Have you been storing your original images on your MobileMe account? You did not back up your images and are now scrambling to figure out how to save all those precious images? You can download your photos and movies from MobileMe. Not to worry I got your back
About MobileMe and all your albums you have stored there I did a little research since you and I are in the same "Digital Boat". As you already may know you can not move your MobileMe albums to iCloud. However you can sync the albums back into your iPhoto or Aperture Library. Start now because as of June 30th, 2012 MobileMe will go offline. I suggest doing this in stages as some of you may have an extensive library of images.
Apple's MobileMe Sync to iPhoto or Aperture instructions are below.
The countryside in the East Yorkshire is amazing! Quiet, serene and peaceful. I stayed in a village called Kilham. A quaint English village that has a convenience store, 2 pubs, fine art gallery, post office, butcher and a church all nestled inside of 2 blocks. The village is surrounded by farmland. One of the farmers even has an honor system produce stand. The brussels sprouts on the stalks were only 1 pound per stalk!
Walking through one of the fields we came across a cabbage field. They looked like purple brains in the snow.... a little eerie in the still quiet country cold air.
Also in the slideshow are a two shots of Bridlington Beach. My favorite shot is of the colorful changing bath houses.
The slideshow above if you click on an image it will take you directly to that shot on my website. All images are available for download.
When singer / songwriter Risa Binder contacted me to shoot an off the cuff unplugged music video where she performs at a sweet shop. Intrigued with the challenge for this musician I opted to take on the assignment. At the dessert shop Risa reviews some of the sweets and then performs an acoustic guitar version with musician Ryan Bull of one of her songs, in this video Risa sings "You Made It Rain". We shot one cold rainy afternoon in Brooklyn, NY at One Girl Cookies. Since Risa was on tight budget I planned to do this assignment solo. The trick for me was how can I get two camera angles, be mobile, work fast and not disturb the customers with obtrusive video gear. I came up with the "J Rig". The "J Rig" consists of a Bogen flexible magic arm, 2 stud adaptors and 1 Adorama umbrella flash bracket. Mounted to this rig was a Nikon P7000, Hero HD camera and a Sony wireless stereo mic receiver. The rig worked perfectly allowing me to move freely and still be able to use the zoom on the Nikon P7000. I directed Risa to only look at the Nikon knowing that this camera will be the "A" footage. The Hero cam was set to it's widest setting R4 giving the "B" roll an almost fish eye look. This worked perfectly due to the tight space we were shooting in at One Girl Cookies in Brooklyn, NY. After filming for 2.5 hours and a major sugar rush from the incredible Whoopie Pies we had what we needed.
As I began the edit process I presented Risa the first cut which was just over 7 minutes. Risa informs me that her record label Warehouse Records, LLC and publicist Shore Fire Media after seeing the quality of the video wanted to use the video to promote the release of her album Paper Heart. The one requirement was we had to cut it down to 3 minutes so it could be used on the Official Facebook Music Page. After a few more edit sessions cutting the acoustic song of "You Made It Rain" in half we finished in time for Risa's February 14th release date of her album Paper Heart.
RISA'S DEBUT OF HER PAPER HEART ALBUM - EVENT DETAILS WHO: Risa Binder - Vocals; Doug Yowell - Drums; Ryan Bull - Guitar; Lee Nadel - Bass; Chris Lopresto - Keys; Nadia Ackerman- Background Vocals; Anthea White - Background Vocals WHERE: Rockwood Music Hall 196 Allen Street New York, NY 10002 212.477.4155 WHEN: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 7PM RSVP: jpage@shorefire.com
Are you a musician in need of video or still shots for your CD artwork, press kits and website? Contact me and I'll be happy to discuss your project in detail.
In the upcoming Inside Apple book by Adam Lashinsky, it's revealed that Steve Jobs had expressed interest and subsequently met with the CEO of LYTRO, the makers the first light field camera.
Quote from the book: The company's CEO, Ren Ng, a brilliant computer scientist with a PhD from Stanford, immediately called Jobs, who picked up the phone and quickly said, "if you're free this afternoon maybe we would could get together." Ng, who is thirty-two, hurried to Palo Alto, showed Jobs a demo of LYTRO's technology, discussed cameras and product design with him, and, at Jobs's request, agreed to send him an email outlining three things he'd like LYTRO to do with Apple.
The light field technology by LYTRO is poised for the smartphone market..... especially the iPhone 5. I can't tell you the number people I've seen who have simply no clue to touch the area of their screen to focus the picture. The LYTRO technology will eliminate this all together. Being "focused" on the moment before you is key. Having the ability to focus after the image is taken is a better way to approach an image.
I've actually had the pleasure of a hands on demonstration of the LYTRO camera. You can read about that experience on my blog post by clicking here.
LYTRO - as a camera I'd have to say NO, however as a technology LYTRO's breakthrough will be a welcomed feature in any smartphone, tablet, digital camera or imaging device.
Nikon has finally released the news that the Nikon D4 will be on the shelves starting in February of 2012. Finally a Nikon camera with some cojones!!! I personally have been waiting for this camera since 2009 when I realized the Nikon D3s was sub-par. Some features I am excited to put the test are the facial recognition system, the 204,800 ISO which should be noisy but could play that up to create some interesting images. Ohhhh and finally the 1080p video... YES! That is the sole reason I did not purchase the Nikon D3s because it was wimping out at 720p for the video. I have to say was a bit upset to see the $6,000 price tag when the past price point for Nikon's flagship cameras had been steady at $5,000. OUCH!!!
