"The best camera is the one that's with you," writes Chase Jarvis (hmmm, where I have heard that before!). He takes photos everyday with his iPhone, processes them on the device, then shares online. Chase maintains a gallery of his favorites on his site.

There is so much good work you can do with these types of devices: iPhone, Nokia, Blackberry, Sony, and on and on. I think mindset has much to do with success. Take a look at Chase's work, and you'll see what I mean.

iPhone App Reviews and Camera Phone Tips

A Look Inside Shutterfly for iPhone

Flickr Tip: Manage Permissions During Mobile Workflow

Cropulater Brings Picture Cropping to the iPhone

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

Editor's Note: I had a conversation on Twitter with Kip Beatty about the difficultly of editing HD video from the Canon 5D Mark II in Apple's iMovie '09. Kip said he had researched a solution, and I want to share his findings with our readers. Here's what Kip Beatty wrote.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark II shoots stunning 1080p 30 fps video. However, if you're using iMovie '09 to edit your movies, you'll find using anything but a Mac Pro to edit the native .264 files from the camera will bring iMovie to its knees. In fact, Apple recommends using the "Large" (960 x 540) setting when importing movies from the 5D Mark II. Even if you don't encounter the unexpected quits mentioned in the support document, you'll likely encounter a lot of stutters, pauses, and sluggishness. A simple workaround is to convert the .264 files to iMovie's preferred AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec) format using the free MPEG Streamclip.

Copy your movie files from your CF card to your computer (you can, if you prefer, convert them directly from the CF card). Open MPEG Streamclip and open the movie you want to convert. From the File menu choose Export to Quicktime... (CMD-E). At the top drop down menu, change the compression to Apple Intermediate Codec and slide the quality slider to 100 percent. You may also wish to open up the Adjustments options and bump brightness, contrast, and saturation just a bit to get an exact match, but be very conservative with any changes to these sliders (I'd suggest running a couple of tests on a small file to get the look you like). Click Make Movie and you're done with MPEG Streamclip.

You'll find the resulting file, once imported, plays much more nicely with iMovie, especially on a MacBook Pro or iMac. Unfortunately, you'll also find the resulting file is much larger than the original .264 version. In my tests, it's almost twice as large. This is the main drawback to using AIC. Nonetheless, if iMovie is choking on your native files, it's a worthwhile tradeoff. If you're going to do a lot iMovie editing with AIC converted files from the EOS 5D Mark II, you'll need a lot of storage space. Look at it this way, it's a great excuse to pick up a DroboPro.

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Technorati Tags: Canon 5D Mark II, Technology, The Digital Story, iMovie

Since permissions are so easy to change on Flickr, I recommend that you manage them as part of your workflow. This is particularly handy when you upload images from an iPhone, EyeFi card or other mobile device where you don't have a chance to fine-tune the editing before transfer.

In these instances, set the permission to "Only You (Private)" during upload. Once you get to a computer, then you can use Flickr's online editing tools to adjust the image the way you want. That most likely includes cropping, exposure, color balance, and sharpening. When the picture is ready to share with the world, then you can change the permission to "Anyone (Public)," and it will be viewable by all.

Flickr's photo management tools are very good. And now that we have more ways to capture and upload images, we can use controls such as the Privacy setting to ensure that we have the flexibility we want while maintaining good quality.

Flickr Training on Lynda.com

I'm currently working on an in-depth Flickr Essential Training with Lynda.com. But I have a good training online right now: iPhoto '09: 10 Things to Know About Flickr. "iPhoto and Flickr are a perfect match for sharing pictures on the web. In this training, I explain how these two applications work together to create online albums, known as sets. From the basics, like setting up a free Flickr account, to the more advanced features, like creating an iPhoto slideshow to publish on Flickr, I show features that both beginning and advanced photographers can use to enhance their online collections. So if you're an iPhoto user, you might want to check this out right now.

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

John Nack has posted a few useful reminders about Photoshop CS4 for users who haven't found this info yet. Most of the tips are workarounds for tweaks to the application that may be frustrating folks, such as changes to keyboard shortcuts or what appears to be mysteriously missing features. Plus he has tips for drag and drop layers, trackpad annoyances, and more.

If you're a CS4 user, then be sure to check out this post. It could save you a headache or two.

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Learn what photographers need to know to organize and edit their images with Photoshop CS4. Take a look at The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers. It fits in your laptop bag and is very easy on your wallet.

Technorati Tags: Adobe Photoshop, Derrick Story, digital photography, Photoshop CS4, Technology, The Digital Story

Facebook is a popular social network that many people use to share photos with friends and family. iPhoto shines at organizing and editing pictures. With its latest release, iPhoto '09, Apple built Facebook connectivity right into their consumer photography application. Now you can organize your images in iPhoto, then click a button and publish them on Facebook.

As you would imagine, there more to this partnership than initially meets the eye. In my latest Lynda.com title, iPhoto '09: 10 Things to Know About Facebook, I show you the 10 things you need to know to publish efficiently on Facebook with iPhoto. You'll learn:

1. Connecting iPhoto with your Facebook account
2. Making iPhoto Faces work with Facebook
3. Choosing and uploading iPhoto images
4. Learning more about Facebook photo albums
5. Making image edits to Facebook pictures via iPhoto
6. Making metadata changes to Facebook pictures via iPhoto
7. Downloading Facebook changes to your iPhoto library
8. Downloading existing Facebook photo albums to iPhoto
9. Searching for photos on Facebook
10. Things to be wary of on Facebook

You can learn more by visiting the iPhoto '09: 10 Things to Know About Facebook home page.

