Educate yourself

Season Greetings to everyone,

I know that I've been a bit lame with the blog lately but running around from one place to another doing assignments and not having too much time for anything else been putting this blog a little bit behind.

It's something that I just can't avoid and and has you may all know time is money.

I just want to wish you all a Great Season Greeting to you and all yours and that the nest year may bring you all that you have deserved and wish for.

It's never too late!!!

Today's post it's all about education. I've decided to put out a couple of pages that I've been following regularly with some great teaching techniques that I'm certain it will help you learn and evolve.

Starting is shutha project where you can find out for example what is stock photography, types of markets, stock photo licensing,  book publishing, publishing rights, fine art prints, decorative and commercial prints, editorial assignments, commercial assignments, selling photographs, selling video and a lot of more interesting information.

You also have some Free courses from Business, Image Workflow, Digital Imaging and Multimedia.

Who is behind Shutha?

Shutha is one of the outputs of the Twenty Ten: African media on the road to twenty ten (and beyond) project. The project is a partnership between World Press PhotoFreevoice (now rebranded as Free Press Unlimited), Africa Media Online and lokaalmondiaal and is funded by the Dutch Postcode Lottery. Shutha benefits from this funding.


Next one is dpBestFlow.org and this is a terrific place to get some very good teaching and resources from Workflow to est Practices.

What is dpBestflow.org?

dpBestflow.org is a rich web resource which includes a series of on-line educational seminars, software & hardware solutions, workflow guides and book references, designed to match a wide variety of working styles.

Now, by accessing the web site, photographers and others in the visual arts community have real-world solutions for preserving the quality and integrity of digital images, proven best practices that have been shown to produce superior results, and guidelines for streamlined production workflows.



Then came project52, created by Don Giannatti, this is basically a page with lots of online assignments and Audio/Video critics about your sent photos that will help you develop your photography senses. You can also subscribe de Pro service and have a couple more benefits.

Real World Assignments

What does “real world assignments” mean? It means you will be given assignments that are similar in scope and diversity as any commercial photographer in a small town. It means authentic work that is exactly the kind you will get the day your shingle gets posted. We work hard to make assignments that both challenge the creative, and produce work that could end up in your portfolio.

Audio/Video Critiques

Each week we will review the previous assignment. There is a two week assignment completion schedule, so we are not critiquing the work of the previous weeks assignment, but that of two weeks prior. I am sure that will be less confusing as we get into the program.



And the last one I would like to mention is creativeLive that has been putting it's claws around the photography community with lots of great and fantastic online teaching video as well as some Live Feed with all the best photographers of our decade.

You can stream the courses has they are live on location or you can purchase, the full course, later on to view it as you please and how many times you would like.

The teachings run from photography, business, software, design and video&film with some the biggest in their business.

Just to name a few... Zack Arias, Sue Bryce, Vincent Laforet, Lesa Snider, Tamara Lackey and Ramit Sethi.

There are, of course, a lot of more places where you can get yourself educated and that is a good thing, just wanted to name a few that I found important to keep your eyes at.

Happy Season and see you in 2013. 

Adobe Lightroom 4.3 and Camera Raw 7.3 Final Releases Available

It's here and just before Christmas time the Adobe Lightroom 4.3 and Camera Raw 7.3 as a final releases on Adobe.com and through the update mechanism in Lightroom 4.

The goal of this releases is to provide additional camera raw support, lens profile support and address bugs that were introduced in previous releases of Lightroom.

Bugs Corrected in Lightroom 4.3:

The following bugs that were part the Lightroom 4 releases have been corrected. The team appreciates the very detailed feedback the community has provided on Lightroom 4 and we’re excited to correct a number of issues experienced by our customers. These issues have been FIXED:
  • Autolayout produces a Book with the correct amount of pages but without any images added. Please note that this only occurs when the filter is set to “Unused”.
  • Uploading large panorama images to Revel caused Lightroom to crash.
  • The “Unused” filter was not properly filtering images within the Book Module.
  • Lightroom hangs while changing the Exposure adjustment by typing in a numeric adjustment. Please note that this only occurs when the Enter key is not typed to confirm the adjustment and another Develop adjustment is tried. Also please note that this only occurs on Windows.
  • After creating a new folder in Lightroom, attempting to undo that folder can sometimes cause a corrupt catalog.
  • An image can be simultaneously flagged as both a Pick and Reject at the same time.
  • Using multiple colors within a single text cell within the Book Module can cause Lightroom to crash.
  • Unable to post photos to Flickr when the image filename contains an apostrophe.
  • The active Develop slider, the one controlled with + and – keys, defaults to Exposure when moving from one photo to another.
  • Catalogs from Photoshop Elements 11 would not update in Lightroom.
  • Site titles longer than 70 characters created in the Web Module can cause Lightroom to freeze.
  • Cell padding linking lost between sessions.
  • Deleting the top image in a stack causes the entire stack to disappear.
  • Tethered capture fails when turning camera off and back on. This also can occur if the camera goes to sleep and then wakes. This occurs only with Canon cameras and on Mac only.
  • Cropping an image to a small size sometimes causes the image in Develop to become blurry.
  • AVCHD video formats are not properly importing into Lightroom. Please note that this only occurred on Mac.
  • Enable Profile Corrections does not auto find iPhone 4 profile.
  • Crop doesn’t update in second monitor if navigator panel closed. Please note that this only occurred on Mac.
  • TIFF files can experience tonal shifts within Lightroom.
  • Mask overlay are displayed in filmstrip and navigator. They should only be displayed in the Develop Loupe.
  • Video files created on an iPhone 4 flickers when played in Lightroom.

