Project 2 - Toy

My daughter came up with the idea of doing a toy photo for this project.  At first I wasn't too keen on it but as I thought about it I liked the challenge.  Isn't that what a project is supposed to do, challenge you a bit?  So off to figure out what I could take a picture make a photo of.

A fresh start - 2013 - 52 photo projects

I know I know... Last year I said I would be doing a 52 project.  I intended to and then got overwhelmed with other stuff quickly, then I lost my drive to photograph anything.  After a rather busy and stressful year I am now back with some new gear and a renewed desire to enjoy photography.  This year my oldest has decided she would like to do the 52 project too.  We have already come up with a list of projects and some ideas of when and what to take photos of.

Welcome 2012 and another photo project

Well 2012 is upon us already and after being fairly stagnant with my photography and blogging during 2011 I have been trying to figure out how to revive that passion.  I will say that 2011 particularly the end of it was quite busy, but I do enjoy my photowalks.  They are a great way to get away and see some cool places.

AdoramaPix Photo book review

So I got my first AdoramaPix photo book last week and I must say it is very nice.  I've been meaning to get a book through them for a while now and I finally had some time while the weather was being not so pleasant.  I decided to throw together a book for my 2010 52 Photowalks project.  I felt this was a good way to show off some of my favorite works for my first major photography project.  Overall it took me probably about 7 hours to go through all of my photos, pick my favorites and organize them into the book.  I will say that first off the online book creator was very easy to use.  I used one of the templates available on the site then I just had to add in photos and text.  I customized some of the pages to suit my needs which was very easy to do.  I had a tough time figuring out where to put each photo so I tried to group all the pages into mini themes.  I had a spread for my Disney walk, a beach spread, flowers and bugs, etc... I think that really helped to make the book flow nicely.  The quality of this book is phenomenal, a nice hard cover that lays flat when you open the book.  This is very nice since some of my layouts had photos that covered all or part of both pages.  This made the photos that expanded over both pages still look very nice with very little seem to get in the way.  The page quality is also outstanding.  The pages are nice and thick and really show off the photos beautifully.  I've shown this photo book to many people and all of them have commented on how nice the quality of the book is as well as the prints themselves.  The price of these books are not real cheap though.  Don't let this turn you off.  I wouldn't use one of these books for vacation snapshots or just a generic photo book of simple snapshots.  These books are meant for showing off great works of art.  I am already working on ideas for new book ideas for them.  Another thing to note is a lot of times Adorama seems to give credits for books when you spend a fair amount of money in the photography store.  It's great for both you and them, hopefully they keep doing that.  I'm considering for my next photo book doing all of the page templates in gimp and uploading the whole pages to their site.  I hope this will help me to appreciate the patient and skill template designers utilize when making their designs.

I am very glad to have this book, it will be a great sense of pride for years to come and an awesome coffee table book for my guests to peruse when they are over.

If you would like to take a look at my book you can check out the preview here. This preview does not do the printed book justice.  As always I am open to CC, feel free to leave me a comment.

I may post it for sale at some point, I've had a lot of people ask me where to buy it and how much it is.

DM|ZE Check out my flickr or google+

My Review of Flashpoint 16 Channel, Radio Remote Control Set, with Transmitter and Receiver, Range of 90'

Originally submitted at Adorama

Flashpoint 16 Channel, Radio Remote Control Set, with Transmitter and Receiver, Range of 90'

Flashpoint 16 Channel, Radio Remote Control Set, with Transmitter and Receiver, Range of 90'

Not bad for the price

By DM|ZE from Delaware on 11/21/2010

4out of 5

Pros: Lightweight, Easy to Use, Reliable
Cons: Weak Construction, Bulky
Best Uses: Weddings/Events, Portraits, Family Photos
Describe Yourself: Photo Enthusiast
Was this a gift?: No

Currently I have an Olympus FL-36R that can be activated wirelessly but you have to have line of sight. With this I no longer need line of sight, I've used it for one photo shoot so far plus some testing around (probably 100 shots so far). No misfires, popped every time. I will say the receiver is a bit bulky. I also have a strobe light (Flashpoint 620m), I like how I can use it to pop that as well but it just looks bulky hanging there. Still works though. Compared to a lot of other options this is a much cheaper alternative. I wouldn't mind having some of the more expensive sets but my wallet really likes these.

(legalese)

EDIT: I recently went to use my radio remotes and they wouldn't fire.  After ensuring that the batteries were good and checking the channel settings I realized that the transmitter led wasn't even lighting up.  It doesn't seem to be documented anywhere but there is a small screw under the QC sticker of the transmitter that allows you to open it and replace the battery.  I had thought that it might run on the power from the hotshoe on the camera, but that is not the case.  After running to the convenience store between on my way to another shoot I replace the battery, which was an A23 or 23A (depending on the brand) and it was working again with no problems.  I think when I had placed the transmitter in my bag it may have been where the test button was held down and drained the battery.  The battery was about $5 and I was glad that it fixed the issue. I hope this helps someone.