Stuck In Customs

NBC Video and Behind-the-Scenes

Besides the video below, there is an extended article with more behind-the-scenes stuff you might enjoy. Jim Swift from KXAN here in Austin did a nice story on the whole thing. And, thankfully, he cut out the parts of the video where we REALLY look like idiots.

100 Cameras in 1 (iTunes link).

Is an Android Version coming?

If you scroll to the bottom of the KXAN Article the question came up and we addressed it there. I know you are excited about it! So am I, obviously! 🙂

Sunday Approaches…

The big video release is just two days away… It took me a small eternity to finish, but you’ll zip through the whole thing in a matter of minutes.

Daily Photo – Girl in Hat

One morning I woke up early to go visit the Summer Palace in Beijing. Since it was the week of the national holiday, I was not the only guy that woke up early. Around the outskirts of the palace, there were thousands of celebrants in all sorts of garb. And plenty of cute kids in fanciful headwear. I saw this little girl, so I got down to her level and took a quick shot with the 50 prime.

I hope this one is sharp enough for you… I know on Flickr sometimes I get a few photo-nerds that complain, “errr…you’re a little soft in the lower right quadrant.”.

NBC News in the Studio

Be sure to check out the NEW #10 effect, "Around 3 A.M..." - we've changed it completely so that it will suffuse all colors into a soft sepia and turn several existing colors into a velvet red.

We had an NBC news video crew led by Jim Swift over in the studio yesterday to talk about our app hitting the Top 10. He interviewed Mark and I for the news — btw, Mark is my clever developer at Lavacado. The segment should be out soon… and I’ll be sure to put up a link to the video here!

Jim Swift did a previous news report on HDR photography — you might enjoy that video… it shows my son and I out taking some photos together.

Version 2.1 is Live!

The new update for 100 Cameras in 1 (iTunes link) is finally out.  And, even better, the big 3.0 update is well under way.  Here’s the new stuff!

2.1 Update ? Double resolution texture effects for hi-res file saving
2.1 Update ? Higher resolution icon for Retina Display
2.1 Update ? Higher resolution thumbnails for iPhone 4
2.1 Update ? Re-mastered all texture-effects for the hi-res output
2.1 Update ? Check out Effect #10 now “Around 3 AM”, especially for photos with red.
2.0 Update ? Add multiple effects to same photo with “Add Effect” button
2.0 Update ? Moving the slider will change the effect of the texture using overlay, hardlight, luminosity, the texture itself, or other methods depending on the nature of each unique effect

Big Video Release Sunday

I’ve put together a totally NEW kind of video for you. It’s kind of awesome. I think you’ll like it. So, be sure to come back Sunday morning for the unveiling. This begins the 3-day-countdown.

Daily Photo – The Last Sunset

It was one of those perfect sunsets where time went in slow motion. I was on high-alert, and kept everything flowing as I moved from location to location. It’s not easy to dance across rocks with the tripod fully extended, but it certainly is memorable!

I saw this dock early in the day, and I was secretly hoping that it might just point towards the sun as it passed the horizon. So I had this shot planned along with about 10 others. Some worked out and some didn’t. This is one of the ones that worked out.

Upcoming Events for You

The EG Conference

There is more info on the EG Conference website, and I think there is a pretty good chance they will be recording a video that I can share here after the event.

I’m excited about this thing – it should be a blast! See that Freeman Dyson is going to be there?  I’ve got a whole list of questions for him… like, in that episode of Star Trek The Next Generation, you know, the one with the Dyson sphere (“Relics” – Star Trek wiki), well, like, how did Scotty survive all that time in the transporter loop, and like, wouldn’t he lose some weight?  And well, yes, I guess you wouldn’t know that, but, why would any species capable of building a Dyson sphere build it around an unstable star?  I mean, that seems kinda dumb, right Dyson?  Right?

But seriously, I will also have a free photowalk one evening there in the Monterey area.  I’m not sure where exactly… maybe even over in Carmel, but I will announce that soon.

Daily Photo – Queenstown From Above

Ack! I miss Queenstown. When can I get back there? I need to make this happen.

