The Digital Photography Show #10 – The Canon SD550, the MacBook Pro and Your Questions and Comments!
The Digital Photography Show #10 – The Canon SD550, the MacBook Pro and Your Questions and Comments! (MP3 – 17MB – 48mins.)
June 8, 2006: Thanks for joining us for the terrific tenth episode of the Digital Photography Show!
No guest today – Michael and I shoot the breeze about random stuff including:
- Michael’s new point and shoot camera – the Canon SD550. It’s a really sweet little camera and we’ll tell you all about it.
- Then it’s onto his other new toy – the luscious MacBook Pro 17 inch notebook. It even has a built in camera, which is why we can get away with talking about it on our show!
- Then we discuss an article in Wired Magazine about how to make a little money – and we do mean a little money – off your photography. Interested in picking up a few bucks for photos you’ve already taken? Check it out.
- Lastly, we answer some of the questions and comments our listeners have left on the blog and on our email. In those discussions, we mention Imagenomic Noiseware Pro and The Equipment Lady.
As always, thanks for listening. Please let us know what you think of the show by leaving a comment below. And we’d be especially grateful if you’d leave a positive review on iTunes or Yahoo Podcasts. We live for your love.
Scott
June 10th, 2006 at 2:01 am
Hello there -
Love the show. Just tried to download the latest episode in iTunes and got an error. Figured you guys would want to know about it if you hadn’t already noticed.
Keep up the good work!
June 10th, 2006 at 6:33 am
For some unknown reason, Episode 10 is not showing up in Itunes. Hope you can get this fixed.
June 10th, 2006 at 8:13 am
We’ve gotta stop meeting like this guys … this is the second podcast where I’m mentioned in the podcast :)
Anyways, another great show … I enjoyed it as usual.
Michael, I’m sure you’ll really enjoy your 17″ MBP … I’m typing on one right now and I love it. When is Scott going to cross over to the dark side and get a Mac? Come on dude, you are the last photographer on the planet that still uses Windows.
By the way, iTunes is giving the following error when trying to update your podcast: “TPN :: The Digital Photography Show does not seem to be valid Podcast URL”
See you on #11
P.S. Scott I owe you an email regarding LOST ‘n stuff… I’ll get it out this weekend.
June 10th, 2006 at 10:08 am
Mary and Agile, thanks for letting me know about iTunes. That service is very tempermental, but it should be working now.
June 10th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
This is Greg from Switzerland. Thank you guys for mentioning my webpage in your show. For anyone interested, here is the link: http://gregfoto.ch
The Picasso anecdote is from the book: “Letters to Vanessa” by Jeremy W. Hayward (amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570620776)
June 10th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
Hey you guys,
nice show, as always. Finally I cought up to the most recent show, starting at #1 last week.
All this time I was wondering, and didn’t find anything on the website about this, if there was someplace, where we can admire your photgraphy? Like a flickr page or something.
Just a quick sidenote about Switzerland. They speak German over there, Swiss German, but I think it’s still referred to as German. At least they also got that stupid spelling reform, as we did in Germany. (Just for the sake of accuracy, there are also parts, where they speak French, Italian and Romanic).
Keep up the good work,
Adrian from Trier, the oldest city of Germany
June 13th, 2006 at 7:16 am
Great show. I especially liked Michael’s review of the Canon SD550 since it’s the camera I use. I agree with Allen that Scott’s life won’t be truly complete until he owns a Mac. I switched from PC to Mac 5 years ago and wouldn’t consider going back. As a man who enjoys photography, elegant equipment, creative endeavors and kids…Scott needs a Mac.
June 13th, 2006 at 10:24 am
G’day, fellas!
Prodded by your call in this episode for contest winners to write in, I’m commenting to let you know that The Better Photo Guide to Digital Photography did arrive, and so far I’m about half way through it and thoroughly enjoying it. The best thing about it is that all subjects are presented in bite-sized chunks, which perfectly suits the maximum five minutes I get to myself with the kids around. Thanks!
Yours,
Garth.
June 15th, 2006 at 4:54 am
Hi guys,
Great shows, keep them coming. I just listened to your comments on the Photo Studio in-a-box and I agree with you about the camera stand. But in defense of American Recorder, they state on their website that the stand fits most compact digital cameras, key word compact. It doesn’t support my Canon Rebel XT DSLR without taking a nose dive. I’ve been using the product for the past few weeks and it does a pretty decent job of making product shots. True, the lights are on the weak side, unless you are in a very dimly lit room, but just about any lights will work fine. Try using the studio in a box outdoors in sunlight and you’ll see quite a difference. I do appreciate the ease in setting up the unit as compared to some of the competitors units.
