If you regularly change your desktop images for particular purposes, you probably already know how to control click on your desktop and select Change Desktop Background to get the task done. But why go through that process when you can use an Automator action to change to your favorite or most used desktop backgrounds in one simple click.
For example, because I work with color adjusting photo files a lot I often keep my desktop background to a simple gray solid color. But when using my laptop with clients, I like to change my desktop to something more interesting. So in order to change my desktop images, I now click on one of four Automator actions that I created using Apple’s AppleScript-like program, Automator.
Continue reading »
40 Digital Photography Techniques, 3rd Edition
by : Young Jin
O’Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 89-314-3369-7
208 pages
$16.99 US, $22.99 CA
Most people who like taking pictures probably don’t want to spend time reading manuals and long books about camera techniques. Most avid shooters I imagine just want specific techniques and strategies they can easily understand and try out.
Well, Young Jin’s 3rd edition of 40 Digital Photography Techniques is a very useful resources for these type of digital photographers. First off, the almost 7″x7″ size of the book makes it very useful for fitting it into a medium size camera bag and using it when you’re out taking pictures. Secondly, manner of the instructions in the book are easy to follow and apply, though the book does provide some advance techniques.
Continue reading »
Lifehacker: 88 tech tricks to turbocharge your day,
By Gina Trapani
ISBN 0-470-05065-9
300 pages
US $24.99 CAN $29.99 UK £15.99
http://wiley.com
If most of your productive day-to-day activities revolve around your Mac and related software, you probably keep current on as many strategies, tips, and ideas that help you not only be more productive at the keyboard, but also provide you ways to better organize your daily routines, projects, and – heck – your entire life if need be. And if you’re Mac power user, you no doubt seek out and learn numerous plug-ins, third-party applications, keyboard shortcuts, Applescripts and automations, and even some Unix command that boosts your productivity and technical wizardry.
Continue reading »
Soundslides
Company: Soundslides, LLC.
Price: $39.95 USD
soundslides.com
For the last several months I’ve been looking for a slide show application that would enable me to quickly post Flash Player slide shows to my website. Yes, Apple provides Quicktime slide show features in iPhoto and iDVD, but I’ve found Flash Player formats to be seriously smoother and easier to download than Quicktime movies.
After searching and trying out three or four different solutions that would work with my .mac website/account, someone recommended Soundslides. I downloaded the trial version and immediately liked the the layout and simplicity of the application.
Canon EOS 30D: Guide to Digital Photography
by David D. Busch
270 pages
Thomson Course Technology Press
ISBN 978-1-59863-336-8
$29.99 US, $40.95 CN
When it comes to books about digital photography, Thomson Press is a sure bet for both beginner and experienced photographers. Their photography books are typically well illustrated, designed, and written from a practical point of view. Their series includes basic guides for beginners and more advanced books on subjects like boudoir and nude photography; nature, sport, and food photography, and a recent one on best business practices for photographers.
Canon EOS 30D: Guide to Digital Photography, by prolific author and award winning photographer, David D. Busch is one of the most recent contributions to the Thomson’s digital photography series. This guide book is the type that I enjoy reading from cover to cover. Busch states upfront in the introduction to his book that he wanted to write a guide to one of Canon’s most popular and professional digital SLR cameras that did not resemble the manual that comes with the camera. And he certainly accomplishes that goal.
Continue reading »
Anyone who regularly shoots digital photographs realizes just how easy it is to fill up a photo management system like Apple’s iPhoto with thousands of images. In fact, uploading, managing, and processing digital photos is probably the most difficult part of digital photography. Everyone loves to shoots pictures, but digital photos can easily fill up a hard drive just in same way many old school shutterbugs could fill up shoe boxes and plastic covered album pages.
If you’re using iPhoto, or any other photo management system, it’s very useful to develop and maintain a practical workflow for importing, organizing, processing, and outputting your digital images. Having a workflow can enable you to process photos faster and make photo management effectively manageable. I would never say that digital photo management is fun, but I would say that it’s a lot better than keeping your photos in shoe boxes.