My friend Gordon from Camera Labs (be sure to visit his site) goes up here to test a lot of his cameras and lenses. There’s a mountain here that you can reach by gondola, and the view is, well, as you can see, quite perfect! In this case, I used my new 28-300 lens, which worked out pretty well.

I’ve gotten to know the little town there pretty well. It’s fun looking down and knowing where I can get the best burger, the best chocolate, and five places that all serve great coffee. Jeez… just writing about it makes me want to go back even more!

Is my new Japanese Video racist?

I love YouTube commenters. You see a little bit of everything on there. And it’s wide open for every idiot to spout their nonsense. I had not checked the comments on my latest video for a while, so you can imagine my laughing reaction to some of the flotsam that has collected. See the comments here.

How to make these videos

If you want to see more of these sorts of videos, how I do it, more from Japan, and this sort of thing, come visit the Stuck In Motion page here on the site for a full how-to.

Daily Photo – Kimono Under the Cherry Trees

It was my second time to Kyoto, but my fourth time to Japan. I started to become more accustomed to the times of day and the comings and goings of the ladies in kimonos. You can see them most any time of the day or not, but they flood out of every crevice around this time of night.

The pink cherry blossoms made everything seem like it was right out the days of the shogun. I shot this with my second camera – the D3S that I had across my chest. My main camera is always the D3X on a tripod, and I was getting a lot of night photography shots. But I had my D3S with a 50 prime ready to capture things like this. Another nice advantage is that it seems to make the trees feel a bit more soft. There is another soft aspect to the colors – these prime lenses capture the tones in a very soft way.

Kimono Under the Cherry Trees

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2010-04-07 09:50:47
• CameraNIKON D3S
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time1/60
• Aperture1.4
• ISO2000
• Focal Length50.0 mm
• FlashNo Flash
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

The Big Austin PhotoWalk – Don’t miss it!

Come join us at SXSW for great night of fun photography. All skill levels are invited! Join the Plancast event and/or the Facebook Event.  We’ll be meeting at the gorgeous and famous Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin, which has always been very nice to me in the past… so they get a big thumbs up in my book.

• All skill levels invited – from beginner to beyond
• Great prizes for you!  My friend Jack Hollingsworth is coordinating all of this, so more news to come
• Is it your first PhotoWalk?  Don’t be scared!  Come along with whatever camera you wish.  There will be all kinds of coaches and other nice photographers to help you out.

We recently had an amazing PhotoWalk in London – check that one out and you can see a video, photos, and more.

Daily Photo – In Old China

I was nursing my cracked ribs at this point after my clumsy slip down by the boats. But I had a bit of that post-accident adrenaline that numbed it enough to keep shooting a bit. Also, I think I was a bit loopy because of the pain, but that can make for good artistic endeavors, I think. When I remember walking around this area, it’s all a bit more foggy than some of my other experiences, which are more crystal-clear. In some ways, I almost feel like I didn’t take these photos, even though I know I did. It’s strange thinking about it now.

Great Work at HDR Spotting

I started HDR Spotting last year to drive more attention to other HDR Artists out there. Whenever you click on a photo, it will take you to that artist’s website, portfolio, or wherever they wish. In the very beginning, to get it started, I put my own work on there, but I don’t any more since it has a vibrant life of its own now.

The site is still in beta as we add features, but there are still invites floating around out there. Be sure to go check out some stuff on the HDR Spotting main site or the Editor’s Picks. You guys should note that I am not the editor…hehe… We do cycle new editors in all the time and I hear it’s time for another crop to rotate in.

Daily Photo – Business in London

Walking along one side of the Thames after visiting some museums brought us to this business district. There was a misty rain for most of the day, so it set down a nice sheen of reflection. There’s a tiny water canal that runs through the center here, and the line leads right to the Tower Bridge (thx for edits in comments!), which you can see in the distance.

LA Times Article on HDR Photography

Thanks to Robert Lachman over at the LA Times who wrote this article on HDR Photography. As you can see, Robert is also a photographer that has the HDR bug! You can see that first image in there is his… not too shabby eh?

Daily Photo – The Creepy Green Stairs

Why are the stairs green in this? Anyone, Anyone? Bueller? Voodoo economics is the answer.

