Macworld 2007 was about digital media -- photography, video, and yes, tons of audio. We saw Apple TV officially introduced at the Steve Jobs keynote, a brief solo performance by John Mayer, live podcasts such as MacBreak Weekly and the iLifeZone, and a special podcaster meetup at the Apple Store.

I was participating in many of these events and brought along my trusty Canon Rebel XT to capture a few close-up glimpses. I had a decent seat for the Jobs keynote (being on the conference faculty), and sat-in on the MacBreak show and the podcaster meetup.

I've posted the gallery here with the accompanying metadata for you to enjoy.

Picture: John Mayer performing at the Steve Jobs keynote. Photo by Derrick Story.

Technorati Tags: The Digital Story, Macworld

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

Nikon was proudly demoing the Universal Binary version of Capture NX at Macworld this week. This latest version provides minor enhancements and bug fixes, but most importantly it runs an the new Intel versions of Macs.

Rob Galbraith reports that "in the brief demonstration we saw, the speed at which the program could render a D2X NEF as it opened was dramatically faster than the current PowerPC version of the program on the same machine." He also wrote: "Also new in the upcoming Capture NX update are larger histogram and Curves/Levels palettes, as well as various bug fixes and performance enhancements, says Nikon USA's Mike Rubin. A ship date hasn't been set for the new version of Capture NX, nor is the company revealing what the version number will be. When it's released it will be a free, downloadable update for licensed users. The update will be to both the Mac and Windows versions of the application."

You can read the entire Nikon press release on Ron's site. This is great news for Nikon shooters who capture in Raw and work on Macs.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, The Digital Story

One of the things that David Pogue commented on yesterday (David being one of the few living beings outside of Apple to operate the new iPhone) was how marvelous the LCD screen was on the iPhone. He said that when you use the 2-megpixel camera and look at the world though that screen, it was as big and open as anything he's seen on a consumer camera. Given that you can transfer those images easily via email, the Web, and other online tools via iPhone, this is one of the most "connected" cameras in the world -- WiFi, Edge, Bluetooth.

We don't know yet if the final version of iPhone (due out in June after FCC approval) will include video, but my guess is yes with H.264 compression. This could be a very sweet little point and shoot camera that you always have with you. More to be seen...

Technorati Tags: The Digital Story

Casio has found a way to squeeze a 7X optical zoom in a pocketable 7.2 megapixel beauty. The just-announced EXILIM Hi-Zoom EX-V7 also features blur reduction technologies with the new CCD shift system, the redesigned EXILIM Engine 2.0 image processor, and now captures movies with H.264 encoding (which should be QuickTime compatible right out of the camera).

Casio is showing off the camera at the CES show in Las Vegas, NV. It will retail for $399 or less when available in March. This is a compact to keep our eyes on as the hands-on reviews begin to surface.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, equipment, The Digital Story

Boinx Software has released a public beta of the redesigned FotoMagico to garner user feedback before making the final version available. Major improvements in 2.0 include the ability to create a standalone player for your presentations, watermark capability, fresh user interface, and performance enhancements.

Oliver Breidenbach of Boinx Software comments, "FotoMagico 2 enters the Public Beta testing phase. FotoMagico 2 represents a significant step forward by introducing high resolution, standalone slideshow players that can be shared with people who do not have a license for FotoMagico. In order to test this new capability thoroughly, FotoMagico 2 is now available as a public beta with a final release planned for March, 2007."

You can download the public beta today and give it a spin. Be sure to let Boinx know what you like and what needs improvement.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, The Digital Story

iPhoto's slideshow authoring tools have come a long way since the early days of the application. You can author very good presentations without ever leaving your digital shoebox... that is if you know a few tricks.

In a recent article I wrote for Macworld Magazine titled, Create stunning slide shows, I show many of the techniques that I've perfected over the years to create terrific presentations with my iPhoto images. If you're an iPhoto user, you might want to give it a read.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, The Digital Story

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

An Australian scientist has calculated how many frames you need to record during a group shot to give you the best odds that at least one image will have everyone with their eyes open. In the article, Picture Perfect: How to Make Blink-Free Holiday Photos, physicist Piers Barnes calculates the average number of times a person blinks (10 per minute), how long a blink lasts (250 milliseconds), camera shutter speed (8 milliseconds in a typical setting), and the number of people in the group.

The article goes on to provide some rules of thumb for shooting in both good light and bad. It's interesting stuff, and the formulas work out to about the same as experience has taught me over years of working weddings -- I average about 5 frames for most group shots.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, The Digital Story

Those eagle-eyed shooters at Popular Photography have identified 25 great products from 2006 and recognized them with Pop Awards. This is a terrific list including many products I've covered here on The Digital Story, such as Apple Aperture, the Epson R2400 printer, Canon PowerShot G7, and the Lumix DMC-LX2.

I also read with great interest other items in the Pop Awards that I wasn't familiar with, and now have some new gear to investigate further. There's lots of good stuff here, and it's really worth spending a few minutes perusing the list.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, The Digital Story

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

The December 2006 photo assignment, pool of light closes at the end of day on Sunday, Dec. 31. You still have a little time to send in your entry.

Participating is easy. All you have to do is attach your assignment photo to an email and send it in. Title your subject line: Photo Assignment [month, year]. Attach your entry making sure that it is no wider than 600 pixels. Include a few sentences about why you took this approach, the camera you used, and any setting details that you think are important. Address your email to: derrick@thedigitalstory.com.

If you can, don't remove the EXIF metadata as you prepare your image. I like to list this information with the picture when it's displayed in our gallery.

As an example, this image of Apple CEO Steve Jobs was captured in Oct. 2005 when he unveiled the iPod 5th Gen video at a press event. Steve is standing in the pool of light while others mill about in the shadows.

I've been testing fine art papers for Epson and HP "B" sized printers, and I've come across a real diamond in the rough. Epson's Watercolor Paper Radiant White costs less than half as much as their Velvet Fine Art Paper, but produces comparable results with a higher archival rating.

Both papers have a bright white surface that produce vibrant images, feature texture and weight that feel good in the hands, and dries instantly for easy handling. I've done many side-by-side prints with both stocks, and the watercolor images come very close to the vibrancy of those printed on Velvet Fine Art. The kicker is, you can get 13" x 19" (Super B size) sheets of Epson Watercolor for about a $1 a sheet, and the Velvet Fine Art runs about $3 a print.

Another interesting note is that the archival permanence for the Watercolor is 92 years compared to 61 years for Velvet Fine Art. I can use the regular sheet feeder on an Epson R2400 for the Watercolor, but had to use the manual sheet feeder for the Velvet, which is a heavier paper stock.

No doubt, the Epson Velvet Fine Art paper is fantastic. It is heavier than the Watercolor and has a better D-Max rating. But when I put large B&W images next to each other (printed on both papers), I'm thrilled by how well the Watercolor prints hold up to those on the Velvet Fine Art... for about a third of the price.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, product review, The Digital Story