Wondering who participated in Earth Hour 2009? Here are 17 big time locations with "before and after" shots compliments of the Boston Globe. Participants include Taipei, Hong Kong, Athens, Beijing, Toronto, Rome, Sydney, Shanghai, Bangkok, Paris, Stockholm, London, Lausanne, Lima, LA, Jakarta, and Las Vegas.

The presentation is fun. You start out by observing the scene with all the lights on. Then you click on the picture and it fades in observance to Earth Hour.

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, The Digital Story

How do you build a photography site that expresses your vision? I interview Chris Lang, who has become as well known for his beautiful web site designs as he has for his excellent photography. Chris uses SiteGrinder 2 to construct these stunning online properties, and in this interview, he shares his philosophies and a few of his secrets.

Editor's Note: Wedding graphic is a screenshot of Chris Lang Weddings created by Chris using Photoshop and SiteGrinder 2 (which is a sponsor of The Digital Story). Chris Lang is a professional photographer, designer and image maker based out of Wilmington NC. Among his various projects, Chris is a marketing photographer for the PGA's Travelers Championship in Connecticut.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Vibrancy is the April 2009 Photo Assignment. Here in North America, Spring is on the way. But nature isn't the only source of vibrant colors. See what you can create for this assignment. You can read more about how to submit on our Submissions page. Deadline for entry is April 30, 2009.

Listen to the Podcast

Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's audio show titled, "The Web Site That Expresses You." 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!

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SiteGrinder lets you take ownership of your websites. Effortlessly output pages right from Photoshop.

Red River Paper -- Try the $7.99 Sample Kit.

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

Technorati Tags: digital photography, podcast, technique, Technology, The Digital Story, tips

When you're out on the street, what do you see? Here's a collection of images captured by TDS members out pounding the pavement. The Feb, 09 Photo Assignment Gallery gets you out of the house and in to the world. How does this compare to what you see?

The April 2009 assignment is "Vibrancy." Start working on your contribution now. Details can be found on the Submissions page. You can 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: April 2009." 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 April assignment, and congratulations to all of the fine contributors for February. It's a gritty collection of images.

Photo by Maria Camillo.

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Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion. The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

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

In iPhoto '09, Apple added connectivity to Flickr, the world's most popular online photo sharing site. I thought this would make an interesting video training title, so we've just published on Lynda.com: iPhoto '09: 10 Things to Know About Flickr. There are a couple free movies on that page if you want a quick peek at how this series looks.

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, iPhoto '09, Technology, The Digital Story

Now that I don't have a "regular job" anymore, I've converted part of my home to an office. I have a computer, printer, and most of the necessities to carry out my freelance work. But one thing I really miss from my previous life as a full-time employee is a photocopier.

I could go out and spend the money for an all-in-one printer/photocopier. But quite frankly, I probably should pay the property taxes first. So I've cobbled together a "photocopier for the unemployed," and I thought you might be interested in how this works.

First thing I had to do was find some sort of scanning device. I dug around in the "old equipment closet" and found a CanoScan FB630U that I had bought years ago for around $100. It had a USB connector (which is critical to success of this project), and the driver for my Mac was still available for download on the Canon site (in .sit format, however. So I had to download a trial version of Stuffit to decompress the file.)

I decided to use an old Mac laptop that wasn't seeing much action these days as my scanning workstation. It had Photoshop Elements 4 loaded on it, and the application accepted the ancient Canon driver. So I made a little extra room in my home office, set up the laptop, plugged in the scanner, and fired everything up.

Surprisingly, it worked! I used a bank document for the test because it had lots of small writing and fine lines. I set the software to scan at 300 dpi for an 8.5"x11" document. I used the black & white setting to keep the file size small and scanning time to a minimum.

I then made a scan and the image appeared in Photoshop Elements. I simply hit "Print" and was soon greeted with a decent reproduction of the original document. I decided to keep an electronic version also for my records, so I converted the Bitmap image to Grayscale and saved it as a Jpeg at "10" quality. The file size was a little less than 1MB, and I printed it too as part of the test. It looked great. With a little practice, I was able to produce a "photocopy" within a couple of minutes. And since I have more time than money, this seemed like a good alternative to a dedicated photocopier. Plus, now I can scan other stuff too!

Note: To make sure your output looks good, open the Image Size dialog box in Photoshop, uncheck the "Resample Image" box, and change the resolution to 300. Your "photocopy" will look great.

