A while back I was invited by none other than Cali Lewis (GeekBeat.tv) and John P. (OneMansBlog.com) to attend OpenCamp 2010 in Addison Texas (near Dallas). Being the conference organizers, they thought it’d be good if I did a talk on social media. I was very honored that they asked me and of course I accepted.

We kicked off OpenCamp Thursday afternoon with a speaker tandem skydive courtesy the United States Army’s Golden Knights! This was my first time jumping out of a plane… and technically, I didn’t even have a parachute strapped to me, though @GKMikeTT did. Check out more photos of the jump here.

I was invited to do a talk on Social Media and was scheduled to take the stage day 2 of the conference at 9:30 am, so I had plenty of time to spy the other presentations and adjust mine for the audience. And man, were there some good presentations during this event.

My talk was entitled “Avoiding Social Mediocrity” and was centered around how to best use social media, and goal definition to attain your marketing goals. If you’re interested, you can see the slide deck here. Though the This Week in Photo podcast and blog audiences are huge, I always get a little nervous in front of “real” people. But folks seemed to dig the preso as evidenced by the number of requests I received afterwards for copies of the slide deck.

OpenCamp was kind of a perspective changing event for me. And not just the obvious shift of perspective that people say you get after first skydiving. I’m talking about the volumes of information I soaked up, catching up with old friends and making some new ones.

I’m really looking forward to next year’s OpenCamp—and am seriously planning to make a habit of skydiving.

What an amazing year 2009 was. I had the privilege of interviewing some of the most talented people in the photography industry. In the series of interviews below you’ll hear from; Flickr mavens, stock photography experts, photojournalists, commercial photographers, authors, and more. My thanks to all of the folks who allowed me to interrogate them in 2009… and I’m looking forward to doing many more interviews in 2010!

Happy New Year! Click through to learn from some of the most talented movers-and-shakers of 2009. If you’d like to get these interviews automatically, just subscribe to my Interviews Podcast in iTunes! 

1. Alex Lindsay — CEO, Podcaster, Entrepreneur

Alex Lindsay is 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. Watch the interview here.

2. Steve Simon — Photojournalist

3. Jim Heid – Author, Photographer, Flickr-er

There is no bigger fan of Apple’s iLife software than Jim Heid. He’s a self-described poster child for the software, and has been using it since the pre iLife days, when there was only iMovie. Jim is also the author of the extremely popular book entitled The Macintosh iLife. I met Jim during my time at Apple, and we became good friends, mainly because we’re both pretty rabid about Apple software, though we still healthily disagree on one or two points. And in this second interview with Jim Heid, we discuss how he got into the publishing business, and what sequence of events led him to create this very popular and somewhat de-facto guide to all things iLife. We also dive into what makes this book different, and his overall philosophy behind computer-related instructional books. Watch the FIRST interview here, And watch the SECOND interview here.

4. Joseph Linaschke – Photographer

In this interview, my good friend Joseph Linaschke 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, Foodie, 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. Watch the interview here.

5. Liana Lehua – Back in Action

After dropping out of sight for several months, Liana Lehua, photographer, blogger, writer and host of GirlsGoneGeek has reemerged. As it turns out, she’s been dealing with HIV/AIDS, and over the past year or so has been working to get things under control in order to continue doing cool things. But now she’s back, in full force. And though she’s still recovering and working to get her T-cell count back into a safe range, she’s been extremely active, and has even started a new blog for Californians afflicted with HIV/AIDS to help with instruction on how to get free, and low cost, healthcare services. Watch the interview here.

6. Katrin Eismann — The Photoshop Diva

As an internationally recognized artist, author, and educator, Katrin Eismann has been involved with digital imaging tools since 1989. She regularly teaches creatives about the latest tools and techniques of digital imaging and the impact they have on creative professionals. She’s author of several books on digital imaging such as The Creative Digital Darkroom, Photoshop Restoration & Retouching as well as several online titles on KelbyTraining.com. Listen to the interview here.

7. Chase Jarvis – Photographer

You’ve probably already come across Chase Jarvis‘ name if you follow photography movers and shakers. His clients include Microsoft, Volvo, Reebok, Nike, and REI just to name a few. I was able to grab a few moments of his time to talk about how he managed to come so far, in such a short period of time. Chase also revealed and discussed for the very FIRST TIME his new book with Peachpit Press “The Best Camera“, as well as his brand new iPhone application – “Best Camera“. Listen to the interview here.

8. Jim Collins & Simon Anderson – Pictage.com

Founded in 2000 Pictage.com has seen their fair share of drama over its nearly 10 year life. The company has risen to become – arguably the leading lab in the wedding and portrait photography industry. And now serving more than 8,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage aims to be a one-stop-shop for both new photographers looking to start small businesses, and even more established businesses. They’re targeting photographers that want to offload online viewing, selling, printing, and email marketing to the Pictage staff. Listen to the interview here.

