If you have to shoot any event, portrait, etc. a really strong tripod setup can save the day.  You are not lugging the weight of the camera around the entire time and it can free you up to eat candy bars and gulp down Miller Lite while on a professional shoot.  OK, not really.  But you get what I am saying.  A tripod can really make a difference.  So what happens when you take a regular tripod and throw in some really cool improvements to make it even more usable?

To date, all of the tripods that I have owned have been the el cheapo brand that I have picked up at the local store.  Not that there is anything wrong with them at all.  They certainly have served their purpose and I feel as if I have certainly gotten my moneys worth from using them.  But recently, I have been using a new setup and it has made a world of difference.

This setup is a combination of a Manfrotto carbon fiber tripod, Manfrotto Joystick head,  and the JustRite  Bracket.  Let me tell you, I love this setup.  It has made everything extremely easy. Here are a few quick pictures I took the other day when testing out some video with the Nikon D90:

(Note my daughter’s Disney princess tent in the background!)

The entire setup is extremely light.  Folding the legs in to quickly move from one spot to another is great and works like a charm.  Positioning the camera to just about any angle is great.  The pistol grip feels far more natural to maneuver than the traditional tripod I have been used to.  For those want to experiment more with their DSLR and video, this tripod is perfect for that. It lets you get the camera in many different angles than I think the traditional tripod would.  In addition to the pistol grip being as flexible as it is, the legs are great, too.  I have had them every which way so far and its been wonderful.  I have had the thing sprawled out in the kitchen with one leg in a kitchen drawer!

Recently, I shot an event using this tripod setup.  Given where I was, I was using my Nikon D700 and Nikon 70-200mm lens, which is not the lightest camera setup.  With the camera mounted on the tripod, it was so easy to move around, take off the tripod when I needed to, and set it back up.  When I was done, my arms where not totally worn out from toting around the camera all day.  On top of that, I had a much steadier shot.

The strength of this setup for us has been the JustRite bracket, especially when it comes to shooting weddings.  With the lights and camera in place, it is super quick and easy to roll the camera to portrait and then back again.

The main drawback, and probably the only drawback I have found so far, would have to be the price.  With the legs being $400, the head being $115, and the bracket being $385, you are looking at forking out $900 just for a tripod.  Shooters on a budget probably wont dig the idea of a $900 tripod, but if you can swing it, you won’t be disappointed.

Great, your DSLR shoots video.  Who cares?  I thought you were a photographer?  All of these things ran through my mind the minute I heard that some DSLRs were now equipped with video.  Who would really care about that if they were a serious photographer, right?  Wouldn’t you want to spend your money on something that went more toward improving the camera than adding in something extra like video?  Well, up until a few days ago I was a skeptic, and that is putting it mildly.

I shoot with a D700 & D80, neither of which have video.  My very limited video experience does not include anything close to professional level equipment.  But being curious, I just wanted to try it out.  So I borrowed my brother-in-law’s Nikon D90 and headed over to a local veteran’s memorial where I live to give it a test run. I am certainly not a “video guy” so this was a learning process for me. I wanted to see what the video from the D90 was like compared to that of the Flip Ultra HD and my other digital video recorder. Part of me didn’t want to put this out because it still feels unrefined, but hey, this is all about learning and improving.

Here is what I shot and edited:

In looking at the video after it was said and done, there were a lot of things I would do (and will do) differently next time around. For example, I was using some auto settings that I did not catch until I had the files on the Mac and out of camera that I would like to have done over again. In certain scenes you can see the camera attempting to correct what was being captured.  I also had issues with placing the audio loop in the video to cover the audio that the camera captured.  During preview I couldnt find any issues except the exported video has them.  I tried a few different adjustments but could never quite fix it. I look forward to trying this again soon with some upgrades to the recording and post-processing software, such as FCE or FCP.

Here is what was used to make this:

• Nikon D90
• Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
• Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8
• Nikon 50mm f/1.4
• Sigma 10-20mm
• Regular camera tripod
• iMovie
• Audio credit: Looperman.com

Now I can totally understand why video in a DSLR is so cool.  It was great experimenting with different lenses just to see what I could get. I have tried a few different other tests, and so far, shooting with the 50mm f/1.4 has been the most fun.  It is really great to see the results, but hey, I am a geek and just dig this kind of thing. I just wish I had the money so I could go buy one of these, which might let me shoot this or even this!

