Joe Farace

Digital Innovations
People, Places, And Things: The Right Tool For The Right Job
Joe Farace  |  Jul 13, 2011  |  First Published: Jun 01, 2011
As I write this, the temperature outside my office window is -11˚. It’s at times like this when my thoughts go to my favorite (warm) place to kick back and relax. Acapulco is different from other Mexican resorts because it’s a city with a wonderful history first and a resort second, and then there’s that old Hollywood connection. You can see some of my Acapulco photos in the self-published book Acapulco, Paradise of the Americas (www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/196617) with text by my friend Don Bain. For examples of my travel photography, you can preview the first 15 pages and see why I love Acapulco so much. If you would like a copy, I’ve removed all markups from the softbound edition so Shutterbug readers and their friends can purchase it for just the cost of production and shipping.
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Web Profiles
Shutterbug Readers’ Sites And More; The Readers Strike Back
Joe Farace  |  Jul 01, 2011  |  First Published: May 01, 2011
I only get to be in touch with you once a month through this column and Digital Innovations, but if you want more frequent reports, you can follow me on Twitter (www.twitter.com/joefarace) for daily updates on what’s new in digital imaging along with a dash of silliness. What’s more, my how-to blog (www.joefaraceblogs.com) has been restructured to feature a different topic each day of the week, such as Macro Monday, Travel Tuesday, and because I ran out of alliterations, Landscape Wednesday, Automobile Thursday, and Portraits and Glamour Friday.
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Digital Innovations
Birthday Gifts From The Pixel Palace; Gadgets & Gizmos From Me To You
Joe Farace  |  Jun 22, 2011  |  First Published: May 01, 2011
This month I’ll celebrate one of those “milestone” birthdays that everyone talks about and here in the Pixel Palace things are definitely looking up. Digital MD’s (www.digitalmd.net) Kevin Elliott repaired all of the Windows-related problems on the Boot Camp partition on my iMac and by the time you read this I’ll have installed Windows 7. Then I’ll be ready to test all of those $29 just-as-good-as-Photoshop Windows-only products that I’ve passed on as of late. There’s no news from Yahoo! about getting my Flickr account fixed but I don’t expect any and I am just too lazy to create a new account and upload all those photos—again. You can see what’s there at www.flickr.com/photos/joefarace or better yet visit my SmugMug page (http://farace.smugmug.com/) to see how my photo-a-day project is progressing and lots more.
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Lens NewsLens Reviews
Tamron AF18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD; Sometimes One Size Does Fit All
Joe Farace  |  Jun 01, 2011

Tamron has always been a pioneer in the do-everything zoom lens category and their new AF18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD lens is no exception. Don’t be intimidated by those initials—it’s all good stuff—and I’ll get to them shortly. The 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 is part of Tamron’s Di II family of lenses that are engineered specifically for digital SLRs with image sensors measuring 24x16mm, typically referred to as APS-C. The sensor size of the Canon EOS 50D I tested the lens with measures 22.3x14.9mm so I guess that’s close enough. The 15x zoom range of the lens provides a 35mm focal length equivalency of 28.8-432mm with the Canon EOS 50D’s 1.6x multiplication factor, but that will be slightly different for the Nikon and Sony versions that are also available. Shooting full frame? Check out Tamron’s Di lens series for 35mm film cameras or digital SLRs featuring larger (24x36mm) sensors.

 

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Web Profiles
On The Road: Montana; Big Sky Means Big Photography
Joe Farace  |  Apr 01, 2011

“It is pleasant to have been to a place the way a river went.”—Henry David Thoreau

In recent months I’ve devoted this column to various themes and this month have expanded that concept to include geography. All of the photographers featured this month are located in Montana, the Big Sky state, which I think has some of the most spectacular scenery here in the lower forty-eight, as their...

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Digital Innovations
Imaging Software On Parade; Snoochie Boochies, Batman, Here’s More Software
Joe Farace  |  Apr 01, 2011

“Human mechanisms are made by human hands, Robin. None of them is infallible.”—Adam West as Batman

What’s in your utility belt? This month, I’ll introduce you to some useful Mac OS and Windows imaging software that will enhance productivity, increase your creativity, and often costs just a few bucks. To add some spice I’ve included a few useful hardware accessories that will make life in...

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DSLR NewsDSLR ReviewsNews
Nikon D3100; The Video Beat Goes On
Joe Farace  |  Apr 01, 2011

The Nikon D3100 ups the D3000’s megapixel ante from 10.2 megapixels to 14.2, adds Live View, video capture, and support for all functions of AI-P Nikkor lenses except autofocus and 3D Color Matrix Metering II.

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Software How ToSoftware NewsSoftware Reviews
Nik Software’s HDR Efex Pro; HDR Software For The Rest Of Us
Joe Farace  |  Mar 01, 2011

Everybody knows the basic concept and conceit of High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging but first let’s get rid of yet another unnecessary acronym. What does HDRI—High Dynamic Range Imaging—add to the discussion other than just another letter?

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Web Profiles
Fine Art Photography; Art Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
Joe Farace  |  Mar 01, 2011

“Fine art and pizza delivery, what we do falls neatly in between!”—David Letterman

Fine art photography has a special place in my heart since I started photographic studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. Years later when Mary and I opened our Colorado studio its tag line was “for the art of photography,” but I’m not sure how much art we practiced in those early...

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Digital Innovations
Computer Software & Hardware; To Err Is Human But To Foul Things Up Requires A Computer
Joe Farace  |  Mar 01, 2011

“Computers = Ticket to Hell.”—from an old Alien Skin Software T-shirt

I’ve always been an ambidextrous computer user, having a Windows system on my left and a Mac OS computer on my right. That Windows computer handles Internet surfing for Web Profiles and e-mail. It’s also where I test the $29 “just as good as Photoshop but Windows-only” imaging...

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