School Daze

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It's back to school for me. I finally buckled down and installed CS3. That means that in addition to adjusting to a new camera, new lens, and second flash, I am making friends with an upgrade from Photoshop 7.0 to CS3. I wonder why I have this nagging headache. Hmmm.

Inspiration To go

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If your spirits could use a boost, check out this post by Moose Peterson guest blogging at Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider:
http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2008/archives/1470

The Verdict Is In For Me

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Today, I received from Shutterfly the book I ordered last Thursday and, while there are some advantages to working with Blurb and overall I like the book I got from them, I prefer the paper stock used by Shutterfly. For now, this leaves me with no solution for publishing a book with a layout as complex as the one I used for my SoFoBoMo book. Furthermore, the better grade of paper comes at a cost. Still, I like the Shutterfly paper that much. When I loaded my pictures for this book, I made a point of turning off VividPics and, at least for this book, that made the big difference. This time around, I had no devastating color shifts or any other disturbing changes in my prints. That's not to say I didn't make a few goofy mistakes in my frantic rush to throw the thing together, but it was a terrific learning experience and none of the mistakes resulted in a book I could never show anyone. I consider the money well spent.

Toys Are Me

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I hadn't thought too much about upgrading my 20D, being keenly aware that what I most needed was to improve my skills rather than get a better camera. The 20D is a great camera and it wasn't exactly letting me down—more the other way around. Actually, what I found myself longing for was a 5D, and for quite a while I watched eagerly for news of the update for the 5D which would give way to the wait for the reviews to come in. I have utmost respect for my limitations as a judge of anything mechanical and wait for the far more experienced to find the bugs. I lack both the expertise and the nerves to serve on the front lines.

In the meantime, I went to Samy's one day knowing full well that these casual pilgrimages to the giant candy store for photographers will be a thing of the past if, indeed, we ever get to move. I made the mistake of "just looking" at a 40D. The huge (to me) screen and the perfectly beautiful viewfinder were a revelation. It was love at first sight. The story is a familiar one to most photographers. One thing led to another and I am once again coping with the learning curve that results because, of course, they always move all the buttons.

So far, I am happy with the decision. With decades old eyes, just the larger screen and better viewfinder were enough to convince me. But, there's more. I suppose I will blather on about the new additions to the gear in the next few weeks—yes, that's a plural. I didn't stop with the camera. But, right now I have to explore my shiny new toys and accustom myself to the considerably larger files.