Tag Archives: free

*Might be close to the last chance to grab a GX7 kit on super sale @adorama

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Panasonic_Lumix_DMC-GX7_1008118

Currently, and while they last, Adorama is selling the GX7 with the 14-42 kit zoom for $547.99 which also includes a $50 Adorama Gift Card.  This might be the last cache of new GX7 kits as they make way for a replacement later on this year.

The GX7, while heading toward the sunset, and rumored to be replaced this Fall, is a killer camera.  It still has the current Panasonic sensor used in most every Panasonic camera from the last couple years, which is a great sensor, especially for RAW shooters like me.  If you’re looking for a good, all around body that incorporates IBIS, an integrated tilting EVF, WiFi, Focus Peaking, 1080p at 60fps, and a slew of other bells and whistles, this is a great deal.

You can find them via Adorama here:

Black GX7 + 14-42 kit with $50 Adorama Gift Card HERE

Silver GX7 + 14-42 kit with $50 Adorama Gift Card HERE

I’ve been a big fan of the GX7, and feel it has been the best overall, micro 4/3 camera yet… for me at least.  Great ergonomics, great features, direct external control for everything you need along with an intuitive and logical UI. It has a very good balance of size reduction while being very comfortable in the hand, even with larger optics, and I like mine very, very much.  

A great camera for a great price.

If interested in why I’ve grown to praise the GX7 quite as much as I have, you can read my personal reviews and comparisons via these following links:

GX7, an evolution Part 1

GX7, an evolution Part 2

GX7 vs EM5, round 1

GX7 vs EM5, round 2

GX7 vs EM5, round 3

Happy shooting, 

Tyson

*Monthly Flickr Photo Blog Challenge – June 2015 “Friendship” with @mirrorlessons

by in Photo Blog Challenge and tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Faraway Friends by Gonzalo Broto

“Faraway Friends” by Gonzalo Broto (Visit him HERE)

Welcome to our sixteenth monthly challenge theme, as chosen by last month’s winner, Gonzalo Broto.  If you’re just stumbling across these challenges, we (myself and friends Heather and Mat from Mirrorlessons) co-host a monthly photography theme challenge where anyone and everyone can submit an image, or images to our group threads over on flickr.

Simply interpret the theme, in this case “friendship” however you would like and as long as the image you submit is your own, it qualifies.  The theme runs through the current month, and at the end of the month, Heather, Mat and I each choose our favorite images and showcase those three along with a public vote on our respective websites, to be seen by all of you fine folks, giving us the ability to choose our overall favorite image.  The votes are tallied both from the polls here and on Mirrorlessons, and we crown the monthly winner after the vote is open for 5 days.

The real fun begins when we take our monthly winners, every 6 months, and showcase all the monthly champions again in a vote for the semi-annual champion, with the winner receiving free photography software, and various photo related hard goods.  We’ve been fortunate to have Alien Skin Software, Topaz Labs Software and Lensbaby all contribute in the past.  Great tools by great companies, by and for photographers.

Find the monthly theme threads in our Flickr Groups:

Tyson Robichaud Photo-blography Flickr Group HERE

Mirrorlessons Flickr Group HERE

It’s all free, and a fun way to provide a little motivation to get out and shoot while possibly connecting with fellow photographers all over the world, fittingly themed this month with ‘friendship’ so that’s pretty cool.

Take the theme, friendship, go forth, and enjoy.

To stay connected, find me via the socials, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or Instagram and if you prefer email, please feel free to add your email address at the top right of the page here.  You’ll get email alerts as new articles are released.

Thanks for the read and happy shooting,

Tyson

*Congratulations to Gonzalo Broto, our winner for “Textures” with @Mirrorlessons

by in Photo Blog Challenge and tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Water caprice

Congratulations to Gonzalo Broto (see more from him HERE) for winning our fifteenth monthly challenge for the theme “Textures” during the month of May.  See more from Gonzalo on his Blog HERE.  Stop by, say hi and give him a follow.

Thanks as always to Heather and Mat from Mirrorlessons for co-hosting.  We know that the recent flickr redesign has made it a bit trickier to stay abreast of the goings on through the groups there, but thank you to everyone that made the effort and submitted this month.  Hopefully Yahoo will leave flickr alone for a little while and let us get used to where everything is as opposed to continuing the attempted transformation into a boiled down, instagram clone.

Stay tuned for our soon to be announced theme for June, as chosen by Gonzalo, and keep up with all our challenges, reviews, specials and tutorials via the socials, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or Instagram and if you’re into the email thing, feel free to add your email address at the top right of the page here.  You’ll get email alerts as new articles are released.

Thanks for the read and happy shooting,

Tyson

*Time to vote for our 15th Monthly Flickr Photo Blog Challenge Theme Winner, Textures!

by in Photo Blog Challenge and tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Congratulations and thank you to Tara Tanaka (visit Tara here) for both winning last month and choosing our theme this month, Textures.  We now have a new set of selections that Heather, Mat and I have chosen for this month’s vote.

