This week on The Digital Story Photography Podcast: New Gear Rumors for Photokina, Aperture Update, Photoplus Expo - All of this and more on today's show with Derrick Story.

Story #1 - The Weekly Update: Apple RAW Compatibility Update 5.06 Adds 10 Cameras to Aperture - Even though development of Aperture is paused, its maintenance is ongoing. We get 10 new RAW profiles including the EM-10 and the GH4. (Source: The Digital Story).

In other news, I've accepted a contract gig with Rocky Nook Publications to serve as their Photography Evangelist. Rocky Nook publishes finely crafted books on photography technique.

And finally, I'll be in New York on Oct. 29 through Nov. 2 covering PhotoPlus Expo. And I'll be visiting with attendees in the c't Digital Photography booth. (We'll have giveaways too!)

Story #2 - My Favorite New Gear Rumors for Photokina. The list includes releases from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Fujifilm, and more. I add my comments to a fun post published on www.camyx.com.

Story #3 - From the Screening Room - Up and Running with iPhoto with Derrick Story. The current version of iPhoto has tremendous capability. And it's going to be around for a while, and possibly even after Photos is released. This title includes the features you should know about.

You can watch me in action by visiting the TDS Screening Room at lynda.com/thedigitalstory. While you're there, you can start your 7 day free trial to watch other design, photography, and computing titles, plus every other topic in the library.

Story #4 - Winner! A Free Photo Workshop. So many great suggestions and notes to go along with them. The topic I've settled on as one of the new additions to the 2015 TDS Workshop Lineup is: "Transitioning From Aperture." We'll examine the various options for Aperture users including migrating to Photos, moving to Lightroom, establishing a long term Aperture archive, integrating with iCloud, and more. Thanks to TDS virtual camera club member, Kevin Miller for this topic idea. Kevin will be invited to this workshop, tuition free.

Virtual Camera Club News

The SizzlPix Challenge is Back! (for one month only). Each week the first 10 TheDigitalStory listeners/readers to order SizzlPix from their own favorite images will receive a mini-sample of each SizzlPix prior to production by return mail absolutely free! Just put the words "free sample first" and your mailing address in the comment space of SizzlPix's new simplified order form.

Visit the Red River Paper Card Shop. You can peruse top selling cards, order the card sample kit, and read tutorials on card printing. Save on Ground Shipping for Red River Paper. Use coupon code ground50c to receive a 50 percent discount on UPS ground shipping for Red River Paper. No minimum purchase required.

Photo Assignment for August 2014 is "My Favorite Close-up".

If you haven't done so already, please post a review for The Digital Story Podcast in iTunes.

BTW: If you're ordering through B&H or Amazon, please click on the respective ad tile under the Products header in the box half way down the 2nd column on thedigitalstory.com. That helps support the site.

Download the Show

In addition to subscribing in iTunes, you can also download the podcast file here (34 minutes). You can support this podcast by purchasing the TDS iPhone App for only $2.99 from the Apple App Store.

More Ways to Participate

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. And from those images, I choose the TDS Member Photo of the Day.

Podcast Sponsors

lynda.com - Learn lighting, portraiture, Photoshop skills, and more from expert-taught videos at lynda.com/thedigitalstory.

Red River Paper -- Keep up with the world of inkjet printing, and win free paper, by liking Red River Paper on Facebook.

SizzlPix! - High resolution output for your photography. You've never seen your imagery look so good. SizzlPix.com. SizzlPix! now is qualified for PayPal "Bill Me Later," No payments, No interest for up to 6 months, which means, have your SizzlPix! now, and pay nothing until January!

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This professional reporter's bag was co-designed by former Washington Times photographer Kevin Gilbert who covered the White House among his many assignments. B&H is now featuring the Stealth Reporter D200 AW Shoulder Bag for $59. That's a savings of $47 from its normal $106 price (with free expedited shipping).

