7up with LimeSometimes we get caught up in what things are suppose to be.  Photographs of soft drinks are suppose to be dramatic and colorful.  I wanted to so something all more elegant.

And as an artist it is important to do things that don't always follow the norms.  That is where inspiration and artistic evolution comes from.

Photograph of Frozen YogurtI recently did a fun photo shoot for a new frozen yogurt and smoothie shop in the Southglenn Mall.  Working with things that are cold is always a challenge in which you have to a quick trigger finger.  

We went through alot of frozen yogurt and yes we attempted to eat it all. (we didn't accomplish that task)

The Smoothie image did go smoothly (yes pun was intended and I apologize for that) 

Photo of a smoothie

The video by Leo Laporte over at TWIT is the reason I love what I do.  There is so many interesting ideas and fun problems so solve.  I don't shoot video, but the production of a photo shoot is similar.   I found the video via Chase Jarvis.

The idea of a tablet computer has interested me for a few years now. But I have always felt that up until this point they were computers with a touch screens.  The tablet functionality always seemed secondary on all these past attempts.  I was excited to see what apple would come up with because I have been using the iPod Touch and a tablet computer for the past few years.  While I feel apple has not lived up to expectations on creating the revilutionary device that would end world hunger, I feel with a few good app developers this could become a very useful tool to the professional photographer.

I have a few Ideas on how this may be accomplished.

1. Camera tether without other computer: On the IPhone there is already an app call DSLR Remote that allows you to tether your camera to your computer and control your camera. If you could do the same thing without the computer I would be a very happy man.  In conjunction with the camera connection kit that you can buy for the iPad this might be possible.

2. Rethink the sourcebook: I feel that the source book could be reimagened by taking the best of printed and web versions and make a kind of hybrid sourcebook.  It could be more easily updated like the website and have a few interactive features while having a page layout that allows better viewing of the images.

3. Photoshop compainion program:  Many photoshop user use two monitors.  It's a nice pace to put tool pallets and see a full view of the image while working at 100 percent.  The iPad could easily fill these functions and more.  It could also be a small wacom like monitor in witch you could do simple masking and dodging and burning.  

4. On the go image manipulation and publishing:  There are a whole slew of iPhone apps that very easily let you do simple image alterations and publish them to sites like twitter, facebook or blogs from the small device.  This could be taken to the next level.  I'm not saying that we put the desktop version of photoshop on this thing, but the possibilities that this device could facilitate interesting imaging apps are exiting.

5. Distribute a well designed paperless portfolio book:  Websites have greatly changed the landscape on how people view portfolios.  But websites have there limitations, that is why I still have a rather expensive printed portfolio.  With this It may be possible to make something that builds on the experience of both the interactivity and ease of updating of web and the beauty of a printed book.  And to be able to distribute this through ether the app store or the new ibooks store would make it easy to get it into the hands of your clients.

6. Save the publishing industry from the world of web design: Websites have lots of advantages, but they are mostly ugly and don't work well for articles of a decent length.  Also the size of images that go with the articles make me sad.  This could be changed by opening up the layout possibilities to fix these two problems.

The first full week is done, and the project is evolving.  And what is it evolving into, a book I hope.  So here is the lowdown, every week there will be seven images.  Every year there are 52 weeks.  So other then stating the obvious that means that there would be way to many images to put in one book.  To remedy this I am going to pick the best image that week.  This is where you come in.  You will pick that image every week through a poll.  The winner each week will end up in the final book.  So get out and do your civic duty and vote. (at the bottom of the page)

Now on to the images...

September 27, 2009

September 28, 2009

September 29, 2009

September 30, 2009

October 1, 2009

October 2, 2009

October 3, 2009

Well maybe I wouldn't die, but as a professional photographer that moves around a lot, studio, on-location, travel, and home my needs are complicated.  These tools help me get things done.

Online Tools

Freshbooks - Online estaminets and invoicing that work great.  It will help you manage clients, organize, receive payments, and sending the invoice.  They will even mail it for you.

Squarespace - I must say you have to check these guys out to understand how much I love them.  They have really made something outstanding.  They made my dream of an easily updatable website come true.  It's perfect for the creative that understands enough about making websites to get themselves into trouble.

SlideShowPro - I use this in tandem with Squarespace.  If you use SlideShowPro with SlideShowPro Director you get a Livebooks like gallery feature for a faction of the price.