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Technorati Tags: Adobe Photoshop, Derrick Story, Printer, scanning, creative output

"Light is photography’s essential ingredient. Abundant illumination makes our job easy—we simply compose and shoot. But what happens when the lights go down? Do we become slaves to unflattering bursts of an electronic flash? Not at all. By mastering a few basic techniques, you can turn off the flash to capture beautiful, evocative images. Look in your camera’s settings for the lightning bolt icon, and select the flash off option," starts the article, Get great photos in low light. In the piece, I provide lots of basic tips. Then there are a terrific batch of helpful comments that add even more information.

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Join me on March 28 for "How I Did It" - A Workshop in High-Impact Photography

Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story, Macworld Magazine

With the introduction of Faces in iPhoto '09, face detection and recognition technologies in computer software became a hot topic for discussion. But we've seen other applications, such as Google Picasa and Facebook embrace face recognition prior to iPhoto '09, and actually, this is a set of technologies on the move.

In this podcast, I discuss face detection both on the capture side of the fence with digital cameras, and on the software side. I cover how this technology is being used, and some things to keep in mind if you decide to take advantage of it for your work.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Sign of the Times is the March 2009 Photo Assignment. So many things are changing right now. This is a good opportunity for us to capture these signs of the times in our camera lens. You can read more about how to submit on our Submissions page. Deadline for entry is March 31, 2009.

Listen to the Podcast

Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's audio show titled, "Face Recognition All Around You." 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!

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SiteGrinder lets you take ownership of your websites. Effortlessly output pages right from Photoshop.

Red River Paper -- Try the $7.99 Sample Kit.

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

Technorati Tags: digital photography, podcast, technique, Technology, The Digital Story, tips

Along with Preview (The Simplest of All Raw Converters), Image Capture is one of those amazing hidden gems that comes on every Mac. Look in your Applications folder, launch it, then connect just about any photo device. Once you do, Image Capture recognizes the camera and presents you with lots of downloading options. In fact, Image Capture is the application I recommend to iPhone users for transferring full resolution pictures that they record with the device.

The trick is, when you launch the app and connect your iPhone, to click on the "Download Some" window. By doing so, Image Capture presents you with thumbnail versions of all the pictures on the device. You choose only the shots you want, decide where to put them, and then click the "Download" button.

Be sure to check out the Options button, because that allows you to choose the color space that's applied to the images on download. You also have an informative list view available (shown at the top of this post) that displays your metadata for each shot on the device. And if that weren't enough, choose "Build Web Page" from the "Automatic Task" popup menu, and Image Capture will download the selected images, then build a web page with them complete with clickable thumbnails -- all in one step! There are lots of other options in that popup menu, including triggering Automator with its own scripts (select Custom for that).

One final note about Image Capture, it works with most Mac-compatible flatbed scanners. So if you need to connect a scanner for a quick job, this might be the best way to go.

Like I said, this is an amazing little app.

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

I took a side trip on my way home yesterday to the Chumash Painted Cave State Historical Park north of Santa Barbara, CA. The sandstone cave contains drawings by the Chumash Native Americans that dates back to the 1600s. I love cave drawings and wanted to see them for myself.

When I arrived, however, the cave entrance was protected by a heavy iron grid. I totally understand the thinking here, but the large diameter of my Olympus DSLR lens could not navigate the iron bars without having them in the shot. Then it dawned on me the the lens barrel for my Canon G9 compact would easily fit through the openings in the grid. And sure enough, they did.

So I increased the ISO to 400, steadied the camera against the iron gate, and recorded a series of images with the lens protruding through the grid. Since I shot in Raw mode, I had lots of latitude in post processing to bring out the detail of the religious drawings.

So, once again, carrying a compact camera with me in addition to the DSLR allowed me to get a shot that I might have otherwise missed.

Photos of the Chumash Painted Cave by Derrick Story, captured with a Canon G9, ISO 400 in Raw mode.

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Technorati Tags: Canon G9, Derrick Story, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

When you have a series of photographs from a single location, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, you can geotag the entire shoot at once in iPhoto '09. Simply find the shoot in the Events browser. Click on the little "i" that's in the lower right corner of the key photo for the Event, then choose "New Place" for the "Enter Event Location" pop up menu. Once you've tagged the event, that geodata will be applied to all of the images in the series.

You can watch a free movie on how to do this as part of my new Lynda.com title, iPhoto '09: Ten Things to Know About Places.

