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John Watson is the original founder of Photodoto. If you're interested in what John has been up to, you can browse his personal blog.

Review: David Pogue’s Digitial Photography: The Missing Manual

By John Watson
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Digital Photography: The Missing ManualDigital Photography: The Missing Manual from O’Reilly sets out to answer all of the questions beginning photographers face before and after they open their new cameras and file away the unopened and often unfriendly manual that came with it.

I’m giving away my review copy. Read on to find out how to enter the drawing.

For the digital novice, this book opens with two chapters on choosing a new camera in the first place. These chapters are great if you don’t know what to look for in a digital camera or you find yourself exasperated from teaching a friend or relative about megapixels and digital sensors. The advice can help you determine what you need, what’s important, and what can be ignored.

The following five chapters deal with actually using the camera itself. Chapter 4 covers decisions that are often made on a shot-by-shot basis, chapter 5 is devoted to avoiding blur. Chapter 6 contains nothing but “recipes” for certain types of shots: panoramas, frozen action, classic sunsets, outdoor portraits, etc.

Chapter 7 has a little advice specifically for SLR owners.

… Continue reading Review: David Pogue’s Digitial Photography: The Missing Manual

Photos of police banned in name of counter-terrorism

By John Watson
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Came across this news item over the weekend that should be of interest to photographers everywhere and in the U.K. in particular:

Whereas in the past the police have not had the power to prevent photographs being taken of them, from today they have. Under the new Counter-Terrorism Act it is an offence to take pictures of officers “likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”. This is such a catch-all measure that it can be used—and, in view of recent trends, will be used—to prevent photographs to which the police object merely by invoking counter-terrorist requirements. While it is important for officers involved in such operations to maintain anonymity, many photographers fear these powers will be abused.

It’s a disturbing trend. It’s also kind of disturbing that this has passed without much protest (or have I just missed it all because I’m on the wrong side of the Atlantic/not paying attention?)

Read the full story: Why can’t we take pictures of policemen?

… Continue reading Photos of police banned in name of counter-terrorism

Review: Odysseys and Photographs

By John Watson
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Odysseys and Photographs

I finally had a chance to sit down with this book over two nights and read it through. And I’m bummed out that I didn’t do it sooner. Odysseys and Photographs: Four National Geographic Field Men is fantastic.

Read the rest of the review and find out how you can get a free copy of this book.

These amazing biographies, written by editors, friends, and spouses, bring us a personal and stirring account of four National Geographic photographers. Each story reveals the adventurous spirit and innovation these gifted photographers brought to their craft. From Maynard Williams’ epic 10 month overland crossing of the Asian continent in 1931, to Luis Marden’s pioneering work with underwater photography and his discovery of the Bounty in 1957, to Volkmar Wentzel’s adventure prompted by his editor to “Do India,” to Thomas Abercrombie’s coverage of the Middle East in the 60s and 70s—these men all seemed to be the right man at the right place at the right time in history.

Each essay, lovingly written, reveals details about these men and their assignments that were only known to friends and colleagues,

… Continue reading Review: Odysseys and Photographs

Video review: Canon Selphy CP760 Compact Photo Printer

By John Watson
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Girls think it’s cute but don’t count on it getting you any phone numbers on walks in the park. It’s cheap and easy but not a tramp. Give up? I’m talking about the Canon Selphy CP760 compact photo printer, of course.

I purchased the Selphy Sunday evening and through the miracles of the internet and a global transportation infrastructure it arrived on my doorstep Wednesday. And I’m so glad I did. It’s a fun little printer.

Despite it’s tiny size, the CP760 leans more toward the non-portable end of the spectrum than, say, the CP770 which comes in a plastic bucket or the ES30 which has an integrated handle and optional wireless and can run on batteries. No, this guy is intended to sit on a desk or table unobtrusively and quietly until needed. Although, technically, it’s small enough and light enough to move about if necessary and doesn’t require a connection to a computer to operate.

selphy_cp760

Color reproduction is very good at the default settings although reds are a little oversaturated for my taste.

… Continue reading Video review: Canon Selphy CP760 Compact Photo Printer

Four compact photo printers under $150

By John Watson
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I hate printing photos at home. Every time I do it I’ve got to fiddle with printer settings, change the paper, do a test print, yadda yadda. It’s always been a pain in the neck. But, at least partly, I think that’s been because I’ve never owned a dedicated photo printer. I’ve always had my main document printer do double duty. Not only was it a pain, the results weren’t all that great anyway. Which is why I think I was so fascinated when I discovered compact photo printers.

