Quick Hit Monday: iPad Card Readers; HDR Coolness; Zone System Wonderfulness; & A Little Inspiration

Good Morning Everybody,

When I signed off Friday, I mentioned that I would be hailing to you today from Phoenix.  Well, not quite, today I’m coming to you from beautiful downtown Palm Springs, California.  We left the Napa/Sonoma area about 9:30 a.m. yesterday and made it as far as Palm Springs, CA. about 7 hours later. Here is the view from our hotel room – pretty nice. 

We checked in, grabbed an adult beverage, ordered room service, watched the football game (sorry Dallas), and hit the sack. We are really living the high life aren't we;~)

Today we head out to Phoenix, about a 4 hour drive though the desert, and should land by early afternoon.  We got a little business to take care of but the trip also includes a few days off in Sedona, AZ.

Steve Jobs Bio – Very Interesting

I have to tell you, the highlight of our travels from Northern California has been listening to Steve Jobs biography which I downloaded from Audible.com.   So far, it has been a fascinating listen.  What is coming across so far is that he could be a real jerk, but he was one of the top visionaries of our time as well. The book is more than an biography of Mr. Jobs, but coincidentally a biography of Apple too which is also quite interesting.  Anyway, we'll get to listen to 4 more hours today as we travel to Phoenix.

Hey gang, I thought for today's post I'd get back to our regular Quick Hit Monday series. I've got a few tidbits for you so let's get right to it. 

New Card Readers for iPad

That's right.  I just caught this over at Photojojo.com  Ever since Apple neutered the power to the  USB adapter, it's been a bit trickier to get your images conveniently onto the iPad, particularly for us wedding photographers.  I've blogged about a few solutions over the last few months. 

I think these two adapters from Photojojo.com look very promising. Here is the link right here.  The price is right too.  These may be the ones I'm picking up for my iPad.  Hey, while you're over there shopping, check out the other very interesting items they have in their store too [link]. Many cool, geeky camera items that look kind of fun.

HDR - Multiple White Balances

A few weeks ago, I stumbled on this very interesting article by John Neel at Pixiq.com describing a HDR technique using multiple white balances.  The results looked very cool.  I've only considered doing HDR the old fashioned way but never considered HRD with different color balances.  Check it out right here.

Why You NEED the Zone System for Digital Photography

In my Captured By The Light tour which we  wrapped last week, I discuss in depth how I establish the correct exposure.  Part of that discussion includes how I relate my correct exposure to Ansel Adam's Zone System.  By the way, if you missed my Captured By The Light tour, you can pick up the entire LIVE recording right here.

Anyway, you've got to check out this post right here by blogging buddy and talented photographer, Gavin Seim, which goes into a quit a bit of detail about how the Zone System can be used in many aspects of our digital photography.  High 5's to Gavin and F164.com for a great post!

How About A Little Monday Morning Inspiration for You?

1. 20 Impressive Examples Of Panoramic Photography (far right):  Way cool panos that are just fun to look at and enjoy.  Here is the link right here.

2. Nighttime Locations Illuminated Through Light Painting on an Epic Scale (left): Epic scale may be an understatement - very cool images right here.

3. Digital Art by Nathalia Suellen (below):  I am constantly amazed by the work of digital artists and have previously posted links to many artist's work here at DPT.

You know, it's just a different way to look at the world and I love it.  Please check out the work of Nathalia Suellen right here.

Learn Digital In Delray

I'm doing this plug for my buddy Rick Sammon because I loved the images that went along with his announcement of his upcoming workshop series.  They were just so striking to me - the colors and composition really got my attention.  Rick has an entire series of workshops happening in 2012 and the price is right too - why not check them out right here.

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Hey gang, that's it for me today.  We are hitting the road shortly for Phoenix but before we head East, I'm trying to wrap tomorrow's Technique Tuesday post.  It's a bit more involved than I thought pulling all the images for the post.

I know I've got your curiosity up just a bit.  It's the post I wanted to do last week of cheating the sync.  It will be an in depth peek on how you can make that little bit of camera trickery really open up some cool ideas for your portrait photography.  Tune in on Tuesday and check it out.

See ya' tomorrow everybody,  David