Archive for the ‘2009 Calendars’ Category

Machu Picchu (March 2010 Desktop Calendar)

A few years back I had a great opportunity to travel with some friend to Peru.  We spent a week in the Andes and several days hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.  My camera gear accounted for most of my pack’s weight, but it was well worth it as I shot some 2,000 images on the trip.   Click on your screen resolution below and enjoy your free desktop calendar. 

Machu Picchu Desktop Calendar

March Desktop Calendar (1024×768)

March Desktop Calendar (1280×800)

March Desktop Calendar (1280×1024)

March Desktop Calendar (1920×1200)

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  February’s calendar is available for download.  Today’s shot is looking over the Gulf of Mexico from the beaches of Tulum. For the 1280X800 click HERE,  1600X1200 click HERE, 1920×1200 HERE and iPhone HERE.   Tomorrow I plan to announce February’s new photo contest – so make sure to check back tomorrow.   That’s it…just a short one for today.   Happy Feb. Catch you guys tomorrow.  John

Lamar Valley, Yellowstone (1/320 at f/10, 130mm, ISO 200)

I don’t know about you folks, but I had a great Thanksgiving weekend.  I spent a ton of time with my friends and family.  The very best part of the weekend was  my daughter made me my favorite: a JELL-O cheesecake.    We spent part of  the weekend checking out  the Lincoln Park Zoo lights (way too much fun to photograph) and enjoyed a carriage ride downtown.  I truly enjoy Chicago at this time of year.   If you haven’t visited us in awhile, I recommend grabbing your camera and making the trip.  Chicago is quite the city – especially during the holidays.   I almost forgot this month’s desktop calendar, but here it is from the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone.  For the  1280×800 click HERE;  1600×1200 click HERE; 1920×1200 click HERE.   Also, I want to thank Kajsa (my intern) for her great post yesterday….. if you missed it click HERE.  She talked about the importance of self-critique as well as an outside opinion.  As a reminder, Kajsa will be posting on the weekends so send her some love by posting a few questions,  because  as I told her when she started, “ the weekend can be a rough crowd.”     That’s it for today.  Get back to work and have a great Monday…John

November 2009 Desktop Calendar

I’m back in the Windy City and slowly getting caught up.  I decided I would get a jump on things and get November’s desktop calendar to you a little early.  If you need the  1600X1200 click HERE; 1200X800 click HERE; 1920X1200 HERE and for you iPhone users that just want a cool wallpaper click HERE.   Feedback is always welcomed on ways I can improve the desktop calendar for you, so just let me know.

For those of you that might have missed  Adobe’s  announcement of its  “beta” version of Lightroom 3.  It’s available for download by anyone, regardless if you’ve owned it previously or not.  The “beta” version will expire on April  30^th 2010.  Keep in mind this is a beta product and it might have some bugs or enhancements to be worked on.  The new version sports better sharpening, a watermark tool (finally) and easier importing and exporting features.  If you’re on the adventuresome side, I recommend checking it out HERE.

Speaking of upgrades, I tackled the Windows 7 upgrade this weekend and it went flawlessly.  I’m happy to report that it seems to play well with Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop and all my plug-ins.  It’s pretty slick and does seem to be snappier than Vista.  Vista was a disaster but  Window 7 seems to be off to a good start.

It’s been a couple of months since we’ve had a contest, so I thought we would kick November off with a fun one – so stay tuned and I’ll have the details to you on Friday.   Have a great Monday…John

October’s desktop calendar was taken of the wheat fields in Idaho. The wide screen version is available for download HERE and the standard size is available  HERE. I’m looking forward to this weekend and my Chicago workshop. I really hope the weather holds – as Chitown is starting to prove it’s windy city nickname.

I’ve had a lot of questions lately regarding camera equipment. Specifically, what lens I should buy or what camera body is best? I don’t take buying a camera lightly. Shopping for a new camera often feels like going out and buying a new set of wheels. The experience can be wonderful or tragic. My recommendations are simple: First, be forewarned – this can be a very expensive hobby and if you’re thinking about doing it “pro style” get ready to dig deep so start with a realistic budget. You need to consider the cost of the body, the lens, a bag, memory card, etc. Don’t make the mistake of buying more than you need. The reality is many of us aren’t using our current cameras to their fullest capabilities. Know your limits and buy the body that pushes those abilities a tad. A great example is my father, who loved his Canon 40D and was taking great pictures with it. But along came his son (me) and said you need a full frame 5D. “It’s so slick…you need one,” I said. He relented, and frankly, he’s struggled for many months with it because it was simply too much to learn compared to the 40D. I’m happy to report he’s doing better now after a few lessons from his number one son. Or should I say, his only son..;)

Next, start doing a lot of research on the camera and lens you’re looking to buy. There are many wonderful resources available to you on the internet. I highly recommend reading the user reviews on B&H Photography website or Amazon. One site I’ve come to love for reading about Canon related lenses is www.the-digital-picture.com and thank you Ronnie Ruiz for the Twitter reply that led to this great Nikon source www.bythom.com.

