Chris Searle

I was reading a story on PDN this morning titled Smart Phones for Smart Photographers that discussed how today's mobile devices have a variety of tools that are helpful for shooters -- including their built in cameras. I had one of those "smart phone moments" this weekend while I was moving out of a storage unit (finally!) on Saturday morning. It had rained that evening, but the sky was beginning to clear. As I sat there in my VW van ready to take the first load to the house, I saw this interesting composition. I didn't have a "real"...

"I spotted these statues (and pigeons) at Columbus Circle at the southern end of Central Park, New York," said Rick Brandt. "So I captured this grab shot with my Canon G9." The ISO was set to 100, shutter speed 1/250th at f/4. Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion. The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club. 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference. Metadata listings for every photo in the book Dedicated chapter on making printing easy. Photo management software guide. Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience. Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily...

Bogen is hosting a webinar titled, Selling Your Products Online? Learn How to Shoot Products that Sell Themselves on Friday, Oct. 3 in the afternoon. Led by Mark Astmann and Christopher Abbiss, Lastolite Product Managers, they will discuss the Cubelite –- a quick portable lighting system perfect for taking web images, along with other lighting options and tips to achieve great images with a digital point and shoot camera. They will also demonstrate positioning and placing light on your products, along with white balancing your camera to eliminate unwanted colors to your images. The only catch is that you...

If you've ever wondered if Photoshop's Smart Objects are something you should be using, you might want to listen in on this conversation with Deke McClelland. I interviewed him at Photoshop World in Orlando, and wanted to hear why he thinks Smart Objects are worth learning. Deke does a terrific job of providing an overview to this nondestructive function in Photoshop. It's a good listen if you want to get up to speed in less than 20 minutes. Follow me on Twitter - Technorati Tags: Adobe Photoshop, Derrick Story, digital photography, Technology, The Digital Story...

Photos are important, but what about all the work associated with them? If you've spent time keywording, sorting, rating, adding captions, and making non-destructive image edits (XML), then you should be backing up that information too. Because at the end of a year, that work can represent hours upon hours of your time. In this podcast, I discuss things you need to know about preserving your labor as well as your images. I cover techniques for Lightroom 2.0, Aperture 2.1, and Photoshop CS3. Monthly Photo Assignment Missing is this month's photo assignment. This can be taken so many ways....

The August 2008 Photo Assignment was "Competition," and we have a terrific selection of images to show you -- 14 photos submitted by Digital Story members who demonstrate their ability to capture the competitive world around them in their camera lens. To produce the gallery, the pictures were first loaded into Aperture. I then added the accompanying stories to the IPTC caption field and combined it with the EXIF data from the photograph. The final step was to create a web gallery in Aperture and upload it to the Digial Story server. You can view this month's photo assignment...

"A workman checks the skylights embedded in one of four hills of the Living Roof of the new California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco," writes John Hershey. "As hot air rises from the exhibit floor, the skylights automatically open, functioning as vents. The planted rooftop provides superior insulation for the building below, substantially reducing energy needs. It absorbs 98 percent of the rainwater -- preventing ecosystem pollution, and is planted exclusively with native species." "I shot this during a reserved preview day a week before the official opening of the new Academy structure." John used...

I've been reading up on the just-announced Sigma DP2 compact camera, and I have to say, I don't quite get it. I do understand that it uses the same 14 megapixel (2,652×1,768×3 layers) direct image sensor as the SD14 and DP1, which is huge for a compact. But the lens is a prime only at 24.2mm (equal to 43mm on a full frame sensor) with a maximum aperture of f/2.8. Now, I love prime lenses as much as the next guy, but this day in age, why would I spend hundreds of dollars on a camera with only a...

SanDisk announces their latest, the 16GB SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash card with transfer rates up to 45MB/s. The cards should run around $399 initially. And I guess we're going to need 'em. Now with Raw capture at 12 MPs and well beyond, along with adding video to DSLRs, storage becomes important. But it's not just the memory card in your camera. If you're purchasing 16GB CF cards, then you better have a plan for expanding hard drive capacity on the post production side of the equation too. My point being, as we buy new cameras, and purchase big cards...

Adobe has taken the wraps off Photoshop CS4. I've been working with prerelease copies for months, and I have 10 favorite features that I want to share with you in today's podcast. This is a terrific update, and I think you're going to enjoy what Adobe has done with our "must have" photo application. This means that I also get to announce my new book, The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers. This guide fits nicely in your laptop bag and maps out an easy to use workflow for photographers using CS4 -- everything from upload, to organization, to image...

