Mac RoundUP – Mac Round up from Moose?

Now that I’m moving more and more towards a Mac office space (ordered the new iMac for my desk for basic office stuff), I’m more in tune with Mac deals. With all the “new” stuff coming in, the “old” stuff is being blown out. Of course, a month ago, the “old” stuff was the “new” stuff. Well, you might be able to take advantage of some of the savings I just found so check it out. Price drop in the iPad3 and MacBook Pro makes these great tools just a little more affordable.

Nubble Lighthouse & The Big Stopper

HiTech Filter Holder
77mm Filter adptr
Big Stopper!

Back in August, I told your about the new Hitech filter system. The lack of water in the Sierra kept me from really doing much with their Big Stopper. Well on our K&M Adventure, ME, I had plenty of water so pulled out the Big Stopper. Attached to the D4 and 18AF, I went out as far as I could on the rocks safely and started to shoot. First, you manually focus and lock that in place with gaffers tape. Then it’s finding the exposure. I ended up shooting at 120sec, f/8 using the MC-36 as a timer. I have to tell you, I wasn’t thrilled with what I was seeing on the LCD.

My bud Kevin was shooting next to me and on his LCD, we saw a normal color with his Big Stopper. On my, looked like I was shooting in moonlight. Everything was blue. No matter, I kept on shooting figuring I could deal with the color cast in post. That is what I did, in ACR, simply took the Color Balance tool and clicked on the lighthouse to get the color you see here. What I do like is the blur to the clouds the long exposure. While the Hitech Big Stopper does have the color cast, I don’t hesitate using it just know on the camera’s LCD, the moon will be out.

BT Journal digital update

The beauty of iMags and iBooks is you can update them, something we like to take advantage of. So our latest digital edition of the BT Journal now has additional video content. The hardcopy should be mailed to folks within the month. mtc

BT Journal Premiere Digital Issue - FREE!Ipad version released 03.30.12 – FREE!

App Store

(click on icon) Subscriptions like anything iPad is purchased through iTunes. At this time, subscription to hard copy will not include digital copy. Back issues and issues released before the start date of your subscription not included.

Ghost Captured on Security Camera

Recent weather phenomenon has caused more sightings, check it out!

Taking Flight – Simply Blown Away!

Taking Flight – Your Start in Aviation Photography bought in 13 countries, that is so cool! Folks continue to buy and best of all, write us about out ground breaking iBook from around the globe. It is just so cool! Many have found it’s a photography book just as much about photography as it is about aviation photography and that was the whole idea. Most are really digging how Brent put it together making learning funnier, cooler and easier. That was the idea as well. And many have found the offer earlier this month about receiving an autographed cover when they email me their iTunes receipt asking if we”re still making that offer. How can I say no to all of those great emails! As long as you’re in North America (sorry, mailing out of country is just too expensive anymore), email me your receipt up until 11.03.12 and we’ll send you an autographed cover (those who did so in the last couple of weeks, your covers go out Monday). Thanks to all who have made this iBook such a hit! And wait…there’s mtc!

Features:

• Optimized for the New iPad! Enjoy the highest resolution possible.
• Compatible with all iPads (if using an original iPad, please be patient during use)
• Hundreds of images, from best to worst, so you know exactly what works and what does not
• Detailed captions. Know everything there is about the image you are looking for
• Videos on key techniques like Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop, with more to come. Go beyond words!

Moose & Mac – Month 2

Well, finishing up my 2nd month with the MacBook Pro Retina and to say I really, really, really am enjoying it is an understatement! I’m just getting back in the office after basically a 5 week road trip (I did come home for 38hrs after week 2) with nearly 2TB of new images! I did not change up my basic system since I got the Retina, using 2 ioSafe 1TB USB3 as my digital library and the Buffalo 1TB Thunderbolt as an extension of the internal SSD of the Retina. On the road, it worked great. I did learn a couple of things like, when Bridge is building a cache (I use Bridge to manage all my finished files only), don’t close the lid on the Retina and walk back to your room. Spent the next hour making that all happy again.

