Archive
New Canon Products Overshadowed by Nikon Anticipation
Canon announced new products, including three point-and-shoots, an external flash for point and shoots and a few printers. You can read more about the new products at the following links:
But Canon’s thunder might be stolen tomorrow. Nikonians have been abuzz for weeks about an announcement expected tomorrow. It’s the same day that Joe McNally (re)launches his “Faces of Ground Zero” display. McNally is of course a well known Nikon shooter and Nikon is a sponsor of the display. It’s also the same day that Scott Kelby is announcing something new. My feeling is that it can’t all be coincidence and that all three events are related.
[UPDATE: If you clicked on the link to Nikon Rumors, you saw that the new Nikon products are also point-and-shoots. Most people have been expecting an update to the D700 or even a new D4. We shall see.]
Stay tuned…
Get Schooled in Lighting
In my last post, I mentioned Joe McNally and David Hobby (the grand masters of off-camera flash) are going a cross-country tour called the Flash Bus.
Now they both announced new instructional DVDs. Above is the promo video for the McNally DVD called “The Language of Light”. No word on pricing yet; his blog talks about the Flash Bus and promises a link to Adorama to get the DVD.
[UPDATE: The link for Adorama lists the price for $159.95, the same price for Hobby's set]
Over on the Strobist site, David Hobby goes into more detail on his “Lighting in Layers” DVD. It’s a 6-disc, 9-hour DVD covering six shoots (plus a bonus CD-ROM) for $159.95. For beginners, Hobby recommends the “Strobist Lighting Seminar“, but that’s getting updated soon so you might want to hold off.
If you want to learn about small flash and off-camera flash, these are the guys to learn it from and now there are more ways to access their wealth of knowledge.
5D MKIII Rumors and More in Photo News Round-Up
[NOTE: If you came to this blog post looking for information on the 5D MKIII, this post was written in Jan. 2011. The latest news is that Canon may announce the MKIII on March 2, 2012. Check the Canon Rumors site linked below for the latest.]
If you follow the Canon Rumors site, then you know there’s been lots of buzz about the replacement for the 5D MKII. The rumors vary on release dates, even naming convention and a possible 28MP sensor.
Well, PC World just stirred the pot a bit by listing its most anticipated cameras of 2011. Among them is the 5D MKIII. Here’s the juicy part:
It may offer a 24 Megapixel sensor and dual DIGIC 4 processors. The 3-inch display may be an articulated LCD screen with 1.04 million dots. What is more, it may be touch sensitive, making it the first full-frame camera with such technology.
The article says to expect it before the end of June. We shall see. It also says it could be called the 6D and I disagree with that. The lower the number the higher the class; hence the 7D is not as advanced as the 1D series but it is more advanced, than say, the 60D. So to call it the 6D would imply that it’s not as good as the 5D MKII. Why would Canon update the MKII and not make it significantly better? I would say it might be called the Mark III or the 4D.
Also on the list is a Panasonic Lumix which makes a perfect segue into a bit of news I spotted on the PetaPixel site. The company just announced four new Lumix compact cameras. Hit the link for the details.
Lastly, Joe McNally and David Hobby (Strobist) are going on tour! No, it’s not a rock concert, but no two people rock more when it comes to off-camera flash. It’s called the Flash Bus Tour and it might be coming to a city near you. If you want to learn hot-shoe and off camera flash, you must go. Just don’t throw your panties on stage…Just sayin’.
Most Important Camera of 2010 and More in Photo News Round-Up
- If you have 14-minutes and 43-seconds, then you must watch this video of two of my mentors; Scott Kelby and Joe McNally talking to each other about photography.
- Wired named The 10 Most Significant Gadgets of 2010 and there’s a point-and-shoot camera on the list!
- I spotted this very cool item on the PetaPixel site:
Camera Speaker from gadget4all.com
It’s a speaker that looks like a life-sized Canon DSLR with a 24-105mm L lens. You’ll notice it says “Caoon” instead of “Canon”. It can play audio files from a USB, SD card or from a device plugged in to the included 3.5 audio cable. It sells for $82.99. Click the image to go to the site.
- Finally, my new Web site is live! Check it out at: http://www.harrylimphotography.com
Great Double Rainbow Photographs…and Unicorns!
Ok, no unicorns.
But I did run across a couple of cool pics of double rainbows.
The first from Joe McNally shows an awesome shot looking across Central Park. The composition is great and the fall colors of the leaves just add to the picture.
The second shot is from a photographer who’s taken a picture looking out from his office every day for the last seven years! Not a bad view.
Kind of makes my attempt look lame:
Click for Larger Image
Yeah, ok, it’s not a double rainbow. I seem to remember from my meteorology 101 class that all rainbows are double rainbows, but we can’t always see the second one. So just cross your eyes when looking at mine. 
Friday’s Photo Round-Up and Some Sad News
I’m usually in a good mood on Fridays. I was feeling pretty good today until I read some sad news about one of my favorite photographers. Joe McNally is mourning the passing of his cat, Nigel. He wrote about it in his blog. If you’ve read my past blogs, you know how influential Joe is to photographers around the world in teaching off-camera flash and lighting techniques. In my blog yesterday I referenced his portrait of “napalm girl”. Please take a moment to stop by his blog and leave a note.