If you have any cool video you have shot with the Nikon D90, I would love to see it.  Feel free to drop it in the comments here.

I received a really cool birthday present this year from my mom.  It was a Flip UltraHD video camera.  Complete with rapid charger and HDMI cable.  My current video camera (some older model Sony) is not bad, with the exception of the batteries not holding a decent charge.  But being a gadget geek, new gadgets will always appeal to me.  So I took the Flip for a few test runs.

Here some initial thoughts after having used it for a week or two:

• Convenience: It doesn’t get much more convenient than having a video camera that you can throw in your wife’s purse without her complaining about the added weight.  The size is just right, which a large LCD and easy to use buttons on the back of the device.  The device powers up very quickly and responds equally as fast to commands.
• Import: With my previous camera, I would connect it via firewire and then import video using a third party software application.  This had to be done at real time which meant having to watch the video again.  With the Flip, there is none of that.  Plug the camera directly into a USB port, and it opens as a new drive.  Click and drag your videos over.  Done. The only way for this to be easier would be to have someone else do it for me.
• Quality: The quality of the camera is great. In some of my previous videos, you can see where the video camera fell short.  It just couldn’t handle what I wanted.  This one is perfect for what I am doing and the quality of the video and sound is wonderful.
• Durability: The device feels pretty solid in my hands.  The battery life is good and I am able to record up to 2 hours before clearing off the memory.
• Drawbacks: The zoom is not the best.  You have a limited view.  The device is very sensitive to movement as well.  It picks up almost any bump or jerk.  Not horrible, and as long as you know that, you are good to go.

On a quick side note, normally when I post stuff like this I can usually count on at least one response of “You have too much free time.”  No, I don’t.  I don’t have enough free time, actually, I just chose to spend mine differently than others do.  I do not come home, sit in front of the TV for hours, then go to bed.  I don’t play golf.  Messing around with photos, photo editing, and now minor video editing is my recreation.

Continuing on…

Here are two quick videos that I put together.  This was not meant to be an award winning motion picture.  It was just something fun that I wanted to do with no real purpose or motivation. I had the Flip on a gorilla pod sitting in the very front of the shopping cart, pointing up.  By the way, the gorilla pod I have totally sucks.  I bought it in the early 1920’s and the gray parts of it are turning color.  The legs frequently come apart and it can only support very small weights, despite the picture on the packaging that shows it supporting a DSLR and lens.  For my little Flip, however, it is well worth it and does just what I need it to do. Here is where I wish the camera captured a little wider.  The shot felt a bit too tight and I was zoomed out as much as possible.

And if that was not mind-numbing enough, here is another video I did.

The setup was pretty simple, and as with the first, just the camera and the gorilla pod.  This time I attached the gorilla pod to the passenger seat headrest of my car.

And here is the video:

Now, I have obviously changed the speed up on the second video.  As it was captured, it was extremely bumpy.  Nothing I would want displayed normally.  Speeding it up seemed to help.  I might look at a more expensive investment down the road should the need arise. Also, the first test with the windows down really produced some bad audio.  I don’t see many more needs to have this mounted in my car, so I am not going to worry about it.

So, overall, this thing is great.  I love how easy capturing and importing video is and I am quite satisfied with the quality.

Related Videos:

• Car Mount
• Wide Lens Hack
• Flip Ultra HD Wide Angle Mod Test Video w/ How-to
• Flip Camera DIY Lens Mod – No Glue
• Stabilize the camera

Recently, I was over come with spam.  Maybe overcome is putting it lightly.  I was getting more spam email in my inbox than I was actual email.  Which for reasons that are far too obvious is a horrible thing.  Thankfully I found a fix.

I had fired off an email not too terribly long ago to photographer Zack Arias.  While I have never met the guy personally, it doesn’t take much time in reading his blog that he is a helpful type of dude.  There is not much the guy holds back.  Naturally, his email account must get pounded on a daily basis from both spam and legit emails.  I got an auto reply message about the spam part and was asked to verify who I was.  Having received more spam that I would like, I totally understood and even hung on to that email so that I could digest it later.