9. Scott Bourne – Lightroom Too?

10. Natalie Dybisz – Photographic Artist

Natalie’s work is amongst the most viewed on Flickr and each photo sparks a full-on and sometimes heated discussion in the comments. Many have accused Natalie of using her gender, or her “good-looks” as a means to success, however in the end, we are all artist — and can only be judged by the work we produce. Regardless of the “hows” or “whys” behind her work, there’s no question that it is exemplary. My guest in this post is Natalie Dybisz (“Debish”) aka Miss Aniela. She’s an artist who in many ways defies categorization – though many have tried. She has accomplished an amazing amount in her career… especially since she just started a few years ago, including landing Microsoft as a client, and having her work appear on the cover of American Photo magazine. Listen to the interview here.

11. Chris Orwig – Photographer, Author, Educator

12. Jeff Schewe – Photographer, Author, Consultant

Jeff Schewe is a feature consultant and alpha and beta tester for Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and you’ll find his name amongst the credits. He has also held the title of President of the Advertising Photographers of America (APA). I cornered Jeff after one of his talks at Photoshop World in Las Vegas and got him to agree to tell all in this quick, but informative conversation. He’s a feature consultant and alpha and beta tester for Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and you’ll find his name amongst the credits. He has also held the title of President of the Advertising Photographers of America (APA). Listen to the interview here.

13. Rich Legg – iStockphoto Photographer

I sat down with iStockphoto.com contributor Rich Legg during Photoshop World in Vegas last month to chat about what his processes and techniques are for being so successful in this business. Rich also offers some great tips for standing out from the crowd when considering what subject matter to shoot. If you’re not familiar with “microstock”, in short it’s the reinvention of the traditional stock photography business. Companies like iStockphoto are attempting (sucessfully) to democratize the business by allowing photographers to submit images to be reviewed and possibly placed in the database for sale. And if sold, the photographer gets a cut of the overall sales. The “micro” in the phrase comes from the fact that the photos typically sell for a fraction of what traditional stock photography houses would charge – bringing money to folks that wouldn’t ordinarily get paid for their shots, and bringing photography “on the cheap” to businesses with tight budgets. Listen to the interview here.

14. Joey Lawrence – Commercial Photographer

At 19 years old, Joey Lawrence (aka Joey L.) already has already built up an enviable career. Hailing from Canada, Joey now lives in New York city but travels the globe taking photographs for clients like Warner Brothers Records, Forbes, NBC, the Scifi Channel, Kawasaki, as well as the Twilight movie ad campaign. And he’s only just getting started. Even if you don’t recognize his name, you probably have already seen his work. Joey photographed the ad campaign for the hit movie “Twilight”. In this interview Joey and I talk about the Twilight shoot, as well as how he got his start in photography, how he was able to break into the “big time” so quickly. He goes into his thought processes when coming up concepts for his commercial photography gigs. Listen to the interview here.

15. David duChemin – Visionmonger

David duChemin is one of those “next generation” photographers that “gets it”. He is fluent in the latest and greatest photographic trends, technology, social media, etc. And along with being a sickeningly talented photographer, he’s also a brilliant marketer. Wrap all of that up and you’ve got an artist who can not only create masterful visual imagery and write about it — but one that can also publish it. He’s a one-man creative ecosystem. Listen to the interview here.

16. Moose Peterson – Wildlife Photographer

Along with being on the front lines as a working shooter, Moose Peterson also helps shape the industry as a Nikon “Legend behind the Lens”, a member of the Lexar Elite, and recipient of the John Muir Conservation award, to name just a few of his credits. As longtime Nikon shooter, he was one of the first photographers to receive the original Nikon D1 in 1999, and he became the first wildlife photographer to shoot strictly digital in the early years of the technology. I ask Moose some pretty pointed questions in regards to the necessity of upgrading to the “latest and greatest” Nikon gear, in particular the new 70-200mm VRII lens. His response may surprise you. Listen to the interview here.

17. John Philpin – liveBooks.com

Chief Marketing Officer of liveBooks.com, John Philpin talks about some of the problems facing photographers today, how he’s hoping their new pricing structure will solve with many of the cost objections photographers have voiced. We also discuss how they’re spending the $5 million they just took from investors, and what’s next for the company in terms of priorities. Listen to the interview here.