New Camera Support in Lightroom 4.3:

  1. Canon EOS 6D
  2. Canon PowerShot S110
  3. Canon PowerShot G15
  4. Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
  5. Casio Exilim EX-ZR1000
  6. Casio Exilim EX-FC300S
  7. Leica M-E
  8. Nikon 1 V2
  9. Nikon D5200
  10. Nikon D600*
  11. Olympus PEN E-PL5
  12. Olympus PEN E-PM2
  13. Olympus STYLUS XZ-2 iHS
  14. Panasonic DMC-GH3
  15. Pentax K-5 II
  16. Pentax K-5 IIs
  17. Pentax Q10
  18. Sony DSC-RX1
  19. Sony NEX-VG30
  20. Sony NEX-VG900
* Please note that preliminary support was available in Lightroom 4.2.  This release adds full support for the Nikon D600.

New Lens Profile Support in Lightroom 4.3:

Lens Name Lens Mount
Apple iPhone 4S Apple
Apple iPhone 5 Apple
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Canon
Sigma APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Canon
Tamron SP AF 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC A009E Canon
Tamron SP AF 90mm F/2.8 Macro Di VC USD F004E Canon
LEICA APO-ELMARIT-R 180 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA APO-MACRO-ELMARIT-R 100 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-R 90 mm f/2 ASPH. Leica
LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-R 180 mm f/2 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 280 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 280 mm f/4 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 400 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 400 mm f/4 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 560 mm f/4 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 560 mm f/5.6 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 800 mm f/5.6 Leica
LEICA ELMARIT-R 19 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA ELMARIT-R 28 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA MACRO-ELMARIT-R 60 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA SUMMICRON-R 35 mm f/2 Leica
LEICA SUMMICRON-R 50 mm f/2 Leica
LEICA SUMMILUX-R 35 mm f/1.4 Leica
LEICA SUMMILUX-R 50 mm f/1.4 Leica
LEICA SUMMILUX-R 80 mm f/1.4 Leica
Leica VARIO-ELMARIT-R 28-90 mm f/2,8-4,5 ASPH. Leica
Leica VARIO-ELMAR-R 80-200 mm f/4 Leica
Leica VARIO-ELMAR-R 35-70 mm f/4 Leica
Leica VARIO-ELMAR-R 21-35 mm f/3,5-4 ASPH. Leica
Leica VARIO-APO-ELMARIT-R 70-180 mm f/2.8 Leica
Sigma APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Nikon
PENTAX 06 Telephoto Zoom Pentax
Sigma APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Sigma
Sigma DP1 Merrill Compact Digital Camera Sigma

Download Links

WindowsMac

Camera Raw 7.3 is now available as a final release through the update mechanism in Photoshop CS6. 

Customers of previous versions of Photoshop can utilize DNG Converter 7.3 for raw file support for newly added cameras.

New Camera Support in Camera Raw 7.3:

  1. Canon EOS 6D
  2. Canon PowerShot S110
  3. Canon PowerShot G15
  4. Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
  5. Casio Exilim EX-ZR1000
  6. Casio Exilim EX-FC300S
  7. Leica M-E
  8. Nikon 1 V2
  9. Nikon D5200
  10. Nikon D600*
  11. Olympus PEN E-PL5
  12. Olympus PEN E-PM2
  13. Olympus STYLUS XZ-2 iHS
  14. Panasonic DMC-GH3
  15. Pentax K-5 II
  16. Pentax K-5 IIs
  17. Pentax Q10
  18. Sony DSC-RX1
  19. Sony NEX-VG30
  20. Sony NEX-VG900
* Please note that preliminary support for Nikon D600 was available in Camera Raw 7.2  Full support for Nikon D600 was added in Camera Raw 7.3.