On the road, the workflow screamed thank goodness as I was jumpin! Images brought in with Photo Mechanic and filed and backed up on the ioSafe (TSA did not like all the hard drives I was toting!), images to be finished coped to a Temp folder where they were launched in ACR and finished in Photoshop. The speed, the freakin speed of this notebook is bloody amazing and to be honest with you, my older system would have let me down bigtime! I drove Photo Mechanic & Photoshop with the Wacom Intuos 5 which I’ve programmed the Express Keys to speed up things even more. The real life saver to me of all was the battery life of the Retina. Even with the two external drives attached, I had over two hours of operational time with plenty of time leftover. Amazing!

The only new thing in the mix is using Keynote Remote on the iPad to run Keynote on the Retina remotely. Hooking up the Retina to projectors is still a royal pain in the ass. Retina just doesn’t like VGA but is very happy with DVI/HDMI which means I have to stick to new projectors which is a challenge when you’re a guest presenter. The Keynote Remote & Keynote is working great after “customizing” it to do my thing. Now I know the issues, I’ve made a couple of work around to be able to function.

The big test for me though was getting back to the office and the digital library. With all my preroad trip testing, would all the work I did on the Mac on the road be Ok with the Windows 7 digital library. The biggest thing is the ioSafe drives talking to both systems happily. I’m so happy to say, it all worked flawlessly. After 26hrs, all files moved to the network NAS and backed up. Phew! But here’s the kicker. While on the road, a backhoe working on a neighbors home cut through ALL the electrical/internet cables causing an immediate blackout of the office. While everything is on UPS, my desktop, a Dell that is 13yrs old that is my basic office management, writing, email machine took a hit. So now the question is, what do I replace it with. Yeap, I’m looking into a Mac for the desktop. I realize I could use my Retina and in the meantime, I am and it’s doing a great job, but I need the extra machine. I’m a multi tasking fanatic! The bottomline for me, other than the working with a projector issue, the Retina simply rocks!

MacBook Pro Retina
Wacom Intuos5 Medium Pen & Touch Tablet
Magic Mouse
Buffalo 1TB Thunderbolt
ioSafe 1TB USB3
Lexar USB 3 Reader
Master Suite – Photoshop / Bridge CS6 Extended
Photo Mechanic 5
PhotoMatix Pro
Photo Rescue
Keynote (App Store)
Word
ScreenFlow (App Store)
Folder Sync Pro (App Store)
CyberDuck (App Store)
Thunderbird
Chrome
SuperDuper (App Store)
Disk Doctor (App Store)

Field Report – Nikon J2

I’ve shot with the Nikon 1 J2 for a month now and I can say, it’s fun to shoot with and delivers sharp files! I can also say it’s not for me. Prints are just now coming out of the Epson 4900 and they look great, so image quality is not an issue. I have my latest video shot with the J2 playing on another machine and it’s clean and crisp. And the J2 has some cool innovations like turning itself on when you simply unlock the lens to shoot. The two lenses, 10-30 and 30-110 work effortlessly and for some photographers, I can see this being the perfect camera and have no problem recommending it to them.

“But Moose, you can attach your 600 to it and shoot” was one comment I received when I said previously it’s not for me. Really, you would attach this to a $10k lens and go shooting? Isn’t the point of mirrorless is having more lens for less? The 30-110 when zoomed out is about the same as a 300mm on the D4. But 30-110 weighs nothin, it fits in your shirt pocket. So why would you mount a DSLR lens on this little wonder?

“The sensor is so small, the images must suck” is another comment I received. The prints coming out of the 4900 don’t suck by any stretch of the imagination. I would not hesitate sending them to a client (keep in mind, I don’t shoot at ISO 5mil, that feature in any camera is not what I test for). Even with that knowledge, I would be really hard pressed to walk into a client’s office with this as my camera and believe they would take me seriously. I mean, I can’t even attach a SB-900 to the J2.

I can’t say this is the best mirrorless camera on the market, I’ve only shot with one. I can say though I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot with it and put the images out in a 13×19 print and dare any to know it was taken with a mirrroless camera. It is a ton of fun and that’s where in my mind I fill this camera. While shooting with it, I did run into some other mirrorless camera owners shooting with different brands. While their mirrorless cameras had some great features and a bag full of lenses, after spending a couple grand, you’d best have that! But I also saw all these other mirrorless camera owners with big smiles when shooting and even bigger ones when they shared their images. And to me, that’s the best thing about the mirrorless.