At home, for the main email account I use, I am primarily checking it using Outlook on the PC.  For the past year I have been using two anti-spam measures to stop spam.  The first was the “Spam Assassin” application that is a part of my web hosting package.  The other was Cloudmark. Cloudmark was a client level application that integrated with Outlook and did a wonderful job.  It performed far better than Spam Assassin, which let a lot of junk through to me.  The trouble was that Cloudmark only ran on my machine and not at the server level.  While I see that they do offer server level options, none of those were options that I could implement given my hosting setup.  So what happened was all of the spam that Cloudmark would normally block got delivered to my phone but blocked when I got home to check my email using Outlook.  It got so bad that in the mornings I would wake up and check my email at home before even turning on my phone to stop the junk from getting through.

Recently we welcomed daughter number 2 into the world and during that time my Cloudmark subscription had expired.  In just 3 days I had 200 emails waiting on me, most of which were spam.  I signed up for the free trial at Spam Arrrest and it only took one day before I signed up for the year.  I was able to export my contacts from Outlook and import them into Spam Arrest, which means those I normally communicate with did not have to know what was going on.  I changed the server information that is used to send and receive email so that everything goes through Spam Arrest.  As a test, I opened the spam queue in Spam Assassin and let about 20 or so messages go through.  Spam Arrest has caught every single one.  As a matter of fact, it has caught everything.

You get access to your options and controls much like any regular web mail application would.  You can see your inbox and access all of the messages caught by their filters.  The great thing is being able to delete all that crap at once, or allow Spam Arrest to do it own its own.  I believe right now mine deletes every 7 days.  So the controls and features are nice and the price is dirt cheap.  It is under $30 a year, which is well worth it in my opinion.

So what does that mean?  Well, I spend less time deleting emails meaning I can focus on other more important things.  My battery on my phone actually lasts longer because instead of vibrating every time it checks mail that is spam, the only stuff that gets through is legit messages, so it uses less energy.  More importantly, all the crap that normally gets through gets stopped.

Try it for yourself!

As my business partner and I continue to grow our photography business, we have been looking to build our portfolio.  As he has many more years experience with photography than I, namely weddings, we lean a lot on his body of work.  As a testimony to his ability, he shot my wedding, and did so with a Pentax medium format camera.  While the photos were great, the drawback is having the work in negatives when we need them digitally to work them into our website, studio books, etc.

While I have a scanner, time is something that is more precious and limited.  Also, each time I scan images they have a lot of artifacts, etc., which I would love to avoid.  It would be great to send off the negatives and get a disc back with the digital hi-res scans.  I heard about ScanCafe through listening to This Week In Photography podcast and thought that I would give them a try.

The ScanCafe process is pretty simple.  You sign up and pay for a part of your order first.  You send off your negatives for them to scan.  Once scanned, you get to review them online and decide which ones you want to have scanned and burned onto a DVD.  You finalize your order and your negatives and a DVD is mailed back.

The one drawback I have heard about the services ScanCafe provides is the time frame.  Meaning, no quick turn around.  So going in I was ready to just evaluate the service minus the turn around time.  However, it is important to note here how it all went down just in case you opt to try their services yourself.

• October 14th, 2009: Placed the original order for 135 35mm color negatives
• October 22nd, 2009: ScanCafe acknowledged the receipt of the negatives and provided an estimated online date for review of November 17th, 2009
• November 4th, 2009: Notice from support that the negatives were medium format and not 35mm, with a request to proceed
• November 17th, 2009: Notice that the scans were online for review
• December 1st, 2009: Deadline extension for online review
• December 7th, 2009: Order finalized
• December 17th, 2009: Order was shipped back
• December 24th, 2009: Negatives and DVD of digital scans were received

So as you can see, it did take some time.  Now, the delays in the process were due to me, not ScanCafe.  I selected 35mm rather than medium format.  What this triggered was request from ScanCafe as to how to proceed.  The price difference was $0.29 for a 35mm scan versus $0.99 for a medium format scan.  I was going to have them scanned no matter what, but certainly appreciate the chance to acknowledge the price difference before continuing.

I also waited too long to place the final order online than I should have.  I received the notice that the images were online but waited a week before finishing the order.  I was a little surprised that it took from December 7th to December 17th to burn the DVD and ship it back, given that all of the images had already been scanned.

I have to give credit to them though, as they did better on the packaging than I did.  I got packing peanuts and bubble wrap of my binder and DVD.