Backup Blueprint: Introduction

Have you felt it yet? That sinking feeling that comes when you realize all of your eggs are effectively in one basket? I’m talking about your “digital eggs”. If you’re like most folks, you have all of your precious photos of friends, family, and if you’re a pro even your client work stored one one rickety hard drive. And here’s the scary thing, YOUR-DRIVE-WILL-FAIL. It doesn’t matter which hard drive you buy, how much, or how little data you store on it… or even if you baby it by running drive maintenance software on it regularly. Hard drives are mechancial devices that have moving parts… parts that over time will wear out, and break. And if you  haven’t taken measures to safeguard your data with a multi-faceted backup plan, when your drive dies — it will take your data with it.

Mo’ Data, Mo’ Problems

The really screwed up thing is that this problem isn’t getting any better for most people. If you’re an active digital photographer, you’re creating more data than ever before. Especially since companies like Nikon and Canon are producing cameras capable of shooting higher and higher megapixel count images, not to mention the space hogging high-definition video files that are becoming all the rage. Add to all of this your documents, email, software, music, TV shows, etc, and you have a recipe for a *really* bad (and expensive) day when all of that stuff goes “poof”.

Forming a Strategy

Now that I’ve defined the problem (and probably scared the crap out of you), let’s talk about solutions. It’s not really rocket science when it comes to protecting your data. The thing is, electrons (information), unlike atoms (stuff) can reside in more than one place at a time. This means, at its most basic, an effective backup strategy means — you guessed it — making copies. If you, at the very least, buy a second hard drive, and copy all of your data onto it – you’ll be ahead of most folks. But doing that, effectively only cuts your exposure in half… temporarily. You’re still exposed, becuase what about keeping those files in sync? You can easily make a copy, but then after you send and receive a day’s worth of email, add one CF Card’s worth of images, or download one movie… suddenly your hard drives are out of sync. And you’re back to square one. Well, maybe not square ONE, but you’re still not in an optimal protected state. As my friend Alex Lindsay says, if your data doesn’t exist in three places (simultaneously), it doesn’t really exist yet.

The true goal is to have a drive failure be a NON EVENT. If a drive dies, get stolen, or some sort of natural disaster claims your house (and your data) you need a plan in place so that you can easily get EVERYTHING back — with very little time or effort. Don’t worry, you’re not alone… EVERYONE has these problems, except the really geeky amongst us (don’t look at me).

The Series

In this series of blog posts, I’ll give you a solid strategy to help you get your eggs OUT of that janky basket. So you can finally sleep at night knowing that, barring some sort of cataclysmic event, your photos will remain safe and accessible.

1. Introduction (this post)
2. Selecting a hard drive solution
3. Choosing the right backup Software
4. “Cloud” or Internet backup options
5. Pulling it all together – The Plan

Be sure to bookmark this blog, or subscribe to the RSS feed because over the next few days you’ll be preparing to do some much needed end  of year (or beginning of year) data organizstion. So, let’s start the year off right, and build a solid foundation for your photo storage.

Note, though I am a Sr. Marketing Manager at Data Robotics, Inc. (we make the Drobo), this series will not be focused on any one product in particular, but rather the whole “Blueprint”. The hard drive solution, though critical, is only a piece of a truly robust backup strategy.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.  I’ve selected the winners. I’ll post a video announcing the winners names shortly. Thanks to all who commented — this has been amazing.

I have several really good photography books on my desk that I either have multiples of, or have already finished reading. So, in the spirit of holiday giving, I’d like to give four of them away! So how do you get one?

To win one,  just comment on this post!!

You can only pick one book, and make sure you specify in your comment which book you want. And get this — if you win, I’ll even take care of shipping (US only!)

Of course, all of the books are about photography, but from various photographers’ “perspectives”. Here they are listed, with links over to Amazon.com so you can read their full descriptions (in no particular order):  

1. Photographing Nature: A photo workshop from Brooks Institute’s top nature photography instructor
This is a book about making outstanding and stunning images of the natural world around us. If you’ve ever considered becoming a nature photographer, you know that it’s not nearly as easy as it looks. In this book the author takes you on a visual trip, shows you what gear he takes… and why. And how he’s able to make some of the most stunning nature shots you’ve ever seen.

2. Visual Poetry: A Creative Guide for Making Engaging Digital Photographs
A riveting book about how to “simplify” your photography. Chris teaches the reader how to participate in the story they’re photographing, rather than just capturing it. For lots of shooters, having too much gear just gets in the way. Chris talks about having a vision, and finding inspiration… then how to use the tools you have to effectively capture an image you’re proud to show off. Check out the audio interview I did with Chris here.

3. VisionMongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography
A candid revelation of wisdom, ideas, and inspiration for photographers wanting to transform their photographic passions and hobbies into a full-time vocation. In this book the author shares stories from other noted photographers like Chase Jarvis, Zack Arias and more. Check out the audio interview I did with David, here.

