prorgb

Recent Interviews:
The Doug Pike Show:

Last month, I joined Doug Pike, The Houston Chronicle's Outdoors writer and the host of the largest radio show in Texas devoted to the outdoors, on two separate occasions  to talk about photography and answer listener's calls. You can listen to both interviews here:

Look for Saturday, April 26th Hour 2 and Saturday March 29th, Hour 1

Also in April, I had the opportunity to catch up with my friend Ibarionex Perello, host of the Candid Frame, to record an episode of his photography podcast. You can listen to our conversation here.

Industry News & Tidbits

Microsoft Expression Media 2
The new version of Microsoft Expression Media, formerly iView MediaPro was released earlier this month. Version 2 adds collaboration across networks via shared catalogs and integrates photo management with Geotagging via Window's Virtual Earth. The biggest differences I've seen with Expression Media 2 are centered on improving the reliability of the catalog and import speed when downloading photos from memory cards.

A Quick Start guide to using Expression Media 2, created by Jay Kinghorn is available here.

Orphan Works Update
The Orphan Works legislation has resurfaced again this year. In case you aren't familiar, or haven't been checking the Web or email in the past month, Orphan Works has a number of photographers concerned about changes to copyright law. As a visual artist it is important that you stay abreast of the legislation as it develops. ASMP has created an update page on the Orphan Works Legislation.

 

In light of possible Orphan Works legislation, many photographers, myself included, have renewed requests that Adobe add metadata encryption to future Creative Suite software. While the consensus is that encrypted metadata would likely cause more workflow hassles and generate more problems than it will solve, Gunar Penikis, the Metadata guy for Adobe offered his thoughts on the issue and possible solutions that would be palatable for all parties.  Last year, John Nack, Photoshop's product manager published a comprehensive blog post on why Photoshop doesn't provide secure metadata.

 

Mobile Data: Next hurdle for journalism?
Journalism professor Mindy McAdams cites a recent study from the Pew Internet and American life project showing 19% of adults are accessing news weather and sports via their mobile devices. While 19% may not sound like a lot, remember, the study is only looking at adults. I would imagine teen's use of the internet is much higher and growing rapidly for all users. How will this affect the way that you work or deliver photos to clients? 

Notes From The Road
Beautiful travelogue from a travel writer and photographer who uses a slender notebook (no, not the MacBook Air) and a large format view camera to gather insights from the winding roads, bustling cities and quiet canyons of the desert southwest.

Global Food Crisis
A slideshow from around the world documenting the effects of widespread food shortages. From the Washington Post.

 

Hip Hop High

An audio slideshow documenting an LA-area high school that allows students to create and record music after they've completed their mandatory assignments. From the LA Times.

  

Last Chance

An audio slideshow on the changes Louisiana is facing with rising sea levels and the loss of wetlands habitat. From the New Orleans Times-Picayune

 

Crisis Guide: Arab Israeli Conflict

Brian Storm and MediaStorm.org continue to produce projects at the vanguard of multimedia publishing. The Crisis Guide to the Israeli-Palistinian conflict, which blends key elements of documentary video, still photography and web interactivity is an example of the opportunities that exist using multimedia tools. 

Lightroom 2.0

This month we begin a series of video tutorials designed to help you take advantage of the new features in Lightroom 2.0. We'll begin the series by introducing you to the most significant new feature in Lightroom 2, localized burning and dodging using the Retouch Tool.

Next month, we'll continue exploring the new features in Lightroom 2's Public Beta and provide a discussion on building an effective backup strategy.