Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

 

View Photobucket and Picasa Pics on Tivo

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tivo_150x167.jpgTivo is making your online photo albums more accessible – at least, those of you that use Photobucket or Picasa to share your photos.

The digital video recorder manufacturer has partnered with two photo-sharing services–the Google-owned Picasa Web Albums and Fox Interactive Media-owned Photobucket–in order to enable users to surf through their photo albums as well as their friends’ and family members’, provided that their TiVo boxes are broadband-connected.

(via CNet)

[tags]photobucket, tivo, picasa[/tags]

New Nikon, Canon, Sony & Olympus DSLR Availability

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Those of you looking for the hot new Nikon D3, D300 or Canon 1Ds Mark III are in for a tough hunt before Christmas. However, I checked Amazon, B&H and Adorama this morning and found the Nikon D3 and D300 available via Amazon (albeit at a premium price). I have yet to see the Canon 1Ds Mark III in stock at any of these retailers. Though I’ve heard of folks getting theirs via B&H Photo. If you’re looking for the Canon 40D, you should have no problem finding one in stock. Same goes for the Sony A700, including the highly anticipated kit with the 16-105mm lens. Ditto for the Olympus E-3. Just don’t miss out on the shipping date to get it by Christmas.

I’ve got direct links for all the different kit configurations for these cameras on this post.

[tags]nikon, canon, sony, olympus, d3, d300, 1ds mark iii, a100, e-3, availability[/tags]

One Year Ago

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A year ago yesterday, the very first post appeared on Photography Bay. As fate would have it, my second child, Emma was born yesterday as well. I would’ve made this post yesterday but I was a little preoccupied. Things have calmed down a bit now (mom and baby are sleeping) and I thought I’d finish up this post.

All in all, my expectations for this blog have been surpassed by quite a margin. Over the past year there have been:

514 posts

676,022 hits (now, an avg. of about 100k per month)

817 comments

100 photos of the day

2619 spam comments blocked

The most popular post has been the Nikon D3 page.

The biggest referrer has been Google with over 175,000 hits.

Photography Bay’s page rank is now 3, and its Technorati authority rating is now 158, putting Photography Bay’s Technorati blog ranking at 38,755.

What’s more, I have personally learned so much more about photography as an art, hobby and business over the past year. I’ve learned about off-camera lighting because fellow blogger David Hobby’s site, Strobist, is now a daily must-read. I’m still digesting Lighting 101 as I follow the daily Strobist posts (thanks for the .pdf version David). I bought some Cactus V2s a few weeks ago and will continue to learn. I’ve learned that Nikon and Canon users think their cameras are either the best or worst (depending on who you ask) from the DPReview.com forums. I’ve learned that stock photography can be a viable business model from Rich Legg. Finally, I’ve learned that Scott Kelby is the numero uno authority on Photoshop. (I’ve actually learned much more, but I won’t bore you with a ridiculous list here.)

What’s more, I’m just scratching the surface of this photography and blogging thing. I’m looking forward to this coming year and what it holds for Photography Bay, my personal photography and, of course, the latest addition to my family.

Thanks to all the readers over the past year for making Photography Bay worthwhile and for all the feedback (good and bad) that you’ve sent my way.  I welcome your comments and criticisms and promise to work hard to make sure this blog is worth coming back to.

Here’s to next year.  Cheers!

Edit your photos! On Flickr!

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Flickr’s got a new feature that enables users to edit photos that are already in their Flickr accounts – with no downloads in between. Flickr does this through a new partnership with Picnik, which I’ve raved about before and love as an online editing tool. Read more about this cool new feature on the Flickr blog.

[tags]flickr, picnik, online, photo, editing[/tags]

Is Photography Dead?

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Although I disagree with the premise of this story, it is nonetheless an interesting read:

The last art form to be tethered to realism, its factual validity has lately been manipulated and pixelated to the point of extinction. Digitalization has made much of art photography’s vast variety possible. But it’s also a major reason that, 25 years after the technology exploded what photography could do, the medium seems to have lost its soul.

read more | digg story

Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 II EX DG MACRO HSM

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Sigma has updated their ever popular 70-200mm f/2.8 HSM lens. I’ve got the first-gen DG version and love it. The decreased minimum focusing distance on the macro versions makes it even better. Features include:

  • Improved optical performance with a minimum focusing distance of 100cm/39.4in and maximum magnification of 1:3.5
  • Two SLD and three ELD glass elements provide excellent correction for all types of aberrations
  • Super multi-layer coating reduces flare and ghosting
  • HSM ensures quiet, high speed autofocus with full time manual focusing
  • APO Tele Converter is available [Read more…]

Sigma APO 50-150mm F2.8 II EX DC HSM

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Sigma has announced a new version of the popular 50-150mm f/2.8 HSM lens. This large aperture telephoto zoom lens is designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras with APS-C size sensors and its compact, lightweight body provides freedom of movement and versatility. [Read more…]