I’ve spoken at length about my stance on digital manipulation on the This Week in Photography (TWiP) podcast. On the show we banter about the topic, but in this quick video I explain how I really feel about it.

Pixels are born to be punished… unless they weren’t.

In this interview, my good friend Joseph and I have a quick chat about some of the cool projects he currently working on – including being signed as the official photographer for Seal’s upcoming European tour.

I’ve known Joseph for several years now, and among his many talents (Photographer, Cook, world traveler) he’s always been a good and loyal friend. We sat down for this interview during his last evening in San Jose, CA. He needed to crash in my guest room as he’d just vacated his place, and was in transit to his new home in Pasadena.

We recorded this interview while drinking some really good wine, and just before watching the movie Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. An excellent combination.

You can check out some of his work on his website, read him on his blog, or just follow his exploits on Twitter.

A friend of mine recommended an artist with whom he’d become familiar in Arizona. He introduced us over Facebook, and after trading a few messages she began work on my piece. I have never met this woman, and I believe we’ve only spoken on the phone one time.

In her own words, here is her creative process:

I create paintings with a combination of watercolor, India ink and hard pastel. My process has evolved from my earlier love of an illustrative and sketched style. Now, I sometimes sketch several thumbnails in advance of a painting, and other times the paint leads the way without any advance thought.

In the case of “Gravity in Ambient Flight”, I created a series of thumbnail studies, then pieced them together for the final idea. Of course, all along the way, I am totally open to suggestion from the “creative verve”. It has been a wonderful experience creating a painting specifically for you, keeping in mind a theme open to the essence of photography.

One art meeting another. The dichotomy of observation vs. participation. There is a story in this painting, but I think it is now up to you to finish it.

One of the original sketches:

The final painting is currently at a frame shop, I’ll post a photo of it hanging in a week or so.

What story do YOU see in the finished painting? Please comment!!

You can check out more of Charmagne Coe’s work here:

Flickr
Blog
MySpace
Website

Jim and his standard poodle and mascot, Sophie, divide their time between San Francisco and the rugged coast of Mendocino, California. On most Wednesday evenings, he co-hosts “Point & Click Radio,” a weekly computer radio show, which you can listen to here.

You can pick up the book from your favorite book reseller, or get it directly from the publisher. Jim is currently putting the finishing touches on the 2009 revision to the book that will cover the new features we discuss in this video. It should be available in May.

You can check out Jim’s very active Flickr stream here.

Steve Simon, born in Montreal Canada – and now a resident of New York City is one of the busiest photographers I know. He’s created an impressive body of work that can be viewed on his website, and looking at his work you’ll see that he is one of those photographers that always seems to be “in it”. He’s a true photojournalist, and seems to be willing to put himself in harms way to get the story.

Steve has published several books, including a favorite of mine Heroines & Heroes: Hope, HIV and Africa. I had the honor of sitting down with Steve for a few minutes last week in San Francisco to record this video.

Steve is also a regular guest with me on the This Week in Photography podcast, and it was great to have this informal off-air conversation with him.

Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Lindsay. He’s the head honcho at PixelCorps in San Francisco, and hosts several popular podcasts like This Week in Technology (TWiT), This Week in Photography (TWiP), MacBreak, and more.

In this interview Alex discusses how he got his start, his work on Star Wars, and his early work in podcasting.

For those who haven’t had the opportunity to get to know Alex, here’s your chance!

Nicole Young is an excellent example of a next-generation stock photographer. She is a regular contributor to iStockphoto and has seen some impressive revenue generated from her images. 

She is refreshingly humble and open about her work, and was eager to share tips, techniques, and encouragement for other photographers considering the micro-stock arena.

An up-close and personal conversation with Michael Adams, son of legendary photographer Ansel Adams. 

In this brief interview, Michael and I discuss what it was like growing up as the son of one of the worlds most prolific and respected photographers. Michael’s background is very interesting on its own – having been a physician, Air Force General, and a fighter pilot, it seems the Adams’ family produces some pretty over-achieving genes!

From MC Yogi’s Vimeo post:

“Vote For Hope” was written to encourage and inspire the hip hop generation—and everyone—to get involved, and contribute their time, energy, creativity, and other resources to be the change they want to see in the world. We have been inspired by the artistic and musical contributions that have been pouring out accross the nation in support of Barack Obama’s campaign. Vote for Hope is our offering to this creative movement. It is our way of adding our small voice to the collective voice of millions of Americans calling for a change.

Merkley is one of the most popular photographers on Flickr, with over 17,000 contacts, and millions of photo views, he’s a real testament to how digital imaging technology has changed the way we consume photography. The last time I sat down and had a chat with Merkley he told me if it wasn’t for Photoshop and Flickr none of this (his photography) would have been possible.

In talking with Merkley, one of the things that impresses me is the his total disregard for his tools. He’s more focused on the end result than how he got there. As you’ll see in the video, having the most expensive camera doesn’t necessarily make you a great artist.

Much of Merkleys work is done with a simple point-and-shoot camera — and Photoshop of course.

