One more reader image...

This image is from Pauline.

"I'm from Genoa Illinois, near DeKalb, home of Northern Illinois University and lots of corn. But I was raised in Massachusetts. Go RED SOX! The model was a local girl, Alanna Twiss, who was training for a competition. She was great! There were four budding photographers and our host Roxanne Marie shooting. Roxanne first taught us a class on wedding photography and has graciously continued to provide us with wonderful photographic learning experiences."

A readers "Dave Hill" image..

Thanks to Ceci for taking the time to send us her faux "Dave Hill" image...

Click on the image to view it larger.

"My men before & after"

The "faux" Dave Hill look...

I had a lot of people ask me what I did to two of the images from last weeks Veterans Day parade.

Last spring I had a post that showed folks how they could (barely) emulated the Dave Hill look.

You can find the tutorial here and it's really pretty quick and easy.

Should you give it a try please share the results, we'd all love to see them.

Click on any image to view larger and in a new window.

Model photography...

Here are some shots from a recent session, it was the first time I worked with Penelope and first shoots (like first dates) can be kinda awkward and clunky, but this went well.

We were going for subtle and understated and I think we hit the mark.

If I can give one piece of advice, when shooting anything, shoot away even after your subject thinks it's over as this is when you get some good stuff.

Image 2 was taken after I told Penelope to "take a break" and image 5 was while she was having a conversation with my assistant.

Candid is king.

Click on any image to view larger and in a new window.

One of my favorite podcasts, "Digital Photography Life"...

One of my favorite photography podcasts is (eerrrr, was) "The Digital Photography Show" with Scott Sherman and Michael Stein.

If it had to do with photography chances are they not only talked about it, they also had an informative guest to boot, so you can imagine how disappointed I was when the show suddenly and mysteriously ended.

And if you (like me) wonder what happened the "The Digital Photography Show" you can get the facts directly from the horses mouth at Scott's blog.

The most important fact is that Scott and Michael are back on the podcasting circuit with their new show "Digital Photography Life".

As if listening to Digital Photography Life isn't enough (trust me it is, it's photography candy for the mind) they give away great prizes on their show and through their contests.

Some of my phoDOGraphy…

I humbly submit some of my dog images for your review and critique (click on any image to view larger & in a new window):

Today's Veterans Day Parade...

Here are some images from today's parade that was held in our little town of Biddeford Maine (click on any image to view larger):

Veterans Day 2008...

How come no one told me about Camera Dojo?

About a week ago I stumbled across Camera Dojo and was blown away.

Not sure which was more surprising, how good it is, or how I've missed it for so long.

No doubt it was a large (right wing) conspiracy to keep me in the dark, everyone knew about it but didn't tell me (much like the guy who is walking around with toilet paper stuck to the heal of his shoe), snickering at my ignorance.

;)

But seriously, here is a screen shot of the categories:

Sure, sure, anyone can have a good looking list of the things that they cover, not only do they cover them at Camera Dojo, they do an outstanding job.

They cover subjects with the depth and detail that leaves you completely informed.

A website was not enough, they also have a podcast, forums, Flickr group, and blog.

And there is something for everyone, if you just picked up a camera for the first time yesterday, or have had one surgically attached to the end of your arm for years, there is something for you at Camera Dojo.

Their site is crisp, clean, well laid out, and easy to navigate.

So if you are one of the handful of people who didn't know about Camera Dojo, run - don't walk, over to their site! The rest of you can stop snickering now.

A free lunch for Veterans...

Actually, it's a free lunch to veterans and active duty military.

On Veterans Day, Tuesday November 11th Applebee's restaurant will give a free meal to all current and former military personnel.

From their website:

Select Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar restaurants (164 participating restaurants nationwide) invites all active duty and veterans to pull up a chair for a meal and heartfelt thanks this Veterans Day.

"It's an honor to host an event that helps the neighborhood come together and say thanks to our veterans and active servicemen and women." said Mike Archer, President, Applebee's.

You can read the details and fine print here.

It's easy to say thank you with words, it's more impressive to say thank you with your wallet.

This is a pretty impressive show of thanks.

A shout out to a friend...

One of the things I like about writing this blog is the people I meet. I have come in contact with (and gotten to know) folks from all over the world that otherwise would never have been known to me.

One of those people is Mike Palmer. You have "seen" him here before, his last visit here was when he wrote a review on "Digital Food Photography".

We have actually had the pleasure to sit down together with our families and break bread (well, we actually broke lobster) and I'm looking forward to their return to Maine next summer.

Anyway, I am a regular reader of Mikes blog, and I would encourage you to be one as well, he posts some great stuff.

So when you have a minute, give Mike a visit, and be sure to tell him I said hi.

Nikon releases major firmware update for D300...

A few days ago Nikon released a major firmware update/upgrade for the D300, here's a list of the fixes and new features. You will find the links to download the update are at the end of this post.