It hit close to home. I lost my cat in January and blogged about it here.
Ok. Let’s lighten the mood. You’ve heard about the rescued Chilean miner with the wife and the mistress? I can kinda relate. You see, I too have two loves: Photography….and cookies. Well, now I don’t have to choose thanks to this sweet little camera.
I saw this on the Today show yesterday. Check out these cool microscopic photographs. Some of them are like surreal works of art.
Lastly, here’s a majestic underwater image that helped me put things into perspective.
Photography Education and Inspiration
You don’t have to go to school to be a photographer, but you do have to educate yourself. This involves more than just going out and shooting. If you go on one hundred shoots and don’t learn anything, then you’re just running in circles. So in this post, I hope to share with you the sources I turn to for education and inspiration. When I wrote about my top blogs to follow, I was hoping you would find some blogs to follow yourself. So in this post I’m sharing the main sources I turn to to learn about photography.
1.) Scott Kelby. If you’ve never heard of him, Scott Kelby is the president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and a best selling author of photoshop and photography books. He tours the country giving photoshop seminars and publishes a blog which I follow every single day. He also heads up KelbyTV; the central location for episodes of Photoshop User TV, D-Town TV and more…and it’s all FREE. D-Town TV just launched it’s third season. I highly recommend going back to watch the first two. The first season was Nikon-centric, but the principles and tips are universal. The weekly online show talks about gear, how to use it and great tips.
But wait, there’s more. KelbyTraining.com is where I learned photoshop. It’s a subscription service; $24.99 per month or $199 per year. The first three lessons of each course are free. If you look at the list of courses, not only is it comprehensive, but they are taught by the best known names in their fields.
I mentioned Kelby is a best-selling author; for photography check out his Digital Photography books. There are three volumes. It’s great for beginners, but even more experienced shooters can pick up some helpful time-saving tips.
2.) David Hobby. He is better known for his blog Strobist.com. If you want to learn about off-camera flash, this is the place to go. Start with Lighting 101; watch the 8-minute video and continue reading the series.
3.) Joe McNally. When it comes to using off-camera flash, Joe is a master. He’s shot for Time, Life, Sports Illustrated and National Geographic. Whether it’s one flash or four, his approach is simple, but the results are amazing. Joe’s coming to Orlando this weekend and I am psyched to see him in person. Joe is also a good writer and his blog is always insightful and entertaining.
His first book, “The Moment it Clicks,” is more inspirational than educational. His second book, “The Hot Shoe Diaries,” is more educational, though Nikon-centric. I liked how the chapters were divided up by how many flashes he uses. So Chapter 2 shows you what you can do with just one flash. Chapter 3 progresses with two or more flashes etc.
Those are my top three heavy-hitters. But I consume photography information everyday; from blogs, articles and even twitter links. Go back and check out my top blogs on AllTop. I scan those everyday the way someone would scan a newspaper. If routinely read at least 10 articles from those blogs, provided there is new content.
This is a list, for example, of the articles on one site I visit: Virtual Photography Studio. As you can see, the articles about building a photography business are extensive…and that’s just one site!
If you’re interested in wedding photography, check out David Ziser’s Digital Pro Talk blog. David is a renowned wedding photographer and his blog features techniques and business tips.
The Still Image with Crash Taylor is an awesome site for inspiration. It features one or two photographs from a photographer who explains what equipment they used, the creative process and post processing.
I subscribe via email to the Digital Photography School. It is packed with quick-read articles on photography, gear and post-processing.
I’m sure I’m leaving something out, so I’ll be sure to update this post as I come across other useful resources.
-Harry
Harry Lim Photography’s Top Blogs to Follow
So I first heard of Alltop on Scott Kelby’s blog last year. I didn’t think much of it. Dismissed it somewhat. At the time I was subscribed via email to David Hobby’s Strobist.com and Joe McNally’s Blog. On my customized Google page, I already had widgets to take feeds from a few other blogs including David Ziser’s Digital Pro Talk, Photoshop User TV, and Planet Photoshop. Then that list started growing. It now includes Virtual Photography Studio, Scott Bourne’s Photofocus and Photo Attorney. That doesn’t even include the photography sites I’ve bookmarked. I realized I needed a better solution to keep track of all the blogs I follow. I tried Google reader, but then I remembered Alltop.
Let me take a moment here to talk about the education of a photographer. I suppose you could take the traditional route and go to school to learn photography. Me? I’ve learned from blogs and websites and personal experience. I have a lot of peers who are relatively new to photography and love to schedule so many photoshoots that they hardly have time to edit the images afterwards. I agree that the best education is practical experience. Every shoot, every press of the shutter should be a lesson. But you also need time to “hit the books”. Some of the world’s best photographers are sharing their knowledge for free! Why not take advantage? Set aside some time each day or each week to read a little…and learn a lot!
Ok, I’m off my soapbox. Now, go to www.alltop.com and create an account. Now you can customize your page and select your favorite blogs. The topics are not limited to photography but search for that topic and you’ll get a ton of photography related blogs. Just add your favorites and voila! You can even set the order of how they appear.
Here’s my alltop page: http://my.alltop.com/harrylimphotography.
I hope you’ll find some useful resources!
