Sometimes, I think the only way to really understand a technology is to build it from scratch.

I'm not sure if that's really true, or what the folks who created the Bigshot camera had in mind either, but, I have to admit, their product looks like they agree with me.
I usually try to avoid advertising things here, especially if I'm not getting anything cash out of it myself, but I couldn't resist talking about this fascinating project.  If you read any...
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Do you feel stale?

I know I complain about this all the time these days, but my photography, such as it is, feels really, super stale.  I'm completely uninspired and just feel, well, "stuck" when it comes to my creativity in general and my photography in particular.  I have the photographic equivalent of "writer's block".
I have photographer's block!

What good is a virtual camera?

Funny you should ask.

So, my regular readers, both of you, know that I love photography.  But, at the same time, you'll also notice that I haven't been posting as many photos as I used to post.  There are a lot of reasons for that, but one, and the one I'm going to focus on today, is that I'm rusty.  Rusty in the sense that it's been so long since I was shooting regularly that I've...
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I know this will sound nationalistic, and, as one UK ex-pat coworker termed it "jingoistic", but I believe in American Jobs for American Workers.

If you're a hardcore photography enthusiast, you've probably already seen what I'm about to share.

Yeesh!  Can you believe I was so busy this year, I almost didn't notice?!

I would imagine by now the few regular readers of this blog have figured out that I love both photography and free software.

I, personally, use Lightroom.  And, yes, I paid for it.  I've gotten used to it and I understand the workflow and I can get the little bit of editing I do to photos done that way.  But, I am always on the look out for software that I can recommend to people unwilling to make that kind of...
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So, this month, the theme has been free graphic software, more or less.

Well, as much as I love taking as realistic photos as possible and capturing the actual moment, I have to admit, graphic artists who start with photos and make them into more always impress me.  I'm especially impressed by those who create whole realities from nothing.  That's one reason I backed the Kickstarter project The Tube Open Movie.  When they're done developing this, now late, movie, the things...
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Last week, I shared my favorite free image editor, but this week, I've got a bit of software that's every bit as useful and important.

But, really, it's more than just a viewer.  This little gem can do every thing from slideshows to file format conversions to cropping.  It can even do some simple editing like sharpening or blurring.  You can choose to view all the graphics in a directory in thumbnail format, or scroll through them one at a time...
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Long-time readers of my blogs will know that I'm a cheap bastard.

So, with that in mind, it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm an advocate of free software.  I'm especially in favor of free software that can replace, or mostly replace, expensive, high-end software.

As a photographer, I've always had a love/hate relationship with Adobe and their flagship product, Photoshop.  I love the tool and all the amazing things it can do, but I hate the price.  I'll grant that they...
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