After a few days, my good ole sneaks started to smell a little funny.

It occurred to me, that when sponges in the kitchen start to smell funky, a good way to reverse the tide is put em in the microwave for 30 seconds or so to kill the little critters causing the offending odor. Why not for sneakers too?

So I started alternating shoes in the microwave for 45 seconds a pop, and sure enough, they began to transform from waterlogged sponges to wearable shoes. Just make sure you don't have any metal plates in the soles...

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There's an interesting post over on Inside Lightroom about whether To Delete or Not to Delete. Working photographer James Duncan Davidson grapples with the same issue we all do: how much of our image data should we hang on to?

Duncan puts forth some interesting ideas. And even though he probably shoots more pictures than the average guy, it's interesting to read how he deals with the mountain of gigabytes he accumulates annually.

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I spent yesterday evening locked in Samy's Camera store in Santa Barbara, CA (oh the humanity!). We were shooting video for my upcoming digital photography title on Lynda.com. In the shot illustrated here, I'm discussing the difference between large aperture zooms (using the Canon 70-200 f-2.8) and smaller aperture zooms (Canon 70-200 f-4).

We were very fortunate to be able to use a real camera store as a set. Richard, one of the store managers, even stayed after hours (10 pm!) to enable us to keep recording long after Samy's had closed. We shot at the photo counter... imagine being able to grab just any camera you want when trying to make a point. Then we moved over to the lighting area to set up another series of shots. One of my favorite areas of the Santa Barbara store was the image gallery in the back that features shows by top name photographers.

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A technical director on the shoot, Max Smith, grabbed my G9 and captured this shot of me checking email in the gallery during a break in the action.

I think the live action footage that we recorded in Samy's is going to be a nice addition to the title. It will be combined with some other cool studio techniques that we came up with at Lynda's. The first of the three titles should be out next month. I'll keep you posted.

Photos by Max Smith, captured with a Canon G9 at Samy's Camera store in Santa Barbara, CA.

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iPhoto users looking for a more robust photo management system don't have to search any farther than the just-released Aperture 2. There are a number of reasons why this is a logical transition.

I think the best reason, however, is how easy Apple has made the transition from one photo management system to the other. In this podcast, I discuss some of Aperture's advantages over iPhoto, then cover a few strategies for moving up to Aperture, including:

  • Transfer Single Images: In Aperture, go to File > Browse iPhoto Library. You can then drag the images you want into your Aperture library. (Aperture's iPhoto Library Browser is shown above.)
  • Creating Referenced Files to Your iPhoto Masters: If you hold down Command+Option while dragging from the iPhoto Browser to Aperture, you'll reference the imported images... no duplication. So you get to use your iPhoto images in Aperture without making extra copies of them.
  • Moving iPhoto Albums into Aperture: You can bring in entire iPhoto albums by using Aperture's Import command, choose Images from the pop up menu, and navigate to your iPhoto Library container. When you click on it, Aperture will show you all of your albums. Choose an album, and Aperture will import it and place it as an album within your selected project.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Empty is this month's photo assignment. Empty spaces, empty containers, empty lives... lots of possibilities for this one. You can read more about how to submit on our Submissions page. Deadline for entry is Feb. 29.

Listen to the Podcast

Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's audio show titled, "iPhoto to Aperture 2." You can download the podcast here (28 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.

Event Calendar

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


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Sponsor Notes...

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.

Nikon D3 - King of the Roost?

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Nikon's new D3 is the most desired DSLR on the market right now. I've heard more people talking about this body than all others combined. Over at PhotographyBLOG, Gavin Stoker reviews and has this to say:

"The Nikon D3 digital SLR is Nikon's first ever full-frame camera, offering a 12.1 megapixel, FX format CMOS sensor. The 9fps continuous mode, even when shooting RAW images, should appeal to all the sports photographers out there, supported by Nikon’s next-generation 51-point AF system. The Nikon D3 has an incredibly versatile ISO range of 100-25,800 (yes, ISO 25,800!), new EXPEED image processing engine with 14-bit A/D conversion and 16-bit image processing, and a high resolution 3 inch LCD screen with 920,000 pixels. Other standout features include Live View with Autofocus, support for the DX-format crop mode, which means that DX lenses can be used with the D3, and HDMI video output for connection to high-definition video systems. All of this and more is housed in an environmentally-sealed magnesium alloy body. With a street price of over £3,000 / $5,000, the Nikon D3 certainly doesn't come cheap, but even if you can't afford it, the D3 does give a tantalising glimpse of what the future might hold for Nikon's more affordable DSLR models."

You can read the complete review of the Nikon D3 here. Now we're waiting to see if Canon can answer...