I’d heard of them before, of course. Maybe it’s the price. Maybe it’s the new form factor. But something about this latest generation just clicked with me. Here is a class of printers dedicated to doing one thing and one thing only: print 4×6 snapshots. No fussing with loading the right paper. No worrying about running out of ink for your documents. No connectivity to a computer required.

I narrowed my final selection down to four: the Epson PictureMate Dash PM260 ($139), Canon Selphy CP760 ($77), HP A636 ($116), and the Canon Selphy ES30 ($136).

… Continue reading Four compact photo printers under $150

Video: Christmas bokeh in 60 seconds

By John Watson
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You’ve all seen the photos of the beautiful out of focus highlights behind some object of interest. Now you too can participate in this irresistable photographic cliché! It’s all just a simple matter of position and focus.

To achieve the effect in this video, the only thing I changed was to move the model away from the background (closer to the camera) and refocus.

For more in-depth information about depth of field and how you can control it and use its awesome power to triumph over evil, check out these articles from the Photodoto archives:

… Continue reading Video: Christmas bokeh in 60 seconds

Review: Practical HDRI

By John Watson
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Practical HDRI by Jack Howard (Rocky Nook)Practical HDRI by Jack Howard (Rocky Nook publishing) is a no-nonsense guide to high dynamic range imaging (HDRI).

Read the rest of the review and find out how you can get a free copy of this book.

You’ve seen the photos. But hopefully you haven’t let the abundance of bad examples turn you off to HDRI in general—it is a powerful technique that can help you create stunning images that can’t be captured any other way.

I like this book because the author, in a scant 168 pages, has condensed a ton of practical advice and tips into a useful and unintimidating reference. Howard writes, “It is my goal to get you ramped up in HDRI as quickly and as painlessly as possible. This book focuses on pragmatic workflows, a healthy dose of tips and tricks, and real-world advice.”

The introduction lays a solid foundation for understanding HDRI and 8 bit vs 32 bit color spaces. It’s good information and I recommend reading it if you are serious about improving your craft… but if color space geekery makes your head swim,

… Continue reading Review: Practical HDRI

Welcome, new readers!

By John Watson
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It’s been a year since I’ve written a “welcome to Photodoto” post. In that time, we’ve attracted a bunch of new subscribers. Thanks for reading! For the benefit of new readers, here’s a brief tour of Photodoto.com and some things you may have missed:

Some of our most popular recent posts:

Patience, a photographer’s ally

Survey: what kind of camera do you use the most?

Screencast: Creating black and white cutouts

Review: The Art of Black and White Photography

Black and White With a Splash of Color

Do you photoblog?

Popular older posts from our extensive archives:

Ten Tips for Photographing Pets

Playtime: Using Mirrors

8 Online Lens Rental Stores Compared

Bokeh. What the hell is it?

Understanding exposure: shutter speed, aperture, and ISO

Super quick (and easy!) tip for more flattering portraits

Browse our archives:

Speaking of archives…

… Continue reading Welcome, new readers!

Tiny Time-Lapse Digital Camera

By John Watson
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Pet

This is kind of a neat idea. It’s a camera called the “Pet’s Eye View” that you clip to your pet’s collar. It takes still photos on an interval timer, like a security camera, so you can download them at the end of the day and see what your pet has been up to.

That might make a neat time lapse video.

They say it’s for pets but I bet it works equally well on children. Let’s see… if I stick one to each kid maybe I’ll finally find out who’s been leaving the kitchen such a mess…

Pet’s Eye View Digital Camera

… Continue reading Tiny Time-Lapse Digital Camera

Thanksgiving weekend photo tips

By John Watson
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Thanksgiving is upon us once again. Like many of you, I will be spending time with my extended family, feasting, and of course taking photos. My plan of attack, photo-wise, is to skip posed shots and go light and go candid. That is, I’m bringing only one lens (the 18-105 VR kit) and a flash and I’m going to shoot lots of portraits of people doing things other than posing for photos.

I think a set of candid photographs is a much better way to capture the true spirit of a gathering than individual and group poses. But that’s me. Your mileage may vary.

Here are some tips for candid photography that you might want to try this weekend:

  • Choose a medium to wide zoom lens. That will give you the most versatility moving between the action outdoors and the action in the kitchen. Fast glass is preferable, of course, but bring what you can.
  • Use your auto-ISO setting to give you faster shutter speeds when you need it. You’re likely to be shooting indoors a lot of the time.

… Continue reading Thanksgiving weekend photo tips

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