1. The Highlights playback option has been moved from Display Mode > Basic photo info > Highlights in the playback menu to Display mode > Detailed photo info > Highlights.
2. The size and color of "Demo" displayed in the monitor with playback when No memory card? in the Custom Settings has been set to Enable Release have been modified.
3. The range of settings available for ISO sensitivity settings > ISO sensitivity auto control > Minimum shutter speed in the shooting menu has been increased from 1/250 - 1s to 1/4000 - 1s.
4. When shooting in hand-held live view mode and the frame is magnified prior to auto focusing, operation has been modified so that display returns to the magnified display rather then the full frame display.
5. Images captured with Rotate tall, in the playback menu, set to On, are not automatically rotated for display immediately after capture (image review).
6. A Copyright information has been added to the setup menu. When Copyright information is enabled, the copyright symbol ( © ) is shown on the LCD display, Shooting info menu.
7. Recent settings can now be displayed in the place of My Menu.
8. Custom Setting e3 Flash cntrl for built in flash ( e3 Optional flash when an optional Speedlight is mounted on the camera) can now be added to My Menu using the Add items > Custom setting menu > Bracketing/ flash.
9. The degree of the High ISO NR setting can now be confirmed in the shooting info display while the High ISO NR setting item, in the shooting menu, is being applied.
10. Ankara, Riyadh, Kuwait, and Manama have been added to the Time zone options for the World time item in the setup menu.
11. When a GPS device is used and no heading information is available, --.--° is now displayed for the Position / Heading option in the GPS item in the setup menu.
12. When shooting in live view mode using Camera Control Pro 2 (ver. 2.2.0 or later) with a PC-E lens, the aperture setting can now be adjusted from the computer.
13. Focus acquisition performance in dynamic-area AF mode has been improved.
14. Focus acquisition performance with contrast-detect AF has been improved.
15. Auto white balance performance has been improved.
16. The fourth digit in seconds display for GPS latitude and longitude information is now rounded off rather than omitted.
17. The current MB-D10 battery type setting can now be confirmed in the shooting menu display when R6/AA- size batteries are used with the Multi-Power Battery pack MB-D10.
18. An issue that caused an increase in noise when shooting in [M] exposure mode at a shutter speed setting of bulb with the shutter held open for less than 8 seconds and Long exp. NR enabled has been resolved.
19. An issue that prevented shutter release at the specified shutter speed when no operations were performed for 30 seconds in mirror up mode has been resolved.
20. An issue that caused abnormal image display when Image review was set to On and the playback zoom in button was pressed immediately after shooting at the following settings has been resolved.
Image quality: NEF (RAW) + JPEG
NEF (RAW) recording: Lossless compressed or Compressed
Image size: S or M

21. When the Speedlight SB-800 was mounted on the camera with flash mode set to distance-priority manual (GN) mode, and the camera recovered from standby mode triggered by the auto meter off function, the distance information in the SB-800 changed. This issue has been resolved.

Windows users can get their update here.

MAC users can get their update here.

Please...

Cast your vote today.

The October 2008 photo contest winners...

The thing I love about this contest is all the beautiful images I get to look at, the bad thing is I can only pick two as winners.

And it's only coincidental that both of this months winners shoot Nikon.

;)

So, drum roll please...

The first October 2008 winner is Mark Pellegrino of New York City "New York City?" (ala Pace salsa commercials).


Location: New York City
Equipment Used: Nikon D700 and the 14-24 2.8 Ultra, ultra wide angle lens
Post Production: The post processing was done in Lightroom 2.0 with the de-saturation brush

From Mark: "This is clearly the 9-11 lights of New York last month on Sept 11, 2008. The tunnel you see is the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel entrance and the bridge in the back is the Verrazano Bridge. It was taken from the 20th floor of a residential building on Rector Street as the ceremony was going on. The lights were moved from the actual ground zero site to the top of this parking garage as construction has begun on the new freedom tower. Funny from afar I always thought they were two big spot lights. Turns out its about two sets of 50 spot lights."

The second winner is Sheri Lewis from sunny (and warm) Florida.

Location: Sarasota, Florida
Equipment Used: Nikon D50, Nikon DX 18-55mm Lens
Post Production: Adobe CS3, converted to Black & White and darkened the black silhouettes

From Sheri: "I'm an amateur photographer and was scouting a location for a friend's outdoor wedding, to see where the sun would set. I was walking the grounds and noticed how beautiful this tree's silhouette was with the sun setting behind it and the clouds just made it perfect. I wanted more contrast so converted it to Black & White and it came out beautiful."

It certainly did.

The prizes for Mark will be a ProShot 2 GB compact flash card from EdgeCorp and a compact flash case from Hakuba USA.

Sheri will be receiving a ProShot 2 GB Secure Digital (SD) card from EdgeCorp and a LensPen also from Hakuba USA.

Thanks to everyone who entered this month, the November contest is now open so start sending those beauties in!