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I'm about to start a series of gear reviews. These reviews will be based on my personal experience with the equipment both as a photo assistant and as a photographer. I will only review equipment that I have personally used. I do not receive compensation from any of the companies that produce the products that I will be reviewing. I am an amazon.com associate so if you purchase the equipment from on of my links or click though I do get a small amount of compensation that helps me keep my blog running.
Let me know what gear you would like to see me review.
The first three reviews will be on the Canon 1DMKIII, Elinchrom Ranger RX AS Speed, and the Pelican 1510.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Evernote Review
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I couple of weeks ago I wrote a review of David Allen's Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
. As a companion and implementation tool I use Evernote available for free at www.evernote.com.
Evernote is a digital, take everywhere, filing cabinet. I use Evernote multiple times a day across multiple platforms. Evernote is available for Mac, PC, iPad, iPod, iPhone, and Android. Evernote allows you as it says on their website to capture an idea, access it everywhere, and find it fast. Evernote allows you to synch your info in its cloud and it allows you to access it from any computer over the internet, your desktop, and other mobil solutions.
Evernote allows the user to have a giant well organized filing cabinet with out any mess. You do not have to worry about sending the files from one computer to another that has already been done the software will sync itself. Evernote allows you to create text notes, web clips, pdf, snapshots, and audio clips. Evernote allows you to create a virtual treasure trove of information ok.... so what about organization?
Evernote allows an amazing amount of organization with a simple layout. Evernote gives you three basic tools for organization: tags, notes, and notebooks. In my Evernote system I have nested tags that help me get everything organized.
Evernote allows the user to create web clips which is really handy when you are without internet say on a long flight. I will often clip a webpage that I want to read but do not have time to and put it in a tag on Evernote of To Be Read and then it will sync with all of my computers when they are connected to the web. Later when I am without a internet connection I have that saved webpage ready in my Evernote on my laptop.
I have been using Evernote for about six months and I can say that it has helped me to be come more efficient. It has helped me to remember more things. It is a great program and is very useful. Photographers this is a great project management tool. If you do a quick web search you can find a ton of resources about how to implement a solid Evernote system.
. As a companion and implementation tool I use Evernote available for free at www.evernote.com.Evernote is a digital, take everywhere, filing cabinet. I use Evernote multiple times a day across multiple platforms. Evernote is available for Mac, PC, iPad, iPod, iPhone, and Android. Evernote allows you as it says on their website to capture an idea, access it everywhere, and find it fast. Evernote allows you to synch your info in its cloud and it allows you to access it from any computer over the internet, your desktop, and other mobil solutions.
Evernote allows the user to have a giant well organized filing cabinet with out any mess. You do not have to worry about sending the files from one computer to another that has already been done the software will sync itself. Evernote allows you to create text notes, web clips, pdf, snapshots, and audio clips. Evernote allows you to create a virtual treasure trove of information ok.... so what about organization?
Evernote allows an amazing amount of organization with a simple layout. Evernote gives you three basic tools for organization: tags, notes, and notebooks. In my Evernote system I have nested tags that help me get everything organized.
Evernote allows the user to create web clips which is really handy when you are without internet say on a long flight. I will often clip a webpage that I want to read but do not have time to and put it in a tag on Evernote of To Be Read and then it will sync with all of my computers when they are connected to the web. Later when I am without a internet connection I have that saved webpage ready in my Evernote on my laptop.
I have been using Evernote for about six months and I can say that it has helped me to be come more efficient. It has helped me to remember more things. It is a great program and is very useful. Photographers this is a great project management tool. If you do a quick web search you can find a ton of resources about how to implement a solid Evernote system.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Featured on Pizzazzerie.com
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A couple of weeks back I photographed a birthday party for one of my wife's co-workers. It was a great childrens birthday with a lot of cool DIY decorations. Any 5 year old would be jealous of this birthday party. Here is a link to the photos http://www.pizzazzerie.com/parties/childrens-parties/alice-in-wonderland-tea-party/
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Really Right Stuff BH-55 Review
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For my birthday I ordered a Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ball Head (you can order yours at www.reallyrightstuff.com) . I have had the ball head for a little over a month now. I can safley say that it is the best ball head that I have ever used.
The fit and finish of the BH-55 is absolutely stunning. The BH-55 is made with very high quality parts. The BH-55 has a nice heft to it when you hold it in you hand. Despite being mass manufactured the BH-55 is artfully crafted. All of the knobs have a nice drag to them and an excellent feel. The quick release is well made and has a smooth and quick operation.
The BH-55 ball head shines above all others in usage. It makes using a tripod a dream. Before using the BH-55 I did not like using tripods. The main reason for my dislike of tripods was that the ball heads that I have used in the past sagged and were hard to operate. The BH-55 has absolutely no sag even with my heaviest combo of a Canon 1DMKIII and Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS. The thing that makes the BH-55 shine is that it allows you to have a set tension on the ball that allows for a nice drag. You can move the camera around with the drag set properly and then release the camera and it will not sag or droop. It also is an extremely smooth ball because of the size.