"Not Ready for Customers" - Grab Shot 139

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"This pavement stallkeeper in Bangkok Thailand was not quite ready for customers when I spotted him from an elevated pedestrian walkway," said Steve Cooper. "In the busy evening traffic and with rapidly failing light, I had only a moment to catch him alone."

Steve used a Canon PowerShot Pro1 set to 1/40 at f-3.2 to catch the snoozing seller.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

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

Event Calendar

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


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What's New in Aperture 2? Lynda Knows

Sometimes the perfect storm is a good thing. On Sunday, I was driving from Santa Rosa, CA south to Ventura. I was scheduled to begin two weeks of recording for a digital photography title with Lynda.com. I knew I would be there in the studio when Aperture 2.0 was announced, but wasn't at liberty to discuss it. But what a great opportunity! Wouldn't it be wonderful to actually record the training title on the day Aperture 2 was released?

My producer, Chris Mattia, had a similar thought once he heard the news. By 9:30 am on Tuesday, he was clearing a path to enable us to start recording the Aperture 2 New Features title. Fifty-five hours later, 22 movies were posted online ready for viewing. Six of the movies are free and can be viewed by anyone right now.

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The primary areas I focused on in this New Features title include:

  • Interface changes including the tabbed inspector and new double-click behavior
  • Performance improvements featuring Quick Preview that accelerates all photo management functions
  • New image decoding with the introduction of RAW 2.0 processing and Baseline DNG
  • Additional image editing tools including Recovery, Vibrancy, Color Dropper, and the Retouch brush
  • Customizable keyboard shortcuts enabling you to choose your own keystrokes for core operations
  • .Mac Web Gallery creation for simple, but powerful Web display directly from Aperture

As I admit in the first movie in the title, I don't tackle everything that's in this release of Aperture 2. But I do think we covered the stuff that's really important. Plus, having the opportunity to work in such a timely manner is very exciting.

And in case you were wondering... this is a great release of Aperture. Apple did a terrific job.

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The question of 2008 seems to be, "Do you really need 12 megapixels in a compact camera?" This idea surfaced again with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W200. Over at PhotographyBLOG, Mark Goldstein has published a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W200 review. Here's a few bits of what Mark has to say:

"At first glance the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W200 looks like a fairly run-of-the mill compact camera, with an understated, compact silver body, 3x zoom lens (35-105mm) and 2.5 inch LCD screen. Look a little closer though, and you'll find that there are some more impressive stand-out features. Most obvious is the headline-grabbing 12 megapixel resolution, now the standard for any self-respecting top-of-the range compact like the W200. Next up is true optical image stabilisation via Sony's Super SteadyShot technology, which combined with the extensive ISO range of 100-3200 promises to make blurry photos a thing of the past. The Sony W200 also offers a true Manual shooting mode which allows you to set both the shutter speed and aperture, and there's also an optical viewfinder for ease-of-use in bright sunlight. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W200 is therefore a mix of humdrum and rather more exciting features, on paper at least."

Sounds interesting, but in the conclusion he adds...

"The 12 megapixel sensor may give you bags of resolution to play with, but it comes at the cost of noisy images at the slow speed of ISO 200 and quite a lot of unwanted chromatic aberrations."

Hmmmm.... I guess the 12 megapixel debate discussion continues. If you're interested, you might want to read Mark's full review.

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"I thoroughly enjoy capturing insects, spiders and other creepy crawlies on my little pocket-sized Canon Ixus 800 IS camera," says Ruth Cooper. "It goes everywhere with me, since I never know when I'll find something interesting to capture."

"I usually wear clothing that blends into the garden surroundings, and an old blue cloth hat that shades me and my glasses."

"The sound on the camera has been turned off, and I almost always have the camera on the Digital Macro setting, which still gives me automatic focus on the subject. I also try to stand either in the shade, or so that my silver camera and lens don't glint in the sun and disturb the insects I'm pursuing. I don't use any extra photographic gear -- no tripod, light diffuser, remote release, macro lens, etc. (The insects wouldn't wait around for me to set up, and a bigger camera with its attachments would be too heavy for my arthritic hands to hold.) Under these circumstances the camera's image stabilizer is a real blessing."

"On the afternoon, I discovered this damselfly on my cherry tree, it was very windy, but this was to my advantage, because he was hanging onto the branch for dear life, or he'd have found himself in the next suburb! (So don't be dissuaded by those who say you can only photograph bugs on still days!)"

"I approached the damselfly quietly and slowly, with no sudden movements. I started shooting from a slight distance, and gradually eased closer, and increased the depth of the macro setting. The wind was blowing the twiggy branches around, and I had to wait for a lull in between wind gusts to get each shot."