The DVD has a label sealing the case that has the signature of the person who scanned the images.  Nice touch!

As for the quality of the scans, I could not be happier.  The quality was outstanding and far exceeded anything I had expected.  Each JPG on the DVD was 8757 x 6391 in size and of suitable resolution to print a 24×36. In fact, they appeared no different than the images shot with our D700 & D3 DSLRs. I was mainly impressed with the clean and crisp scans.  There were no artifacts, dust, blemishes, etc.

I brought all of the images into Lightroom and was able to quickly start editing as I normally would anything from our shoots.  While I am sure that the quality of the original camera played a role in the quality of the images, I was still impressed with how well they came out.

I will save you uploading all of the the full images as the JPGs are much too large to upload here.  Here are just a few sized samples:

You can download a full size sample here. (Approx 10MB)

Summary

I thought the pricing was reasonable and the quality exceeded expectations.  If the overall process could be sped up, that would be even better.  When reviewing the scanned images online the site itself was a little slow at times, but nothing too major.  I really have no complaints about the services Scan Cafe provided and have been quite satisfied.  In fact, the next time I locate some negatives I am not going to try it myself, but send them off to Scan Cafe.

But you don’t have to take my word for it.  There are pro photographers that have been using their service long before I have that vouch for them as well.

If you are a geek like me and also in possession of an iPhone, you most certainly have looked around at the various photography related applications available. I have been trying my hand at two of them, CameraBag and CameraKit, and wanted to share my thoughts with you should you be in the market to purchase one yourself.

First, I must say that neither of the applications are expensive and I have not had any regret with my purchase. Their prices are so low, both listed at $1.99, you could walk away with both for next to nothing. Second, please do not read into this as an end-all be-all review or critique. In the end, these are merely just fun applications and should be used as such.

CameraBag is probably the most simple to use, as it allows you to swipe through various settings and see the results immediately. There are no settings to adjust other than scrolling through and selecting what you want. CameraBag has the following settings to choose from: Helga, Lolo, Magazine, Instant, Mono, 1962, 1974, Cinema, and Fisheye.

For comparison purposes, here is a photo I took with the iPhone. You can see why I picked this. $3 for “in” is a good deal, but you through in the “out” too, and all day, seems like a win-win.

Here are some of the screen settings for the image in CameraBag:

Here is a bit larger image with the “Magazine” effect applied.

CameraKit offers some similar effects, but the control panel is more involved.

As you can see on the left, in the applications general settings, you can change the output size, cropping, as well as turn on the ability to save the original and altered version. On the right are the settings that appear when taking the photo or editing one you have already taken. You have such options as film, vignettes, flash, x-pro, etc.

For an example, here is a quick and dirty self-portrait, making a Chick-Fil-A run.

And after a few quick tweaks, here is the same photo after processing in CameraKit

For another quick test, here is a landscape shot from a recent road trip. It came out a little on the dark side…

And after some processing, here is the same image

Which one do I like best? For me it’s a tie. I like both. For some photos, CameraBag processes them better, and for others CameraKit does the job. Both are fun and reasonably priced apps and I do not think you could go wrong with either. If you own an iPhone and are trying to compare and price shop between two $1.99 applications, then perhaps you shouldn’t have bought an iPhone to begin with. I say buy both and have fun!

Related -
Best iPhone Apps: Photographer’s Kit – http://www.appadvice.com/applists/show/iphone-photo-apps

As a user at Deviant Art I purchased a print account quite some time ago.  In fact, it was during their 2-year anniversary (if memory serves) and the print accounts were offered half-price.  With no local options and my work already on Deviant Art, their print program seemed like a great option.  As the years went by, my work and needs have also changed, evolved, and adapted.

For the longest time, I have wished to see improvements to the Deviant Art Prints (DAP) program to make it more user friendly for experienced artists.  A fellow photographer recommended using Mpix.  After seeing some of his work printed I knew that I had to give them a test run and see how their services compared against that of Deviant Art Prints.

Some might cry foul here stating that Deviant Art built their print program on top of a “community” and did not start off with the same purpose as Mpix might have started with.  Deviant Art added the print program on top of the community and integrated it in, offering a cool and unique service that many communities cannot do.  All things considered, I think they did well with the integration, separating their site from others that are similar.