I’m not looking at mirrorless. The new V2 has been announced and I’l looking forward to it reaching my desk and shooting with it. You want a fun, easy to use, light, sharp, well built mirrorless camera, you’ll find that and more in the J2.

Midwest Photo Presentation

15 Nov, I’ll be in Columbus talking about wildlife photography. Look forward to seeing you there!

New Nikon 70-200f4!

Since this new model weighs 20oz less, focuses a foot closer, costs $1k less and goes to f/32, it has my attention. Here’s the news..

Nikon Continues Popular Series of F/4 Lenses with the Addition of the New FX-Format AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR Telephoto Zoom Lens. The AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR Telephoto Zoom Lens is Nikon’s First Lens with up to Five Stops of Image Stabilization; Offers Outstanding Performance and Superior Image Quality

MELVILLE, N.Y. – Today (24 Oct), Nikon Inc. announced the newest addition to its legendary NIKKOR line of lenses, the AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR telephoto zoom lens that provides a popular and versatile focal length and a constant f/4 aperture for full frame FX-format photographers. The 70-200mm f/4 is the first NIKKOR lens to feature the third generation of Nikon’s Vibration Reduction (VR) technology to meet the still image and video demands of advanced photographers and videographers.

“With the new AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4, Nikon offers enthusiasts an essential telephoto zoom lens capable of amazing clarity and control, at a price point that’s easily attainable,” said Bo Kajiwara, Vice President of Marketing, Planning and Customer Experience, Nikon Inc., “With the introduction of Nikon’s third generation of VR technology, the AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4 lens offers superior performance and stunning image quality whether shooting beautiful stills or HD video in challenging lighting conditions.”

Creative Suite 6 Printing Guide

You might wanna click on the photo, it will answer some of your printing questions

It’s Out! 16.1

Moose in NYC Speaking Today!

I’ll be speaking at Calumet Photo today and would love to see you there! I’m talking wildlife, aviation, sports, flash, video, fun, inspiration and how YOU can do it! We’re at 22 West 22nd Street,New York starting at 6pm and over at 8pm. I want to thank Lexar and Calumet for bringing me in and providing me the opportunity to meet you! Come by and say hi!

You Don’t Need a Forest of Red

“Last week was peak!” has flooded my email box and social posts. And while a hillside of red would be spectacular, I’m really strange, I like these small snipits of color with a hint of winter on the way. I guess I like the subtle moody nature of these forest over the showy, flashy, obvious signs it’s fall. The wet trunks, the detail in the moss and lichens all in shades of gray with the dash of color…I could shoot those all day long!

MacBook Retina

Well, coming up on my 2nd month with the MacBook Pro Retina and I can honestly say, it is a screamer! Yesterday, other, older MacBook users were in awe as at the speed my Retina had in the digital darkroom. I’ve been on the road now for over a month and have added 1.7TB of images to my library. To be perfectly honest with you, while I might have been able to do the same thing with my Windows machine, I wouldn’t have had slept for the last month! The speed is a life saver! Having the Buffalo 1TB Thunderbird has made all the difference is having the “smaller” Retina. Now when it comes to making presentations, the Retina isn’t as clean as the regular MacBook Pro. Still having issues with running a projector. What I’m running is below..mtc

MacBook Pro Retina
Magic Mouse
Buffalo 1TB Thunderbird
ioSafe 1TB USB3
Lexar USB 3 Reader
Master Suite – Photoshop / Bridge CS6 Extended
Photo Mechanic 5
PhotoMatix Pro
Photo Rescue
Keynote (App Store)
Word
ScreenFlowFolder (App Store)
Folder Sync Pro (App Store)
CyberDuck (App Store)
Thunderbird
Chrome
SuperDuper (App Store)
Disk Doctor (App Store)

New Vids in Taking Flight

Hey guys! Brent here, filling in for dad while he’s on the road. Even on the road, we got some great new content for ya that Moose thought you would like to know about!

 
 

 
 

 
Today we are releasing a minor updates to Taking Flight which includes videos on Hand Holding, Panning, Sensor Cleaning, and Wrist Bands. It’s just a taste of some of the things we have planned to add to the book in time to come.

Simply open up your copy of Taking Flight while connected to the internet, and it will ask if you would like to update now or later.

Enjoy!

Adam Was at it Again!

Nikon J2 …