Tag Archives: free

*Time to vote! Vote for the winner of our seventh monthly Flickr Photo Blog Challenge; Frames

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

Below are our three picks for September’s theme, “Frames”.  The vote runs until this Sunday and we will compile the totals between the poll here and on Mirrorlessons (make sure to vote for your favorite on both sites!)

"Guayaquil" by Terry Doyle

“Guayaquil” by Terry Doyle (see more from Terry HERE)

"Mezzogiorno" by Giovanni Tabbo

“Mezzogiorno” by Giovanni Tabbo (see more from Giovanni HERE)

"reflexinaciòn" by Fernando Pereira

“reflexinaciòn” by Fernando Pereira (see more from Fernando HERE)

So which image do you think best embodies the theme?  Vote below and don’t forget to visit Mirrorlessons and the photographers to let them know as well.

If you’ve not yet joined up to participate in our monthly themed challenges, it’s easy and it’s free.  Just join our flickr groups and submit to the theme threads each month.  Heather, Mat and I each choose our favorites and the vote begins!  The winner chooses our next theme and is entered into our semi-annual giveaway vote (which we just had our very first of those, congrats to billyburg and enjoy your soon to arrive wrist strap and Topaz Impression plugin!)

Find us on flickr here:

TRP Flickr Group HERE

Mirrorlessons Flickr Group HERE

Thanks again to everyone who continues to participate and happy Fall!

Cheers,

Tyson

*Congratulations to Billyburg! Our first semi-annual Flickr Photo Blog Challenge Winner.

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

Evening Glow by billyburg

 

“Evening Glow” by billyburg (visit and see more from billyburg HERE)

Our first giveaway winner has been decided by you guys.  With a combined effort between my site and Heather and Mat’s site Mirrorlessons (visit them HERE), billyburg has compiled the most votes, and is your first semi annual Flickr Photo Blog Challenge Winner.

Congratulations billyburg, and thank you to everyone who voted, and submitted over the last six months.

Billyburg has won a custom built T&T Garda wrist strap (see more HERE) as well as a Topaz Plugin of his  choice!  We hope to continue to build our community through these fun, free monthly challenges, and if you’ve not yet submitted, you have a chance monthly.  The winner of each month’s challenge gets to choose the theme for the next month while getting exposure both here and on Heather and Mat’s site.

Find us on Flickr:

TRP Flickr Group

Mirrorlessons Flickr Group

Thanks again to Heather and Mat for a fun and successful hosting of 6 months worth of challenges.  Here’s to our next 6 months and beyond.

All the best, and happy shooting!

Tyson

*Monthly Flickr Photo Blog Challenge #7; “Frames”

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

Underpass by Stephen Worden

“Underpass” by and © Stephen Worden (billyburg)  See more from Stephen HERE

Welcome to our 7th monthly challenge folks!  My how the time has flown by.  If you’re new to our challenges, the winner from our previous month, in this case Stephen Worden (billyburg on flickr) gets to choose the theme for the following month.  This month’s theme is “Frames”.

There are no rules, and the theme is open to interpretation.  The only real caveat is that Heather and Mat from Mirrorlessons along with myself, get to choose our three favorite images from all of the submissions.  We then post those three to both sites and open it up for a vote.  Everyone then gets to choose which image and photographer wins and goes on to choose the next month’s theme.

The exciting part is that we have compiled our first 6 monthly winners and will be posting another vote soon.  The 6 previous monthly winning images will be voted on by any and everyone to determine our readers favorite overall image from the last 6 monthly challenges with the winner receiving a free Topaz Plugin of their choice (DeNoise, Clarity, ReMask, Adjust, any of them!!!) and a custom, hand built Garda Wriststrap from yours truly.  Who knows what we’ll be able to giveaway next time, but I already have some emails out there and some irons in the fire…

We will be working to do a giveaway after each 6 months worth of challenges, so the next cycle begins today!

To submit, just share your chosen image to both the TRP Flickr Group Thread HERE and the Mirrorlessons Flickr Group Thread HERE and stay tuned.

Each monthly challenge runs through the end of the current month, and the vote starts on the first day of the next month, running for 5 days, then the cycle resets and we start anew!  This has been a great way for us to both challenge each other, but also get to know one another.  I’ve really enjoyed doing this with Heather and Mat and feel that working with such friendly, talented and courteous people such as Heather, Mat and the many cool folks who have submitted over the last 6 months makes the time spent maintaining and creating content for this site worth while.  It’s one thing to gain readers, clicks, etc, but I didn’t start this site to be a job.  I started it because I love photography and talking about photography, so thank you to all who are reading this, and I challenge you to get more involved in our continually growing community here, on Mirrorlessons and Flickr!

