Blog posts from others that you should not miss...

The first one comes from Scott Kelby, Scott has shoot all over the world, done so many things, and has forgotten more about Photoshop and Lightroom than I will ever know. He is not a person who is easily impressed, so you will want to read what he thinks is the best posts about photography this year, maybe one of the best ever!

Next up is David Hobby of Strobist fame. I owe much of what I know about lighting a portrait with Speedlight's, heck, what I know about Speedlight's in general from what he has written on his blog and all the the lighting information he has been able to stuff into his educational DVD's. On Monday he took us all along one of his portrait sessions and he doesn't leave anything out. Great learning experience. Be sure to check it out.

DIY photography has three really interesting posts this week,  "how to shoot a water splash" and for you video folks "the easiest DIY slider" and a "DIY turntable for videos".

Neil van Niekerk gives a great demonstration on how a whiff of off camera fill light can make a dramatic difference when shooting an outdoor engagement session. Lots of information regarding gear, settings, and details on how it's done.

Enjoy, and see you next week.

Today is a rare day...

Because I never go off topic during the week, that's a weekend only kinda deal, but today is my twins birthday... their sweet 16 birthday no less.

It seems like just yesterday that we brought them home, and just a couple days later they were running around in their little footy pajamas and life was all about being a Disney princess.

When it was time to play “beauty salon” I was their guinea pig. I can’t tell you how many times I’d forget what they had done to me and would head off to the grocery store with clips in my hair, makeup smeared on my face with, and well coordinated nail polish.

The looks I would get while standing in the checkout line.

One of their birthday big deals was decorating the van with glass paint, streamers, balloons, and on the back window it would say “honk for the birthday girls”. They would count each and every honk throughout the day and write down the total so they could compare it to the year before.

I can still hear them say “when I grow up, I want to marry you”.

They thought my tricks were truly magical, and that I was the funniest man alive.

Now they are young women, they don’t makeup my face, they won’t let me decorate the van, and they certainly don’t want to marry me. And I could not be more lame (just ask them).

Now they’re so hip it hurts, it’s all about boys, texting, and skinny jeans and they talk in acronyms like – IDK (I don’t know), OMG (Oh MY God), and JK (just kidding).

Right now they are running around, planning the day (and their party) with their friends, but I don’t see those hip young sweet 16 year old women in their skinny jeans... texting faster than I can talk.

I see my little girls in their pretty sun dresses, getting into a decorated van, and as I taxi them to their destination I’ll start counting the honks in my head.


Happy birthday Peanut, happy birthday Boo Boo.

Want some free Photo gear?...

We are giving away the gear we showed in our last video, two lucky (random) winners will get one "mini" tripod and one flash bracket each.

As always entering could not be simpler:

1. Leave a comment on any of our blog posts or any of our YouTube videos.

2. Upload any image that you shot to our Flickr group.

3. "Like" The Photography Podcast on Facebook (only because "Love" is not an option)

:)

If you are new to Flickr (and have never joined) you can get the details on how to join our Flickr group here.

This contest starts right now (August 28th), it's open to everyone, and the winners will be chosen at random from among all of the qualifying entries.

The winners will be announced on Friday September 7th right here on the blog.

Here is the small print (literally):

All rights and ownership of submitted images remain with the photographer who took it.

1 image upload + 1 comment + 1 "Like" = 1 contest entry. We realize you can only "Like" us once, so after the first "Like" 1 image upload + 1 comment = 1 contest entry.

You can enter the contest as many times as you like, no limit.

Lastly, the contest is open to everyone world wide, if the winner does come from outside the contagious 48 United States, they (the winner) will be responsible (only) for the cost of shipping.

Here is the video that shows the gear we are giving away:


Good luck everyone.

If you'd like a good laugh...

It's the weekend and longtime fans of the blog know that if I post on the weekend it will most likely be (way) off topic.

That being said, let's get there.

If you are a dog lover (or even if you're not) and would like to laugh out loud, follow this link.

You'll find many images just like this one.

A look at some Flashpoint gear...

Today we are going to share with you a few inexpensive pieces of Flashpoint gear.

Adorama sent us a box full of photography gear that we will share through a series of videos, gear we have tried, liked, and thought you might be interested in.

And all you see here today (and what you see in future videos) we will be giving  away in future contests.

One of the things we want you to know is that Adorama is an advertiser, the sole advertiser here on Weekly Photo Tips, and is so because they are the company we believe in and have been using since before there was this blog.

Because they are an advertiser it helps offset the cost of hosting, production, and all the other things related to running a blog, a podcast, and a video channel.

Even more important, it also provides us the opportunity to donate 25% of every penny that comes in to Operation Smile and in delivering hundreds of pounds of food to soup kitchens and food backs here in southern Maine.

So if you buy gear that you need (and would have bought anyway) not only do you help support us, you are feeding the hungry and helping children in need around the world.

The four pieces of gear you will see in the video todays are:

Universal Swivel Holder (for $9.95/free shipping)

Umbrella Bracket with Adjustable Flash Mount ($15/free shipping)

Suction Cup Ball Head ($9.95/free shipping)

Suction Cup Monopod ($12.95)

So thank you for supporting the blog, thank you for supporting our sponsor, and thank you for supporting our causes.

Well that was fun...

Thanks to everyone who took the time to participate in our first Facebook photo challenge "things I have grown" and for making it such a success.

Two folks have been picked at random to receive the following photography books:

"Google+ for Photographers" by Colby Brown

"Your Camera Loves You: Learn to Love It Back" by Khara Plicanic

Robin Storesund will be receiving the Google+ book and Kristina Ulmer will get Your Camera Loves You.

So, Robin and Kristina, email me your snail mail address and we will get your books right out to you.

Thanks again everyone.

Just 24 hours left...

You have until noon tomorrow (Tuesday 8/21) to enter your image into our Facebook album "things I have grown".

Simply email us your image (please keep the image size to 300k or under) and we will add it to our Facebook album.

Though the rules are (very) few, you can find all of the details here.

Check back tomorrow afternoon and find if you are one of the folks who will be picked at random to receive a new photography book.