New Lens Profile Support in Camera Raw 7.3:

Lens Name Lens Mount
Apple iPhone 4S Apple
Apple iPhone 5 Apple
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Canon
Sigma APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Canon
Tamron SP AF 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC A009E Canon
Tamron SP AF 90mm F/2.8 Macro Di VC USD F004E Canon
LEICA APO-ELMARIT-R 180 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA APO-MACRO-ELMARIT-R 100 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-R 90 mm f/2 ASPH. Leica
LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-R 180 mm f/2 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 280 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 280 mm f/4 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 400 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 400 mm f/4 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 560 mm f/4 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 560 mm f/5.6 Leica
LEICA APO-TELYT-R 800 mm f/5.6 Leica
LEICA ELMARIT-R 19 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA ELMARIT-R 28 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA MACRO-ELMARIT-R 60 mm f/2.8 Leica
LEICA SUMMICRON-R 35 mm f/2 Leica
LEICA SUMMICRON-R 50 mm f/2 Leica
LEICA SUMMILUX-R 35 mm f/1.4 Leica
LEICA SUMMILUX-R 50 mm f/1.4 Leica
LEICA SUMMILUX-R 80 mm f/1.4 Leica
Leica VARIO-ELMARIT-R 28-90 mm f/2,8-4,5 ASPH. Leica
Leica VARIO-ELMAR-R 80-200 mm f/4 Leica
Leica VARIO-ELMAR-R 35-70 mm f/4 Leica
Leica VARIO-ELMAR-R 21-35 mm f/3,5-4 ASPH. Leica
Leica VARIO-APO-ELMARIT-R 70-180 mm f/2.8 Leica
Sigma APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Nikon
PENTAX 06 Telephoto Zoom Pentax
Sigma APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Sigma
Sigma DP1 Merrill Compact Digital Camera Sigma

These items have been FIXED in Camera Raw 7.3:

  • Lens correction does not auto find iPhone 4 profile
  • TIFF files can experience tonal shifts within Lightroom
  • Bridge is unable to show TIFF files

Download Links

Camera Raw 7.3 – Please use the update mechanism in Photoshop CS6
DNG Converter 7.3 - WindowsMac


Enjoy!!!

Adobe Configurator 3.1RC must have tool

Recently I discovered this wonderful tool for my Photoshop/InDesign tools and panels.

The Adobe® Configurator is a utility that enables the easy creation of panels (palettes) for use in Adobe Photoshop® CS5.x/CS6 and Adobe InDesign® CS5.x/CS6.

It makes it easy to drag and drop tools, menu items, scripts, actions, and other objects into a panel design, then export the results for use in Photoshop or InDesign.

Distribute and share panels with other Creative Suite 6 users via the Adobe Exchange, also available on Adobe Labs.

This is the kind of tool that can help you when you just need a couple of buttons/panels on your setup and do not want the all panel. If you normally just use a couple of tools then you can configure it to your best purpose and the most important of all... makes you work faster.

You can download Adobe Configurator 3.1 here on Adobe Labs for CS 5.x or CS6 users.

Kipon adapter for Canon EF on NEX and m4/3 Mirrorless

This is some excellent news, has KIPON just announced they will be releasing "soon" an electronic adapter so we can use our Canon EF glas on Micro 4/3 and NEX cameras.

I've already got their adapter for EOS to m4/3 with manual aperture ring control and it's a must if you have the Olympus OM-D E5 and need some longer distances. It's manual focus but it's very easy to control since Olympus got a zoom function that actually works and make manual focus a sweat.

You can get this manual aperture ring adapter at their page KIPON or do an ebay seach for it has there are plenty of them for different kind of lenses.
 
Let's wait and see the availability of the new ones and also for what prices are they shipping in.

-- Press release --

KIPON developed electronic adapters through the co-operation with Japanese engineers,using Canon EF mount lens on NEX or m4/3 mirrorless cameras, through the dial ring or button to control the iris of original Canon EF lens, let those who bought mirrorless cameras can enjoy the Canon EF lens.

Listing specific dates and prices to be determined.

--//--


Nori - Rethinking The Collapsible Reflector

It came into my attention this great and different collapsible reflector that company NORI has put up in the market.

I've been seeing a lot of refletors but this one with it's unique shape could be useful when you are alone on location or when you need to move fast from one place to another while having your assistant holding it and also great for video.

Check for yourself at NORI page here.

Here are some more images of the product:


It comes in a package of 2 units a Silver and a White one and they collapse like an umbrella which is great for when you need t pack light.


And also comes with a great carrying bag.


Check them out and leave your thoughts...

Demo Video