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 – Lightroom : For Windows : Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.4.1
  I just launched Lightroom and got a message that 3.4.1 was out. Fixes the JPG bug introduced in 3.4.
• 1400mm with the 5D Mark II done sharply
  I don't have such a long combination of lenses, but I envy his ability to create sharp images at extreme focal lengths. And his lenses.
• Strobist: Lighting 101: Umbrellas
  Like many others I have learned lots about lighting from The Strobist. It's great to see him going back to update some of the older articles with new and improved information!
• How to Photograph the Canadian Rockies | A travel guide to the best photography locations during the best times of day in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
  Based on the best selling book "How to Photography the Canadian Rockies", these new eBooks from Darwin Wiggett are amazing. Use coupon code ROCKIES25 to save 25%.
• Quick and easy way to back up Lightroom
  I use the TPG LR Backup plugin almost exactly the smae way Matt does to keep my catalog and config backups under control. It's an awesome plugin and I highly recommend it!
• Japan Disaster Update from Canon
• PhotoShelter Offers Free E-book: Facebook Fan Pages For Photographers
• Google Tasks Extension Brings Super-Fast Task Management to Chrome – Lifehacker
  I use Google Tasks as my main ToDo list, but have always been frustrated that it has been the forgotten stepchild of Apps in the Google family. I'm glad it's finally getting some love!

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:

• Photography School – Photography Tips
  Here's a great compilation of tips that professional photographers will eventually need to learn, and that nobody is going to teach you.
• The Simple Guide to Shooting a Perfectly Lit Product Photo
  The Simple Guide to Shooting a Perfectly Lit Product Photo
• Photoshop Actions: 15 Ways to Troubleshoot Problematic Actions | MCP Photoshop Actions and Tutorials Blog for Photographers
  It's almost a given for me that when I record a Photoshop action it's not going to work perfectly on the next image I try to use it with. This guide is gold for troubleshooting those problems!
• Photographers – Please Stop Making Excuses – Part II « Photofocus
  It leaves a funny taste in my mouth to link to Scott Bourne, but when he's right, he's right. The gear you use is only one factor in making great images.
• Meet Your Ambassadors: Recruiting Others to Help Market Your Events (Pt 1) | Eventbrite Blog
  How do we promote an event when we're not in the target audience? Some thoughts on recruiting ambassadors from Corwin Hiebert.
• 10 Signs You Are On The Road To Success | Virtual Photography Studio – Resources for photographers
  Being a full-time photographer is a tough business. You'll know you're getting traction when you start to see some of these things happen.
• Two Cameras vs One – The Digital Trekker Blog
  I always have two cameras with me, and more and more I'm using them both at the same time…
• E-mail Marketing for Photographers | PhotoShelter
  "Turn your client emails into an effective marketing tool"

Introducing a brand new eBook from Craft & Vision

Extreme Perspectives: An Introduction to Mountain Photography by Alexandre Buisse

If you’re into sports and outdoor photography then this eBook is a must read for you. But if that’s not your cup of tea then it’s still worth reading just to see the glorious images from some amazing places that you’ll probably never get to see otherwise!

Buy Now

Although it’s focussed on photography at or near the peaks of some of the worlds highest mountains, there’s plenty of great information in this book to help any photographer get better images from different perspectives than they normally get. It’s important to change things up every once in awhile and to try to create images that are different than what “just anyone” can get, or more importantly, different than others will even bother to try to get.

In this book Alexandre starts off with a few pages to walk you through his thinking on gear selection and developing your own vision. But the best part is in the middle! There are pages and pages of stunning images from his collection with some very specific points about he, and why, he created each images. This stuff is absolute Gold, and it is all very applicable to any form of photography. My favorite part is when he talks about exactly what he was thinking as he created the images.

Special Offer on eBooks

For the first four days only, if you use the promotional code EXTREME4 when you checkout, you can have the PDF version of Extreme Perspectives for only $4 OR use the code EXTREME20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST May 15, 2011. Click here to visit Craft & Vision

ProBlogger’s Guide to your First Week of Blogging

If you’re starting a blog, you might as well do it right and learn from the master: Darren Rowse aka Problogger. He has just released a brand new ebook that will guide you through all the important decisions that you have to make. From selecting the topic of your blog to figuring out exactly what to write and how to promote it.

I’ve been reading Darren’s blogs for years and I have learned so much from him over that time, but I can say without a doubt in my mind that what you will learn by reading this book will save you the years that it has taken me to pick up on his tricks and secrets. If you don’t feel the same way, no worries, Darren offers a money back guarantee on all of his ebooks…

The book is on sale for only $9.99 USD for a limited time. This is 50% off the regular price, so don’t wait! If you buy before May 17th you’ll also go into a draw to win a prize worth over $850!

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:

• SEO What? …
  I’ve had some great success lately in getting my Calgary Portrait Photography website ranked well for some fairly obscure searches. This is largely because I tag and keyword absolutely everything… This article gives more information about how photographers can rank better in the search engines.
• Make Cmd-J duplicate multiple layers
  A quick and easy way to make Ctrl+J duplicate multiple layers in Photoshop. Yay!
• the photography business and the american dream | Laurence Kim Photographer
  "The bottom line is this: from a wealth-creation standpoint, photography is a lousy career. But you probably already know that."
• The Wedding Photography Trap and how to avoid it.
  Wedding Photography is a road that I have decided not to travel very often. This is a great article that puts some concrete rationale down to support my decision!
• Summer Shortages
  If you know you’re going to need a camera or a lens this summer, buy it now!
• Scott Kelby Responds, Dazzling With His Marketing Magic
  I'm kind of sick of the "Layers in Lightroom" (NOT) issue, but Jeffrey Friedl hits the nail on the head on this one. I'm very disappointed with the folks over at NAPP these days.
• What is your favorite Lightroom Feature Request?
  If you have some ideas on how you would like Lightroom improved, you should jump all over this one!
• The Weekly Photo – May 2, 2011
  Darwin Wigett had an amazing experience with a coyote. Check out the photos…
• I accidentally deleted my photos from my hard drive and I don’t have backups! Can I create JPEGs from Lightroom’s previews?
  Partial recovery from total disaster is possible with Lightroom… sort of.
• Location Language, or, Bleeped Bloopers « Joe McNally’s Blog
  A funny BTS video from a day with Joe McNally. I think he's actually crazy.
• Lightroom 3.4 & Camera Raw 6.4 are now available
  Lightroom 3.4 has been out in a "Release Candidate" version. The final release fixes a few issues that cropped up in the RC, but there are no significant changes from 3.3 unless you have a previously unsupported camera…
• New eBook – Advanced Filters for Digital Nature Photography
  A new eBook from Darwin Wiggett. How can you go wrong?
• Google Docs – Android Market
  Finally an official Google Docs app for Android! This was a gaping hole in the official app lineup. Now if only they would do something about Tasks. Of course that's a forgotten stepchild that needs to be fixed in the base case, not just an ap.
• Rob Galbraith DPI: Photosmith iPad app now available
  Photosmith, a new app for Apple's iPad that allows sorting, rating, captioning and keywording of pictures on the go, and then later syncing those pictures and metadata to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom on a Mac or Windows computer, is now available from the iTunes App Store. If only it were available for Android too…
• List View – new Lightroom plug-in – John Beardsworth
  I've seen lots of people asking for a List View option in Lightroom. Initially I couldn't think of why I would want this, but the more I think about it the more I really do think it would be useful. Being able to see the status of the metadata for every image at once (or 30 items anyway, since that seems to be the limit for this plugin), and to edit that metdata, could really be great!