New HDSLR Cameras Change the Way We Make Movies

When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Will Appear

I have been increasingly interested in making movies in addition to still photography. Imagine my delighted surprise to find an announcement this morning in my inbox about B & H’s new Educational Series For Cinema. This series will guide the user through the movie making process utilizing Canon HDSLRs and  Nikon HDSLRs.

If you want to start preparing in advance, they’ve broken it all down into the pieces-parts you’ll need to make it all happen. So start building your HDSLR solutions and let the movie making begin. I look forward to seeing you all at Sundance next year! Wait. Let me rephrase that and act like I’m from AD-lanna (Atlanta). I look forward to seeing y’all at Sundance next year.

Check out the series introductory video below:

Canon PowerShot G12 10 Megapixel Digital Camera Shoots RAW!

An Old Favorite Gets New Upgrades

Canon just keeps improving their PowerShot line of digital point and shoot cameras. I really like this line of cameras and am currently working on using up my second one in this series, the Canon PowerShot A590. The latest edition to this fun line of cameras is the Canon SuperShot G12. I haven’t gotten mine yet, but it seems there’s a lot to love about this baby.

Canon PowerShot G12 Digital Camera

RAW and JPEG

This is THE new feature I am most excited about. A point and shoot is for….pointing and shooting. There’s no lens changing, no shutter speed or aperture selecting etc. Actually, in full manual you CAN control exposure, but who wants to go manual on a point and shoot? If I want to go to all that trouble, I’ll bring my Nikon D700 with me. Sometimes I just want to have fun and do it quickly, easily and with minimal thinking. However, it would also be nice to be able to shoot in a less ‘contrasty’ format than JPEG.

Here are the specs:

  • 10MP CCD IMage Sensor
  • DIGIC 4 Image Processor
  • 1280 x 720p HD Video Capture
  • 2.8″ Vari-Angled LCD
  • JPEG and RAW File Image Capture
  • SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC/MMC+/HCMMC+ Card Slot
  • 28mm Lens with 5x Optical Zoom Hybrid IS
  • Stereo Sound for Video
  • Manual Exposure Control

If you get one let me know how you like it.

Buy ANY Camera over $300 and Get $100 OFF Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3

Another FANTASTIC offer from B&H!

B & H is currently offering a really sweet deal. If you’ve been fence sitting about ordering a new camera AND Lightroom 3, now’s the time to do it. If you order ANY camera over $300 you automatically get $100 off Lightroom 3.

B&H Sale Buy Any Camera for $300 and Get $100 OFF Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3

B & H Canon PowerShot A495 SALE

Or, Great Ideas for Stocking Stuffers – Only $89.99

OFFER ENDS 1/8/2011 – TWO MORE DAYS FOR SPECIAL SHIPPING OFFER!

If you haven’t already finished your Christmas shopping, B & H is running some really sweet deals from now through early January. Like this Canon PowerShot A495 Digital Camera.

Canon PowerShot A495 Digital Camera (Silver)

Its no secret I love Canon’s PowerShot line of point and shoot digital cameras. I’ve owned two and really love both of them. These little jewels have fantastic wide angle lenses, which is the way I almost always shoot with them. I am personally unimpressed with the so called zoom lenses on MOST point and shoots. But who cares about zooming when you can get wide angle shots like these:

B & H Canon PowerShot A495 Sale

B & H Canon PowerShot A495 Digital Camera Sale

I shot all the images in the post Down by the Sea Shore with my Canon PowerShot A590. Have I mentioned a few years back I sold three images to a soup company for packaging that I shot on the A590’s predecessor? Here’s one of them:

B & H Canon PowerShot A495 Digital Camera Sale

These are seriously sweet little cameras that are light weight, durable and easy fun to use. If you remain unconvinced about the beauty and benefits of wide angle, then you need to read Wide Angle Lenses Are For Portraits Too.

Canon Offers Incredible Lens Rebates

Double the Rebate With Purchase of 5D Mark II Camera

I’ve just gotten the heads up from Adorama that Canon is offering INSTANT rebates on certain lenses beginning March 7, 2010 through April 3, 2010. In some cases you can even DOUBLE the rebate if the lens is purchased with a Canon 5D Mark II camera body.

Here’s the list:

Canon EF 200mm f/2 L IS USM Image Stablizer Auto Focus Telephoto Lens

$500 REBATE

Canon EF 200mm f/2 lens

You can double the rebate on this lens with the purchase of the 5D Mark II body or 5D Mark II Kit that includes the additional 24-105mm lens:[…]

Make a Beauty Dish for Studio Lighting

Or, How To Whip Up A Little Something In The Kitchen For The Studio

Occasionally in my web surfing I come across things that strike me as quite clever.  One such example is a homemade beauty dish I stumbled upon on lifehacker.com.  Well, actually the lifehacker page was really the entry to a rabbit hole I eventually went down, that lead to  David Tejada’s blog for commercial photographers, where he references Tyler Burk‘s instructions for this clever little item on Flickr.  Such is life in cyberspace.[…]

My 7 Most Embarrassing Moments In Photography

Or, Uh Oh Say It Ain’t So!

I know I’ve said this a few thousand times, but it really IS true I’ve had a camera in my hand since I was nine years old.  I celebrated my 50th birthday last May (yeah I know, hard to believe huh?) So, I’ve had a few years to rack up some doozies.

Here are some of my favorites.

1. EMBARRASSMENT COMES EARLY

My very first moment of embarrassment came right along with my first camera, which was a gift from my parents on my 9th birthday. It was a Brownie box camera, which you had to open up completely to load with roll film. We’re talking way old school here. In my excitement, I ran next door to share with our neighbors, a married couple with no children of their own at the moment. The husband, who had befriended me, marveled over it, ooh’ing and aah’ing. With a wicked gleam in his eye, he said, “betcha there’s no film in that camera.”  And I’m all “uh huh, there is too film in my camera” and he’s all “nah, couldn’t be” and I’m all “well just look then!”   Quick as a wink, before you could say ‘bad idea’, I ripped open the camera, exposing the film. Of course, I didn’t understand that at the time. I just knew he GASPED, looked SHOCKED, then burst out laughing. I did what any reasonable 9 year old would do and ran home crying. I was mortally embarrassed and vowed to never leave the house again. I still see him almost every time I go home for a visit, and he has NEVER let me live that one down.

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