*New Camera Wrist Straps, for sale!

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Garda strap

As some of you know, I moonlight as a working man.  My work entails the manufacturing and distribution of sail boat components.  One of the products I work with is yachting rope.  Through various projects over my time with rope, I’ve learned certain splicing and tapering techniques.  I’ve been building my own wrist straps for a while now and have fielded quite a few inquiries from readers who’ve seen them adorn my cameras here on the blog, so I decided to see if I couldn’t support the blog itself by selling these guys.  C’mon in to see more about what goes into the hand building of these things and find out how to buy one for yourself or a loved one 🙂

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*Wrist Strap Giveaway Winners!!!

by in General ramblings, Photography gear | 11 Comments

Congratulations!

Congratulations Chris, Groucho and Ron!  Make sure to contact me and to let me know your addresses so that I may send these to you.  Chris and Groucho, I know you guys are outside of the US, so I’ll figure out a good way to get them to you, Ron, you could make it three for three, or make it easy on me and be somewhere in the Pacific Northwest… 🙂

Here’s the drawing, in video form:

Thank you to everyone who signed up.  Hopefully I can continue to provide some fun reading, tips and tricks (basically, I hope that you signing up wasn’t a total waste 😉 )  I have a few irons in the fire with some reviews and tutorials for shooting and processing, so keep an eye out.

For those who are interested in purchasing one of my new hand built wrist straps for themselves, or fellow photography lovers, I’ve added a link at the top of the page (T&T Camera Straps) through which I outline how to purchase one whether you’re in the States like myself, or through my friend Tommaso if you’re in Europe.  If you’re on another continent, please feel free to inquire and I’ll figure out how we can get one to you.

The official wrist strap release will be popping up within the next day or so here on the blog, so stay tuned.

Thanks again everyone and happy shooting!

Tyson

*Topaz – Simplify 4, quick and easy digital painting filters with a click!

by in Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

simplifyblog

Topaz continues to improve they’re line of valuable plugins with the new release of Simplify 4.  Currently on sale through the end of this month for $19.99 (50% off!) when using the code “febsimplify” during checkout, Simplify 4 provides a quick, easy and very controllable plugin for a variety of painting and line drawing effects.  You can see it on Topazlabs.com HERE, or come on in to see a screen shot and read my ramblings on why I think this is a pretty amazing plugin for $20.

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*TRP Giveaway! Thank you for all the bloglove.

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , | 56 Comments

 

 

 

Drawing has happened (see the winners HERE)!  Thanks to everyone, and if you’re interested in purchasing a wrist strap, go HERE.IMG_5723

I wanted to thank you all for the continued support and conversation.  While I will not be retiring off of my blog anytime soon, I have loved building it and watching it grow over the years.  I try to keep any and all commercialization to a bare minimum here as I know how often we’re all bombarded with offers and urges to purchase certain things.  I have chosen to keep this blog as a personal passion project and have slowly and hopefully inoffensively added affiliate links where applicable.

That said, I have been working on a new project (which many of you have probably already figured out) and before I release it to the world to try and make enough money to keep justifying the time spent on the blog, I want to reward three of you with a freebie.  I will be announcing my new hand built camera wrist straps soon and before that, I wanted to give away a wrist strap to three of my readers.

So, here’s the part where you can sign up for the drawing.  You get your name entered in once for each sign up as follows:

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*Panasonic GM1 Reviewed – Say hello to my little friend

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 51 Comments

gm1 and friends

I have spent the better part of the last month shooting with this camera almost exclusively.  I wanted to really get a feel for this tiny machine, its ins and outs, before I wrote up any type of review.  While being the smallest interchangeable lens system camera body currently available, it certainly has some ergonomic drawbacks, but that begs the question, who is this camera for, and can it be a compliment or even replacement for another of the micro 4/3 system cameras, even {gasp} a larger system camera?  Well…

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*An argument for, and against “going Pro”

by in General ramblings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

stack that paper

I’ll try to keep this short and mostly thoughtful.  I field quite a few emails which vary from gear (okay mostly gear) to blogging, to business and legal inquiries regarding photography.  I may not be the best resource for many of these inquiries, but I can offer my opinion on various matters.  I’ve done quite a bit with the gear side of things, so I’m gonna try my hand at some new stuff here.  With the new year, I’ve shunned traditional resolutions and tried rather to turn entirely inward in my own personal assessment of what makes me happy, or more importantly, what I can control that makes me and those I love comfortable, happy and healthy.  Unless you’re some type of magical farmer/hippy/yeti hybrid that is entirely capable of living off the land and bartering your body hair, somehow legally in some utopian parallel shadow universe, we will need income to survive.  Clothing, a roof, food, you know, the basic needs.  We (I assume my readers) all love photography, so why not try our hand at combining a love and a necessity by making money as a professional photographer?