Top features include:

• Padded, Tricot-lined pocket offers protection for photo viewers or other digital devices
• Removable memory card wallet protects up to 12 memory cards
• Removable accessory pouch provides easy access to cables, adaptors and other digital accessories
• An All Weather Cover provides protection for your gear in extreme conditions
• Padded Tricot lined top lid (will not scratch your SLR when placed in the bag)
• Water-resistant top zipper provides quick access to gear
• Uses attachment loops for optional SlipLock add-on accessories
• Luggage trolley strap quickly secures your bag to luggage handle
• Key fob on front of case
• Customizable stability strap distributes weight evenly when used in shoulder strap or waist applications

And the "stealth" feature is that there's an opening on the top of the bag that allows you to reach in and grab your camera without having to open the flap.

It's a very cool shoulder bag at a great price...

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At the moment, iPhoto is still the go-to picture management app for many snapshooters. And rightly so. You can organize, edit, and create cool output such as custom greeting cards featuring your own photography.

If you haven't tried making your own foldable artwork, take a look at my tutorial, Designing a Greeting Card from my title, Up and Running with iPhoto. This training is for those using the latest version of iPhoto with Mac OS X Mavericks.

Once you design your custom card in iPhoto, you can have it professionally printed in any quantity you want. But you also have the option of saving your design as a PDF and printing it with the inkjet you have sitting idle in your office.

Another handy tip is that these designs make terrific title and chapter openers for slideshows. Simply design your "greeting card" as a title slide and save it as a digital file. Then add it to your presentation along with the other images. It's easiest if you use the "flat" style of card design.

Regardless of how you like to use iPhoto, I think you'll find some useful tips in Up and Running with iPhoto.

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Apple released Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 5.06 that adds Raw support for the following cameras.

• Nikon COOLPIX P340
• Nikon 1 V3
• Olympus OM-D E-M10
• Olympus STYLUS 1
• Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH4
• Sony Alpha ILCE-7S
• Sony Alpha ILCE-5000
• Sony Alpha ILCE-6000
• Sony Alpha SLT-A77 II
• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III

This is great news for Aperture (and iPhoto) users shooting with one of those cameras -- in my case the Olympus OM-D E-M10. After you install Update 5.06 via the App Store, relaunch Aperture and enable the Adjustments tab.

With the Adjustments tab enabled, you can click on each thumbnail to bring it to life. I use the arrow key to move from image to image.

Aperture Tips and Techniques

To learn more about Aperture, check out my Aperture 3.3 Essential Training (2012) on lynda.com. Also, take a look at our Aperture 3 Learning Center. Tons of free content about how to get the most out of Aperture.

The Digital Story on Facebook -- discussion, outstanding images from the TDS community, and inside information. Join our celebration of great photography!

For the June 2014 Photo Assignment, TDS shooters turned their back on the sun and looked for alternative light sources. See for yourself in our gallery, Any Kind of Light but Natural. And which one will be the SizzlPix Pick of the Month?

Photo by Ashwin Chathuruthy. See all of the great images from this month's assignment by visiting the Any Kind of Light but Natural gallery page.

Participate in This Month's Assignment

The August 2014 assignment is "My Favorite Close-up." Details can be found on the Member Participation page. Deadline is August 30, 2014. No limit on image size submitted.

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 this month's assignment should be: "Photo Assignment: August 2014." 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.

Gallery posting is one month behind the deadline. So I'm posting June 2014 gallery at the end of July, the July gallery will be posted at the end of August, and on and on.

Good luck with your August assignment, and congratulations to all of the fine contributors for June.

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iPad for Digital Photographers

If you love mobile photography like I do, then you'll enjoy iPad for Digital Photographers-- now available in print, Kindle, and iBooks versions.

One of the many backup and sharing solutions that I use for my photography is Pogoplug's personal cloud software combined with a Buffalo CloudStor 2-Bay RAID hard drive ($206).

This system sets up at my studio, yet is accessible anywhere with an Internet connection via my laptop, iPad, or iPhone. The initial investment is just a couple hundred dollars, and there are no monthly fees. Plus, I have on-site RAID mirroring to protect me against hard drive failure.

