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Upcoming Full-Day Photography and Lightroom Workshops in NJ

I recently announced on my Facebook Photo and Printing Tips Page a new full day workshop that I’m doing on two different days (1/26 and 1/27/2013) at Alfa Art Gallery in New Brunswick, NJ entitled: “Travel/Street Photography Techniques and Lightroom 4 Workshop.” It’s geared toward digital SLR (DSLR) and “Mirrorless” camera users. I think it will be especially useful for people who are struggling to properly organize and back up their images. In this workshop, I will cover street/travel photo tips and also share the same workflow I use with my private consulting clients to help them get their photo collections in order so that they can then start concentrating on making great images and prints.

I would like to offer a $40 discount via the promo code “IMB4” (no quotes), which you can enter in the bottom right of the registration section. Please also note that I’m offering a one hour follow-up private phone consultation to everyone who registers by Monday, 1/21.

For more information about the Sat. 1/26 workshop, please visit this page:
https://darlow126.eventbrite.com/

and for more information about the Sun. 1/27 workshop, please visit this page:
https://darlow127.eventbrite.com/

And in case you are interested in how I created the looping gallery of images on the workshop pages (and shown above), I created a Collection of the photos I wanted in Lightroom 4, then put them in the order I wanted (you can only do that if your photos are in a Collection). I then went into the Slideshow Module and set a number of options. I then Exported the slideshow as a movie (located in the bottom left of the left panel). I then imported it into my Vimeo.com account, set the options I wanted (including autoplay), got the embed code and entered it into the html section of the Eventbrite.com editor (workshop page) and the WordPress editor (ImagingBuffet.com site).

I hope to see you there!

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Thoughts on 2012 and New Year Wishes

Trying to summarize a year in just a few sentences or photographs is not possible, but let me begin by wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year. As someone who has lived in the Northeast USA for my entire life (including during the recent Hurricane/Storm Sandy), it was difficult to see so many people suffer during and after the storm. My immediate family was very fortunate; apart from a week or so without power, our homes were spared from serious damage. However, relatives who live in New York City were not so lucky. They had many feet of water enter the basement of their home, but thank goodness, no one was injured, and they will be able to stay in their home.

About a year ago, in March of 2011, many of Japan’s citizens were severely affected by a terrible tsunami (over 15,000 lost their lives and about a million buildings were damaged or destroyed*). Having lived in Japan with a family for a few months after high school, then for a year during college, and having traveled across Japan about 10 years later, it was very difficult to see the reports that would come in via TV and the internet.

For me and my family, 2012 was a good year and we have much to be thankful for. One of the highlights was a trip with about 20 family members to Orlando, Florida. It was pretty exhausting, but my son and his cousins had a great time, and my wife and I were able to return to one of our favorite places in the world: the World Showcase at Epcot (she even helped my son fill his “passport” with stamps from each country, which is no easy task!). We were also able to make quite a few day trips throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall of 2012 to the amusement and water parks along the Jersey shore, including Point Pleasant and Keansburg, NJ (heavily damaged during the storm, as you can see by this video).

In 2012, I was also fortunate to meet many new people and connect with longtime friends at workshops, during private consultations, via e-mail, and in various forums/newsgroups. Consulting, teaching and writing are not just what I do for a living; all of those things give me great satisfaction, and the comments I receive from people about how I may have helped them in some way to reach their goals in the areas of photography, printing, etc. make it all worthwhile.

From me and my family to you and yours, thank you for your interest in my comments, tips and thoughts over the years, and I wish you all the best for a very Happy New Year!

-Andrew Darlow

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PhotoPlus Expo 2012: Second Day Impressions from the Show Floor

Digital Silver Imaging’s Eric Luden holding a mounted print on Dibond to demonstrate how they can attach a brace to the back of a mounted print for easy and secure hanging on a wall. One of the main reasons I go to the PhotoPlus Expo is to see things like this.  

My second day at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York City on Friday, 10/26 was, like the first day, filled with photo-related goodness at every turn. Below is a list of more booths that I highly recommend stopping by if you are planning to visit the show. If you can’t make it to the show, or if you are not visiting today, I’ve linked each company’s name to its website so that you can find out more about each company. There are, of course, many more great products and services on the show floor, and I will be adding content from the show in the upcoming weeks.

1. Canon: Canon’s booth at the show is always big, but this year, it’s MASSIVE. The gallery has outstanding print samples from various Canon printers, the demo areas allow you to test Canon gear, and the Expo Stage is always a fantastic place to learn from Pros who specialize in both stills and video. Just to give you some idea of how much you can learn on the show floor, I’ve inserted Canon’s Expo Stage schedule below:

2. Squarespace: Squarespace built an amazing booth inside of a black box on the show floor. You can speak with one of their reps and learn about many of the features available in it’s two plans. I was blown away by the quality of the newest templates that are available inside the system. They make it extremely simple for photographers and other artists to make a great-looking website, and the cost for one of the plans is just $8/month. They also have a 10% off coupon code printed on the small notebooks that they are giving out on the center table inside the demo area.

3. Synology: This company specializes in NAS  (Network Attached Storage) enclosures, and their products are very impressive. They showed a small unit about the size of a softball that can hold four “laptop” or SSD 2.5-inch drives, as well as a larger enclosure that can hold 8 laptop, SSD or 5.25-inch drives (the larger enclosure is expandable to 16 drives total).

4. Gura Gear: GuraGear makes camera bags with many features that set them apart from the competition. The split design, and unique handles are just two of the things that impressed me.

5. Digital Silver Imaging: This company, based in Massachusetts, does incredible printmaking for clients around the world. One of the things that sets them apart from others is that they can take a digital file and make real photo-based fiber and RC black and white and toned prints. They also print color or black and white using pigment inkjet printers, and they do mounting to materials like Dibond and aluminum.

Below are five companies who make plug-ins to help extend the functionality of Lightroom, Photoshop and other applications. Some also make phone and/or tablet apps that should definitely be seen. Each has a great booth with live demos worth stopping by to see. You can learn tips and tricks from people who know the software inside and out:

6. Nik Software 

7. OnOne Software

8. Athentech Imaging

9. Topaz Labs

10. Datacolor: Datacolor has many products made to help photographers get sharper images from their lenses and better color/consistent screen matches and prints. The company’s small but extremely useful SpyderCUBE is one of my favorite products for helping to get more accurate color in-camera under different lighting conditions. I highly recommend getting a demo of the products that you might want to add to your workflow.

11. Midwest Photo Exchange: This is a candy store for photographers inside of a larger candy store! Midwest Photo is a retailer who sells an amazing array of equipment during the show. You can demo gear and ask questions about the products they sell. They also have a stage with live presentations on each day.

12. Lowepro: Lowepro has an amazing selection of camera bags and related gear at the show, and they definitely encourage you to play with the many products on the show floor.

And below are five book and DVD/online content publishers who always have great titles to browse through:

13. Course Technology PTR/Cengage Learning

14. Focal Press

15. Peachpit

16. Rocky Nook

17. PhotoshopCAFE

18. Pexagon Technology: (Their booth graphics say “PhotoFlashDrives.com”): This company has a very large booth in the back of the exhibit hall. They do amazing laser engraving on photo boxes, flash drives, etc. They also have some very simple but elegant new paper folders in both black and white that can be used to hold prints.