Nikon just announced their newly redesigned AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G lens among all of the hubbub at Photokina. Nikon's 50mm combines great optical design with low light performance and their Silent Wave Motor, making this optic a top choice for existing light photography. Along with the new Sigma 50mm f/1.4 and offerings by other manufacturers, I would say that the 50mm lens is back in business. Mounting these reengineered optics on new high-resolution sensors gives photographers access to exciting, gritty image-making, and at a reasonable cost. Personally, I love it! Follow me on Twitter - Technorati Tags: Derrick Story,...

I was just talking to a photo buddy who had purchased four of these Ultralast UL-BP511 Canon BP-511 Equivalent Digital Camera Batteries for only $2.49 each. He said the performance was excellent, and that opinion seems to be backed-up by 54 customer reviews on Amazon. The battery looks just like the Canon brand (that sells for about $50 US), and has good specs. Could be a great deal. The only catch seems to be that it's only available in the US. Follow me on Twitter - Technorati Tags: Batteries, Canon, Derrick Story, digital photography, Technology, The Digital Story...

"This image was taken in Central Park, New York," said Martin Herrera Soler. "I guess these things only happen in New York? I never got to really know why this couple went o grab a hot dog... perhaps the reception food was not so good?" Martin captured the newlyweds with a Canon 20D, ISO 400, 1/160 and f5.6. If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story. And you can view more images from...

Put that empty hot shoe to work with the just-announced Jobo photoGPS, a $159 Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver that is triggered by the hot shoe contact on your camera. The "device allows automatic geo-tagging by capturing raw GPS data and time which enables new and more efficient ways to search, visualize, and share photo collections," reports PCPhoto. Jobo is launching the product with Windows software to sync data with your images, but a Mac OS X version is promised by the end of the year. If it turns out to be reasonably easy to use, this could be...

Rob Galbraith has just posted an excellent preview for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. "Canon has announced the EOS 5D Mark II, an update of the oldest camera in its digital SLR lineup and one that the company promises will deliver the best image quality and lowest noise of any EOS model to date," reports Galbraith. "Headlining the 5D Mark II is a 21.03 million image pixel full-frame CMOS sensor that is derived from the sensor in the EOS-1Ds Mark III, but with several improvements meant to improve shadow rendering and noise levels at all ISO settings." "The...

How far is too far when it comes to portrait retouching? Do you smooth the skin, brighten teeth, and add sparkle to the eyes? Is it OK to reduce the size of the nose, make the eyes bigger, and take off a few pounds here and there? Here's a photo of an attractive woman. She looked pretty in the original shot. And because I liked her bone structure, I used her portrait as a retouching example in my upcoming book, The Photoshop Companion. How does this shot look to you? Is it natural, or can you tell that I've...

Sometimes you have to work fast. Like "passport photo" fast. That was the case today when a PR professional needed a quick head shot. Neither one of us had much time, so i noted just how long it took to deliver a gallery of images from the moment we met to the moment I sent her the URL. The verdict: less than 90 minutes. Start with the shoot itself. The sun was nice this afternoon, so we walked outside with a Canon 5D and the 70-200mm f/4 L lens. No extra lighting, or even reflectors were used. I positioned...

Regardless of which photo management software you're committed to -- Aperture, Lightroom, iPhoto, or your Pictures folder -- Karelia iMedia Browser will let you quickly look into any of those libraries. And if you want, drag something out. Oh, and if that wasn't cool enough, the download is free. iMedia Browser has the handsome looks of Apple's Media Browser, and it runs wickedly fast. You can leave it running on the Dock, so you can take a peek inside any of your photo libraries on the fly, and if needed, drag out a shot. iMedia Browser also has a...

One of my most enjoyable encounters from Beijing was with Mine Kasapoglu, a photographer who resides in İstanbul, Turkey where she works as a freelance shooter. Mine started covering Olympics in 2002 at Salt Lake City, and has been working them ever since. I just published a podcast interview with Mine, where she talks about her early encounters with the Mac platform, her introduction to Aperture at the Torino Olympics, and about her approach for covering the Beijing event. She is just a delight, and i think you'll enjoy what she has to say. Photo of Mine by Mustafa...

"I was rambling around, looking for subjects for the TDS Photo Assignment when I came across this window," said Mark Given. "Odd little storefront building with other flags behind other windows, too. I was struck by the contrast between the 'Americana' montage created by the flag/building/trees reflection, and the concept of a flag behind glass. Is it a patriotic display or a simple curtain, keeping us from seeing inside?" It certainly is a sign of the times right now in the States. Mark used a Nikon D80 with the lens set to 28mm and the ISO at 400. If...