My idea for this first workshop would be something on the order of – “Introduction to Digital Photography”

I am thinking about a 3 hour workshop, with it broken down like this:

Part 1: Getting the best possible image out of your camera.  You may hear the phrase, fix it later in photoshop.  This is like chalk on a blackboard to me.  Every image you take with a digital camera needs processing.  Some cameras do it for you, but most, you need to process it yourself, but before you start, you want to make sure the photos you are starting with are right straight out of the camera.  So this part I would be talking about the settings of most cameras, aperture, shutter speed, focusing, composition, etc.

Part two: basic digital processing:  Everything from basic exposure correction and color correction to how to sharpen, when to sharpen, what is sharpen, etc. and how not to ruin a good photo in Photoshop by over processing it.

Part three: Presenting your photos.  Whether you are putting pictures up on Facebook, emailing photos to friends and family, or printing out photos to hang on your wall, I will cover the basics to make them look as good as you can when you are finished.

You would be urged to bring your camera gear, a laptop computer, and some unprocessed photos (can be of anything you like that can be shown to a large group of people ranging in age from high schoolers up to senior citizens).  You need some sort of photo editing software.  Photoshop, Lightroom, or Aperture, or a combination of the the three or something else (iPhoto, Paintshop, MS Photo).  While the programs are different, a lot of the basic editing tools are very similar.

Price for the workshop would be $100.  If you are interested, please shoot me an email or comment on this post.

So, it is a battery, big deal. Well. It really is. I already have two shoots planned for this summer that this battery is going to change totally. They will take place on a soccer pitch, and will hopefully be with a lovely deep blue sky, mountains in the background, and some action. These are portrait sessions, so normally, I would have 1 to 3 hot shoe flashes, which would work to a point for what I am visioning for the shoot, but using more powerful studio strobes would be so much better. Better light coverage, more power, but typically, it would mean hundreds of feet of extension cords to power the strobes.

In steps the Vagabond Mini. I can use this device to power up to 4 of my Alien Bee B800 strobes, giving me enough light to overpower the sun and make some really dramatic images. The Vagabond Mini comes with a clamp to attach to a light stand, or has a shoulder strap to hang it from a support. It has two power outlets (I can even hook my laptop up to it to extend my computers battery life) and a USB connection so I could charge my iPhone or iPad if I need to.

I will report more on the Vagabond Mini when I get it out into the field, but I am really excited about using it.

While this site will continue to be my home for photography, mainly media, senior photos, and news, and Digital-EOS will remain my high school action photo page, the FB page will be a way to keep in touch with current customers, friends, and potential clients.

Plus, you will see some spectacular images over there that will make you want to come here and see more.

Augie Ortiz at shortstop

Marcus Foster glides in for two points.

So far these are the only two images I have entered.  I can enter up to 20.  I do not know if I will enter that many, but I plan on entering at least a few more.  If you like the images, I would appreciate your vote.  Voting has started.  Please visit My Sandisk Entry Page and vote for my images. You can vote for each image once a day. I think I am doing well, but I would love to make it to the finalists.  Thanks!

Here are the other images I entered.

Travis on the Bump

Zach - Base Hit

Brandon Boyer throwing from 3rd to 1st

Last Thanksgiving I shot the Great Alaska Shootout for Icon SMI.  They had asked me to shoot it, and I did, and kind of forgot about it.  Not the games, but working with a wire service, after you shoot, edit, caption and FTP, you are on to the next thing.  Over 4 days, 6 teams, with each team getting 3 games, I uploaded between 40-100 photos per game.  But then for me, I got busy with high school basketball and kinda forgot about the Shootout.

The 2009 shootout featured the Washington State Cougars, and during one game, Klay Thompson broke out for a shootout record with 3′s, surpassing Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson whose record had stood for like 15 some odd years.

So weeks turn into months and today, June 1st, I received a check from Icon SMI.  It turns out that for the December 7th issue of Sports Illustrated, Thompson was named “the best player in the Pac-10″, and SI had used THIS PHOTO from Icon SMI in the article pictured above.  It is on page 46.  This is the Derek Jeter Sportsman of the Year issue.  I am pretty excited.  I have had SI stuff online briefly, stuff in ESPN the Mag and at ESPN.com, but it is really nice opening up an issue of the top sports magazine to find an image that you took.  Even nicer when you get a check for it.  I have a close up of the photo as it appeared in the magazine with my by-line next to it bellow.

while it might be hard to see, the posters have a white boarder and are sizes for 16×20 frames.  Most of the time, the boosters have the teammates sign the posters around the white boarder.

Here is a soccer poster from this season.

I really enjoy presenting the boosters with these posters and the seniors and their parents talk to me about the posters all the time.  I had one parent recently tell me that she goes into her sons room while he is away at college just to look at the poster.  If you are interested in having a poster made up for your athlete, even if they are not a senior, please contact me directly for pricing, or if your are a booster member and you would like to do posters for your senior night, please contact me for special booster pricing.

See contest entry info at http://www.facebook.com/thinktankphoto?v=app_4949752878

Some more new posts coming soon….

So, it started to look like digital was killing off the photojournalist. Even the Kindle from Amazon was bad for photographers. A grey scale copy of the NY Times is not going to showcase great images. Bet then Apple introduced something new. The iPad. Sure, it looks like a giant iPhone, but it is a step towards saving photojournalism. The iPad gives you something that the Kindle does not. A large color screen and the ability to bring the consumer high quality photos with their stories. This is just the first step though. iPad’s will not save the industry on their own. But it is a step towards a true digital newspaper or news magazine. Time Warner Inc is working on something that I am really excited about as a photographer. Think of it as a Kindle meeting a iPad which would be the grandfather of the digital newspapers from the movie “Minority Report” Here is a video of the Time/Warner offering that should be hitting the market this year.

Sports Illustrated Tablet Demo from Jared Cocken on Vimeo.

This not only opens up a whole new world for digital photojournalists, but also multimedia journalists. Will it save photojournalism and newspapers? No one can answer that, but I hope so, but it will take the public to embrace the technology and take the manufacturers and media outlets to make it affordable in order for it to work. Fingers crossed.

The photographer minds at Think Tank Photo are coming out with a new bag that looks fabulous. No, their bags are not cheap, but they are by far the best photographer bags and accessories you can find. Find out more information on their new bag at Rob Galbraith DPI and check out the other gear Think Tank offers at Think Tank Photo.

Coming up soon I will have a couple Think Tank Photo product reviews.