Regardless of origins, offering the same services opens you to the same critique.    For the review below, I compared both companies in the following categories: shipping, quality, uploading , pricing, options, and speed.

UPLOADING

To upload an image to Deviant Art Prints, you first have to upload a web-safe version to your account.  After sifting through various categories and other information, you can finally upload your image.  I feel that Deviant Art has one of the most complicated processes for uploading images around.  Perhaps it is due to how the images are organized on the site, but it grows tiresome to have to continually sift through what sometimes feels like endless categories, titles, keywords, descriptions, etc.  Again, I realize that much of this is because the same interface that you use to upload prints is used to upload artwork and display it.  Why not offer a different and more streamlined console for those who are interested in such a service?

With Mpix.com, I was taken immediately to a screen where I could upload several images at a single time.

To my knowledge, there is not a method for doing this on Deviant Art.

Had I been comparing the community aspect, I do not believe Deviant Art would have lost this round.  Being able to upload a hi-res image, set max viewing on the web safe version, have your work sent out to the entire community, while also selling prints can be a very powerful tool.

Round Goes To: Mpix
Score: Mpix – 1, DAP – 0

SPEED
If you have been in the field long enough, seen your work printed by different printers, and know yourself and system enough, you do not want to have another person approve your work saying it is suitable quality to print.  That is what Deviant Art Prints does, and while I am sure it has plenty of valid reasons behind why such a structure exists (I had lots of trouble with getting the quality correct the very first time I had my work printed.), the truth of the matter is that it offers a stumbling point for many people.

Mpix upload and speed is what I need.  I was able to upload 4 hi-res images and have access to purchase them on the spot to kick-off the order process.  Deviant Art Prints, as stated before, has a manual check in place to ensure the print is high enough quality, not copyright protected, or whatever else is checked.  As a test, I uploaded an image at 11:29 p.m. and got the automated reply of:

“Thank you for submitting your print. It may take a couple of minutes for the system to process your submission before your prints and products become available for purchase.

Prints submitted using the Premium Print Subscription Account should be reviewed and approved or rejected within 24 hours on weekdays and non-holidays. Prints submitted using the Standard Prints Service will not be reviewed by Quality Control until a purchase attempt has been made. If the image should fail inspection, the buyer will be notified and the order canceled.

Click here to return to the associated deviation. “

I could technically add the item to my shopping cart, but there is a disclaimer at the bottom.

Approximately 15 minutes later (11:43 p.m.) I received an email notification that the print was approved and could be ordered.  Not a major issue here and that was one of the quicker response times.  I submitted a couple more right after the first.  Here is the submission and approval time line:

+ Print #2 Submitted 12:04 a.m. and approved the following day at 11:16 a.m.
+ Print #3 Submitted 12:10 a.m. and approved the following day at 11:16 a.m.
+ Print #4 Submitted 12:14 a.m. and approved the following day at 11:33 a.m.
+ Print #5 Submitted 12:18 a.m. and approved the following day at 11:16 a.m.

Each print took approximately 10 hours to approve.  Thankfully these were not rush orders.  One print I could not submit to DAP due to its unique size.  Mpix offered a size to fit it (10” x 20”).

I am not aware of what time frame, if any, these print submissions are being reviewed and approved.  The FAQ does not list “hours of operation” only that users with the premium account have their work approved quicker than standard users.  According to the FAQ:

“Prints are available for purchase immediately after submission after it has been processed by our system.??Prints submitted using the Premium Subscription Print Account should be approved or rejected within 24 hours on weekdays and non-holidays. Prints submitted using the Standard Prints Service will not be reviewed by Quality Control until a purchase attempt has been made or upgrading to a Premium Subscription Print Account. If the image should fail inspection, the buyer will be notified and the order canceled.”

I have two issues with this.  First, when I signed up with Mpix, I had an account.  I was not standard or premium, merely a customer.  My work was immediately available for printing.  With DAP, there is a distinction which is probably meant to help drive people to purchase the premium account.  Nothing wrong with a little marketing.  But there is still no real definition of when prints will be reviewed, what time zone they are operating in, etc.  In my example above, I was working in the middle of the night, something many of us do.  Clearly nobody was working on approvals at that point beyond my first submission and it took about 10 hours to have the rest approved and available for purchase.