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*Lumix GM1, mine’s smaller. A quick look at the smallest MILC camera.

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 67 Comments

this little piggy...

How small is too small?  How about a micro 4/3 camera that is smaller than most any fixed lens compact sporting a 1/1.6″ or 1/1.7″ sensor (not to mention any of the 1″ sensor cams, or even most compact p&s cameras I’ve owned)?  Well, I’d heard that the Panasonic Lumix GM1 was small, but I don’t think I was prepared for HOW small this thing actually is.  Have a look…

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*Amsterdam, a home away from home

by in Travel and tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

reflections of a time past

Sometimes I lose track of what is and what isn’t familiar.  I can wake up in my own bed, surrounded by all of the elements involved in my habitual routine, and it takes me a moment to figure out where I am.  Other times, I can be thousands of miles away from home and feel as if I fit, I belong to the space I occupy.  All of us are, to an extent, just fumbling around this rock getting on with our lives, some of us possibly contributing more to the greater human experience than those of us photoblogging or whatever, but I’d like to think that certain places call us, mean more to us, regardless of our personal histories, and for some reason beyond my personal comprehension, just seem to make sense.  Like a familiar smell transporting me back to childhood, or meals reminding me of past occasions, Amsterdam has always just felt like home.

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*Porto, business and pleasure

by in General ramblings, Travel and tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

the sea above and the sea below

No journey is greater than the one you’re on, and it is up to us to turn every day occurrence into the spectacular.  It certainly doesn’t hurt when you’re lucky enough to have to travel to amazing places for business for some of these every day occurrences.  I, like many I’m sure, struggle sometimes to truly appreciate that which life has blessed me with.  There are days that I allow the challenge of being a parent, partner or financial custodian get in the way of the realization that I have two healthy, normally happy children and an amazing wife.  There are those that say not to look back, but rather forward.  For me, I find an amazing amount of solace in being able to relive and appreciate time that has already been, and photography has played a large part in that.  It often allows me to reflect and remember why I should be happy and thankful.

We find ourselves in a new year, the promise of new beginnings being urged upon us.  With that in mind, I’d like to reflect on a recent trip I was able to take to Portugal where the weather and humanity are warm and inviting.  I am lucky enough to get to experience places like this, and for that, I am truly grateful. . .

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*Thank you

by in General ramblings, Uncategorized | 18 Comments

Happy New Year

 

I’ve been photo blogging for over 6 years now, and this blog has been around for exactly 4 of those.  I don’t make my living doing this, nor do I want to.  I have a job and while I do make some money through photography, I choose to keep that at a minimum so that I can continue to do this for myself.  Not that being a full time pro can’t allow one to love what they do, I’ve just had experience in the past that has shown me that I like to try and minimize my job’s influence on something that serves as my creative getaway from the need to make an income personally.  That is where I am with my relationship with photography now, and while I never know which opportunities may present themselves in the future, I am very happy that it provides me with the enjoyment it does.  For that, and the things I’ve been able to accomplish through that, I am grateful.

I started this blog purely for the love of making and taking pictures while sharing and learning through interactive experience.  Over the past year, this project has grown leaps and bounds thanks to all of you guys and I hope to continue to grow the blog as a resource for insight and entertainment while continuing to collaborate and cross promote.  I have some new ideas and projects on the horizon, so stay tuned.  I’d also love to continue to connect and collaborate with others, so feel free to hit me up.

I hope that everyone is healthy and happy, and if you or your loved ones are not, I hope that any negative circumstances are remedied in the near future.  Photography has always been therapeutic for me in times of need, and a wonderful enhancement in life when all is well, so here’s to our common thread, our common passion and the ability to connect across borders and time zones, cultures and histories through this wonderful medium.

 

Happy new year and I look forward to our continuing and evolving conversation.

 

Happy shooting,

Tyson