Other iPhoto '09 Titles by Derrick Story

iPhoto '09: Ten Things to Know About Faces

See My Other Posts on Geotagging

A Quick Primer on Geotagging

"Introduction to Geotagging" - Digital Photography Podcast 165

Testing the Eye-Fi Explore Card at Home

Geotagging a Journey with photoGPS, iPhoto, and Flickr

iPhoto '09 as Your Geotagging Tool?

First Look at Jobo photoGPS Device and Software

Update to Geotagging Workflow, Including Jobo photoGPS

Finding a Reasonable Geotagging Workflow

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, geotagging, iPhoto '09, Technology, The Digital Story

In the free movie, Managing the Faces corkboard, I show a nifty Option key tip. By default, iPhoto '09 magnifies all of the faces on my corkboard so I can get a better look at the person. This makes sense, and I actually prefer it that way. But sometimes I want to see the context of the shot while I'm scrubbing through all of those bright eyes and beaming smiles. To do so, all I have to do is hold down the Option key while scrubbing, and I can see the entire composition, not just the cropped mug shot.

This is one of the many tips I provide in the new Lynda.com title, iPhoto '09: 10 Things to Know About Faces. "10 Things" is an entirely new product for the Lynda folks. I figure out 10 concepts that I think are important about a particular subject -- in this case Faces in iPhoto '09 -- then create 10 short movies on those concepts. In less than an hour, you can master all of the techniques and apply them to your work.

We're also mixing live action discussion with the traditional Lynda screencasting. I think the tandem is more entertaining and better for learning too. You can check out the free movies right now on the Lynda.com site. If you like what you see, you can subscribe for $25 a month, and that gives you access to thousands of movies on a variety of subjects. My next title covering "Places" should be released by the end of the week.

More Articles About iPhoto '09

5 Semi Secret Editing Tips in iPhoto '09

"Faces and Places in iPhoto '09" - Digital Photography Podcast 166

Loss of Sharpness When Straightening in iPhoto '09

iPhoto '09 as Your Geotagging Tool?

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, iPhoto '09, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

There are a handful of less obvious editing tools in iPhoto '09 that you may not have stumbled upon yet. Let's see how many of these five techniques you know.

Recovery Slider -- If you open a Raw file in iPhoto '09, you have access to a highlight recovery slider. In editing mode, open the Adjustments panel, then hold down the Option key. The Exposure slider transforms into a highlight recovery tool, as shown in the graphic above. This only works with Raw files, however.

Use Retouch Brush as a Clone Tool -- I'll warn you, this tip is experimental at best. First, click on the Retouch tool. You can adjust the diameter of the tool by pressing the right and left bracket keys. The Retouch tool can behave as a clone stamp if you hold down the Option key and drag over an area of the photo that you want to copy. Then go to another area of the photo where you want to apply the copy, and click and drag again. You should get a clone of the area you copied. The results can be unpredictable, but sometimes they are just what you need. You can return to Retouch mode by simply clicking on an area without dragging. If you totally mess up your image by playing with this, just go to Photos > Revert to Previous, and everything will be OK.

Fine Tuning the Enhance Tool -- The Enhance tool is fairly magical, but it can also be a mystery. Didn't you ever want to tweak it just a bit? Now you can. Open the Adjustments panel first, then click on the Enhance tool. In iPhoto '09, the modifications made by the Enhance tool will appear in the Adjustments panel. All you have to do is tweak the particular slider that you want to modify. Pay particular attention to the Exposure, Saturation, Shadows, Temperature, and Tint sliders.

SHIFT Key to See Previous State -- Did you really improve the photo by making all of those adjustments? If you want to check your work, hold down the Shift key to see the previous state. Once you let go of the key, you'll return to the modified version.

Targeted Zooming -- To zoom in on a particular area of a photo, put your pointer exactly where you want a closer look, then press the 1 key for a 100 percent view of that area, or the 2 key for an even closer look. Return to "fit into view" mode by pressing the 0 key.

More Information About iPhoto '09

"Faces and Places in iPhoto '09" - Digital Photography Podcast 166

Loss of Sharpness When Straightening in iPhoto '09

iPhoto '09 as Your Geotagging Tool?

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, iPhoto '09, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

Your smart phone is the camera you always have with you. And thanks to many innovative developers posting great software in the Apple App Store, the iPhone is becoming a compelling photographic device. Not only can you capture spontaneous images with it -- shots that you might otherwise miss because you didn't have a camera with you and ready to shoot -- but you can also process them on the spot, then send them to others.

