TeachMeToShoot blog

I’ve written before about the benefits of joining a local camera club. At our last club meeting I learned about a very nice, and quite affordable, method of presenting your photos.

The company is called Artist Showcase and they do Plaque Mounts. They take your supplied photo and pressure mount and laminate it onto MDF board. The edges are beveled and colored to your specifications. It’s a beautiful and unique finished product.

A variety of laminate finishes are available: Satin, Linen, Canvas and others. Your print is UV protected and sealed from moisture and damage. Spill a soda on it, wipe it off and it’s good as new.

Check out the Artist Showcase website to see the different mounting styles available and pricing for each. I like the look of the Box Mount and the Plaque on Plaque as it adds more dimensionality.

If you live in the Denver area you can go see them yourself. Otherwise, you can send them your prints and have them ship the finished Plaque Mount to you. It really is a nice way to display your photographic artwork.

You’ve likely heard the saying "There ain’t no free lunch." 99% of the time it’s true. There’s usually some catch or hidden costs.

Ordering free business cards from Vistaprint will only cost you the price of shipping. You get 250 full color cards for just a few bucks.

Vistaprint has both Standard and Premium business cards. Wait for a deal on the Premium cards. They are printed on heavier paper stock and there are a lot more designs to choose from. Premium cards routinely go on sale for between $3.99 and free.

You’re taken step by step through picking a design, adding your text, changing fonts, colors and sizes, to a preview and approval of your card. It’s simple and takes about 5 minutes.

Visit the Vistaprint website and you’ll see today’s deals. Sign up for their email list and you’ll get daily announcements. Within a week you’ll see Premium cards for free.

If you’re just starting your photo business this is an inexpensive way to get business cards to promote yourself.

This time I’m not talking about Photoshop or any photo editing software. I’m referring to useful glass filters that screw on to the front of your lens.

Unlike film, digital photography allows us to add color effects and enhancements in post processing. Therefore, you don’t need too many filters.

Protect the lens – with a UV filter. Some people will debate this to death, but a high quality UV filter on the front of the lens will not change your image quality one bit. AND, you’ll keep that pricey lens clean and protected.

I’ve seen many instances, one of them my own personal experience, where a lens was dropped and the UV filter took the hit.

Enhance the image – with a Polarizer. Polarizing filters reduce glare and refection off water, glass and foliage. They can darken the blue in the sky and make the clouds ‘pop’ out.

Your fall foliage pictures will have more saturated colors. You can ’see’ through water to what’s below. Polarizers are VERY useful, but don’t leave it on your lens all the time. And if you use a UV, pull it off and put the Polarizer on. Don’t stack them.

For Landscape shooters – invest in a Gradual ND filter. Cokin, Singh-Ray, Lee and others make high quality Grads. These square filters slide into a holder attached to the front of your lens and are only half colored.

They allow you to darken the sky and bring the exposure value closer to the foreground. No more washed out skies.

Since so much can be done in post processing, these 3 filters will suit the needs of 90% of the digital photographers out there.

Flash drives. USB Thumbdrives. USB Portable Drives. These little storage devices go by a couple of different names. Whatever you call them, they are quite useful and every digital photographer should have one.

One ongoing fallacy about USB drives is that you can download images from the camera directly. No. Can’t be done. These are dumb devices; just storage space.

You’ll find a variety of makes and storage capacities. I would not get anything smaller than 1 gig, although if you want to go all out you can get the new Transcend 16 gig device. Lexar and Sandisk are my two recommended manufacturers and you can easily find 2 and 4 gig USB drives for $25-$50.

Just make sure you buy a unit that is USB 2.0 compatible. Don’t go for the no name 2 gig drive for $10 if you want fast data transfer.

What are they good for

• Transferring files between your laptop and desktop. Some USB drives come with synching software.
• Putting a bunch of photos on it to take to the local camera store for printing. Delete after you’re done.
• Storing your internet Favorites or Bookmarks. Always have them with you.
• Store a limited backup of important files.
• For techies, keep your favorite applications stored on it. Anytime you visit a client you have all your favorite tools. (Some software makers offer ‘Portable’ versions of their programs just for USB drives)

I’m sure you can find more uses for a USB drive. Go get one already!

Nikon has released updates for their Capture NX and Camera Control Pro software. Both of these add support for the new D60 body along with some minor improvements. Visit the Nikon Tech support website and you’ll find the Capture NX 1.3.2 updates here. The Camera Control Pro 2.1.0 updates are here.

Polaroid is getting out of the instant picture business. They’re closing 3 production plants and letting go of 450 employees. Their thinking that people would still want instant pictures just didn’t pan out. Digital P&S cameras and quick printing at your local drug store, camera store or grocery store is apparently quick enough for everyone.

You’ll still be able to get Polaroid film into next year and Fuji will continue to make certain instant films, mostly for pro use.

The last Lighting 102 assignment over at Strobist is about Double Duty Lighting. It sounds easy: use one strobe and reflective surfaces so the light comes from multiple directions. David adds a twist by also narrowing you down to 1 of 3 concept choices.

Read the whole assignment and go grab the mirrors off your wife’s vanity. Or the mirrored tiles off your wall.

This sounds like a fun assignment.

Run, don’t walk, to your favorite bookseller and get this new book by Joe McNally. Nikon shooters may be familiar with Mr McNally as he is one of the masters of the Creative Lighting System and appears on the Nikon DVD (The Speed of Light) on that subject.

Amazon.com: The Moment It Clicks

This is not your typical "how-to" book, although you can learn a lot from it. Each 2 page spread contains a photo and a description of how it was done. A huge variety of photos are contained within these pages, from portraits to sports to product shots to just plain fun stuff.

Read each spread carefully as there’s a lot of information about light and lighting. He is one of the current masters of lighting, whether it’s available light or strobes.

You’ll also get to see inside his camera bag(s) and lighting kits. Those of you who suffer from NAS (Nikon Acquisition Syndrome) may want to skip those pages as it will just drive the desire!

Visit his blog for a dose of humor and a wonderful insight into the joy of being a photographer.