LATEST ADDITIONS

I have gotten into numerous discussions about how to securely save digital image files. My method of using gold-gold CDR discs for this purpose has not altered, I have an established system so making a change would not serve me well. But the only alternative in the past I could recommend were then expensive RAID-1 mirrored hard drives. They are now affordable, so are a reasonable alternative. This came to my attention in a MacWorld report I received via e-mail, featuring a Mercury Elite-AL Pro Dual mini 640 GB external drive for as little as $180.

The 2011 Photography Book Now competition is open for entries. Now in its fourth year and featuring a $25,000 grand prize, this international-juried competition, presented by Blurb, celebrates the very best in self-published photography books and the photographers behind them. For the first time, the competition will also celebrate up-and-coming talent with a Student category. Entries will be accepted in three professional categories – Fine Art, Documentary and Travel.

I don’t know about you, but I often relied on sunglasses, “shades” when I was driving west in the afternoon. They helped a lot to see the road clearly reducing the extraneous direct light from the sun obscuring my view. The same idea applies to your LCD display. If you keep it shaded from extraneous light in the room where your computer is set-up you will see the image on screen more clearly and free from different and conflicting strays of light. Even in my north-facing room that’s dedicated as my lab, even with special Fobsun LED lamps for my environment lighting, and with a hood protecting the screen, my new Dell Ultrasharp U2410 has a cleaner, brighter screen image now that it has shades.

As featured on the HVL-F58AM, the innovative Quick Shift Bounce system allows flash head position to be adjusted instantly when switching between horizontal and vertical compositions. This maintains consistent shadow positions regardless of camera orientation, allowing easy creation of natural-looking ‘bounce’ effects.

Further, Wireless Ratio Control makes it easy to select light emission ratios for up to three separate flash units. This allows quick creation of sophisticated multi-point lighting effects without the need for complex professional equipment.