Yesterday I upgraded my blogging software, and did some tweaks to the RSS feed. However, this had the side effect of making FeedBurner think all posts were new, so apologies to those of you who use an RSS reader to track updates to this blog, and saw some posts come through twice.

I've also added some FeedFlares to the bottom of each post in the RSS feed, to allow you to more easily share content that you find useful.

FeedFlairs under each post in the RSS feed

If you've never used actions in Photoshop before, they're a great way to automate repetitive tasks by automating the application of various filters / layers / etc. These free actions allow you to easily apply various post-processing techniques to your photos quickly and easily in Photoshop.
Note that some actions will also work in Photoshop Elements - but not all actions, so check the details on each website if you want to use them in Photoshop Elements.

DesignReviver has a comprehensive list of 400+ Time Saving Photoshop Actions.

CoffeeShop Photography also has a comprehensive collection of free Photoshop actions.

I also like Mulletgod's Photoshop Actions - another great set of free actions.



Rich Legg provides a great suggestion about putting an ID tag on your camera.

Are you one of those people who is always checking the lens front element for dust? Do you have a good idea just how visible dust and scratchs on the front element will actually be in your photos? A lens rental company posted some photos to demonstratethe real impact of scratches on a lens front element.

Here's a list of 10 neat camera hacks, including an interesting rig for hanging a camera from a kite, a cable camera, and others.



In my web travels, occasionally I'll come across a collection of photos that are particularly appealing, and need to be shared. Here's some I've come across recently.
Enjoy these collections!

• DPS: 13 High Speed Photography Images
• The Big Picture: Hurricanes, As Seen From Orbit
• The Big Picture: The short - but eventful - life of Hurricane Ike
• The Big Picture: Earth From Above
• Masters of disguise: Stunning pictures of the tricks used by creatures to camouflage themselves
• The Big Picture: Peering into the micro world
• Beautiful High Speed Water Photography

Canon have announced the release of the Canon 50D, as well as the EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens. You can read the official press release on the Canon USA website for more details.
A detailed review of the 50D is available at dpreview.com.

The 50D annoucement comes approximately 12 months after the release of the 40D, while typically, Canon have waited 18 months between successive releases.

There's still no firm details on the 5D replacement, other than plenty of rumours, with the 5D replacement expected to be announced at Phototokina 2008 (23-28 September 2008).



Nikon have announced their D90, and one of the much-talked-about features is the ability to shoot video with it. For more details, see Nikon's press release.

There's been some interesting responses to the inclusion of video capabilities on the D90. Vincent Laforet also raises some interesting concerns about video on the D90, particularly with regards to events such as the Olympics, where tv companies won't be too happy with the idea that photographers can shoot high-def video with their still cameras.



Canon are apparently working on powering a DSLR with a fuel cell. They're looking at using the fuel cell to not only power the DSLR, but also external accessories including lenses, flashes, etc.



Here's 41 Amazing Tilt-shift miniature faking photographs that are definitely worth looking at. Tilt-shift faking involves digitally applying a tilt-shift effect to a photo to give it the appearance of being a photo of a miniature model.
I wrote a tutorial on how to fake tilt-shift in Photoshop to create realistic miniaturised photos a few months ago.

Here's a great collection of creative photos by Chema Madoz, where he takes ordinary every-day items, and uses them in interesting ways as props for his photos.

And finally, here's some great collections of photos from the Olympics:

• Opening Ceremony on dpreview
• Amazing 2008 Olympics Photos
• Beijing 2008 - It's a wrap

Not only were some of the fireworks faked, but the little girl who sang as the flag entered the stadium was lip-syncing to another girl's pre-recorded singing.

A Windows Blue Screen Of Death was also spotted at the Bird's Nest stadium during the opening ceremony.



On a non-Olympics note, some people have re-enacted childhood photos, with interesting results.

Here's a collection of 60 amazing pictures you should see on flickr.

And finally, here's a great collection of 60 incredible aerial photos you must see.

The Beijing Olympics is garnering a lot of media attention, and there's plenty of photos showing up on the web. Here's a selection of great photos from the Olympics:

• The Bird's Nest
  An excellent photo of the fireworks over the Bird's Nest stadium, taken by Jonathan Newton from the Washington Post.
• 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony
  A selection of 24 photos from various photographers from the opening ceremony.
• Visions of China: Day 1
  Thirteen photos from various sports from the first day of the Olympics on newsweek.com.
• Opening Ceremony
  A selection of phtotos from various photographers on the Canadian Toronto Star website.
• The Night is Right
  Some photos of The Cube (officially known as the National Aquatic Center) and the Bird's Nest.

Quite a few photographers in Beijing to cover the Olympics are blogging about their experiences, and here's a few interesting stories:

• In a post titled Lucy in the sky with diamonds, Lucy Nicholson talks about her experience taking photos of the opening ceremony from the roof of the Bird's Nest.
• Vincent Laforet describes his frustration trying to take photos of the Olympics opening ceremony fireworks from the Great Wall in a post titled Fireworks Show Fizzles at The Great Wall.
• Canadian Richard Lautens had a ticket for the opening ceremony, but it was hotter than he expected.

Earlier today, a friend pointed me at an interesting blog post about how many photographers obsess with gear, and always needing to upgrade a body or lens... It's a worthwhile read, and serves as a great reminder for all photographers out there to focus on their photos, and not the gear they think they need/want ;-)

Also from the same blogger, a humorous look at the realisation that he has too much gear, and sells most of it to buy the "dream" camera he thought was too expensive....not realising just how much money he had already spent on gear anyway!


On another note, if you've ever wondered how to tell the age of a Canon lens, here's some info on making sense of the date code that's on most Canon lenses.
A quick look through my lenses indicates L lenses have a date code, but my other lenses don't have one.


Scott Kelby recently interviewed an attorney to discuss various topics, including copyright, model releases, and shooting in public. While it's primarily US-focused, there's still some interesting content for people in other countries.

Every now and then, I'll be doing a Quick Links post, where I provide some brief info and links to interesting stories/articles. This first Quick Links post focuses on photographer's rights.

A Los Angeles photographer recently received a suprise visit from two agents from the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force after a photoshoot at the Port of Los Angeles.
From the original post: Maybe one of these OCAU photography shirts would have helped:

OCAU photographer shirt

John Forrest National Park, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 17-85mm IS @79mm, 1/3200 sec, f/5.6, ISO200

Do you know your rights as a photographer? If not, then I would strongly recommend you read on to find out more about your rights.