Marc Benton dot Com

Frecs for 3/12/2010

Frecs = Friday Recommendations

Its been an interesting and full week here.  I’m still in the full-time job hunt and making some progress.  Sherri and I attended an informal photowalk with friends in DC over the weekend which included the Eastern Market followed by the Ninjas vs Pirates games.  I also ran into some skateboarders at Freedom Plaza that were nice enough to let me take some shots of them in action.  We’re still making headway in getting PhotoBlogging DC relaunched, expect to see an announcement next week.

I stopped by the Kettler Capital IcePlex yesterday to watch my hockey team, The Washington Capitals, practice and sneak in some photography.  I came away with more than I bargained for though, around 200 shots and a bum ankle.  My new #1 tip to photographers:  Don’t concentrate on your subject (i.e. Mike Green) so much that you forget to look out for that curb lying in wait to turn your ankle.  I don’t think I broke anything but I will probably lame for a week or so.  Ice and Advil will be my companions for awhile.  The shot below with Mike Green posing with a visiting atom team from Canada was the one I was trying to get. I was in excruciating pain when I finally did snap it.

Links

• 8 Ways to Participate in the DC Area Photography Community.
• Jason D. Moore has a new 4 part series on SEO for Bloggers.
• Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips started a conversation around The 5 Places I use Lightroom Presets the Most (And the Least)
• Digital Photography School (DPS) is always good for a few links every week but if I had to cut it down to the one that interested me the most it would be How to Take the Perfect Headshot: 6 Tips.
• Scott Bourne has an interesting post on Photofocus about 10 Places to Find Photographic Inspiration.
• Jeff Revell of PhotoWalkPro wrapped up his European trip with his article The Thing About Travel Photography.
• David A. Ziser, author of Captured by the Light (and presenter of one awesome webinar), shares his 15 Steps for Shooting Weddings in Catholic Churches.

The Friday Follow Five

1. Scott Bourne – @scottbourne
2. Rob Jones – @townerjones
3. Nichole Young – @nicolesy
4. Jason Anderson – @CBJason
5. Jeff Namadan – @jnamadan

For more recommendations check out my Twitter list of DC Area Photographers.

Have a great week!

Tags: Frecs, friday follow, kettler iceplex, links, mike green, recommendations, sharing, twitter, washington capitals

Two Photo Collections I Had to Share

I normally save the links I find interesting throughout the week for my Around the Web posts on Fridays.  Today two collections caught my eye that I think deserved to stand on their own.

17 of the Most Visually Beautiful HDR Images

From Photoshop Tutorials & Resources.  This link will take you to a collection of breathtaking High Dynamic Range photos that really reflect the awesome imagery that can be created using this process.

Long Exposure Photography – 15 Stunning Examples

From Digital Photography School.  This collection impresses and attracts my attention because anyone with a DSLR, and most point and shoot cameras, can accomplish these types of shots.  HDR is cool but requires special software to create.  Just up your shutter speed for the types of photos you see at this page.  Ok, its a little more than that but you get a bonus from DPS.  Most of these shots are on Flickr and the EXIF data is readily available for us to learn from.

Random Thought of the Moment

I found these links in my RSS reader and highly encourage anyone that nots using RSS subscriptions to look into it.  Some people have proposed the use of Twitter in place of RSS readers.  Twitter is a great tool but I’m still a bigger fan of RSS.  Use Twitter to get the random links and stories that people are talking about at the moment but set up your subscriptions to your favorite sites to make sure you never miss an interesting article.  I’ll be posting my favorite subscriptions soon.

Stay wide and be prepared to zoom!

Tags: Digital Photography, hdr, high dynamic range, long exposure, RSS, twitter

Photography on Twitter

When you’re not being a shutterbug, do you tweet on Twitter?  Does that question even make sense to you?  If not then maybe you should check it out.  Twitter is a 140 character at a time microblogging service that is mainly about building relationships and sharing resources.  There have been hundreds and probably thousands of articles written on the web about the whatnot’s of Twitter.  Instead of me trying to add to the chaff I’ll suggest a Google search or a visit to the Twitter FAQ to find out more about the service.

I’m seeing more and more conversations about photography in my stream.  It has quickly become a valued source of information about gear, techniques and resources.  If you are looking to connect with photographers around the country, and even around the world, then consider joining me on Twitter.  Here is some information to get you started. Continue reading »

Tags: Digital Photography, Digital Photography School, hashtags, Neil Creek, Scott Rouse, twitter, Twitter stream

Dude it up on Twitter!

<wargame’s computer voice>Would you like to play a game?</wargame’s computer voice>

Have you seen the Dude commercial from Budweiser? As soon as I saw it tonight I thought of Twitter. With the forced limit of 140 characters to get your point across how useful can a word like Dude be? Dude can inflect so much in 4 letters. Surprise, friendship, disappointment, empathy, boredom, boast, congratulations, and jealousy just to name a few.

Dude can also be gender neutral. Hardly anyone says Dudette. While generally Dude is meant to be a male reference I’ve seen it used in both cases.

Inflection is the key for using Dude on Twitter. How do you ensure your meaning of the word is understood? We just have to be creative which to me is one of the joys of Twitter.

So lets play Dude it up on Twitter! Rules are simple. If you get tagged then pass it on to another friend on Twitter. Use creative ways to express your meaning to your target.

Examples using me @marcbenton:

@marcbenton dood (meaning Marc’s a noob at this whole social media thing and should consider signing off)
@marcbenton dude! (meaning I can’t believe Marc supports Huckabee for president. Another Arkansas governor???)
@marcbenton DUDE (meaning cut down on the Twitter updates Marc, no one cares how many times you go to the bathroom a day)
@marcbenton duuuuude (meaning I’m sorry Marc for the pic you posted on Flickr showing off your new haircut, was that done with hedge clippers?)

I’ll kick this off tonight and see if it gets any traction. Lets have some fun!

Twit (or dude) me up at marcbenton

Here’s the Bud commercial if you haven’t seen it. Enjoy dude!

Tags: budweiser commercial, dude, Dudette, social media thing, twitter