The second issue I have is the first statement of “Prints are available for purchase immediately after submission after it has been processed by our system.”  Standing alone, that statement is misleading.  They are available for purchase but should the print not already be approved or even be rejected by DAP quality control, then it really not available for purchase.  It lives in a holding pattern until someone looks at it and says yes or no.  So technically, it is not available immediately after submission for purchase.

With Mpix, I uploaded all of the images I wanted prints of, placed my order, and then received an email notification that as 9:43 a.m. CST my order was in process.  At 7:16 p.m. EST I received an email with a tracking number for FedEx.  Not the tracking that states the shipper has notified the carrier that a package was waiting.  Actual tracking was available that evening stating my prints would arrive the following day.  Yes.  The following day, by 10:45 a.m.! My business partner and I needed this prints in a crunch and Mpix delivered.

If you need to upload an image, have your order processed quickly, and shipped immediately, DAP is not your option.

Round Goes To: Mpix
Score: Mpix – 2; DAP – 0

OPTIONS
More times than not, I just need prints.  I do not need a coffee mug, thong, or postcard with a custom print on it.  It is difficult to compare these simply because I am not often in the market for them.  DAP offers canvas, photo, and fine art prints with framing options.  Additionally, they offer coasters, greeting cards, magnets, mouse pads, mugs, postcards, calendars, and puzzles.  DA’s shop is a storefront, so to see what products are offered for artists looking to sell them you can read the details in their FAQ here.

Mpix offers prints, mounting, framing, retouching, wall clings, greeting cards, prints with envelopes, standouts, gallery wraps, calendars, magazine covers, albums, statuettes, puzzles, trading cards, tickets, magnets, keychains, proof portfolios, buttons, and a few others (See all products here). The custom albums are superb and my business partner and I have already received numerous compliments on the several albums we have ordered. Due to the nature of what I need by way of printing, Mpix offers more options that suit my needs, so they get the point this round.

Round Goes To: Mpix
Score: Mpix – 3; DAP – 0
PRICING
The prints I ordered were larger format, such as 24” x 36”.  The Mpix price for a single 24” x 36” print on Kodak e-surface paper was $44.99 and the DAP price for a 24” x 36” matte finish print is $27.99 (Normally $69.95 but reduced with artist discount afforded by the premium service).  Side Note: One option that I like, being a very visual person, is the scaling example pop-up when selecting a print size.  If you are not used to seeing the size, or need a reminder, this is a helpful tool. You could easily change paper types and finishes to vary your price, but I did my best to compare apples to apples here.

My guess is that DAP is offering the lowered pricing to those who have paid to be premium members, thus offsetting the pricing a bit.  To pay a one-time price to reduce everything else is worthwhile to me because it is a very minimal investment.

Round Goes To: DAP
Score: Mpix – 3; DAP – 1

SHIPPING
With my Mpix order, I only had two options of the quicker FedEx services.  According to their site, this was due to the size of the prints that I had ordered.  In this instance, I was not really bothered because I was going to order the fastest shipping option anyway.  I also wanted an option with tracking.

In the past, I had placed an order with DAP and the email notification provided a tracking number.  This was misleading as it was actually shipped USPS and I did not think tracking was offered.  That is confirmed via DAP’s FAQ:

“Also please note that USPS shipping options do not offer tracking capability or information. deviantART recommends using FedEx shipping with tracking as the preferred option. This gives you information to track your order while in transit, and provides added assurance of delivery in a timely manner. FedEx also has a thorough process for reporting any damaged mail and other issues that may result from shipping. Also, the delivery time starts once the order is actually shipped.”

When you go to check out, here are your options (or at least mine for the particular order):

Perhaps a big undertaking to make the revisions, but I would like to see some clarification on that screen that says “First Class via USPS to United States”, etc.  A nitpick I realize but there is nothing wrong with making sure customers know exactly what they are paying for.  That would also change the notification email wording away from “tracking number” on USPS shipments since that is not accurate.

Here is what I was given when checking out with Mpix:

Next business day shipping via Mpix using FedEx is $10.75.  Overnight shipping, also via FedEx at DAP is $23.27.  While the final bill was cheaper at DAP, the shipping spelled out and offered cheaper at Mpix was what gave them the edge in this round.