In this podcast I discuss the power and versatility of this device. For example, the image here, "Sunrise Over LA," was taken with the iPhone through an airplane window as the sun was rising. I then creatively processed the shot in Photo Lab 1600 (an iPhone app), and emailed it when we landed.

The iPhone isn't going to replace any of the cameras you already have, but you should use it when they aren't available, or when you feel the creative juices flowing.

"Sunrise Over LA" by Derrick Story. Captured with a first generation iPhone and processed with Photo Lab 1600.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Sign of the Times is the March 2009 Photo Assignment. So many things are changing right now. This is a good opportunity for us to capture these signs of the times in our camera lens. You can read more about how to submit on our Submissions page. Deadline for entry is March 31, 2009.

Listen to the Podcast

Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's audio show titled, "iPhone as Your Grab Shot Camera." 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!

iPhone App Reviews

Panorama 2.1 for the iPhone

FotoTimer Provides Self-Timer for the iPhone

HP iPrint App Makes Printing Easy from iPhone or iPod touch

True Photo App for iPhone: CameraBag

"Exposure" (Now "Darkslide") Puts Flickr on Your iPhone

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SiteGrinder lets you take ownership of your websites. Effortlessly output pages right from Photoshop.

Red River Paper -- Try the $7.99 Sample Kit.

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

Technorati Tags: digital photography, podcast, technique, Technology, The Digital Story, tips

I'm always fiddling with my iPhone camera when I fly. This morning, as I was heading out of San Francisco on a twin-engine turbo prop plane, I was snapping pictures through the window to pass the time. As we rose above the clouds, this shot caught my eye because of the weird phenomenon that appears on the right side of the frame. These ribbon-like lines were visible on the iPhone screen and were recorded when I took the shot. I took two other frames and got the same effect.

My guess is that they were created because of the angle of the lens, through double-pane glass, with the sun at just the right angle. But I don't really know what caused them. Unlike other optical aberrations, these ribbons are so distinct.

The interesting part is that they are pretty in a odd sort of way. If anyone has a theory as to how they were created, please add a comment at the end of this post.

"Turbo Prop Engine with Ribbon Lines" by Derrick Story, captured with an iPhone.

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, Technology, The Digital Story, iPhone

I just read an interesting piece on Strobist about how to make a homemade barn door for a LumiQuest Soft Box III. In the piece, Idea: SB-III Barn Door Mod, you first learn some good background information about using the LumiQuest (mounted on a shoemount flash) for portraits. Then, you see how to create a modifier out of gaffer's tape to further control the light. It's a fun and useful piece that I think you would enjoy.

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

"This is a picture of an abandoned pigeon house taken in Otero de Sariegos, a ghost village located in the vast plains of Castilla, Spain," writes virtual camera club member Michel Bricteux. "It's actually composed of seven pictures bracketed at -2EV,-1 1/3EV, -2/3EV, 0EV, +2/3EV, +1 1/3EV, +2EV. Camera settings were ISO 400, 24mm focal length, f/7.1, 1/1000sec, with a Nikon D3 and a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom lens."

"For the HDR post-processing, I used Photomatix Pro. It allowed me to keep details and texture in the highlights (mainly the sky) and deep shadows, giving this picture its intensity."

Photo by Michel Bricteux

If you're interested in HDR, you might want to check out this tutorial, How to Create High Dynamic Range images using Photomatix. It provides a good foundation and includes handy tips.

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story, HDR

Since it's so easy these days to create panoramas, why not make prints of them too?

Red River Paper has put together an informative Print Inkjet Panos resource center that gives you the inside scoop on technique, printer set up, software, paper supplies, and web resources.

Don't leave your panoramas trapped in your computer. Use these techniques to make giant prints with the inkjet photo printer you already own.

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, Panorama, Red River Paper, Technology, The Digital Story

The PMA 09 Show in Las Vegas featured hundreds of vendors ranging from top manufacturers such as Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, and Kodak, to lesser known names that often provide interesting discoveries. I have four top picks from the show, and I talk about each of them in this podcast.

• Panasonic Lumix GH1
• Sony DSC-HX1 - est. price $499
• Olympus E-620, available for $799 with lens
• Litepanels LP Micro Compact LED Camera Light Kit Includes Gel Kit for $299

Monthly Photo Assignment

Sign of the Times is the March 2009 Photo Assignment. So many things are changing right now. This is a good opportunity for us to capture these signs of the times in our camera lens. You can read more about how to submit on our Submissions page. Deadline for entry is March 31, 2009.