Go forth and rock it.

Happy shooting,

T

*2nd TRP Garda Wrist Strap Giveaway Drawing Winners!

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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Congratulations Geordon, Svenlovesflo and Jin Wan!  You are the three lucky winners of the TRP Garda Wrist Strap giveaway.  I will get in touch with each of you to get an address and a preference for whichever strap you’d prefer.

For the rest, thank you for submitting your names and participating.  If you are interested in buying one, please let me know, or find out how on the T&T Camera Straps Page HERE.

Here is a crude video showing the drawing.

Thanks again to everyone and happy shooting,

Tyson

*Congratulations to billyburg for winning our August Flickr Photo Blog Challenge, Animals!

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

Evening Glow by billyburg

“Evening Glow” by billyburg, visit and see more HERE

Congratulations billyburg, and thank you to everyone who submitted images this last month. Billyburg’s image of two sheep, basking in the light from a low sitting sun, one staring off into a foggy, defocused beyond while the other keeps tabs on the viewer has risen to, and won the challenge.  See more from billyburg and follow him on Flickr here.

Being that this concludes our 6th monthly challenge, and after billyburg gives us our challenge theme for September, we will be posting a vote with our 6 monthly winners up to this point battling it out for our adoration and the title of ultimate Mirrorlessons/TRP Flickr Photo Blog Challenge semi-annual Champion!

Stay tuned for the vote which will take place both here, and on Mirrorlessons.  Heather, Mat and myself will be posting within the next week or so.  The winner of our 6 month champion’s vote will win a Topaz Plugin of their choice and a custom, hand built camera wrist strap.

Thank you Heather and Mat, everyone who has participated and to all those who have voted and kept up with this new way to get more and more of us connected and networking.  If you’ve not yet joined in, stay tuned, sign up to receive articles and challenges as they post by entering your email at the top right of the page, join up with us on Flickr (the TRP Group HERE and the Mirrorlessons Group HERE), find us on Facebook (TRP HERE and Mirrorlessons HERE) and on Twitter (TRP HERE and Mirrorlessons HERE) to stay abreast of new reviews, comparisons, tips, tricks, contests and giveaways.

As always, thanks everyone for the read, and happy shooting!

Tyson

*Time to vote! Vote for the winner of our sixth monthly Flickr Photo Blog Challenge; Animals

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

Below are our three chosen images for the 6th monthly Flickr Photo Blog Challenge.  The vote runs until Friday, September 5th.  You can see each image, and their creator by clicking on the links below each image which will bring you to their Flickr stream.  The poll is below, so vote for your favorite and stay tuned for new challenges and our Semi-Annual giveaway!

Evening Glow by billyburg

“Evening Glow” by billyburg 

"Fido the Puggle" by ganjocson

“Fido the Puggle” by ganjocson

"Call of the Goats" by AnggaPJ

“Call of the Goats” by AnngaPJ

The winner whose image gathers the most votes between the poll here and HERE on Mirrorlessons.com (don’t forget to vote for your fave on both!) will not only choose our theme for September’s challenge, but will be entered into our semi-annual giveaway.

The previous 6 monthly winners of each individual challenge will be put up for a new vote soon.  We will all get to vote for our favorite overall image with the winner receiving a Topaz Plugin of their choice, and a handmade T&T Garda Wrist strap.

With September’s challenge, the cycle starts again and in 6 months time, we will have 6 new monthly winners vying for free prizes.  There are no restrictions on participating in our monthly challenges.  All you need to do is submit an image in the TRP Flickr Group and Mirrorlessons Flickr Group discussion threads as they open for the particular month.  Vote and stay tuned for our next challenge.

*Strap it on. Newly updated Garda Wrist Strap Giveaway and brand new Ultralite strap!

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

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Hi all.  Firstly, let me say thank you to everyone who has purchased my hand built wrist straps over the last 6 months.  I’ve continued to tinker with the design, combined with feedback I’ve eliminated the need to decide between a standard or large size instead opting for one singular size that now incorporates a cinch ring.  The original 10mm Black and 8mm Green continue, and I’ve added another 8mm in Blue as well as the new 6mm Red.

Come on in to see more, and find out how to enter to win a free Garda Wrist Strap!

