Friday, November 30, 2012

The Modern Dilemma: Does Your Cell Phone Make You Too Available? From @pcmag


Though cell phones provide constant connectivity, much of the 85 percent of Americans who own one actually dislike being always reachable, according to a new Pew Research Center study.

Convenience, communication, and access are pluses of modern technology, but they come with respective downsides: annoyances, interruptions, and added costs.

Pew reported that 24 percent of cell phone owners said the worst part about owning a mobile device is the constant availability, while 12 percent felt that the ability to talk with people at any time is second only to the general convenience of a cell phone.

Read on here.... http://wtr.mn/V8R19J

Thursday, November 29, 2012

PhotoNOLA, the New Orleans photography festival faces the digital age. From @nolanews

PhotoNOLA 2012, the annual New Orleans photography festival opens Friday, Nov. 30, in a different technological environment than when it began seven years ago. Today, just about everyone seems to have a camera in his pocket.

Stand on Camp Street outside of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and watch the traffic gush by when the light changes. Just imagine, it’s possible that most of the occupants of most of the cars and buses, in the blink of an eye, could snap a picture with their cell phones; in another blink of an eye, they could share the picture via email or social media.

If that picture captures something popular – Brad Pitt passing on his bicycle – it could electronically ripple across the globe. Photography has long been a part of our culture, of course, but since 2006 PhotoNOLA was born, it’s become embedded in our planetary nervous system.

For many of us, taking a photo isn’t a deliberation, it’s an impulse. And, truth be told, some of those cellular snapshots are pretty darned good, making everyone a potential Cartier-Bresson.

With those thoughts in mind, now turn away from the traffic and enter the Ogden, where several exhibits celebrate camera work born of an earlier, less extemporaneous era.

Read on here....http://wtr.mn/U5nc9d

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Holiday Photography Tips from SmugMug and a special offer via the Blurberati Blog.

Five Ways to Tell the Perfect Holiday Story
If you’re like all of us at SmugMug, you’re going to want to capture every laugh, hug and smile of your winter holidays and tell your family’s story in a beautiful, organized sequence of moments. Whether you decide to build your book and keep it on your shelf, or share it with loved ones who can’t be with you, the photos you take are key.
Here’s a few simple tips that will help bring your story to life.

1. Mix candid, posed and detail shots.
Variety is the spice of life. People expect to be lined up for portraits but don’t let that be the only time you hit the shutter. Keep your camera close and subtlely snap the emotions around the room: anticipation, joy and everything in-between. Try getting detail photos like hands holding wine glasses, or your guests’ festive shoes and jewelry. You don’t want to miss a thing… and they’ll be thrilled you noticed!
2. Shoot sequences for a simple visual story.
The easiest way to tell a visual story is 1-2-3. With your subject in one location, shoot multiple photos using the same composition but different expressions. Or better yet, try creating a series of before, during, and after shots of the kids opening their presents.
3. Take photos before the chaos.i pmz7xkn l Holiday Photography Tips from SmugMug
You can expect a mess when guests arrive and dinner is served, but it’s still possible to capture a few shots of your festive house when “All is calm, all is bright.” Break out the camera before the storm hits (or the night before when the kids are asleep) and take pictures of the tree, beautiful shining presents, or candles burning bright.
4. Use fast glass.
If you have a DSLR with interchangeable lenses, it’s a good idea to shoot with the aperture as wide-open as possible (lower f-stop number). This lets more light into your camera, meaning you’ll have fewer blurry photos — a common problem with indoor holiday photos.  And a great memory gets only better with
Still too dark? Try bumping the ISO to 1600 or higher. This makes your camera more sensitive to light, and most modern cameras handle it beautifully so you don’t have to worry about your photos turning out grainy.
5. Storyboard.
If you can, plan your book’s theme ahead of time and make a list before your guests arrive. Will there be specific colors you emphasize, or will you create collages of each grandparent? If there’s something you’ve just got to have for your book, pre-planning can help you stay on track during the whirlwind and ensure that you take every shot you need.
And now, a special offer from SmugMug:
Need a place to archive and share your photos? Give them a safe home at SmugMug, where you can upload unlimited photos and easily turn them into Blurb books. Use the code BLURB25 to get 25% off on a new SmugMug subscription through January 1, 2013. Choose the plan that works for you and save with this special Blurbarian discount.