Listen to the Podcast

Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's audio show titled, "Top Picks from PMA 2009." 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!

Follow me on Twitter

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SiteGrinder lets you take ownership of your websites. Effortlessly output pages right from Photoshop.

Red River Paper -- Try the $7.99 Sample Kit.

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

Technorati Tags: digital photography, podcast, technique, Technology, The Digital Story, tips

If you'd like to take a Saturday to focus on your photography, then consider joining me in Santa Rosa, CA for "How I Did It" - A Short Course in High-Impact Photography on March 28, 10 am to 3 pm.

Many high-impact photos are a combination of opportunity and technique. In this workshop, I'll show you examples of compelling photographs and explain how they were captured. By the end of the day, you will have learned many of the secrets that top shooters use to distinguish their work from others.

You can register online, or call Santa Rosa Junior College at 707-527-4372. The course fee is $63. I'll have some fun photo accessories to give away, materials to browse, and will sign books too if you bring them along. I think you'll really enjoy this workshop.

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Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion. The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

"I call this picture Queen Snow because I think it shows my guinea pig, Snow, in a very queenly moment," writes Elizabeth Martin. "I used my Olympus C750UZ to capture her."

Editor's Note: One of the things that Elizabeth did well on this shot, is put the camera down to "pet level." You'll notice that it's right on the ground with Ms. Snow. This is something that I talk about a lot when photographing kids and pets. Nice job!

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.

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

In a recent interview on Inside Digital Photo, I chat with Scott Sheppard about geotagging your photos, both from the hardware side and using software. During the interview I talk about the Jobo photoGPS, Eye-Fi Explore card, iPhoto '09 Places, Houdah’s HoudahGeo, and more.

My interview starts about a minute into the show. You can listen by using the player button on the web page.

See My Other Posts on Geotagging

"Introduction to Geotagging" - Digital Photography Podcast 165

Testing the Eye-Fi Explore Card at Home

Geotagging a Journey with photoGPS, iPhoto, and Flickr

iPhoto '09 as Your Geotagging Tool?

First Look at Jobo photoGPS Device and Software

Update to Geotagging Workflow, Including Jobo photoGPS

Finding a Reasonable Geotagging Workflow

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, Eye-Fi Explore, geotagging, Jobo photoGPS, Technology, The Digital Story

The iPhone built-in camera can provide surprisingly good results. But since it's a fixed focal length lens, capturing the breath of big scenes can be difficult. Panorama stitching software can solve the problem by enabling you to take a series of images, either vertically or horizontally, then stitch them together to make one big picture. I've been testing Panorama by the iFone Guys, and does a great job of extending the capability of my 1st generation iPhone camera.

When you first fire up the application, you're asked if you want to capture in landscape or portrait mode. This is a newish feature by the iFone Guys, and one that I much appreciate. I often like to capture in portrait mode because I feel the final images often look more realistic and less "pano."

Once you choose your mode, you take a picture. Start at one end of the scene (Panorama will let you add photos in either direction). You get a preview of the image and are asked if you want to keep it. If yes, then you're provided with another screen that asks if you want to take another shot, and if so, in which direction. You're presented with a live camera again, but this time with a 1/3 overlay from the previous shot. Line it up with the next shot, and take another picture. Keep repeating this process until you have all of the images you need for your panorama.

Then click the Finish button. You're presented with three output options. If you're shooting in Portrait mode, the options will be something like this for a 2-shot pano: 675x570, 900x760, or 1350x1140 -- add more pictures for more resolution. Tap the option you want, and Panorama builds your final image and saves it to your photo album. At this point, you can click the Done button, or go back and start another panorama.

The stitching is phenomenal with this application. The above shot from a Santa Barbara shopping center is composed of 4 images captured in portrait mode using Panorama. You can see the full resolution version of it on my Flickr page. Click the "All Sizes" button and view the original size (1600 pixels wide). There's only one stitching flaw that I can see, and that happened because someone moved the chair during the sequence.

You can also read more about Panorama on the iFone Guys web site. It is the most expensive iPhone application I've purchased at $9.99. But it works as advertised, and it has really extended my picture taking ability with the iPhone built-in camera.

