Miscellaneous Monday Morning

Ah the joys of a new school year...

Two days into it, my three-year-old already has her first cold. Unfortunately, this means that I spent the majority of the weekend keeping her from sneezing on (or generally just getting in the face of) her little sister. We had a good time watching cartoons, playing in the warm bathtub, and enjoying the benefits of that age old remedy Vicks Vaporub, but it also means today's Monday Morning Ten has again had to morph into something else.

With that in mind, last night, I Had a brainstorm, and decided that from time to time I'd write articles about the basics of photography I sometimes get asked by friends and family. The new "Back to Basics" feature was going to premiere this morning. So I hopped into the truck and headed off to the big Catholic church across the street from my neighborhood to snap the example photographs that would perfectly demonstrate my first subject.

When I arrived, I found a funeral service in progress. Alas, "Back to Basics" will also have to wait until another day.

So what do I have to offer to you today you might ask? Not much. Not because I didn't have high hopes or grand aspirations, but because it just wasn't in the cards for today.

Here's a couple of tasty nuggets that might be of benefit:

1) Photomatix, one of the better HDR rendering tools available, and already a good deal at $99, is available to students and faculty of educational institutions (proven with a valid .edu email address) at a 60% discount!!! You can find the academic pricing page, here.

2) Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Books (vol.1 and 2) are going to be available as a boxed set (at a discount) through Amazon.

3) Don't forget our photo contest... the prize is a $50 B&H gift card this month... I know it's a shameless personal plug, but I'm impressed with the work so far, and I'd love to see more!!!

Hope that everyone is having a great start to the week.

Comments

[hoopla]

Rob, Great post. I just find irony in your paragraph:

"When I arrived, I found a funeral service in progress. Alas, "Back to Basics" will also have to wait until another day."

Death is pretty "basic". I mean, it happens to eveyone, right?

Of course, no disrespect is intended to the deceased and the loved ones remaining.

--hoopla

[jason]

Karen used to do all her touch-up work with Picasa on the PC. We recently moved to the Mac and and now have to use iPhoto. Some of it is our unfamiliarity with iPhoto, but I think Picasa is more intuitive. How does Photomatix compare to the free tools that lightweights like Karen and I use?

[Rob Jones]

Jason,

Photomatix is really tuned just for one type of photography, High Dynamic Range (HDR) composites. I plan on demo-ing how it works sometime soon on the blog, so you'll be able to see its intricacies then. As far as free tools, Picasa is great, but you should definitely sign up for a free account and try out Adobe Photoshop Express, I like it a little more than iPhoto, but it does have a slight learning curve.

All the best, Rob