Please vote for your favorite both below and over on Mirrorlessons here.  For those new to this, Heather and Mat from Mirrorlessons and I co-host a monthly challenge via our Flickr groups where anyone can submit an image based on the current theme.  At the end of the month, Heather, Mat and I each choose an image that we feel best exemplifies the theme and we host those images on our sites (like this vote here) and open a public vote to all our readers and passers by.  The winner gets to choose the next month’s theme, and is entered into our semi-annual champions vote where they go up against the other monthly winners in a vote where that winner walks away with photography gear and software.  Not bad.  Are you on Flickr?  Find us HERE and keep an eye peeled for new themes, the first week of each month.  This month, our choices for “Texture” are:

Color Mess“Color Mess” by suheilunneen

voces

“Voces” by Fernando Pereira

Water caprice

“Water caprice” by Gonzalo Broto

Vote for your favorite image, and please share with friends.  The more the merrier!  It has been wonderful to see these monthly challenges grow, getting to see and be inspired by many awesome photographers around the world.  We started these as a way to collaborate, network and hopefully inspire each other into shooting based on these themes, and while I am not technically submitting, I use the themes as motivation to try and shoot for the month.  It’s fun.

Thanks as always to everyone who submitted, all the voters and of course, Heather and Mat for being awesome.  Make sure to visit Mirrorlessons to both vote there, and say hi.

Stay tuned for our new theme which will be chosen by the winner of this vote after we’ve closed it on the 5th.

You can stay abreast of challenges via the socials, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or Instagram and if you’re into the email thing, feel free to add your email address at the top right of the page here.  You’ll get email alerts as new articles are released.

Thanks for the read and happy shooting,

Tyson

*Topaz Simplify, on sale through May 31st!

by in Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Screen Shot 2015-05-19 at 11.17.08 AM

Hey guys.  Topaz is back with their monthly sale, and this month, it’s Simplify, a plugin that puts a painterly spin on your photos. You can download a free trial, or purchase from Topazlabs HERE, and if you do purchase, use code “MAYSIMP” to get 30% off through May 31st for a sale price of $27.99 (normally $39.99).

If you’ve not yet tried Simplify, download a free trial via the link above, come on in for some more info and insight into this cool plugin and follow along.

Continue reading →

*The Mighty Might, Panasonic GM1 on super sale

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

iPhone 5s vs Panasonic Lumix GM1

Adorama has the Panasonic, micro 4/3 GM1 camera with 12-32mm pancake zoom for $598 which comes with a $200 Adorama Gift Card, dropping the price for the camera and lens to an effective $398!  The lens itself retails for $348, and while that may be a little steep for the lens itself, it is a true 24mm e-fov wide angle lens that is sharper than many of the comparable prime lenses for the system at like aperture, across this zoom lens’ range.  While the asking price for the lens itself might be debatable, the quality and sheer minuscule footprint cannot be.  Sure that $200 gift card is only valid at Adorama, but if you’re like me, you’ll find a way to eventually spend two hundred bucks on something there.

That’s a pretty sweet deal for this little powerhouse of a camera and lens that I feel is the best kit lens I’ve used for the system.  

You can see the deal, currently running at Adorama via my affiliate links below:

GM1 (Blue) with 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens (Silver) + $200 Adorama Gift Card HERE 

GM1 (Orange) with 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens (Silver) + $200 Adorama Gift Card HERE

If you’d like, you can read my thoughts on the GM1 HERE and the 12-32mm Kit Lens HERE.

I bought my GM1 as soon as it was available, and it has been with me every day since, literally.  With the right lenses, this camera is pocketable and is small enough to go anywhere.  It has the same sensor as the GX7, which is rumored to also be included in the soon to be announced G7, which is a great performing sensor, especially for RAW file capture, and in my test/review, out performed the Sony sensor in the Olympus OMD EM5 in most every way.  The GM5 is essentially the same exact camera with a hot shoe and an EVF.  Both great additions, but for this price, I think it would be hard to find a better overall value of size, performance and build quality offered with the GM1.  It’s a great little machine, and by little, I mean tiny.

You can stay posted on reviews, tutorials and deals by finding me on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or Instagram or if you prefer to receive email alerts when articles are posted, feel free to add your email address at the top right of the page here.  

Happy shooting.

Tyson

*Time to vote! Vote for the winner of our fifteenth monthly Flickr Photo Blog Challenge; “Silhouette.” With @MirrorLessons

by in Photo Blog Challenge and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy May Day!  Anyone else feeling like time is evaporating?  Another month is in the books, and we have had an amazing grouping of submissions for this month’s theme, “Silhouette” as chosen by last month’s winner, Giovanni Tabbò Visit Giovanni HERE.

Please vote for your favorite image below, and make sure to visit Mirrorlessons to vote there too!  The vote will run through the 5th of the month, and at that point, we’ll tally the totals and announce our 15th Flickr Photo Blog Challenge Winner who will get to choose the theme for May, and will be entered into our semi-annual giveaway vote where the 6 monthly winners vie for your votes to see who takes home free gear, software and title of our semi-annual Champion!