"After a few minutes the damselfly ignored the camera and me, and I was able to manoeuvre the camera to capture the close-up of his eyes, head, and his whiskers!"

For this intimate insect shot, Ruth set her Canon IXUS 800 camera to Digital Macro at 3.4X. Wow!

Photo of Damselfly on a Cherry Tree by Ruth Cooper.


"How I Did It" is a new feature of The Digital Story featured on The Digital Photography Companion mini site. These are techniques from virtual camera club members who have built upon information in The Digital Photography Companion, or have come up with new tips altogether.

We're building a living library of knowledge for everyone to use (and contribute to). If you have a "How I Did It" tip to share, just send it to me with the sample photo, and put "How I Did It" in the email subject.

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Mark Dahm, Adobe Product Manager

At Macworld 2008, Adobe announced Photoshop Elements 6 for the Mac. It is schedule to ship in March, but you can preorder now for $89, or $69 for the upgrade.

Back in October 2007, I interviewed Mark Dahm about Elements 6 for Windows, so it's only fair that I revisit Adobe for his take on the Mac version. In this interview we cover all things Mac, and there's a ton of good stuff to talk about.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Empty is this month's photo assignment. Empty spaces, empty containers, empty lives... lots of possibilities for this one. You can read more about how to submit on our Submissions page. Deadline for entry is Feb. 29.

Listen to the Podcast

Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's audio show titled, "Inside Photoshop Elements 6 for the Mac." 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.

Event Calendar

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


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Sponsor Notes...

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.

Aperture 2.0 Hits the Streets

After months of speculation by the Aperture user community, Apple today released Aperture 2.0 with a raft of new image adjustment tools, an overhauled Raw decoder, major speed improvements, and additional camera support.

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The bulk of these changes can be loosely corralled into four areas:

  • Interface Changes, cleaner looking (and easier to understand) UI, including the tabbed inspector, double-click behaviors, and the new All Projects, which is similar to Events in iPhoto.
  • Performance Improvements, including an optimized database for better searching and browsing, and Quick Previews that use available Jpegs instead of always decoding the Raw file from scratch. Photographers can use this mode for everything but image editing.
  • Image Decoding and Adjusting, including the Raw 2.0 decoder and a host of new editing tools. Aperture now includes Baseline DNG that enables users to work with DNGs, even if the native Raw format isn't supported by Aperture.
  • New Camera Support, featuring Canon G9, Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III, Nikon D300, Nikon D3, Hasselblad CF-22, Hasselblad CF-39, Leaf Aptus 75s, and the Sony Alpha DSLR-A700.

New users can now move over to Aperture for a cool $199. That's $100 less than the previous version. If you already own a copy, you can upgrade for $99. There's also a 30 day trial version available for download right now. If you like it, you can simply purchase an upgrade or full price registration number.

If you want to learn more about Aperture 2.0, visit Inside Aperture, where there's a new podcast interview with product manager Joe Schorr about the new features in 2.0, and a variety of blog posts by photographers who have been using the new app.

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Most of our DSLR's have pop up flashes, and most of us aren't using them as often as we would like. Why? Primarily because they produce harsh, unflattering tones. But a new $29.99 accessory called the Lightscoop could change that. Here's how Professor Kobre explains it.

Professor Kobre's Lightscoop slips over your Nikon, Sigma, Pentax, Fuji FinePix, or Canon camera’s pop-up flash and allows you to bounce the flash like professionals bounce an expensive external flash. The Lightscoop is the inexpensive answer to natural looking bounce flash and digital photography lighting. (Even professionals like it for casual shooting!).

And the best news? My Canon XTi is on the compatibility list...

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"'Lord G-d' has also been exclaimed - minus the soiled trousers - by those seeing a Canon 1200mm/5.6L USM for the first time. At 36 lbs, 33" long and 9" wide at the front element, calling this lens a 'tele' is like calling King Kong a monkey," wrote Allan Weitz in his post, The Mother or all Telephotos.

He shows some pictures captured with the monster lens, and then reminds us that using the 2X extender will get you a 2400mm/f11 rig... for those needing just a little more reach.

Thanks to Rick LePage for the pointer to this monster glass...

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"Painting in Venice" - Grab Shot 138

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"I was walking around the beautiful city of Venice, and it was getting toward evening," said Howard A. Lewis. "I was losing the light and came across this square with the old man artist. A number of people were around, and I felt this would make a wonderful image. I had no tripod, so I knew that there would be some 'noise' in the image. But I thought it would look like a painting of the old man painting. I love the woman on the left pointing. When printed it looks exactly as I had anticipated. On canvas at 13"x19" matted and framed, it looks great."