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, technique, Technology, Facebook, iPhoto ,09

As a regular Shutterfly user, I was happy to see they've released Shutterfly for iPhone. The free software makes it easy to view all of your albums on the venerable photo sharing/printing service, and you can upload images from your iPhone to Shutterfly. I like that it's a two-way service, but I think the strength of this application is how nicely it lets you carry years of image making around in your pocket.

When you launch the app and log in to your account, you can view albums, take a picture, or upload an existing photo. If you push an image up to Shutterfly, it creates a new album in your My Albums section called iPhone Pictures. All subsequent iPhone images are stored there.

Once your pictures are stored on Shutterfly's service, there they stay. On April 11, 2009, Shutterly members received a letter from Jeffrey Housenbold, President & CEO. He noted that as a member, you receive free, secure, storage and your pictures will not be deleted. This is true. I've been a member of the free service since 2002, and all of my albums are still online there, safe and sound.

This leads to the strength of the Shutterfly for iPhone app. You can access and show off all of that work. Your images display beautifully on iPhone's high resolution screen, in either horizontal or vertical mode. You can shake or swipe to move from one picture to another. In my case, this allows me to share years of work by simply tapping on my iPhone screen.

If you're already a Shutterfly customer with content on their servers, I think you'll enjoy the new access you have to your work. Also, new users can build a robust online storage, sharing, and printing workflow with these tools. For uploading lots of pictures, using your computer and Shutterfly's other tools are the better way to go. But for viewing and sending up the occasional snapshot, the Shutterfly for iPhone app is terrific.

More iPhone App Reviews

Cropulater Brings Picture Cropping to the iPhone

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

I was struck by irony as I photographed the closing of Virgin Records in San Francisco. The once megastore of music with its flashing lights and state of the art individual listening stations is now an empty shell. Just a few months ago, you could buy any CD imaginable, then choose from a variety of accessories to go with it: posters, clothing, music players. On Friday nights, it was a great place to just hang out.

Now, as they liquidate the fixtures in Virgin, across the street there's standing room only in the Apple Store. For $79 you can buy a 4 GB iPod, connect it to your computer, and fill it up with music. An entire CD library can be clipped to your shirt. The device is so light that you wouldn't know it was there, save the earbuds humming in your ears.

It's one thing to contemplate how quickly times have changed as you listen to music through tiny headphones. It's another to see it happen with your very own eyes.

Photo by Derrick Story. Captured with a Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105 mm f/4 zoom at 24mm. ISO 200, 1/250th at f/11. Image was processed in Adobe Camera Raw. Used Jobo photoGPS for geodata.

More Signs of the Times Stories

Redwood Empire Food Bank

The Closing of Gottschalks Department Stores

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Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, Signs of the Times, The Digital Story

I'm getting ready to work on a big Flickr project, and I'd love to hear about your favorite features and your best tips. What do you like best about Flickr? Do you use any tools with it, such as plug-ins for uploading? Have you learned any helpful techniques that you're willing to share with others?

If you have answers for any of these, please post a comment below (only hit the Post button once, it takes a couple minutes to process), or chime in on the discussion page of The Digital Story Public Group. I've already set up a thread there. You can also send you thoughts directly to me, if you're more comfortable with that. Contact information is on our Submissions page.

I hope you share your thoughts... (and thanks!)

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One of my favorite new features in iPhoto 8.0.2 is the ability to copy geodata from one image in your library and paste it to another. The process is easy, but it isn't necessarily intuitive. Here's how it works.

First, select a photo that has the location data that you want by clicking on it once. Then, right-click or CTRL-click on it and choose Copy from the contextual popup menu. Then, go directly to the image that you want to add the data to, right-click on it, and choose Paste Location from the contextual popup menu. You can confirm the success of this by choosing Get Info (click on the little "i" in the corner of the photo), or by looking at the extended metadata for the image (Option - CMD - I) -- you should see Latitude, Longitude, and Place information.

Don't Forget About Smart Albums

You can create Smart Albums to sort images that have geodata from those that don't. Just go to File > New Smart Album, and choose "Photo - is not - Tagged with GPS" as your conditions. This will create a Smart Album with all of your untagged images. Then, if you want a companion album with tagged photos, just create a new Smart Album with "Photo - is - Tagged with GPS". Now you can easily copy location data from tagged images and apply to untagged ones.

See My Other Posts on Geotagging

Macworld Magazine Article (by me): "Geotag your photos on-the-go"

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, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

One of my favorite techniques for quick outdoor portraits is what I call "Spot Meter Plus Backlight." The set up is simple. Put the sun behind the subject with a clean background. Then adjust your metering pattern to spot meter, take a reading off the subject, and fire away. You'll get nice highlights in the hair, good separation between the subject and background, plus you can work quickly and from any distance.

For this quick portrait of Karen and Ethan, I used a Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom, and that's it. The aperture was set to f/4, shutter speed 1/350th, and ISO 200. I had the lens extended all the way out to 200mm. I processed the image in Aperture with final touches in Photoshop CS4.

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Technorati Tags: Adobe Photoshop, Derrick Story, digital photography, Photoshop CS4, technique, The Digital Story