Continue reading »
Aperture 1.5: Professional Manage Digital Photographs Continue reading »
by Orlando Luna and Ben Long
Peachpit Books
ISBN 0-321-49662-0
543 pages
$49.99 US, $61.99 CN £35.99 UK
With the emergence of podcasts and videocasts, along with the unlimited amount of blogs and other types of websites, the plethora of free information and resources is sheerly overwhelming. You simply can’t keep up with all the information you access or that comes to you on a daily basis.
But if you have a collection of music videos, podcasts, or videocasts that you want to keep and review later, putting them on a DVD using iDVD is a great solution.
Continue reading »
I’ve been an avid fan of iPhoto since it was first introduced about five years ago. Of course the revolution in digital photography inspired me to take videography and photography to a professional level, but having an effective way to organize and edit my photos was equally inspiring.
Now that I’m working as a wedding and event photographer, I’m shooting hundreds of pictures on each job and am having to meet the challenge of uploading, managing, and outputting photos for my clients. The process hasn’t been easy. I’ve been looking at management systems like Adobe’s Bridge and Lightroom programs, and even iView Media Pro, but with the latest update of Apple’s Aperture, I think I may have found solutions to my larger and more complex digital photo management and processing problems. And believe me, when you’re processing hundreds of photos for a waiting client, digital management is a problem that is not easily solved with iPhoto or even Adobe Bridge.
Continue reading »
The Digital Photography Book
by Scott Kelby
Peachpit Books
http://www.peachpit.com
ISBN 0-321-47404-X
219 pages
$19.99 US, $13.99 CN £13.99 UK
Author, Photoshop guru, and photographer, Scott Kelby is widely known for his popular tips books about such creative software as Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Elements, Apple’s OS X, and even tip books for the iPod.
Continue reading »
Digital Photography: the Missing Manual,
By Barbara Brundage
396 pages
O’Reilly Media
http://www.oreilly.com/
Create Your Own Photo Blog,
By Catherine Jamieson
309 pages
Wiley Press
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/
In the past couple of years, I’ve been reading widely on the subject of digital photography. I’m not alone. The plethora of books published on the subject seems like a monthly occurrence, and the demand for them seems equally great. Serious amateur and professional photographers want to get as much out of the technology as they possibly can. And why shouldn’t we? So much can be done with digital photography that’s it difficult to overlook a good book that shows you some new or different approaches to the art of digital imaging making.
Continue reading »
Photoshop Workflow Setups
by Eddie Tapp
197 pages
O’rielly Publishers
www.orielly.com
Any pro photographer, graphic designer, or web developer knows how important establishing a workflow is to effectively and efficiently completing projects, especially when it comes to working in mammoth programs like Adobe Photoshop CS2.
As both a student and developing professional of digital photography I’m discovering that as I learn how to better use Photoshop to improve my photographs and do design work, it’s equally important to know how to work and save time in PS so that the work can be done with as less frustration as possible.
Continue reading »
The Printshop For Mac Version 2
The Software MacKiev Company
Price: $59.95 Single User; $89.95 Family Pack
www.mackiev.com
If you use iDVD and its themes for home or professional use, you can’t afford not to have The Printshop For Mac Version 2 software. I’ve been using this latest version since it was introduced at the Mac World conference last January for all my DVD labels and cover designs. While I could also do DVD cover layouts in InDesign or Apple’s Pages, The Printshop offers a less time consuming integration with iPhoto, iDVD, and iTunes that you simply won’t find in the larger, more expensive design programs.
Continue reading »
Continue reading »
InDesign Production Cookbook,
by Alistar Dabbs and Ken McMahon
ISBN 0-596-10048-5
Orielly Press
192 pages
US $29.95 CAN $41.95 UK £21.99
www.oreilly.com
DLO’s TransDock micro
Company: DLO
Price: $69.99
http://www.dlo.com
One of the first features that drew me to this iPod gadget was the battery charger. I listen my iPod (using a cassette player adapter) mostly in my car and I can’t count how many times the battery has come close to running down or out because I hadn’t charged it for several days. So when I saw that DLO’s TransDock micro would charge my 4th generation iPod while it broadcast my music , I wanted to check out its other features as a possible upgrade to my current transmitter.
