Dust and Update on Workflow

Well I'll start off by saying that I did indeed get Adobe Lightroom to handle all of my workflow needs. I ended up getting it for only $99 because of my eligibility for a student discount. It was a slight hassle having to fax in proof of my um... studenship, but well worth a discount of $100-200!

Anyway, I discovered today that dust doesnt seem to hurt my camera as much as I would have feared. I was taking pictures of two little boys visiting the farm and showing them some farm stuff, and while dumping some feed from the silo into a bucket forgot about my camera. Needless to say dust went everywhere. My camera was covered and the dust filled cracks on my precious 28-135 USM IS made my heart skip a beat. Thankfully a few blows and about 15 minutes of regular use and it was functioning and looking good as ever!

Workflow

I'm working on getting a good workflow set up for importing pictures and getiing them "developed" and shared. I love using my newish Mac for working with the photos, but ever since I've got it I haven't quite settled into a groove of how I work with my pictures.

One option I'm looking at is Adobe Lightroom. I actually like how it imports photos and uses them. I could definately get used to using it, but it goes out of beta status in a couple of months and I'll either have to buy it ($199 if I get it before April something) or find something else.

I've thought about trying iPhoto but I havent always heard the best things about it. I've looked at it briefly but not in depth. It just seems very proprietary, like a lot of Apples stuff

If anybody has any suggestions as far as what you do as far as a workflow on Apple machines I'd love to hear them.

Photography Tip: Don't Be Conservative

That title may seem like an odd tip, but when applied properly can result in great picture you never would have gotten had you been being button-shy. In an age of digital cameras with the ability to store hundreds of photos without switching anything it is foolish to not take as many photos as can be taken.

I cannot begin to describe how many of my good photos have been ones I weren't even really expecting to be good or were just those extra trigger-happy shots, which is my point here. Don't be conserving your shots for those excellent, perfectly-planned-out shots you may be hoping to get; if you have any sort of decently sized memory card you wont fill it up like that. Take anything and everything you can get a picture of. This doesn't mean that every picture you take will turn out excellent, it's great to get even just a few great photos from one "shoot," but it should still increase the numbers of good shots that come out, even if you don't notice it at first.

This is an example of a photo that I took on a whim, and then didn't notice for a few months until I was going through some old shots and noticed it, and turned out to actually be a pretty good picture, just proof of my point here.

Right Now

I seem to be in kind of a photography lull rght now. There's not a whole lot to take pictures of and I'm just bogged down with school. Wait... what am I saying? There's always something to take a picture of, it just has to be found I suppose. It kind of stinks since I just got this new lens for Christmas and haven't been able to use it much. Hmph...

Anyway, I do know that I'll be going to New York in March, so I will certianly bring home some good shots from that. I also plan to get my SCUBA cetification this summer and might get some interesting stuff from there. Either way, I need to get goin and take some pictures!

Welcome

Welcome to my blog for photography. Currently I'm still in high school and essentially just a hobby photographer, but I still do some light freelancing stuff and do the photography for the county fair every September. I shoot with a Digital Rebel XT and have an assortment of lenses and other accessories. I will try to keep this updated with photos and news about new photography destinations and whatnot. In the meantime you can go to my Flickr site here My Flickr Site and check out some photos. Enjoy!