Google just launched a new eBookstore containing over 3 million titles (the web’s largest collection of ebooks). What’s neat is that there’s a large number of free — albeit old — photography-related books that enthusiasts might find interesting or educational. Just do a “free only” search with keywords such as “photography” or “camera“.
(via 1001 Noisy Cameras)
If you use GIMP as a Photoshop alternative, but would like a free program to handle the processing of Raw image files as well, check out RawTherapee. It’s a free raw image processing program that has a polished user interface and a solid list of features. Unless you want to compile the source code yourself, you can download the latest version of the program from this page. It’s available for Linux and Windows, though Mac OSX versions are available too (though they might not be as stable).
Instagram is a new iPhone photo app developed by Stanford grads Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger that offers Hipstamatic-style filters for your photos, easy uploads to popular services, and a Tumblr-esque community built right in. While photo sharing apps in the App Store are a dime a dozen, there are a few things that set Instagram apart.
Read the rest of this entry »
This has been around for a while already, so many of you have probably seen it, but I just started playing around with it today and was so impressed that I had to share it here. Pixlr is a browser-based Flash application for image editing that resembles Photoshop in both features and functionality. If you’re familiar with Photoshop, then you should have no trouble picking up Pixlr, which is great for situations where you’re on a computer that doesn’t have Photoshop installed.
Try it out and let us know what you think!
Amateur Photographer magazine is doing something about all the stories in the news of photographers being stopped and harassed by police in Britain. They’ve created a special lens cloth that has guidelines that were issued to Metropolitan police officers last year printed on. The lens cloth set will be bundled for free in the July 10th issue of the magazine, which hits newsstands on July 6 and lands in the hands of subscribers on July 3.
Now who’s going to step up and make one for photographers in the United States?
Image credit: Photograph by Amateur Photographer
Earlier today, photographer Chase Jarvis announced his partnership with creativeLIVE, a free, live online class site. Each class presentations is filmed live, to an in-person audience in Seattle, and streamed on the creativeLIVE website.
“The goal here is to help democratize creativity,” Jarvis wrote on his blog.
Jarvis said that he had been working on the site for the past year, in order to create a live, interactive classroom. As an innovative model, Jarvis is offering the actual live, streaming footage for free, but the recorded versions of past classes must be purchased. The revenue goes towards supporting the site and the instructors.
The growing list of instructors boasts some pretty big names: Vincent Laforet tweeted that he will be leading a live three-day HDSLR workshop at the end of the month, and Zack Arias said he will be leading a studio class.
The calendar of upcoming webcasts and course list are available on the creativeLIVE site.
Instructor John Greengo is currently leading a 10-week Fundamentals of Digital Photography class, which began today.
Update: Here’s a short video announcement by Jarvis:
British newspaper The Guardian has teamed up with Canon on a new app for the iPad that features the most recent 100 photographs from their award-winning Eyewitness series. In addition to simply viewing the photographs, they’re also including “Pro tips”, or short blurbs written by the photography team on the “technical and artistic merits” of each image.
If you love good photography and would like to have a steady stream of photography tips (as well as have an iPad), you can grab the app for free from the App Store.
No word on whether the pro tips will ever be available for those who don’t own iPads.
Update: The pro tips are available online on the Eyewitness website.
If you’re yearning to take photos of the great outdoors, the BBC Wildlife Magazine website now offers free downloadable Masterclasses.
Each PDF contains a simple, topical lesson written by a pro wildlife photographer who provides tips and photo techniques, gear recommendations, and beautiful example photos.
The Masterclasses are archived pages from past issues of the magazine, but the tips they offer are timeless. These lessons are an inspiring read for photographers of any level.
(via Nature Magnified)
If you’re looking for a way to “upgrade” your flash unit without spending money on real gear, the Los Angeles Digital Imaging Group (LADIG) has a nice bounce card cutout you can use to create your own free bounce card. Simply download the template (link to PDF below), print it out on cardstock, follow the instructions for cutting, and attach it to your flash with a rubber band (or velcro if you’re feeling fancy).
Download the Whacky Hack Bounce Card PDF (via Make)
Image credit: Photograph by Adam Flaherty and used with permission
Fotobabble is a newly launched service that allows you to add a short audio clip to photographs via either your computer or iPhone (using their free application).
Here’s the description on their website:
Fotobabble lets you create talking photos in two clicks. Simply upload a photo and then record your voice directly through your computer to create a talking photo. You can easily share it by e-mail, Facebook, Twitter or embed it into a blog or website.
It’s free and all completely web-based. No software to download, just register and get started in seconds.
Here’s an example Fotobabble found on the website that we embedded into this post:
(via PhotographyBLOG)