At the recent Photoshop World Expo in Las Vegas, I had the opportunity to sit down with Matt Kloskowski from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP).

Along with Scott Kelby, Matt produces a weekly online video containing great Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom tips and tricks. Matt is also a highly sought-after educator, and has authored several books on the topic of photography — his latest being “Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature“.

In this interview, Matt and I sit down to chat about his photography, Lightroom, and more. Matt shares some tips on how to manage photos in Lightroom, features he’d like to see in future versions, and what his favorite new feature in Lightroom 2 is.

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 2 software, the photographer’s essential toolbox for managing, adjusting and presenting large volumes of digital photographs. With new enhancements such as dual-monitor support, radical advances in non-destructive localized image correction, and streamlined search capabilities, Lightroom 2 is a compelling upgrade that simplifies photography from shoot to finish. As Adobe’s first application to support 64-bit for Mac OS X 10.5 Macintosh computers with Intel® processors and Microsoft® Windows® Vista® 64- bit operating systems, Lightroom 2 also provides improved memory performance for dealing with large scale images.

Smarter, Faster and More Accurate

The enhanced Library module in Lightroom 2 helps streamline and accelerate photographers’ workflows. With the ability to visually organize images across multiple hard drives, Lightroom 2 and its powerful Library Filter Bar makes it easy for users to quickly find the images they need. The Suggested Keywords feature helps photographers keyword their images by making intelligent suggestions based on their own previous efforts. New dual-monitor support allows users to expand their workspace, giving them flexibility to edit and organize images in a way that maximizes an additional display.

In the Develop module, the new Local Adjustment Brush lets photographers fine-tune specific areas of an image to precisely adjust color, exposure and tonal range without affecting other areas of the image. The new Graduated Filter expands the toolbox in Lightroom, allowing for edits to larger areas by applying gradually diminishing or increasing adjustment effects such as exposure, clarity, and saturation, alone, or in any combination. Lightroom 2 also helps photographers print more efficiently by quickly arranging photos of multiple sizes on one or many pages with flexible and customizable templates to maximize paper and ink. Intelligent algorithms automatically determine optimal sharpening for screen or print, producing crisper images faster.

Developers can further extend the Lightroom workflow with Web, Export and Metadata Software Development Kits available at the Adobe Developer Connection, http://www.adobe.com/devnet/.

Ground-Breaking Innovation in Raw Technology

New raw technology gives photographers access to flexible camera profiles. Camera profiles are the visual starting point for the raw processing workflow, but image preferences vary for every photographer. To minimize surprises, Adobe is supplying default camera profiles that closely emulate the visual looks that photographers are used to seeing from their favorite camera, while also providing the ability to create highly customized profiles to suit different tastes.

Camera profiles are available for immediate download on Adobe Labs (http://labs.adobe.com) for use with Lightroom 2 and Camera Raw 4.5, along with the DNG Profile Editor for the community to test and create their own profiles. The Adobe Camera Raw 4.5 plug-in and DNG Converter 4.5 are also now available on Adobe.com and support over 190 camera models including the Olympus E 420 and E 520 models.

One of the big reasons why Lightroom has become such a phenomenon among serious photographers is that Adobe built it with the input of a very vocal user community,” said Scott Kelby, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). “Adobe really listens to the issues and challenges today’s photographers face and they’ve built a complete solution that not only meets the needs of photographers; it really feels like it was made just for us. The enhancements to Lightroom 2, combined with the power of Photoshop, give photographers the ultimate freedom to produce professional images quickly.

Lightroom 2 on Adobe.com
http://www.adobe.com/lightroom

Camera Raw 4.5
Camera Raw was updated to 4.5 at the same time that Lightroom 2 was released.  It provides exactly the same rendering obtained in Lightroom 2.

Camera Raw/DNG Macintosh
Camera Raw/DNG Windows

Camera Profiles and DNG Profile Editor
Profile Editor
Profiles

Community Help and Resources
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Lightroom/2.0/
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/photoshoplightroom/

Lightroom 2 SDK
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/photoshoplightroom/

Lightroom Journal blog post
http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/

Along with managing one of the most popular software products of all time, John Nack, Adobe Photoshop’s Principal Product Manager, is also a blogging pioneer at Adobe Systems, Inc.

Having paved the way for folks like, well, me to blog and otherwise participate in public forums he has helped lift the curtain on the sometimes “mysterious” Adobe to reveal that the company is actually NOT staffed by droids — but rather human beings. At some “other” companies, blogging is expressly forbidden, so the fact that blogging is encouraged at Adobe is very refreshing.

In this video, John talks about what’s next for Adobe Photoshop, the future of digital imaging, and of course his sometimes controversial (but always informative) blog.

What if instead of giving you yet another way to do the same thing, what if we gave you the right way?

