Computer and Photography Tips

Midweek Geek Links for 9-4-2008

It’s time for this week’s Geek Links!

• Google just released a public beta of their new browser, Chrome. For in-depth reviews on the broswer, check out Ars Technica and LifeHacker.
• More Google tidbits; Geekabout.com gives us the 17 most bizarre sights on Google Earth.
• Last Google entry, I swear! Here’s 101 Google tips, tricks, and hacks. Seriously, no more Google stuff today.
• Steve over at PaxtonPrints gives us a good tutorial on Using Textures to Create Scratches and Distress Your Images.
• Even though it feels like the Adobe CS3 install disc is still warm from our disc drives, it looks like Adobe CS4 is not that far away.
• For all you science geeks out there, check out the Periodic Table of Videos, where you can see a video presentation on each element.

Beginning Photography Tips - Fill the Frame

In one of my college photography courses, one of the most helpful (and simple) tips I learned was from my black and white photography professor when he said, “If you’re having trouble with your photography, try getting closer.”

After thinking on this for awhile I looked back over my shots and saw that, for any given subject, I was backing up or zooming out so that I was sure to get the most content within the frame (frame, here, meaning the confines of your camera’s sensor, not the big wooden square hanging on your wall). To many beginning photographers, the concept of “filling the frame” means “fill the picture with as much extraneous content as humanly possible,” which is exactly what I was trying to do. The subject of my pictures was unclear because I had included a lot of its surrounding environment.

Get $100 Off Amazon’s Kindle

Ok, the temptation is mounting. I’ve been thinking about getting a Kindle to satisfy the bookworm in me, and now it’s looking more and more like I’m going to. Why? Because Amazon announced this week that they and Chase have partnered up for a pretty nice offer. Here’s how it is explained on their product page:

Blogging for your Boss - Part 1

As in any office job, I’m required to keep my boss posted on the various projects I have going on. We usually meet up once a week to touch base and for me to get direction on existing projects as well as projects that are down the road a bit.

Sometimes, due to our schedules, one or both of us aren’t able to meet. It’s these weeks that are a little more hectic than others and we find ourselves struggling to stay on track. I considered using the wiki I installed a few years ago to keep us on the same page, but it’s best used for documentation (which is what I use it for!). Then I got to thinking about using a Wordpress installation and that seemed to fit the bill much better.

Now, I’m sure some of you are thinking, “What about email?!?” Yes, there’s no doubt an endless volley of emails can keep the ball rolling, but I was more interested in creating a report of sorts… kind of like a, “this is what I’ve been up to this week,” which is exactly what most blogs are anyway!

Digital Photography Workflow - High Contrast Effect from Start to Finish

Your digital photography workflow is important because it’s the process that you employ to create an image. Each step in the workflow is important as it makes each sub-sequent step easier and makes the overall workflow more efficient, allowing you to devote more time and energy to creating great images.

One key to creating great images is starting with a great photo and then enhancing the photo further in Photoshop. In this tutorial, I’ll explain how I setup the lighting and composition for the photo and then used Lightroom and Photoshop to end up with the final image.

No Flash Photography

Often times when you are at a public event, you will hear someone announce, “no flash photography, please.” A lot of people assume that they just can’t use their cameras because their flashes usually fire automatically. This is especially true when you’re indoors with low light.

Last weekend, I enjoyed an acrobatics show on the General Jackson. Before the show began, we were reminded that flash photography was not allowed. I grinned to myself, picked up my camera, and made a few adjustments that I knew would allow me to take great photos without using a flash.

Why the Sound of Music Sucks Today - Part 2

In Part 1 we learned that the loudness of music we hear has an effect on how we perceive the way it sounds. More to the point we learned that a louder song sounds like it has more bass and treble and therefore sounds better on most small stereo systems. So what harm can it do for an engineer make their mix sound louder than someone else when the volume limits are set by the playback format and the listener?

Back when music was delivered on phonograph records there was a limit to how much information could be etched into the disc before it cut across the grove and rendered the disc unplayable. On magnetic tape there was a limit to how much magnetic energy the tape could hold before it became distorted. With digital audio there is a limit on how loud you can go when sampling the sound-wave. That limit in digital audio is called 0 db (zero).