Instead of answering directly, I’ll let you clever readers figure out the answer and put it down in the comments… I have faith in you guys to figure it out!

This was taken in Kyoto, Japan on a rainy evening. This is one of the main temples that stay open late into the night. It’s one of my favorite times to come, because the crowds are gone and everything is extra-eerie. It makes it even more special while I’m listening to my special playlists on my iPod. It really gets me in the mood to make these sorts of shots.

The Creepy Green Stairs

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2009-09-30 04:24:19
• CameraNIKON D3X
• Camera MakeNikon
• Exposure Time8
• Aperture8
• ISO200
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashNo Flash
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias+2

HDR Tutorial now in French

A big thank you to Sylvain Montreuil for the French translation!

The International HDR Tutorial!

• Vous parlez français? Bienvenue sur le Tutoriel HDR en français.
• Fala Português? Confira o Tutorial HDR em Português.
• Hablas Español? Clic Tutorial HDR en Español.
• Mluvíte ?esky? Pokra?ujte zde!  HDR Tutoriál v ?eském jazyce.
• Speak English? Howdy! Visit the English HDR Tutorial.

Daily Photo – Sunday Brunch in London

I don’t know London very well at all. I can’t ever decide if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. It’s just a thing, I suppose. And it’s neither nor.

While walking through the streets you come across places that you should probably know what they are. Or maybe you see a charming old pub and you just assume that it’s quite famous. But I don’t know. I can’t tell one thing from the next…

But I did see this little restaurant one morning. The outside was covered in ivy and flowers, and this old couple was sitting outside on the bench. I don’t know why I set up for a picture… it was both mundane and not.

Newsletter released! More servers Max Out!

Did you miss the newsletter that went out yesterday? Then you missed a big event! I gave away something for free that it cased some major complications! By the way, you can still get it for free – just by signing up. Also, when you get the Welcome Newsletter, I suggest you go click on Newsletter #21, which is the most recent.

The newsletter usually goes out about 6 AM, and I kind of expected everything to go smoothly. I was wrong! I woke up… got my morning green tea latte… walked into my studio here and was bombarded with support / tweets / and email issues! We maxed out our servers in about 10 minutes. It turns out that not only was everyone clicking away, but they were telling their friends and everything. So, it was a long morning trying to figure out what the heck happened and talking with a bunch of techs and our support team to get to the bottom everything. Anyway, we’ve now upped the limit to 30,000 free downloads a day, so this should help. And for those of you that had problems, you should have received another newsletter today with links to get the freebie. Enjoy!

Other goodies in our monthly (more or less) newsletter:

• Details on upcoming events, giveaways, and inside info
• A digest of the best photos of the past month, in easy-to-see and easy-to-forward email
• You’re helping to prove Jason Calacanis wrong and beat his newsletter… he’s wont to making snide comments to me on Twitter, and I’m very competitive about these things.

Daily Photo – Ensnared in Flame

On my first evening in Barcelona, I dumped my bags in the room them went right out to explore. Unpacking is so boring… let’s face it.

I started going down side-streets and back alleys to where I heard activity and motion. I was more or less zig-zagging my way to Las Ramblas, where there’s always a lot of activity. But I didn’t want to go right there. During the weaving, I found this enormous cathedral nestled between a square of classical looking Spanish buildings. A performer had lit a unique homemade contraption of flames and was whirling it about. I got back behind her and set up for this shot.

New eBook for Canon Shooters!

This brand new 100+ page eBook from Joseph Linaschke (get it on Flatbooks) is amazing. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. It is just now available, and if you have a Canon camera, this has to be part of your world. Joseph has really raised the bar on these eBooks. He’s making me look bad! Besides the length of the book, it’s full of great tips and ideas whether you just got your Canon or if you’ve had it for a while. Trust me – you’ll love it.

Daily Photo – The Love Locks in Paris

There is a little bridge in Paris – maybe you have heard of it – where starcrossed lovers visit. They bring tiny padlocks with them. Sometimes they are decorated, and sometimes they are just fanciful. They affix them to the bridge that overlooks the Seine. Now, the bridge has thousands of these little love locks… It’s all very nice, and perfect for some low f-stop photography, of course!