Howard used a Nikon D200 with an 18-200mm zoom set to 38mm. He pushed the ISO up to 1600 to get an exposure of 1/20 at f-3.5 (wide open). He was in Aperture Priority mode.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

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

Event Calendar

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


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When I'm in big cities, I try to travel by foot as much as possible. That's when I see the good shots, and if I'm lucky, I come home with one or two.

I was walking back from a dinner meeting in Las Vegas with a Canon G9 and a small Gorillapod tucked away in my jacket pocket. I felt like shooting something, but nothing caught my eye until I climbed a set of stairs for a street overpass and noticed this scene. I wanted the streaming lights of traffic driving by, but I thought they would look best in context with the Las Vegas cityscape.

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I mounted the Canon G9 to the Gorillapod and wrapped its legs around the edge of the overpass so I could compose the scene. I made sure the flash was turned off and set the ISO to 80 to control noise. I then went to manual exposure mode, which is very easy to use on the G9, and played with the settings until I saw what I liked on the LCD screen. The exposure was 1.3 seconds at f-2.8. I set the self-timer to anticipate when traffic would begin to move, then pressed the shutter button.

Some of the frames didn't have the right look. But this image has a nice combination of moving lights and stationary objects. So it became my "keeper" for the night.

Photo of Las Vegas traffic by Derrick Story using Canon G9, 1.3 seconds at f-2.8, ISO 80, using manual exposure mode.


"How I Did It" is a new feature of The Digital Story featured on The Digital Photography Companion mini site. These are techniques from virtual camera club members who have built upon information in The Digital Photography Companion, or have come up with new tips altogether.

We're building a living library of knowledge for everyone to use (and contribute to). If you have a "How I Did It" tip to share, just send it to me with the sample photo, and put "How I Did It" in the email subject.

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PMA 2008 featured evolutionary products such as the Sony A350, Canon Rebel XS1, and Panasonic TZ3. I also saw groundbreaking equipment, such as the Casio EX-F1. In this podcast I cover my favorites from PMA 2008, including:

Photo of PMA 2008 at the Las Vegas Convention Center by Derrick Story.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Empty is this month's photo assignment. Empty spaces, empty containers, empty lives... lots of possibilities for this one. You can read more about how to submit on our Submissions page. Deadline for entry is Feb. 29.

Listen to the Podcast

Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's audio show titled, "Favorite PMA Goodies." You can download the podcast here (27 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.

Event Calendar

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


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Sponsor Notes...

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.

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I've never been a fan of creating layer masks in Photoshop to adjust specific areas of color and tone. It's a lot of work. Nik Software has come to the rescue with Viveza, a plug-in for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements (Mac and PC) that allows photographers to use U Point technology to adjust their images. This is the same technology Nik employs in Capture NX. And it is incredible.

Basically, you just click on a color that you want to adjust and a U Point tool appears with brightness, contrast, and saturation sliders. If you move any of those sliders, Viveza modifies all of those specific colors in the photograph. If there's an area you don't want affected, just click on it and it's protected from the adjustment. You can watch a short tutorial on Nik's web site.

This plug-in is not cheap. It's going to list for $250 US when it's released in April. But it is truly amazing and will save hours of image editing time. I'll get my hands on a version as soon as its available, and I'll post another report.

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Hands On PMA - Sony A350 DSLR

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I stopped by the Sony booth at PMA 2008 to test the Sony alpha A350 DSLR (available as preorder for $899.99 US with 18-70mm lens on Amazon). What intrigued me most about this camera was the combination of Live Preview and a tiltable 2.7" Clear Photo LCD Plus screen. The screen angles upward for low angle shooting and downward for capturing shots while holding the camera over your head. You can also press it flush against the back of the body.

This opens up additional shooting possibilities for DSLR fans who weren't previously able to compose shots at extreme high and low angles. Plus, if you're working on a tripod, you can position the screen for your most comfortable viewing angle regardless of its shooting height.

I tested the Live Preview and it worked well, however, moving subjects weren't as smooth as I had anticipated. Since this is a still DSLR and not a camcorder, I don't see that as a huge drawback.

Other specs are impressive too: 14.2 MP Super HAD CCD sensor, up to 3200 ISO, CCD based stabilization for any lens mounted on the camera, robust battery, anti-dust technology, 9-point center cross AF sensor, and dual media slots for Memory Stick PRO Duo and CompactFlash.

The camera felt good in my hands and is quite light, making all day shooting treks less straining on the neck and back. I'll keep an eye out for follow up reports once the production model hits the streets in late April. But I think Sony has taken another positive step forward with this advanced consumer DSLR body.

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