4. A World in HDR
See the world from Trey’s perspective as he takes you into the world of HDR – High Dynamic Range photography. Not only does this book take you through the mechanics of creating convincing HDR images, but the Trey also takes you “behind the scenes” of how he created some of his most noted HDR images.

Remember, to win one of these amazing books all you have to do is write something pithy in the comments area below — and mention the book you want to win. That’s it!

Jim Heid is the author of the best selling book The Macintosh iLife ’09, and of course all of the preceding versions of the book. Not only is Jim an phonemal writer, but he’s also quite an accomplished photographer. In this interview Jim and I discuss how he got into the publishing business, and what sequence of events led him to create this very popular and somewhat de facto guide to all things iLife. We also dive into what makes this book different, and his overall philosophy behind computer-related instructional books.

You can find the book by clicking on the link above, or by heading over to the publisher’s page. Jim also has quite a bit of work posted on Flickr.

Also, a huge thank you goes out to Carlos Ni Ki Cruz for shooting this video and taking the time to edit it… even though he tells me he used Final Cut Pro (and not iMovie) to edit it.

Listen to the full audio interview, after the break.

After dropping out of sight for several months, Liana Lehua, photographer, blogger, writer and host of GirlsGoneGeek has reemerged.

As it turns out, she’s been dealing with HIV/AIDS, and over the past year or so has been working to get things under control in order to continue doing cool things.

Now she’s back, in full force. And though she’s still recovering and working to get her T-cell count back into a safe range she’s been extremly active, and has even started a new blog for Californians afflicted with HIV/AIDS helping with instruction on how to obtain free and low cost county and medical healthcare services.

For more on Liana, check out this interview I did with her about a year ago, check out her new blog, and of course… follow her on Twitter.

Keep kicking butt Liana!

The above video was shot entirely with an iPhone 3GS

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

Last Friday I had the opportunity to hang out with Thomas Hawk. One of the most popular photographers on Flickr, and one of the founders of Zooomr. It was a fascinating conversation, and I can honestly say that I’ve never met any photographer who shoots as much as Thomas. He shoots every single day, between 100 and 500 shots on average! If you add to that the fact that he maintains a very popular and active blog, runs a company, has a day job, and is also a Dad and it becomes a mystery how he finds the time to do all of this stuff. Thomas tells me part of the secret is that he’s “always online”. The easiest way to keep up with Thomas online is probably through his FriendFeed page.

Check out the video for some great tips on how to increase your Flickr popularity. And you’ll learn how Thomas manages to keep all of those images backed up (hint Drobo), and more. To get more tips from Thomas on being successful on Flickr, check out his blog post on the topic. This was a great chat.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Remembering those who served and sacrificed, and those who continue on in the armed forces of the United States of America. I shot this photo (actually a stitched panorama) today at the Golden Gate Memorial Cemetery in San Bruno, CA. There’s a high-rez version on Flickr.

How timely is this?! I’m in the middle of reading the book Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds and turns out just last week he was right up the street with my little sister (from another mister) Katina Johnson (she’s the one introducing Garr). He was up there doing one of those famous @Google talks.

The book is amazing. And has changed the way that I create and approach not only my own presentations at Adobe, but also the other communications materials I deliver. From marketing plans, to trip reports, and even proofs to photography clients. It’s not a big book, but it has helped me make big changes in the way I perceive other peoples’ presentations, and in how I create my own.

Do check out the other @Google talks… they feature such notables as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, and the list goes on and on….

Whassup Peeps! I bet you haven’t heard that before on Easter Sunday.

But do you know the true history of those squeezably-soft, yet oh so edible little conformist candies? Do you really want to know? Well, if you’re bored on this Easter Sunday … or if you don’t celebrate it for one reason or another, here’s the back story of one of this holidays most recognizable icons.

All hail Peep-ditty, step-off Easter Bunny.

I recently celebrated my… well, a very significant birthday. Having recently relocated back to the SF Bay Area, starting a new job, you might imagine the anarchy that all of that simultaneous change entails. So I really wasn’t expecting anything huge to happen on my birthday… and no “one” huge thing did happen.What did happen was nothing short of amazing. Over the course of my birthday week, many of my dear friends either took me out for dinner, drinks, or made dinner for me at home. This hasn’t happened before for several reasons… but this time it did, and wow did it feel good. You never know how important it is to have friends around you until you’re isolated from them.So, this blog post is a huge (and permanent) THANK YOU to those folks who helped me celebrate my birthday… In no particular order..

RalfLisaJosephMichelleDaniSaraAmberAlanMikeRobertJasonLisa A.Thanks again you guys… you all seriously ROCK!