A few interesting links about Photography, Technology, Social Media, and Gadgets that I’ve come across recently. Some are smart, some are funny, and some are just plain dumb, but they are all interesting for one reason or another. Have a look and let me know what you think:

• Your Complete Guide For Photographing Star Trails | DIYPhotography.net
  I loves me some star trails, and I plan to do more of this kind of photography in 2012.
• The power of asking | Rosh Sillars
  Sometimes if you really want something you just have to ask for it. It's amazing how things don't happen just because you want it, but if you simply ask, you never know what might happen!
• How to use your smart phone for SEO | Rosh Sillars
  Better SEO = good.
• Get Brushed ě°˝€“ 2012 Calendar Photoshop Brushes
  I've been using these monthly calendar brushes for years to create calendars from my photographs every month. You can make your own too!
• Photographer Pants
  These don't look like pants that most of the photographers I know would want to wear. But it's kinda fun that we're getting some press!

A few interesting links about Photography, Technology, Social Media, and Gadgets that I’ve come across recently. Some are smart, some are funny, and some are just plain dumb, but they are all interesting for one reason or another. Have a look and let me know what you think:

• John Nack on Adobe : The journey is the reward?? A fun holiday card done in Photoshop
  This is exactly why photography edits in Photoshop and Lightroom need to be as close to non-destructive as possible at every stage of the process!
• The Best Photography Blog Posts of 2011 ‚ PhotoShelter Blog
  There are some fantastic photography blogs out there, but the Photoshelter blog always seems to have great content. And this post is full of links to lots of other great content. Read it.
• DIY Photo Wrapping Paper — Wrap Gifts in Your Very Own Photos!
  Maybe a little late for Christmas this year, but infinitely reusable, and a great use of your photography that's currently hiding on your hard drive.
• The Photography Gear Head Pixel Peeper Quiz
  Apparently I'm not even remotely an official gear head. But I did actually understand every question, and that must say something!
• Updated Photography eBook from Craft & Vision: Vision is Better II
  Save, save, save!!! Use promo code VIB4 when your checkout to save $1 on this updated book, or use code VIB20 to get 20% wehn you buy 5 or more books from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST December 21, 2011

A few interesting links about Photography, Technology, Social Media, and Gadgets that I’ve come across recently. Some are smart, some are funny, and some are just plain dumb, but they are all interesting for one reason or another. Have a look and let me know what you think:

• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.6 and Camera Raw 6.6 Update
  The latest releases for Lightroom and Camera Raw have come out of beta and are running wild. The updates come complete with support for newly released cameras including the Canon PowerShot S100, Nikon 1 V1 and Sony NEX-7, and add over 30 lens profiles.
• Getting More from Your Sessions: 6 Quick Tips — PhotoMint
  A great post with a few ideas to make sure that your photography sessions will go as smoothly as possible.
• Save up to $40 on your Photoshelter account
  Don't forget that if you sign up for a photography sales account at Photoshelter using my affiliate code you can save up to $40. http://www.photoshelter.com/referral/SE5PH32Y9C
• Photography Business Plan Workbook | PhotoShelter
  Another amazing free photography book from Photoshelter. These guys really want to help photographers have success in their business, and this is just a small part of that… Contains 'Key tips and action steps to map out your photo business plan and make 2012 a success.'
• Photographing the 4th Dimension – Time
  You probably know by now that I love photography related eBooks. I love them even more when teach me something that I don't already know. I've been wanting to do some star trail photography for a long time and Jim Goldstein is the master. This book might just push me over the edge to get it done. The book has lots of other great content, so even if Star Trails aren't your thing you should check it out anyway!

I use lightbox clones all the time to create a visually beautiful presentation for my photos in my photography related blogs. Lightbox clones all require a bit of code to indicate that the image should be opened in a lightbox instead of as an individual webpage. Typically each image must be tagged with something like rel=”lightbox[ID]“, but of course there is no tagging standard between each clone and it’s often not included in the WordPress or Theme code, so it’s very handy to use a WordPress plugin to automatically add the code.

For several of my photography sites I use a lightbox clone called prettyPhoto for which I adapted an existing plugin to add the required rel=prettyPhoto[ID] code. More recently I have been using other lightbox clones more and more and so I had to adapt my plugin once again. Although it was a simple mod, I thought I might as well share it here too in case it’s useful for someone else as well.

Installation

1. Download the Free OD Add rel=lightbox WordPress Plugin
2. Unzip the file
3. Upload it in /wp-content/plugins/ of your WordPress installation
4. Activate the Plugin
5. That’s All

Changelog

0.1
Initial release. Adapted from the OD Add rel=prettyPhoto Plugin for WordPress.

Please let me know if you find any issues, bugs, or have ideas for improvements.

A few interesting links about Photography, Technology, Social Media, and Gadgets that I’ve come across recently. Some are smart, some are funny, and some are just plain dumb, but they are all interesting for one reason or another. Have a look and let me know what you think:

• Adobe Forums: Where can I find direct downloads of Flash Player 11 for Windows or Macintosh?
  For weeks I've been getting a "download timeout" error while trying to install Flash Player for Firefox and/or Internet Explorer. I finally found some direct download Links for the installer and was able to use these files to install Flash. Flash sucks, and I hate that I need to do this, but there are still lots of sites that require it. I hate that! Flash sucks.
• The Secret To Twitter – YouTube
  The real secret to Twitter is not how much you tweet, it's what.
• Craft & Vision | Great photography happens where craft and vision converge
  Have you checked out the new FREE photography eBook from @CraftAndVision? It's a great read. And it's free! http://ocas.nl/cow21z
• MailChimp v6.5 – ZIP code geo data, Thanksgiving templates, other stuffs | MailChimp Email Marketing Blog
  Mailchimp now automatically fills in location information for list subscribers based on where they are when they view messages from the list. Creepy. And very cool! Geo-targeting email campaigns is a very useful trick…
• Animoto – Video Slideshow Maker with Music
  If you've been thinking about using Animoto now is the time to sign up. I if you use my affiliate code (http://animoto.com/referrals/jsatuvym) to join Animoto Pro you'll get an extra 3 months on your subscription for free.