Other iPhone App Reviews

FotoTimer Provides Self-Timer for the iPhone

HP iPrint App Makes Printing Easy from iPhone or iPod touch

True Photo App for iPhone: CameraBag

"Exposure" (Now "Darkslide") Puts Flickr on Your iPhone

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, Technology, The Digital Story, Panorama

There were a handful of new announcements at PMA that made an impression on me, such as the Underwater Case for New Olympus E-620 DSLR and the Sony DSC-HX1 with its sweep panorama mode. But my favorite new device is the Panasonic DMC-GH1 compact, interchangeable lens camera.

Compatible with the Micro Four Thirds System standard, the new LUMIX GH1 features advanced video photography functions, such as the ability to record High Definition (HD) AVCHD 1080p/24p video.* In addition, the new LUMIX GH1 comes with a newly developed long-zoom interchangeable lens - the LUMIX G VARIO HD 14-140mm/F4.0-5.8 ASPH./MEGA O.I.S. This lens was specifically designed to support HD movie recording and features a silent motor and continuous auto focusing (AF) capability; two features which distinguish the LUMIX GH1 from DSLRs that offer HD video recording capabilities.

This camera is super compact, supports Raw capture, feels great in the hands, has a swing out 3" LCD, includes a microphone jack, provides 12.1 megapixel resolution, supports multiple aspect ratios (4:3, 3:2 or 16:9), face recognition, includes O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization) to help reduce blurring from hand-shake; Intelligent ISO Control to help limit motion blur by adjusting the ISO sensitivity, and Intelligent Scene Selector which automatically detects the five most common shooting situations - Portrait, Night Portrait, Scenery, Night Scenery and Close-up - then switches to the appropriate Scene mode.

When you're recording video, you can use the stereo mics on top of the camera (as shown in the image above), or connect an external microphone via the minijack and mount it in the hot shoe.

There's also a lens adapter that lets you use any four-thirds lens on this camera. So if you're an Olympus shooter for example, all of your lenses will work on the GH1, some at full functionality, others at partial.

I shot with the camera in the Panasonic booth at PMA, and was impressed with its fit and finish. The video capture displayed on an HDTV was crisp and vibrant. It was difficult to set the camera back down.

The Lumix GH1 should be available by summer. No price has been announced yet. You can read more about it on DPP via their hands on review of the GH1. There were some strong contenders at this year's show, but I think the Lumix GH1 takes the prize.

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, Technology, The Digital Story, Lumix GH1

iPhoto '09 incorporates some new technologies such as face detection, face recognition, and geotagging. What's interesting to me, is that Apple has found ways to make these additions truly useful. Combined with the previously introduced Events, you can now search and organize your iPhoto library by when a photo was taken (Events), where an image was captured (Places), and who was in the picture (Faces).

In this podcast, I explore the two latest additions to iPhoto - Faces and Places. These are more than mere technology gimmicks. Instead, they present new ways for us to look at our pictures.

Monthly Photo Assignment

Sign of the Times is the March 2009 Photo Assignment. So many things are changing right now. This is a good opportunity for us to capture these signs of the times in our camera lens. You can read more about how to submit on our Submissions page. Deadline for entry is March 31, 2009.

Listen to the Podcast

Now that I've piqued your curiosity, it's time to listen to today's audio show titled, "Faces and Places in iPhoto '09." 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!

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SiteGrinder lets you take ownership of your websites. Effortlessly output pages right from Photoshop.

Red River Paper -- Try the $7.99 Sample Kit.

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

Technorati Tags: digital photography, podcast, technique, Technology, The Digital Story, tips

The Sneak Peek at PMA was bustling with journalists from the minute the doors opened at noon. Oh sure, lots of food and drink had something to do with it. But lots of vendors displaying their best products with folks to answer questions was also a big draw. My favorite (in my dreams) innovation of the day was the latest edition to the Leica S System, the new Leica S2 Digital SLR.

Beautifully crafted, this camera sports a 37.5 megapixel, 30 x 45 mm sensor built into a body that wasn't much bigger than a Canon 5D Mark ll. (See image below for the side by side comparison.)

The Leica S2 features a dual shutter system with focal-plane for fast lenses and in-lens leaf shutter for high flash sync speeds, DNG capture that can be processed with Photoshop, precision autofocus system, and four interchangeable lenses.

Bottom line, it feels like a digital SLR but produces medium format images. If you feel yourself getting excited about the prospects of owning one for yourself, this might cool you off a bit. Rumor is that the body will sell for around $40,000 when released later this year. Oh well, at least I got to hold it.

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, Technology, The Digital Story, Leica S2