Here are some things to note about the Key Specifications for the Nikon D4: • 51 AF focal points - When people's faces are priority subjects, the Advanced Scene Recognition System delivers particularly outstanding performance. The camera's auto-area AF mode accurately recognizes human faces and achieves sharp focus immediately and automatically • D4 also has the all new card format. • 16.2 effective megapixel, full-frame sensor (16.6MP total) • 10fps shooting with AF and AE, 11fps with focus and exposure locked, 24fps 2.5MP grabs • 91,000 pixel sensor for metering, white balance, flash exposure, face detection and active d-lighting • ISO Range 100-12,800 (extendable from 50 – 204,800) • MultiCAM 3500FX Autofocus sensor works in lower light and with smaller apertures • Two sub-selector joystick/buttons for shooting orientation • 1080p30 HD video at up to 24Mbps with uncompressed video output • The D4 is designed for crisp stereo recording with a built-in external stereo microphone connector. Attach the compact Stereo Microphone ME-1 to record clear sound while significantly reducing mechanical noise. An external headphone connector enables use of headphones to effectively monitor and control audio in isolation. The indicators offer visual confirmation of audio level and the microphone sensitivity can be precisely controlled in 20 incremental steps. • New EN-EL18 battery (21.6Wh capacity, CIPA-rated at 2600 shots) • Twin card slots - one Compact Flash and one XQD • Wired and wireless communication system The D4 employs a built-in wired LAN function of IEEE802.3u standard (100BASE-TX). Moreover, the D4 is compatible with the compact, easy-to-connect, newly developed WT-5A/B/C/D* (optional) that realizes high-speed wireless transmission. Also, IPTC (International Press Telecommunications Council) data can be automatically added to the images within the camera. In addition to input with a camera, it is possible to add information to a series of images at high speed using an IPTC file created on a PC in advance. *Wireless Transmitter WT-4A/B/C/D/E is also compatible.
Click on the living LYTRO image above to see the technology in action.
Today LYTRO had a hands on demonstration at the Wired Store in Times Square in NYC. I was fortunate to have the trial run with Lytro's uniquely designed light field camera at a pre-demo special invite only session. Ooooooo fancy right?
Here's some pros and cons just from my brief encounter with the camera. [table id=6 /]
The thing about the LYTRO Camera is... this is the first one. Yea obviously Spencer thanks. When the LYTRO 2 comes out the ones that got the first one will say "Awwww man I wish I waited." Although as the light field technology progresses the older LYTRO digital files will be able to use the latest LYTRO software advances. Which is smart on LYTRO's part because at some point in our past digital experiences the digital media we created just won't work on the latest computer or OS. Like my buddy Douglas who had bought the first Leaf digital back for $30,000 and at a certain point that digital back only ran on a certain Mac computer running a certain OS software. However LYTRO claims that your living images will be able to keep on living even when the newer LYTRO technology takes over from the old.
Cindy talks straight up in this video... "We can not use old world advertising in a new world market." If you are about to create a new business venture or currently have a business then watch this video. For those of you that are experienced business veterans - definitely watch this video you will be let inspired and empowered. Cindy Gallop may be talking about "Advertising" however the premise of Ms. Gallop's talk can be applied to not only business but life, politics and world economy
Over the past 10 years I've had to shift my focus and the way I market my photography business. I used to just shoot fashion, beauty products and corporate executives but after 911 I lost 70% of my clients. Fashion clients dropped their original production schedule dramatically. InStyle magazine use to keep me quite busy then I found out they started shooting the still life products on their desks! I did not want to give up my photography career. Yet my photography business basically imploded and I had scramble to reinvent my photography business in a different way. By creating multiple streams of income from my iStockphoto portfolio, small business & creative consulting, web development, SEO consulting and social media marketing. These new avenues gave me a whole new direction for my business.
Now that I had a new direction my marketing routine had to be "blown up" as Cindy puts it. Cindy says "the only way to create something new is blow up what you already have and start from scratch." I use to do the e-campaign promo followed by direct mail piece. All that time and money generated nothing. Nope, nada, no work came in from all those efforts. How do I know? Anytime my phone rings and a potentially new client is calling I make sure I ask them "How did you find me?". Keeping track of where your advertising dollars are working or not working is marketing 101. So what did I do to put in place of the old marketing? I redesigned my website and loaded it with proper SEO keywords. I recently had my site graded by HubSpot's website grader and it got a 76 out of 100. Not the best if I was in school looking for an "A" but for a website 76 is really good and yes there is still room for improvement. Blogging is a key element to a business's presence online and a blog generates approximately 46% more traffic to a website. The key for my business is networking. ABC.... to the sales people out there ABC stands for "Always Be Closing" but in my case ABC stands for "Always Be Carrying" business cards. When ever I hear of an opportunity that my skills can fill out comes my vintage business card case and I simply say "I can help you with that... here's my business card." Nothing pushy just polite and simple. If you are looking to make some business cards yourself Moo is great! Simple to use, versatile, green options, and excellent quality.
If you have any questions that you'd like answered comment on this post. Come on it's just us.
My intention is to use my tutorial section of my site to provide useful photography, marketing, business, dog whispering and matchbox car racing information and tips.