Round Goes To: Mpix
Score: Mpix – 4; DAP – 1

QUALITY
I had to save the best for last.  How about the quality of each?  As difficult and critical as I have been on DAP, their quality of products has done nothing but improve in my eyes.  From the initial prints offered to the newer finishes, I have been more than pleased with their prints.  In fact, I have used prints from DAP to enter contests and won.  Not solely because of the quality of the print but you can easily tell a quality print from something on the lower end and it has a great impact in situations where you are being judged.  Even the shipping of the items and packaging has been improved since their program first launched, which is a plus.

On the other hand, I have seen the work from Mpix and also thought it was top notch.  I first heard of Mpix about a year or two ago from a fellow photographer, Scott Ash.  The guy has simply stunning work and we have teased him in the past of winning any contest he puts his work in.  On top of everything else, he is one of the most humble and polite people you will encounter.  So he shared with me that he ordered prints from Mpix.  Many were mounted and framed (without glass) and the colors simply leaped out.  We have also ordered several photo books and been more than pleased with the quality.

When I received my prints, I was blown away.  Believe me, looking at your work at 24″ x 36″ it is easier to see flaws.  These were exactly what I wanted and I had no complaints about the quality at all.  To be fair in this round, both Mpix and DAP get a point because they both offer quality prints.

Round Goes To: Tie
Score: Mpix – 5; DAP – 2

SUMMARY
One feature that I enjoy about Mpix (which I could not figure out the best category to include it in) is the privacy of your work unless otherwise shared.  Again, DAP was built on top of an online community, so you would expect the purposes here to be different.  However, I like the ability of uploading an image and not allowing others to see it.  For example, if I liked the services of DAP and wanted to use them to order prints from a certain shoot, I would not want to have all of the DA community to see every image.  I might want to upload the hi-res versions strictly to order prints from.  If I wanted to sell my work locally at shows, exhibits, or events, Mpix would allow you the ability to order prints as needed and handle the marketing/selling on the local level.  You do not run the risk of someone finding it online at DAP for a different price.  Mpix allows marking work private and I think is a great feature for those wanting to sell their work.

Final verdict?  I believe the next time I need to order prints online it will be through Mpix, not Deviant Art.

So am I saying in this review that DAP offers a horrible service?  Absolutely not.  Depending on how you need to use a printing service will change your own review.  If you are looking to sell a couple of pieces of your work here and there, DAP is great.  If you need something quick or an online service to get prints from, I believe Mpix is just the best route to go. Thought a little higher in pricing, Mpix offers very competitive quality prints with quicker service and turnaround.

The camera straps offered by Black Rapid are really quite impressive.  At first, I was skeptical as it did not seem too reliable in how the strap was connected to the camera and how the camera was supported.  Basically, leaving the camera to hang by my side with a single connector brought with it a feeling of vulnerability that I was not quite ready to deal with.

I had heard complaints regarding the original versions and that cameras were dropped.  Not due to the strap itself, but the connector/latch.  I was told that the lobster claw would invert and pop out, letting the fastener to come out causing your camera to drop.  This was said to be improved and corrected in newer strap models.

Still, I thought I would give it a shot.

With a price tag of $48, I was almost tempted to try the DIY versions offered via Photojojo, but I wanted to try the real thing and not trust my own ability to craft a quality product.  I was pleased with a relatively quick processing and shipment of my order.

I immediately fell in love with how the strap fit.  It felt far more natural than having the camera hanging on my chest.  Also, shooting portrait style completely removed the strap from my viewfinder.  It is a tad bit cumbersome for my right hand where it connects, but having big hands it is not an inconvenience, or so much of an inconvenience as to not use the strap.

The lobster claw and fastener area is vastly improved from what I saw of earlier models.  In fact, it is almost a pain to remove the connector from the strap itself, which I prefer because that means my camera will stay connected.  It is a sturdy connection and having shot several type of events with the strap, I no longer worry about the strap coming undone or dropping my camera.  The fastener paint chips really quickly and already looks a bit beat up.  I don’t really care though, because it is functional.

The zipper pouch to me is useless.  I guess I could see how someone might want or need that, but I have yet to use it.  I would have rather had some way to connect my memory card pouch to it, which is more practical for me.

What I like best is the overall feel.  When I am not shooting, the camera sits to my side and I feel freed in a sense (yea, I know that sounds a bit silly).