In this movie produced by lynda.com, I show you how the Cloudstor system works. I demo communication with the networked RAID device located hundreds of miles away. This free movie is part of my training title, Managing Your Mobile Photos, where I cover a variety of backup solutions for both iOS and Android users.

If the embedded movie fails to play, you can watch it by clicking on this link: Taking a Look at Pogoplug.

I've been using the Pogoplug/Buffalo system for over two years, and I haven't had a single problem with it (knock on wood)!

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This week on The Digital Story Photography Podcast: Lightroom Update, Night Photography Tips, Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens, Exporter for Aperture 1.0 in Mac App Store - All of this and more on today's show with Derrick Story.

Story #1 - The Weekly Update: Ricoh expands Q series with Pentax Q-S1 ($499). I definitely like the new styling for the latest Pentax Q. But the image sensor is a smallish 12MP 1/1.7-inch BSI CMOS that remains largely unchanged. (source: DP Review).

In other news, Adobe ships Lightroom 5.6, Camera Raw 8.6 Nikon D810, Panasonic GH4 and FZ1000 support. Update also includes profiles for 21 new lenses on seven different mounts. And they fixed the Lightroom Mobile star rating bug I discovered. (Source: Imaging Resource).

And finally, Martin Scorsese Writes Passionate Letter to Kodak in Defense of Film. (Source: PetaPixel)

Story #2 - Exporter for Aperture 1.0 in Mac App Store for $14.99. If you're going to migrate to Lightroom, this is probably your best friend.

Canon 70mm image on the left and the Sigma 50mm Art lens portrait on the right. Photos by Derrick Story.

Story #3 - The Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens for Canon is a delight on the full-frame 5D Mark II. And by special request, I also tested it on the Canon 70D body. I discuss the results in the third segment of today's show.

Story #4 - From the Screening Room - Enhancing Night and Low-Light Photos with Photoshop with Seán Duggan. Sean is a terrific instructor who uses ACR, Photoshop, and Lightroom to tackle a variety of night-shooting challenges. My favorite parts are his tips for starry sky photography.

You can watch Sean in action by visiting the TDS Screening Room at lynda.com/thedigitalstory. While you're there, you can start your 7 day free trial to watch other design, photography, and computing titles, plus every other topic in the library (including my brand new "Photographing High School Senior Portraits."

Story #5 - A Free Photo Workshop. I'm working on the 2015 TDS Photography Workshop Schedule. As many of you know, I like to introduce at least one new topic a season. And I'd like to hear from you, "What Theme Would You Love for Me to Teach in 2015?" Send your idea to derrick@thedigitalstory.com with the subject line: My Favorite Workshop Topic. My goal is to incorporate one of these suggestions into the 2015 season. If I do, that person gets free tuition to that workshop.

Virtual Camera Club News

Save on Ground Shipping for Red River Paper: Use coupon code ground50c to receive a 50 percent discount on UPS ground shipping for Red River Paper. No minimum purchase required.

Photo Assignment for August 2014 is "My Favorite Close-up".

If you haven't done so already, please post a review for The Digital Story Podcast in iTunes.

BTW: If you're ordering through B&H or Amazon, please click on the respective ad tile under the Products header in the box half way down the 2nd column on thedigitalstory.com. That helps support the site.

Download the Show

In addition to subscribing in iTunes, you can also download the podcast file here (34 minutes). You can support this podcast by purchasing the TDS iPhone App for only $2.99 from the Apple App Store.

More Ways to Participate

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. And from those images, I choose the TDS Member Photo of the Day.

Podcast Sponsors

lynda.com - Learn lighting, portraiture, Photoshop skills, and more from expert-taught videos at lynda.com/thedigitalstory.

Red River Paper -- Keep up with the world of inkjet printing, and win free paper, by liking Red River Paper on Facebook.