Third, don’t go too cheap on the optics. The one nice thing about today’s SLR is we can build a lens collection, that if properly researched, can follow you as you migrate to newer bodies. Finally, for those of you looking to make a really expensive decision on a piece of equipment – or even those of you who don’t have any clue on what you want, then I strongly recommend renting. For instance, I’ve been looking at 85mm lenses for quite some time now, but the two that I have in mind are quite expensive. I decided to rent both lenses from www.borrowlenses.com to give them a test drive. I figure it makes sense to try the gear out for an extended period of time before I blow a wad of cash on something I don’t like, or worse yet, don’t need.

The bottom line is that this hobby isn’t cheap. But what is? A friend of mine just spent $600 on new golf irons. To each his own. He still shoots over par… the clubs can only do so much… the magic is in the swing. Getting the right equipment is key, but remember, your talent, creativity and imagination is the real key to the kingdom.

Just got back to Chicago after two days on the road, so today’s blog is going to be a little on the short side.    September’s desktop calendar is available HERE for  download.  If you haven’t already, here is a reminder to check out the The “low light” photo contest HERE.  Lastly, I have one spot available for this October’s Chicago workshop, if you’d like more information or are interested, click HERE.

After two long days of driving the mothership landed in Montana and I have yet to wet a fly on the mighty Madison River.   Today’s seed pod was taken in my field and what about the size of a softball so I thought it would make a great August calendar.  You can download the calendar by clicking HERE

August 2009 Desktop Calendar

While I was traveling I received a few questions  about gear, composition etc.  So, I’ve decided that every Friday I’ll try to field a few questions from my readers.   One the questions I received was whether or not I formatted my memory cards after each use.  The answer is a strong yes!   You should always reformat a new card.  Plus, you should always reformat your card after each use (obviously, only after you’ve confirmed your photos have been downloaded and backed up properly)  The reason for the reformat is to avoid file corruption and errors.  Also, a card that’s never been reformatted looses capacity overtime (even if you’ve deleted images).  Most importantly, always…and I mean always reformat the card that’s being used between two different cameras regardless of make or model.  I use the same memory between my Canon 20D and  5D but I always reformat the card between uses and swaps.   Reformatting should be done from you camera’s menu options so if you don’t know how to reformat your memory then dust off your owners manual read up on it.  The last thing you want to do is lose images due to file corruption that can be avoid so when in doubt back-up  your images and reformat!

Have a wonderful weekend….I’ll be fishing!

I’m heading out this morning to New Orleans, but I wanted to make sure everyone received July’s desktop calendar. July’s calendar is a picture of the Oregon coast I took a few years back after my father and I finished a great  fishing trip on  the Deschutes River.  Click HERE to get  the new desktop calendar.  Remember, to save it to your desktop once the page opens.   The other day I had a nice email from a fellow blogger named Tammie Dooley.  We had a nice exchange about our sites and our work, but she never once told me she was one of the top ten finalist  in USA Today’s  “Capture America Beautiful” …that goes to character.  Everyone should check out her site and her award winning photo by clicking HERE.  Congrats Tammie for taking a killer shot!

Lightroom users remember Matt Kloskowski is coming to Chicago for his Lightrooom 2 Live tour.   This is a great opportunity to brush up on your Lightroom skills!  I’ll be there, so drop me a note if you’re going, and maybe we can hook up for coffee.

Some photographers have a tendency to look down on peers who have not been “classically” trained in the art of photography. I tend to be of the mindset that a photographer doesn’t need a long pedigree of fine art school diplomas in order to be considered a “good” photographer. Now maybe I’m slightly jaded on this subject, and possibly even projecting a bit, but I’m living proof that you can get a business degree, love economics, accounting, journalism and create good work from your artistic talents. It’s more work, no doubt, to have to go back and hone your skills in the absence of formal training. One way I was able to achieve this was by becoming a voracious reader of any and all photography trade journals. Not to mention, perusing thousands of award winning images in an effort to gain a better understanding of what makes a great photo. I believe a person who possess passion and drive can be successful at almost anything they put their mind to. Here’s a list of periodicals that continuously feeds my appetite for knowledge and has helped me gain insight into a world I’m very passionate about…PHOTOGRAPHY.

The list (not complete but a good start)

Professional Photographer

Outdoor Photographer

Digital Photo Pro

Photo District News (PDN)

Shutterbug

National Geographic

American Photo Magazine

Maxim (Just kidding…just wanted to make sure you were paying attention)

Aperture Magazine

Digital Camera Magazine (DC Mag. can be found in bookstores great U.K. Mag)

Digital SLR Photography (U.K. Magazine)

Also, remember to download June’s Calendar.  Just click on the image above and save to your desktop.   Enjoy, John

May 2009 Calendar

I plan on posting a desktop calendar each month.  This month’s calendar comes from a trip to Kenya a few years back.  Just click on the link here and save to your desktop. If you have any suggestions feel free to post a reply.  Thanks, John