Overall, I think the price tag is just a tad bit high, but the product is quality so I did not mind paying for it, especially after using it.

When I mentioned buying a Photoshop book to a few friends, they looked a bit shocked and said “What the hell do you need a Photoshop book for?”  While I do not proclaim to know every last detail about Photoshop, I do consider myself very comfortable within the program.  Still, that does not imply that I am beyond learning anything new with the program.  Scott Kelby’s Photoshop CS for Digital Photographers has proven that to me with almost every chapter.

To back up a step, for those that do not know who Scott is, I offer this (from Amazon.com):

Scott Kelby is President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), the trade organization for Adobe Photoshop users, with thousands of members in the US and 63 countries. Scott is Editor-in-Chief of both Photoshop User magazine and Mac Design magazine. He serves as training director for the Adobe Photoshop Seminar Tour and is the technical chair of the largest Photoshop gathering, Photoshop World. Scott is one of the leading Photoshop trainers in the country today and trains thousands of Photoshop users across the country each year, and is featured in a series of Photoshop training videos.

Rated highly on Amazon, it was easy to see why.  This if my first Kelby read and I found his style of writing uncomplicated and very simple to follow.  His periodic injections of humor were a subtle touch as well and appreciated.

So was the book worth the money?  Every penny.

As I move my freelance work more toward photography and creative imagery, I have been processing several model shoots.  After reading this book, it made me want to go back to all previous shoots before buying the book and reprocessing them.  The portrait touch-up section of the book has proven to be invaluable and I was immediately able to apply the techniques in both my regular job and freelance work.  Sure, there was some material that was not new to me.  That is always bound to happen when you have been using a certain application for as long as I have.  But even when some of the sections covered items that I thought I already knew, Kelby took it into a little bit different direction often times giving me a new and more efficient way to accomplish a task.

One of the best aspects of the book is the use of short cuts.  The more I use Photoshop, the less I know where certain menu items are.  I memorize the short cut keys and rely heavily on them.  There were two shortcuts in particular (and I won’t mention them because you need to go buy the book) that have already saved me in the time department.

With each new version of Photoshop, I can see how it would be helpful to pick up a book relating to the tasks you wish to achieve.  As I venture more and more into photography, books such as Photoshop CS for Digital Photographers are just the right tool to stay up to date on the applications you use as well as continue to learn new and more effective ways to get the job done.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 offers a nice array of improvements.  I cannot remember the exact upgrade (I want to say from v6 to v7) but there have been times when upgrading to the newest version just didn’t seem worth the time or money.  CS3 is different, and the panoramic merge improvements are just one of many examples.

With the previous version of Photoshop that I was used to, CS, I found that the panoramic merge, while a nifty utility, left a little to be desired.  However, there are new improvements to this merging engine that I think vastly enhance the output.  First, I noticed a change in the options available.

The “Auto” option at the very top was what I noticed right off the bat, and since it seemed like it would require the least amount of work, I ran with it.

I tested this new option on two photos.  First, I did not really setup this shot properly, but tested it out anyway.  I took this at Fort Clinch State Park in Amelia Island, Florida.  The final size of the image is 11560 x 2241.  This was merged from a total of 4 photos which were shot by my shaky and unsteady hands.  Unfortunately, I had no tripod with me so that was not an option.

The results were not bad.  I did some correction in Photoshop and minor tweaking.  For example, I added in the boat, which I took.  I also had to correct some of the areas where the photos were merged as CS3 did not line them up correctly.  I have found that this is more the case with photos not shot on tripods.

Here is the result:

Flickr

Most recently, I actually planned a shot at a local historic battlefield site.  I set up the tripod and took about 4 or 5 shots for this one to specifically merge with CS3.  This park, the largest in Henry County (200+ acres), is said to have been the site for battles during the Civil War.

Here is the result:

Flickr

So far, the shots taken on tripod have been great.  The one above required very little editing at all.  In fact, the only real Photoshop work was done to remove a truck that was unloading some items on one of the fields in preparation for an event.  I checked the image at 100% and found it to be rather seamless, which impressed me.

This new merging technique is really nifty, to say the least.  Leaving the layers in tact to see some of the behind the scenes work is nice.  The software takes patches of the photos and truly merges everything rather than just overlapping them on top of another and calling it a day.

The photomerge improvements are a nice addition to the upgrade.