The TRUTH regarding Glossy VS. Matte Screens
A few days ago, my new friend Sarah posted in one of our local photography group forums a question about Mac screens. Her concern was regarding the quality of printed images that you get when using a glossy screen vs. Apple’s “upgrade” to a matte screen. The question was curious to me, as I’d never heard someone make the correlation from screen type to print quality. In discussing it with her further, I found the source of this concern. Keep reading and I’ll share how Sarah came to this concern and the truth about glossy vs. matte.
Review: LightCompressor – HDR App for Mac
HDR, or High Dynamic Range, photography has been all the rage the last few years. With the advent of digital photos and post processing software, this has become very easy to create these images. There are a number of purpose built applications that do nothing but HDR, and do it very well. LightCompressor falls into what I would call the “Entry Level” HDR apps. It was develpoed by Tai Shimizu. He is also the creator of one of my favorite iPad Apps, FilterStorm. Keep reading and we’ll take a closer look at his newest work.
Apple’s App Store for Mac is ALIVE!
Remember that Apple’s App Store for Mac went live today. As the name implies, it’s THE place to by applications for your Apple computer. Just like the iOS App Store, it’s super easy to use.
Just click the App Store icon in your Dock to access the fun. If you don’t have the icon in your dock yet, then click Apple Icon>Software Update to download & install it.
Once installed, you’ll find fantastic photography applications like CameraBag Desktop and Light Compressor (a fun little HDR app from the same dude that make the iPad app Filterstorm). Side-note: Light Compressor is on sale today for $0.99.
Review: Square – Credit Card Payment App/Service
As forewarning, this post isn’t about cameras. This post is about how to get paid for what you do with your camera. Specifically, how to take credit card payments. For those not aware, accepting credit card payments through traditional methods hasn’t been super hard but it wasn’t super friendly either. Businesses would typically sign up for a merchant account with a company that processes credit card payments for various credit companies. The usual arrangement is you pay a monthly fee to process payments, either buy or rent the equipment/terminal to run the payments, then you pay the credit card companies a base rate plus a certain percentage of each sale. When I was running my own videography business I wasn’t doing the kind of turnaround required to warrant a merchant account. I was booking about 15-20 gigs a year and it didn’t seem worth it to me to carry that monthly overhead. It seems like a lot of cost in my opinion to offer an extra service for my customers. As a last resort I accepted payment via PayPal, but that just never seemed as professional as I wanted it to.
The founders of Square had the same issue. As their website outlines, they were struggling artist who wanted to be able to accept payments from a larger audience. And like it or not, most of our world runs on plastic now. So Square started with a simple principle. Let anyone with a smartphone accept credit card payments without all the overhead and hassle of creating a merchant account. In my mind, they have exceeded. In my opinion, their is no better way to get started. Keep reading for more details.
Read the rest of this post »
How to take New Years Firework Photos
Well, it’s almost a new year. That means it’s time for parties and fireworks. I wrote a post last year that keeps on coming in handy for everyone, so I like to bump it to the top about this time of year.
This will give you everything you need to know to get started. Follow it and your firework photos will look awesome! I made this post a day early this year just so you would have an extra night to take out all your equipment, test, and make sure you had it ready for the big fireworks show. If you know your fireworks show will last a long time, then you might want to play around a little after you get your standard photos and see what kind of creative results you can get. One of my favorite things to do is zoom in/out during the exposure and get some pretty wild results. Be creative and see what it yields for you.
Most importantly, have fun and stay safe.
Holga at the Beach
It’s freezing outside! What better way to warm up than enjoying some beach photos? Vicki and I took the baby on her first beach trip last March. It was just a quick weekend get-a-way, so I decided to leave the DSLRs at home and just take a few light film cameras. This is just a little excerpt from shots that I took with the Holga 120N. I was using Kodak Ektachrome E100G. It’s a very neutral film that produces more realistic color and skin tones. Although I’m a more than a little tardy sharing these with you, I was happy with the way they turned out. Click the link to see more.
Review: SanDisk RescuePRO Recovery Software
It’s Christmas Day. Everything is crazy. Driving to visit family. Making sure everything is packed & all the gifts are ready to go. Add to that a sick baby, and you have a recipe for photographic disaster. In the middle of setting up lights & testing exposure at the grandparents house, I decided to reformat my CF card to clean the slate for the photos at their house. The only issue is that I hadn’t yet downloaded the photos from the last 2 days. That’s right. I potentially lost hundreds of photos from my child’s first real Christmas experience. Keep reading to find out how I fixed the situation.
A Christmas Message from Dan Edwards Photo
To all my readers,
From my family to yours, we want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope that everyone is able to spend time with their families and that you are surrounded by the ones you love. Most importantly, remember that today is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. I hope the love of Christ will fill your hearts and homes today and throughout the new year.
Sincerely,
Dan & family
Shooting Head Shots under Florescent Lights
Ah, the internet. It helps me daily. Earlier this week it helped me get a gig. A friend needed new headshots for his company’s website, so I got the call. I shot the original photos for his website a little over a year ago, but it was time for an update. He had a new employee, a new hair cut, and was ready for an over all update. I was happy to help.
Last minute stocking stuffers for photographers
Here is my short list of things every photographer can’t get enough of. These make great stocking stuffers. Use the links to order from Amazon
Holga 120N (Uses 120 film)
Westcott 40-Inch 5-in-1 Reflector
Manfrotto Lite-Tite Umbrella Adapter
Lumiquest LQ-119 The Softbox III
HonlPhoto Speed Strap for Shoe Mount Flashes
Plus, add the HonlPhoto Color Correction Filter Kit
Also, get them some fun reading.
“LIFE Guide to Digital Photography: Everything You Need to Shoot Like the Pros” by Joe McNally