I would recommend this ball head to anyone that can afford the price. The price is hefty, but this ball head is worth every penny. I will primarily be using this ball head in the studio. If you need a travel ball head I would look to one of the other Really Right Stuff designs that is smaller and lighter.
For my birthday I ordered a Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ball Head (you can order yours at www.reallyrightstuff.com) . I have had the ball head for a little over a month now. I can safley say that it is the best ball head that I have ever used.
Fit and Finish:
The fit and finish of the BH-55 is absolutely stunning. The BH-55 is made with very high quality parts. The BH-55 has a nice heft to it when you hold it in you hand. Despite being mass manufactured the BH-55 is artfully crafted. All of the knobs have a nice drag to them and an excellent feel. The quick release is well made and has a smooth and quick operation.
Use:
The BH-55 ball head shines above all others in usage. It makes using a tripod a dream. Before using the BH-55 I did not like using tripods. The main reason for my dislike of tripods was that the ball heads that I have used in the past sagged and were hard to operate. The BH-55 has absolutely no sag even with my heaviest combo of a Canon 1DMKIII and Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS. The thing that makes the BH-55 shine is that it allows you to have a set tension on the ball that allows for a nice drag. You can move the camera around with the drag set properly and then release the camera and it will not sag or droop. It also is an extremely smooth ball because of the size.
Recommendation:
I would recommend this ball head to anyone that can afford the price. The price is hefty, but this ball head is worth every penny. I will primarily be using this ball head in the studio. If you need a travel ball head I would look to one of the other Really Right Stuff designs that is smaller and lighter.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action | Video on TED.com
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Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action | Video on TED.com
This morning on twitter I found a link to the above video. It is a great inspiring video about leadership. The tweet was from Dave Ramsey who I think embodies the golden circle concept brought up in the video.
Book Review: Getting Things Done by David Allen
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Since graduating college, getting married and starting my own business my organizational skills really started showing up as being quite poor. I was terrible at managing my time. I had a very hard time making time for my business, my family, my friends and also wanting to get more involved with other organizations. I figured it was time to try to get things prioritized. There had to be a better way to do things then they way I had been doing them.
My workflow has always been inefficient. From my earliest days in school till just recently I have been an unorganized mess. While my quality of work has always been high, the amount of time and effort involved in obtaining that quality was on the long and difficult side. From elementary school though my junior year in college I was grossly inefficient at getting things done. I would always finish my projects on time, but things were never well organized. Things were never well organized because I had never been taught how to be organized. My senior year in college I read a blog post about being more efficient with my time. I started blocking out 4 hour chunks of time to work on projects and doing them one at a time and taking no breaks. This method worked well for me, but I still had other things on my mind that made me ineffective with my time.
Since graduating college, getting married and starting my own business my organizational skills really started showing up as being quite poor. I was terrible at managing my time. I had a very hard time making time for my business, my family, my friends and also wanting to get more involved with other organizations. I figured it was time to try to get things prioritized. There had to be a better way to do things then they way I had been doing them.
I was on twitter about a year ago and a friend of mine tweeted about David Allen's bookGetting Things Done. They said that they were going to start a getting things done system, and sent me two links about what that was. The first link was to an article about using Gmail as your central “Get it Done” inbox(to http://lifehacker.com/5321180/turn-gmail-into-your-ultimate-gtd-inbox) The second link was to an application called Evernote that one man used to change hislife(http://www.40tech.com/2009/08/25/getting-things-done-gtd-in-evernote-with-only-one-notebook/).
These two links got me started with GTD. Later I decided to buy the book.
David Allen has a simple concept. Get things out of your head and on paper. David Allen says that if you can get all of the ideas swirling around in your head on paper that you can be more productive. David advocates writing all the ideas down and putting them in a filing system. David has a great system that I have implemented in my life. I have become more productive with his system. Writing everything down and organizing it into distinct areas and projects has helped me to get more done and to remember more stuff that I need to do. I recommend GTD for those that are looking to help out their workflow in any industry. The concepts that David presents can be implemented in any knowledge or creative job. This is a great read for photographers. You can apply the workflow discussed in the book to your creative process. You can apply the concepts to client meetings, post processing, and your daily life.
I purchased my copy from Amazon's Kindle Store. You can purchase your though this link Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
David Allen has a simple concept. Get things out of your head and on paper. David Allen says that if you can get all of the ideas swirling around in your head on paper that you can be more productive. David advocates writing all the ideas down and putting them in a filing system. David has a great system that I have implemented in my life. I have become more productive with his system. Writing everything down and organizing it into distinct areas and projects has helped me to get more done and to remember more stuff that I need to do. I recommend GTD for those that are looking to help out their workflow in any industry. The concepts that David presents can be implemented in any knowledge or creative job. This is a great read for photographers. You can apply the workflow discussed in the book to your creative process. You can apply the concepts to client meetings, post processing, and your daily life.
I purchased my copy from Amazon's Kindle Store. You can purchase your though this link Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
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