John is one of the most committed bloggers I’ve ever met, sometimes publishing multiple times a day. Remember, he also has a day job (and a family). It’s almost like he serves as a human RSS filter for legions of creatives. To get your “Nack-filtered” look at the creative world, just point your browser to:

http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/

Adobe Photoshop clearly has a bright future (and I’m not just saying that). Creative people everywhere can rest easy knowing that John Nack is on watch.

Based out of Los Angeles, CA Robert Evans has quickly risen to become one of the most sought after wedding photographers amongst Hollywood’s elite set. Robert has photographed weddings for the likes of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Brad Pit and Jennifer Aniston, and has made portraits of celebs like George Lopez, MC Hammer, and many more.

In this video, celebrity wedding photographer Robert Evans talks about his latest venture — PhotographyMentor.com, an online photography community and training site designed to help aspiring and pro photographers quickly learn techniques and best practices by watching other pros in action.

It’s like taking a workshop in your underwear!

I wrote a blog post about Robert about a year ago when I had the opportunity to shoot a wedding with him. It was a fascinating experience. I had my suspicions, but as it turns out, celebs are really just ordinary people. Nervous brides, jittery grooms, weeping friends/family… the works.

One of the most impressive things I recall from the experience of shooting with Robert was his mastery of his camera gear, a Canon Mark II at the time. He didn’t rely on the camera’s meter, and in fact for most (if not all) of the event, he was shooting on full manual… eye-balling exposure settings and dialing in f/stop & shutter speed settings on the fly. In my opinion, that level of mastery is one of the things that separates amateur photographers from the pros.

Most anyone can pick up an SLR, throw it into Auto mode, and call themselves a photographer. But it takes a true artisan to understand the delicate interplay of light and shadow, and how those variables react in different situations, and how to manipulate that interplay using the various exposure controls on the camera (f/stop, shutter speed, ISO) — to gain predictable (and repeatable) results.

The good news is, pros like Robert are willing to share their tips and techniques with us all. The PhotographyMentor site he co-founded is a great first step.

Here’s how you can follow Robert online:

Twitter
Flickr
RobertEvans.com
YouTube promo video

Phil Clevenger is the man behind the Lightroom user interface. Phil and I sat down to chat about what brought him to Adobe – and what he learned from his time at MetaCreations designing rule-bending interfaces for software like Bryce and Kai’s PhotoSoap. He also gives some hints at some possible directions of the Lightroom UI, and his philosophy around the evolution of user interfaces in general.

Read more on the Lightroom Development Story

Note: Phil also designed the user interfaces for Poser 3 and 4, as well as KPT Vector Effects

Recently I caught up with Liana Lehua, one of the co-hosts of the Girls Gone Geek podcast. The show is targeted at, you guessed it, girls. More specifically, geeky girls… or rather females who like technology. On the show they discuss hardware, software, gadgets, etc. — all from a female perspective. It’s really a unique take on the idea of informing folks about the latest trends and tech gadgets.

Liana is also an amateur photographer and can often be found wandering around the streets of San Francisco with her Canon camera, taking photos of whatever strikes her fancy. And she’s deep into the whole Social Networking scene (Twitter, Facebook, etc), with a variety of presences online, thankfully she’s wrangled all of various sites she posts on into one place.

Do check out the show, and also be sure to check out some of her photos on Flickr.

http://www.girlsgonegeek.tv
http://www.lianalehua.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fittorrent

This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting Canada’s sexiest geek – Lisa Bettany of mostlylisa.com. She was an in-studio guest on the This Week in Photography (TWiP) podcast, and did an awesome job putting up with our on-mike craziness.

It was interesting to learn about her life, and the things she likes to shoot. She’s a photography do-it-yourselfer, and schooled us on how to save a few bucks by making soft boxes from shower curtains. And as if you couldn’t tell by the photos, Lisa is also a model. Some of the questions centered around how she manages to deal with knowing as much about photography as some of the people shooting her. You’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear her response.

The next day the TWiP crew met up with Lisa outside of San Francisco’s AT&T Park for a photoshoot, I snapped a few pics of her and recorded a quick video. Lisa is equal parts beauty, brains, talent, and just the right amount of geekiness.

Be sure to check her out at mostlylisa.com. She rocks, mostly.

My good friend, Wedding Photographer Dane Sanders, talks about his highly anticipated new book Fast Track Photographer. We chat about the book, and the changing face of wedding photography and what it takes to break into the business, especially considering with the current market climate.

I met up with Photojojo CEO Amit Gupta last week in San Francisco. Check out this video to hear how he suggests convincing strangers to pose for photos. And he wasn’t kidding! There’s even a write-up on his website with tips and instructions on how to best utilize “candy for candids”.

Apparently Amit has a history of bribing passers-by with candy. Having recently relocated back to the Bay Area from NYC, he’s now spreading his technique for impromptu portraiture to the left coast. Here is some photographic evidence of the Lollipop Photographer in action. And it looks like this movement may be catching on.

Be sure to head over to Photojojo and subscribe to the newsletter... it’s awesome and a must read.

Oh, and here’s a link to that song???????? I was referring to in the video. Somehow I don’t think these are the Lollipops Amit was referring to.