Anyway, that’s my two cents worth. I really enjoy your programs and appreciate your efforts. Thank you.
Chris
June 15th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
Great shows…glad I found them. I’ve devoured all ten episodes in three days and anxiously awaiting the next ones. Its just my style I guess. I do the same thing with photography magazine subscriptions such as Outdoor Photographer and Popular Photography…cover-to-cover the day I receive them. With this kind of an appetite, I very grateful the folks like you are producing entertaining shows and bringing in quality interview guests. Keep it up! Now I just have to get out and shoot more photos!
June 15th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
Hey guys,
Just wanted to let you know I downloaded the new episode last Sunday from iTunes and had no trouble. I am one with my pod (listen to it every day), and it downloads automatically. What a great set up that is for anyone with an iPod. Thanks for the mention on the show…I’m feeling the love and you still have me laughing. As usual I was on my way to work on Sunday and enjoyed every minute of the show. Scott, I was sorry to hear about your $79 light box fiasco, but it sounds like you turned it into quality family time, using it for a stage for action figures, how clever is that….heheh.
I can’t wait to hear next weeks show, good idea for an interview. I marked her web site. I can see where I am already starting to gather more than is needed and sales is in the future for that excess camera equipment.
I have my sights on that 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX VR II Autofocus Lens, could life get much better? Other than my macro lens this could be a lens that spends most of the time on my camera.
I do have that Nikon Zoom Telephoto AF Zoom Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G Autofocus Lens that came from B&H for $139 and I must admit I’m amazed at the photos I’m getting with it. Any thoughts on that one? Why so cheap I keep telling myself. I have no complaints for the money.
Well that’s it for now. Have a great week-end with the family and shoot lots of photos. I’m on call for the ER but hopefully I’ll get the week-end off for once. Life is good. Take care and as always, stay safe.
Denise :)
June 16th, 2006 at 1:51 am
Hi Everyone!
Scott is down in the DC area hunting for a new house. It is taking longer than expect, so we might be a bit delayed with the release of the next show, sorry. If anyone has a spare house in the DC area for sale, please let Scott know.
To make matters worse, Scott’s tablet PC crashed during his trip. I know being so disconnected has got to be killing him. Allen, I was thinking this might be an opportunity for Scott to get a Mac. Don’t hold your breath. More likely this will be an opportunity to buy a new tablet PC. Of course I’m just speculating. I am loving the MacBook Pro. It’s quite zippy and nifty. Compared to my old 12″ screen, the 17″ screen is huge. I do miss the light weight of the 12″ screen. When I first met Rick Sammon we both had the same 12″ PowerBook. We both like to travel light.
Mary, I’ve been using my new Canon SD550 so much lateley since it is so darn convenient. Now I really do have a camera wherever I go. I was starting to get concerned that I was losing interest in the D70. Not so.
Denise, I too have been considering the new 18-200mm lens. I am not too keen on lenses with a greater than 3x zoom, but this lens is pretty well regarded. I was glad to hear that Scott Kelby used this on his D70. It’s going on my list, after the D-200 upgrade.
I have never used the 70-300G lens. My brother has a D70 and the 70-300ED lens. There is not much difference in price. I found his lens to be a bit soft even compared to my ancient 70-210mm. I was impressed with your gallery. Your images did not seem soft at all. Most of your images were in very well lit conditions. It seems to perform reasonably well when stopped down a bit. The quality issues often become more obvious when shooting wide open and in lower light. Ultimately, you do not need great lenses to make amazing photos.
Anway, enough of my rambing…thanks everyone for your comments and for listening to our show. We love hearing from you. Stay in touch.
Michael GW Stein
June 16th, 2006 at 5:33 am
Thanks Michael….I take all of my surfer photos with the 70-300mm lens and am Quite happy…but I could get happier with that new lens…LOL. If Scott moves to DC will you still keep doing the show?
Denise :)
June 16th, 2006 at 8:26 am
Hi Denise,
Yes, when - not if! - I move to the Washington DC area we will still be doing the show. Michael will be “the guy on the phone.” I will have the power to edit him maliciously!
June 16th, 2006 at 1:55 pm
Andy from London suggested Tips and Tricks…here’s one of mine. I’m an obstetrician and I like to take pictures of every new baby I deliver for the giant collage in my office. Since babies (all kids for that matter) are in constant motion, I was getting many motion blurred images. On advice from a fellow physician photographer, I now switch the camera from single shot to continuous and inevitably get one or several great shots. I delete the remainder after I review them on my computer. Thank God for digital photography.
June 17th, 2006 at 11:43 am
Hi guys,
I just joined in for episode 10 and was surprised to hear you mention the crowdsourcing article. If you are interested in hearing more about iStockphoto.com, check out our podcast at http://www.studiolighting.net (LightSource).