Continue reading →

*Have you been on the fence? GX7 on super sale.

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Lumix GX7

Adorama has started to offer the GX7 (body only) with a bunch of freebies or gift card for $300 off the normal price.  Now, I don’t have a crystal ball, and I don’t know if this is somehow a precursor to a newer camera, but even if it is, this is a killer deal on what I feel is the best all around micro 4/3 camera out right now.

Let me clarify that last statement.  I don’t mean to say there aren’t better performing micro 4/3 cameras in ways.  The GH4 is the benchmark right now, but costs a lot.  The EM1 has some bells and whistles, but also, costs a lot more than the GX7.  Neither of these two is anywhere near as compact as the GX7 is, and as you may have read, I feel the GX7 does really, really well against the EM5/10’s or EP’s of the world in my opinion.

Find the GX7 with a bunch of stuff for $697 at Adorama HERE

Find the GX7 with a $100 Adorama Gift Card for $697 HERE

The GX7 deals are listed through 10/4.  If you’d like to read more on why I feel this is the best current overall micro 4/3 camera, hit the links to my review articles below:

GX7 vs EM5 Battle for my affection Part 1 (IBIS, EVF’s and LCD’s)

GX7 vs EM5 Battle for my affection Part 2 (Build Quality and Ergonomics)

GX7 vs EM5 Battle for my affection Part 3 (User Interface, IQ, features and the final decision)

GX7, an Evolution Part 1

GX7, an Evolution Part 2

GX7 vs GM1

Adorama is also offering a $300 rebate off of the GH3.  I’ve never used the GH3 aside from a few shots here and there so I cannot give a personal endorsement, but I do feel it has gained a good reputation for a reason.

It’s currently $797 and can be purchased with a $50 gift card and 4% reward, a $100 gift card or alone without one which is odd, but you can see all 3 deals on Adorama for the GH3 HERE if that floats your boat, and these deals look set to expire on 9/13.

I don’t normally do this type of post, but I do field a lot of questions, emails and various social media inquiries about cameras and the GX7 is one that I feel has been the best mirrorless camera I’ve yet used and with the current deals, is an absolute steal in my opinion.  The Adorama links are in fact attached through my affiliate account there and would give me a small commission which will in turn be used to purchase more stuff to shoot and review on the blog, so I thank you in advance for the consideration and I hope everyone is well and enjoying the summer (or winter depending on where you may be reading from).

 

Thanks all and happy shooting!

T

*More Free Filters for Topaz Adjust!

by in Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 – Retro Style V –

If you missed it, Topaz is offering their popular plugin Adjust for half off through the month of August.  I’ve already shilled for it, but this morning I got the Topaz newsletter which included 20 new, free presets for Adjust users.  I’ve downloaded and played around with them and they’re a great bundling of retro/vintage filters.  I ran this portrait through each of them and I’m impressed with more than a few.  If you’ve not yet checked out Adjust, you can download the full trial for free HERE (click on ‘buy adjust’ and find the trial link at the bottom of the page).  If you want to purchase it, you can do so HERE and enter “augadjust” to get it for 50% off (now $25 through the end of the month).  If you do choose to buy it, or already have it and didn’t get the newsletter, might I suggest going to the Topaz Newsletter HERE to download the 20 new, free filters (button at the top right) and follow the easy instructions to add them to your library of filters for Adjust (at the bottom of the article).  Come on in to see more versions, showing a few more of these cool filters.

Continue reading →

*Time to vote! Vote for the winner of our fourth monthly Flickr Photo Blog Challenge; Nature.

by in Photo Blog Challenge and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

1: Untitled by XeXe

2: “Leaf in water” by Sparrow Ulm

3: “Di primo mattino a Parazzuolo” by Giovanni Tabbò

Time to vote for this month’s winner!  Our fourth, dual blog monthly contest is in the books!  Heather and Mat from Mirrorlessons as well as myself have chosen our favorites from this month’s submissions, and it was not easy.

Vote for your favorite below.  The voting will be open until July 5th both here and on Heather and Mat’s site HERE (link coming soon), and at that time, the winner of this month’s challenge will be entered in our 6 month winner’s vote for some freebies, and get to choose our theme for next month.

Vote, share, and visit Mirrorlessons.com to vote for your favorite there too.  While you’re at it, click on any of the images above to visit their creators and say hello.

If you’ve not yet, connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr to be a part of the coming challenge themes and a chance to win some cool stuff.

Thanks all and happy shooting,

Tyson