Photography Talk Products and Links

Slides and audio from the workshop:

IMPORTANT NOTE! New LensRentals.com discount code BURR5, valid through 03/01/2011.

Point and Shoot Cameras:

Canon PowerShot A3100 IS – A high quality yet inexpensive point and shoot Canon PowerShot G12 – A higher end point and shoot, with more custom settings for better creative control of your photography Panasonic Lumix LX5 – another high end point and shoot, well liked for its extremely high quality optics

DSLRs:

Canon Digital Rebel XS – An inexpensive entry level DSLR from Canon Nikon D3000 – Nikon’s entry-level DSLR

Micro 4/3:

Olympus E-P2

Lenses:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Nikon 50mm f/1.8D Canon EF 35mm f/2 Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S Tamron AF 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD IF (for Canon) (for Nikon). This is a less expensive alternative to the “photojournalist’s special” lens. Not quite as good quality wise, but much easier on the wallet. Photojojo Fisheye Lens Adapter

Flashes:

Opteka E-TTL / E-TTL II Off-Camera Flash Sync Cord for Canon EOS Cameras & Speedlite Flashes Opteka i-TTL / TTL Off-Camera Flash Sync Cord for Nikon SB-400, SB-600, SB-800, SB-900, and other Speedlight Flashes Canon Speedlite 580EX II Canon ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter Nikon SB-900 AF Speedlight Flash Orbis ring flash Opteka mini flash softbox Garry Fong LightSphere

Tripods, tripod alternatives:

Manfrotto 7302YB M-Y Tripod with Ball – A good photography tripod suitable for point and shoots and lightweight/entry level DSLRs Manfrotto 680B Monopod + Manfrotto 496RC2 Ball Head – a good monopod + ball head combination for most point and shoot and DSLRs How to make your own string tripod SteadePod – like a string tripod, but it looks more professional Gorillapod Bean bag tripod Bottle Cap Tripod How to make your own bottle cap tripod

Bags/Straps/Etc.:

Domke F-5XB LowePro Slingshot camera backpack LowePro ProRoller x100 rolling camera bag Scott E Vest photo vests Op/Tech 1501372 Pro Loop Strap Blackrapid RS-4 LowePro Lens Bag Scott E Vest photo vests

Software:

Online (web-based) depth of field calculator Depth of field calculator for iPhone/iPod touch/iPad (free) Depth of field calculator for Android smartphones (free) Noise Ninja – Neat Image – a great program that eliminates digital noise (i.e. when you have to push your ISO past your camera’s comfort zone) Noise Ninja – another noise reduction program. Not as good IMHO as Neat Image, but some may like it better. Darkroom (free) and Darkroom Pro ($0.99) for iPhone – eliminates blur when taking pictures caused by camera shake Perfect Camera (free), Perfect Camera Pro ($6.60), SmartCam ($1.00) – same as above, for Android phones Adobe Photoshop Express (for iPhone, for Android) – basic photo editing right on your phone PhotoGene ($1.99), PhotoForge ($2.99), two other photo editing apps for the iPhone Snap FX ($0.99), PicSay (free), PicSay Pro ($4.10), Photo Enhance (free), Photo Enhance Pro ($4.72) – photo editing programs for Android smartphones CHDK – free third-party firmware for many Canon point-and-shoots that enhances their functionality by adding many controls such as shutter-priority, aperture-priority, RAW, live histogram, and more

Other:

Opteka 43″ 5-in-1 Collapsible Disc Reflector, Translucent, White, Black, Silver, Gold, with Carrying Case Wolverine PicPac photo storage tank (just a storage unit only, no fancy display for viewing your photos on) Digital Foci Picture Porter photo tank (this one has a fancy LCD on it so you can review your photos) HyperDrive Album (another photo storage tank like the one above)

Books:

The Digital Photography Book, by Scott Kelby. A good book about digital photography, done in a “cookbook” style – rather than going into lengthy discussions of exposure theory and ISO and whatnot, a particular type of picture is presented with the “recipe” (type of lens, camera settings, any special gear required, etc.) for getting that type of shot. The Digital Photography Companion, by Derrick Story. A good general purpose digital photography book. The Hot Shoe Diaries, by Joe McNally. Joe McNally is one of the premier authorities on the use of small strobes for creative lighting.

Websites:

Photography Exposure Basics Strobist – another excellent resource for those interested in exploring the creative lighting possibilities of small off-camera strobes. LensRentals.com – one of the best gear rental sites I’ve found. Great selection, great prices, absolutely stellar service. IMPORTANT NOTE! New LensRentals.com discount code BURR5, valid through 03/01/2011. One guy’s outrageous portable lighting rig Kelby Training – online classes in photography, lighting, photo editing, Photoshop, and much more. creativeLIVE – another great source of freemium online training in photography and related subjects. PhotoFocus – a great photography blog and podcast. World class photographer Scott Bourne and a rotating host of A-list photographers answer your questions on photography and related subjects, three times a month. Worldwide Photo Walk – Sponsored by Scott Kelby, this annual event (usually happens around mid-July) gathers together groups of photographers of all skill levels all across the globe, to get together and take photos. A great event both for learning photography technique as well as socializing with your fellow photography enthusiast.

Answers to “Name That Anime!”: (In the order in which they appeared in the presentation. If there are multiple characters in a picture, the names are listed in left-to-right order)

Speed Grapher (watch it online) – Tatsumi Saiga (Not actually used as part of the contest; this was the picture on the first slide (title slide)). K-ON! (coming on DVD and Blu-Ray from FUNimation sometime in 2011, or you can watch Season 2 now – it’s slice of life, so you aren’t missing much) – Mio Akiyama Lucky Star – Yutaka Kobayakawa, Sojiro Izumi, Konata Izumi B Gata H Kei – Takashi Kosuda Eureka Seven (volume 1, volume 2) – Stoner sola – Aono Morimiya, Mana Ishizuki Senkou no Night Raid – Aoi Miyoshi Canaan (DVD, Blu-ray, watch it online) – Maria Ōsawa, Minoru Minorikawa Bubblegum Crisis (watch it online) – Lisa Vanette Cardcaptor Sakura – Tomoyo Daidouji FLAG – Saeko Shirasu Hayate the Combat Butler (watch season 2 online) – Nagi Sanzenin (I think) To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (coming from FUNimation sometime in 2011) – Shirai Kuroko (I think) (We didn’t use this one as part of the contest)