On our episode 12, we had an interview with iStockphoto founder and CEO, Bruce Livingstone. (I’ve also been an active member of iStockphoto for like 4 years now as well.) Anyway.
Interesting show. Thought I’d drop you a line.
June 20th, 2006 at 12:01 am
Hi from Australia guys.
I own a photo lab in South Australia and am a keen photographer. It is really refreshing to listen to your shows which are not only informative but really down to earth, and I love your sense of humours too.
Michael - I have just recently purchased the D200 which I use for business and pleasure, and absolutely love it.
Love the shows, keep up the good work.
June 20th, 2006 at 11:10 am
Hi Guys… me again. I just thought I’d drop another article for you to read on istockphoto. http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/features/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001806311
June 21st, 2006 at 1:28 am
Hi Everyone,
I just visited Greg’s website, and although I don’t speak a lick of German, his beautiful photos spoke out loud and clear. Just wanted to say, “Great job, Greg”. I would encourage everyone to take a look.
June 21st, 2006 at 4:46 am
I have been using istock photo for about two years to purchase stock photos for my small business. I can buy decent photos for brochures or ads for a couple of bucks. This is another example of the Internet as disruptive technology
June 21st, 2006 at 6:18 am
Mary,
Thank you very much for your nice comment; I do very much appreciate it!
The last weekend I was taking pictures at a rock concert of a local band. It was the first time for me photographing in such light conditions. I had my Canon 5D, the 24-105/f4 lense and my Canon 580 flash with me. I tried some ‘available light’ and flash photos. Not quite easy… ‘available light’ means ‘dark’ most of the time, so you have to go for high ISOs, like 1600, and even with the open aperture for quite long exposure times.
Flashing tends to spoil the atmosphere. I did some good pictures mixing these two techniques. Exposing for available light and flashing with the flash stepped down 1-2 steps, just to lighten the darkest shadows.
I also tried the ’stroboscopic’ flash. I had a hard time to find the correct settings for this. Manually controlling exposure time, aperture, flash frequency (Hertz), and flash intensity was a real challenge. I’m not quite yet satisfied with the results. Some of the photos have the desired stroboscopic effect (especially the drummer) but lack on atmosphere (too much flash light, too less available light).
You can find the photos at my website if you are interested to take a look.
Greg
June 23rd, 2006 at 3:12 am
Glad to see eveyone’s on the line chatting!
Mary - thanks for the tip - listen for it on air this week!
June 23rd, 2006 at 11:28 am
Hi Micheal & Scott,
I’m CJ….
http://www.pbase.com/cjmorgan/self_images
I’ve been enjoying your show as I go for my walks. I
download them to my iPod and find the quarky
interaction between you two quite amusing as I’m
listening along. It’s really quite entertaining.
But eductational as well. For example, it’s from the
show that I was given to check out Noiseware. So that’s
for that — it’s proved quite useful.
Michael has his new SD550 camera. And yes, it’s quite
handy to have. Although I have a ton of gear and
enough good glassware, there are still times where the
best solution is just to always have a very compact
pocket camera with us. Below are some images made
with the Canon SD450 camera. It’s the camera I take
with me when I don’t want to lug around a heavy bag
of gear, and even take with me when I’m also out and
about doing my “serious shooting” (the SD450 at those
moment quite useful even just for making visual “notes”). Anyway, these are some shots with that
camera….
http://www.pbase.com/cjmorgan/sd450
To say I’ve been shooting for a while is, well, to
describe what most of my life has been. And these days,
to be able to say anything which might be of help
others with their image making is as satisfying
as making some good images myself.
To that end, the best and most univesal photography
tip I can offer comes in the form for three simply
words: kill the clutter.
There is not a single day when I’m out shooting where
“kill the clutter” doesn’t get employed in my shooting.
The essence of it is that what we want to show others
in our images always communicates better when we make
best efforts to eliminate (or at least minimize) any
visual distractions. In the simplest possible terms,
what’s subject matter is subject matter, and what’s
not subject matter is just clutter.
And the phrase “kill the clutter” is a mantra each
photographer should walk with until it becomes second
nature to their every shooting practices.
And those three simply word are a heck of a lot more
useful then ever following a whole bunch of
compositional rules.
So that is the absolute best tip I can afford: make
“kill the clutter” your mantra until it becomes a
second nature practice for all of your shooting,
for the times of serious shooting, and even for the
times where we’re just making snapshot.
Hope that’s of help. And thanks for both an
entertaining and educational show. Keep it up to
both of you — quite enjoyable.
CJ