around the net: volume 8

Another great week here in Cincinnati. Yesterday was a fun photo shoot at the Newport Aquarium (Greater Cincinnati area) of their interactive Frog Bog exhibit (over 20 species of frogs on display). We covered both photographs and video of the exhibit for a new client, the creators of the installation. Continually learning new things is really what keeps me hooked on photography.

There have been really informative comments left by readers concerning image processing, editing and retouching softwares. A surprising number of readers are using Linux (it’s on my personal computer), the open source operating system alternative to Windows and OS X. If you’re not familiar with Linux and open source, it’s technology (an operating system and software programs) developed by an open community of users and developers rather than by a commercial company. From a question prompted in yesterday’s comments section, John Brainard (faithful reader and self-proclaimed Dorky Photographer) wrote this great article on the practicalities of using Linux for photographers. Thanks, John!

We’re all familiar with the software products produced by the big companies but Jim (another Jim) let me know about Pixel Image Editor. It works on any operating system you can imagine (attention, Linux users) and a license costs $29. If you’re a tinkerer or just curious it might be worth a download. I’m going to give it a look, just for fun.

I also ran across an open-source software project that has Lightroom- and Aperture-like features for Mac, Windows and Linux. The screen shots look really cool. It’s called BlueMarine and there is a free download available on their website. I have to throw in a caution here, though. This is software that’s still in development so read the materials carefully before you decide to try it out.

Another new thing: prophotolife video pod casts on iTunes! Yep, it’s true, you can start downloading everything from “stick-in-a-can” to portrait pod casts of the prophotolife video episodes. Right now there are a couple episodes available for downloading and the rest will be added as time allows (more this weekend). These are the same web-resolution / quality that’s been streaming here on the site, so please don’t expect a cinematic experience. This just provides a way to download the videos to your computer or iPod in all of their low budget glory (and, as always, they‘re free). Many thanks to Rick Duncan (some nice work on his Flickr photostream) for getting me thinking in this direction! If you already have iTunes installed you can launch to the prophotolife channel here or very soon you’ll be able to do a search on “prophotolife” under pod casts in the iTunes store.

About a year ago I was searching for info on Eastern European black and white films and processing and I stumbled across The Online Photographer. I was immediately taken by Mike Johnston’s honest, intelligent writing style on photography and bookmarked the site. Well, it’s one of those bookmarks that got away. Last week I rediscovered The Online Photographer and am glad I did. He’s been at the photo blogging business since 2005 so there’s a ton of great, diverse info on photography there worth checking out, everything from photo book reviews to camera tests to personal recollections on a lifetime spent around photography. Good stuff.

And if you’re in the Cincinnati area, remember we’re having the prophotolife studio get-together next Tuesday evening (more info / please drop a note if you can make it). It’s a low profile, casual evening of like-minded photographers getting together to talk about photography. We’ll pull out a little something to eat and have the sodas on hand, feel free to bring whatever else you’d like.

Before closing I’d like to give a shout out to the folks at Imaging Insider, it’s always a great to get a mention from them. They post quick bits from about every internet photo site you can imagine, displaying it in a way that’s informative and easy to get through. When I want to see what’s happening all over the photo blogosphere at a glance, they’re a top resource.

And how about Alfonso at nova-foto.net? He’s taken the time to subtitle video episode 13 for the Spanish speaking community. How cool is that? Muchas gracias, Alfonso!

Have a great weekend, take some photos, and I’ll see you Monday with a new video…

Later,
Jim T.