Along with Heather and Mat from Mirrorlessons, we’ve chosen our three favorites from this month’s submissions, and you can vote below.

"Sandhill Cranes" by Tara Tanaka

“Sandhill Cranes” by Tara Tanaka Visit Tara HERE

"The Night She Walked Away"

“The night she walked away” by Chazzz (three z’s) Visit Chazzz HERE

"Smile" by blackandwhitexe1

“Smile” by blackandwhitexe1 Visit Black and White XE1 HERE

 

Please vote for your favorite, and feel free to share:

Don’t forget to vote for your favorite over at Mirrorlessons HERE as well!

Thanks to all of you who have submitted, and for another wonderful month.  We’ve really enjoyed interacting with so many of you, and love to see the community growing and continuing to inspire all of us to get out and shoot.  Stay tuned for your chance to submit to this month’s theme via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or Instagram and to stay posted on new articles, feel free to add your email address at the top right of the page here.  You’ll get email alerts as new articles are released.

Thanks for the read and happy shooting,

Tyson

*Freebie Photography 101, the Exposure Trifecta Part 3 : ISO

by in Freebie Photography 101, Photography tutorials and tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

exposure trifecta iso

Rounding out our Exposure Trifecta is our ISO.  We discussed Aperture here, Shutter Speed here and with ISO we finalize this three pronged, exposure equation.

Understanding when and how to manipulate your exposure might be a little tricky to fathom at first, but I’m hoping that after this series, you’ll have a very good grasp on how these three factors can be used to capture an image in any situation.

We’ll look not only at ISO specifically, but we’ll tie in all three and explain how, why and when to adjust them in concert to achieve proper exposure.  C’mon in…

Continue reading →

*Time to vote! Vote for the winner of our fourteenth monthly Flickr Photo Blog Challenge; “Man vs Nature.” With @MirrorLessons

by in Photo Blog Challenge and tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

We’re well into our second year of the Monthly Flickr Photo Blog Challenge, co-hosted by me here, and my good friends Heather and Mat at Mirrorlessons.  We just crowned our second semi-annual winner and showered Giorgio Lumaconi with free stuff.  If you’d like a chance to win some free software, and photography gear, all you need to do is to stay tuned and submit your best image to our monthly theme threads whose themes are chosen by our monthly winners.  This month’s winner will be one of the following three images.  Please vote for your favorite from March’s theme, “Man vs. Nature” below and over at Mirrorlessons as well!

1000 contro 1

“1000 Contro 1” by Giovanni Tabbò

Wipeout

“Wipeout” by Alfredo Aleandri

Steering Wheel with Vines

“steering wheel with vines” by Miguel Tejada-Flores

The vote stays open through the 5th of April, and at that time we’ll tally the votes to declare our winner.  The winner then gets to choose the theme for our April challenge and is entered into our next semi-annual giveaway vote where our 6 monthly winners duke it out.

Thanks to everyone that has submitted and to pommes.fritz123 for choosing this month’s theme.  Thank you to Heather and Mat for the continued collaboration and here’s to getting out and shooting.

Keep submitting, and stay up with new challenges and articles by connecting via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or Instagram and to stay posted on new articles, feel free to add your email address at the top right of the page here.  You’ll get email alerts as new articles are released.

Happy shooting!

Tyson

*Congratulations to Giorgio Lumaconi, our second, semi-annual Flickr Photo Blog Challenge Champion!

by in Photo Blog Challenge and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

bookmark

It came down to a foot race at the end, and Giorgio Lumaconi emerged victorious with his image “bookmark”.  Congratulations to Giorgio and I’ll be in contact to get you your free stuff!

Please visit Giorgio HERE to see more of his work, and to connect, say hi, make friends with, follow… you know.

Thank you so much, to Jimmy and the folks at Alien Skin Software, and Darcy and the team at Topaz Software for generously providing us the ability to give away killer photography software, and to Keri and crew at Lensbaby my friends and hometown lens manufacturing gurus, for the LM10 smartphone, selective focus optic!  All wonderful people and companies, that have always been awesome in their support of me and my blogging adventures.  I chose to contact them while still in my blog infancy because I loved their products.  I choose to continue to buy from, use their wares and shill for them because I know them and how hard they work for and within the greater photographic community, so thank you all.  

Giorgio will also receive a brand new Cascade style wrist strap.  I am working on having these available to purchase very soon and will be an addition to the Garda style wrist straps currently available HERE.

Finally, thank you to Heather and Mat at Mirrorlessons, my partners in crime for these monthly challenges.  We have really enjoyed being able to grow the community through these theme based photo challenges and look forward to continuing to.

If you’re new to the monthly flickr photo blog challenges, visit us on Flickr –

Keep an eye out for our monthly theme threads.  It’s a fun, free way to connect with other photographers worldwide, it can be fun motivation to get out and shoot, and get your photography seen by an ever growing audience. 

Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Instagram . To stay posted on new articles, feel free to add your email address at the top right of the page here.  You’ll get email alerts as new articles are released.

Keep on keepin’ on, and happy shooting.

Tyson