You can find the Blurberati Blog here... http://blog.blurb.com/

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Blurb’s Top Tips For Building a Photo Book Masterpiece. From @smugmug

Whether you’ve traveled the globe seeking fine art photos, survived the safari of a lifetime or just had a new addition to your family, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better photo gift this holiday season than a personalized photo book.

Building a book can be as basic as clicking a button, but our friends at Blurb suggest a few tried-and-true tips for creating the perfect project each and every time. So when you’re ready to turn your SmugMug photos into your next book, keep these five tips in mind.  And as an extra bonus, keep reading for an exclusive Blurb discount for Smuggers.

1) Use only your best photos.

2) Keep it really, really simple.

3) Keep headers and footers consistent.

4) Don’t fall off the edge!

5) Inspire with your cover design.

Get the details here.....http://wtr.mn/Vc2sDE

 

 

 

 




Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Anything can be a bookstore: Tim Ferriss and Amazon Try to Reinvent Publishing. From @NYTimes

Tim Ferriss, the author of the “4-Hour” series of self-help books for young men, hails from the nutritional supplements world, where the product is going to rot in the warehouse unless customers feel it is going to change their lives forever right now. Amazon, more than just about any other large tech company, does not pretend it sees any value in the old order.

Bring these two elements together in the publication by Amazon of Mr. Ferriss’ new book, “The 4-Hour Chef,” and the result is a lot of noise, hype and anger, as well as some hints about the future of book publishing. Here are a few preliminary conclusions:

1. Anything can be a bookstore.

2. When a book is published, the real work begins.

3. If traditional publishing and traditional bookselling are going to survive, they are going to have to state their case in a way they never had to before.  

4. Everything is negotiable, starting with price.

5. Everything will be a best seller, even if you have to give it away.  

6. The first victim here is going to be the English language.

Read the details here.....http://wtr.mn/UWqbrs

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Blurb + InDesign = Game Changer. From @sabinelenz

While HP’s MagCloud has helped hundreds of would-be publishers produce  slick print-on-demand magazines for a few years now, POD book printer Blurb may have just done that company out of a gig.

Starting this month, an Adobe InDesign plug-in will enable anyone with that software and an Internet connection to print magazines and brochures using Blurb’s well-respected service. Not surprisingly, those who use Blurb will face some pretty hefty per-item fees unless they print in bulk, putting a slight dent in what is gained by avoiding offset printers in the first place:
  • Magazine (single issue): 20-220 pages, 8 ½ x 11” perfect bound, 60 lb./89 gsm paper, UV Satin finishing, starting at $10.95/copy
  • Brochures: 4-48 pages, 8 ½ x 11” saddle stitch, 80 lb./118 gsm paper, uncoated/UV Satin/UV Gloss finishing options, starting at about $7 each.
Like its books, Blurb’s magazines and brochures are printed on HP Indigo presses.
Find the original article here....http://wtr.mn/T3kd5P

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Digital Self-Publishing Platform Blurb Expands to Offer Magazines and Brochures. From @wired

As publishing transitions into the digital space, that doesn’t mean we’ll have to abandon print entirely. In fact, Blurb has built a successful business by offering “accidental authors” an easy way to write and self-publish custom print books on demand, all through a digital platform. In May, the company added e-books, giving people a tool to publish their work as iPad and iPhone versions.

And now they can do the same for magazines and brochures – in both print and e-book formats.

Beginning Tuesday, Blurb will support magazine and brochure publishing using a plugin for Adobe InDesign. The company plans to have its own publishing tools eventually, but for now it wants to target businesses, creative professionals and photographers who are familiar with InDesign and want a streamlined and cheap way to publish their own content. It’s very similar to what HP has been offering with MagCloud, a print-on-demand service that independent magazines like Longshot Magazine have used.

“It’s an expansion play,” Blurb CEO Eileen Gittins told Wired. “Unlike a book, where for the most part it’s a solo effort, a magazine, because you can get contributions from others, is collaborative. That material can be more consumable. They will be much faster to produce, but more community-driven and with more issues. You might do four issues a year. We’ll see more volume and community-driven projects.”

Read on here....http://wtr.mn/TuzNoi