SizzlPix! - High resolution output for your photography. You've never seen your imagery look so good. SizzlPix.com. SizzlPix! now is qualified for PayPal "Bill Me Later," No payments, No interest for up to 6 months, which means, have your SizzlPix! now, and pay nothing until February!

Want to Comment on this Post?

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

I like to leave the laptop at home for vacation. And with the power and connectivity of the iPad, traveling light is better than ever.

Editing in Lightroom Mobile on the iPad mini is a joy.

When Adobe introduced Lightroom Mobile, I saw my iPad-only scenario improving. Imagine being able to sync Collections with your master Lightroom library at home and bring them with you on your mobile device? Plus, even better, upload those vacation shots in the field, then use LR's amazing editing tools to fine tune them, and publish online from your remote destination.

In my latest post for lynda.com Article Center, Field Test: Lightroom Mobile in Maui, I go into detail about how LRM performed in the field. The bottom line is this: Bringing content with you from your master library works great. You can view, share, and even star-rate the pictures.

But going the other direction is frustrating. If you're thinking that you can use this software and your iPad to replace a laptop in the field, my guess is that you'll be disappointed.

Browsing new images in Lightroom Mobile on an iPad mini.

Yes, you can browse new Jpegs and adjust them with Lightroom's tools. But you can't add any IPTC metadata, including captions, keywords and copyright. And I had issues with the star ratings that I explained in the lynda article.

So for now, Lightroom Mobile is more about bringing pictures from home than it is working with new ones in the field. Maybe over time this will change...

More Help on Managing Your Mobile Photos

In my lynda.com title, Managing Your Mobile Photos, I cover a variety of backup solutions for both iOS and Android users. These tutorials will help you build the perfect backup solution for you, so that you never lose a single image.

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As the Nimble Photographer, many know me as the champion of mirrorless cameras. And indeed I love them. You would have a hard time prying any of my OM-Ds from my camera bag.

Leah assisting me on a commercial photo shoot. Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom at f/2.8. Photo by Derrick Story

But there are plenty of reasons why I still use my DSLR kit. Here are three of them.

• Lens selection - the Canon lens catalog provides just about every type of optic I would ever need. If I don't already have it, I can rent it. Plus clients still love seeing big glass.
• Soft backgrounds made easy - The number 1 request from clients for portrait work is soft backgrounds. With the 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom (plus 1.4X converter if necessary), I can create a soft background just about anywhere.
• Clean megapixels - The 21MP full frame sensor on my Canon 5D Mark II provides clean results through my working ISO range. I never have to worry about providing files that are big enough for clients or clean enough for me.

So even though I shoot with my mirrorless cameras about 70 percent of the time, I want my DSLRs for those situations that demand their strengths. So, if you're running a freelance business, or trying to start one, instead of selling your DSLR to buy mirrorless, go shoot a job with it to raise the cash.

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Most portrait photographers, including Laya Gerlock (who'll I'll talk about in just a minute), really only need two backdrops in their studio: black and white.

Black is the "go-to" background for dramatic compositions or to make colors jump off the screen. White, however, can be used in many different ways. In the excellent article on DIY Photography titled, Create Four Different Background Styles Using Only 1 White Seamless Paper, photographer Laya Gerlock shows you how to manipulate white backdrops in a variety of ways... including how to make it pure white and not yucky gray.

A 12 yard roll of 53" wide seamless white paper costs only $25.95. You can construct a backdrop support frame out of PVC pipe or purchase an affordable kit. Either way, you can convert a standard home living room into a portrait studio in less than an hour.

If you want to shoot more creative indoor portraits, take a look at Laya's article, and get your hands on a roll of white seamless paper.

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Aperture Portrait Tips and Techniques

To learn about portrait retouching in Aperture, including a trick to brighten white backdrops, take a look at Portrait Retouching with Aperture. You may want to check out my other Aperture titles, including Aperture 3.3 Essential Training (2012), Using iPhoto and Aperture Together, and the latest, Enhancing Product Photography with Aperture. Also, take a look at our Aperture 3 Learning Center. Tons of free content about how to get the most out of Aperture.