Google Calendar - A calendar with multiple users is a must to manage the studio calendar in a shared space.

Google Voice - Imagine one phone number that you can forward to any phone or multiple phones, that is what google voice can do.  I love it.

Google Reader - It's sometimes hard to keep up with industry news.  Google reader brings it all under one roof and makes it easy to scan for the important stuff.  

Iphone - or ipod touch in my case

DSLR Camera Remote - Remotely control your camera and tether to Lightroom with this nifty app.  When I found this little guy a wanted to kiss someone I was so happy.

MiniBooks - A iphone interface for freshbooks.  It lets you make estaminets and invoices on the fly.

Tweetie - The twitter client I use.  It works great.  Handles multiple accounts if needed.  Really nice interface. 

The Weather Channel - I need to know the weather if I'm shooting on location.

PushGmail - Push notifications for gmail and loads the gmail mobile interface with out having to enter your password.  I like the gmail interface a lot more then the iphone mail app.

Desktop Tools

Lightroom - It keeps me out of photoshop, and that saves me a lot of time.  It controls my workflow from capture to output.  It makes my life as a photographer much easier.

Export Plugins for Lightroom - I use several export plugins for lightroom.  Not sexy, but useful.  You can find them for various uses.  Two I like are LR2/Mogrify (borders and watermarks) and LR2Twitpic. (Send photos to twitter)

Photoshop - I really don't need to say anything about this one.

Quicksilver - This app can do a lot if you get to know it.  It lets you do things in a strange and a whole new way.  Merlin Man has some good examples on how to use it.  I use it as a system search and an application launcher.

Hazel - This one is a bit hard to wrap your head around.  You make rules and it does things to files the follow your rules.  It works kind of like itunes smart playlists.  I use it to make multiple backups during a photoshoot without doing anything on my part.

Tethering is a must for any studio shooter and even location shooters are moving that direction.  It changes how you work by making you slow down and craft the picture.  This ironically saves you time and prevents costly mistakes.

I recently had a issue when Canon's tethering software stopped working.  I'm still not sure why but when I open the application it closes immediately.  After much pulling of hair I decided to go done a different road and find a new tethering solution.

When searching for a solution to this problem I had a few requirements.  One, It had to be able to integrate it with my most beloved application, Lightroom.  Two it had to work all the time.  I've always had issues with Canon's software when connecting to my camera, and I could no longer stand it.

I started my search by looking for a plugin for Lightroom, I found this by a company called Mountainstorm.  It only works with Nikon cameras.  Then I took a look at Capture One.  It was total over kill.  I didn't need a program that replicated half the features of Lightroom.

Then I stalled.  I had no options for a workable tethering solution. Even google failed me.  I thought was all knowing.  My faith was shaken to the core... Then I saw a light. (I'm getting a bit over dramatic, but lets roll with it)  I rembembered a little app the ships with all macs called Automator.  It's lets you design simple workflow applications without writing a line of script.  I had played around with it a few times but I did not find any compelling use for it.  But now it might just solve my problem.

I dug in and after much trial and error I came up with a solution.  It isn't perfect but it works.  I'll post it below.  To use it you have to create a folder on your desktop titled watch.  Set up Lightroom's auto import to import any pictures from the folder. (File, Auto import) Then connect your camera to the computer and launch the app.

Problems, yes their are some.  To make it import more then one image with out having to relaunch the application, I had to put in a loop function.  The loop function only runs up to 999 times.  So if you have a shoot in witch you take more then 999 pictures you'll have to relaunch the app.  Also the Lightroom watch folder has to be empty, but the function that downloads the images from the camera will only put them into the pictures folder.  The move function did not work, it made the app crash.  I had to use the copy function instead.  Thus leaving a copy of each image in the pictures folder.  This makes you need to clean up you pictures folder a bit afterwards.

But the very next day I found what may just be the holy grail of tethering to Lightroom... (I hate to go all cheesy tv drama on you, but...) To be Continued. 

Here are the downloads both in app form and in an automator file. (Incase you want to get under the hood and try to make it better)  I take no responsibility for this application and by downloading it you agree to waive any responsibility I have for any and all problems this application may have or cause.  I'm giving it away so cut me some slack.

Download Here

Enjoy!