My first impression of DLO’s TransDock was very good. I like the design and versatility of the device. On unpacking it I was concerned that if I plugged into my car’s cigarette lighter that it would get in the way of my gear shifter, but the adjustment screw enable me to secure a good fit. I was able to fit it into the cigarette lighter of my wife’s car as well, but because her lighter is near the floor, TransDock’s blue black-lit LCD screen was not as visible as it was in my car (the only function of the screen by the way is to display the radio frequency channel that you’re using or searching for to transmit music.) You can only adjust the transmitter vertically, so depending where your cigarette lighter is located, it could be a potential problem.
Continue reading »
A true Mac user would never be caught buying a Hallmark greeting card when he or she has TextEdit, AppleWorks, Pages or some other graphic layout program installed on his or her Mac.
If you have Pages installed, you can whip a out nice Mother’s Day letter that will be more meaningful and personal than all the store bought cards you’ve purchased in the past.
What you will need: Pages (AppleWorks or TextEdit can also be used), your iPhoto photos, and loving words.
Continue reading »
Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers
by John Beardsworth
O’Reilly Press
ISBN 0-596-10020-5
176 pages
US $29.95 CAN $41.95
http://oreilly.com
Amateur and professional photographers use Photoshop mainly to enhance their photographs. Anyone using this powerful program knows what magic it can do when simple features like color enhancement, increased saturation, cropping, and unsharp masking are applied to their images.
It’s hard to tell how most people use Photoshop, but I would say that many of its layer blending modes are rarely used non-professionals unless you’re lucky to have a deep creative streak within you that makes you wince at simple straight forward images that most photographers produce.
Continue reading »
Continue reading »
No doubt, either version of Adobe’s Photoshop offers the best tools for photo enhancements, but Apple’s iPhoto image Adjustment tool provides a quick, down and dirty, method for enhancing your photos. I rarely print out or publish a photo to the web without at least using one aspect of this Adjustment tool.
Google GMail: Learn Gmail the Quick and Easy Way!
by Steve Schwartz
ISBN 0321330161
114 pages
US $16.99 CAN $22.99 UK £11.99
http://peachpitpress.com
If you’re a heavy computer and internet user, having a Google Gmail account is one of the best deals in town. There are few other email accounts that offer you 2,000MB (or 2 gigs) of FREE disk storage space and a bunch of smart filing features to manage your emails and other files.
I’ve had my Gmail account for about two years now, and I mainly use it as a secondary email account for site registrations and as one more back up device for photo and business files. Since Gmail accounts can also be downloaded as an RSS feeds, I’ve been tempted to make make more use of mine. As a web-based email account, it offers pretty much all the features that Apple’s Mail offers, including smart folders, rules for managing and filtering incoming and outgoing e-mail, signatures, address book, and search features—by the the post popular and powerful search engines on the planet.
Continue reading »
PhotoBank
Company: SmartDisk
Price: $179.99
http://www.smartdisk.com
Even though I’m not a full-time photographer, I often do photo-shoots in which I take several hundred pictures in one setting. And on more than one occasion, the two 512MB CompactFlash cards I use for my camera have maxed out with a little over 300 photos on each of them. In a pinch, I’ve used my iPod to store photos in order to free up my memory cards for more shooting. But now that I’m beginning to also shoot in RAW format with my 8-megapixel camera, each of my RAW photos weighs in at more or less than 8 MB—over twice the size of the fine quality 3 MB photos that I typically shoot. And so being able to off-load picture files onto a portable storage device is essential to getting the job done.
Continue reading »
Comments. Be heard!
MyMac Podcast #403
Review
Review
Review