So there’s an interesting battle currently taking place between Apple and Adobe that is of keen interest to most photographers. Apple refuses to support Flash on their (extremely popular) iPhones and iPads. Many, many photographers use Flash based websites so this is more than a pain in the ass– it means your Flash website won’t display on an iPhone or iPad as designed.

I find it interesting how Apple defends their anti-Flash policies:

“Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.”

Hmmmm. Substitute the word “Adobe” for “Apple” and “Flash” for “iTunes” and you get: “Apple’s iTunes products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Apple, and Apple has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc…”

You get the idea. Talk about the kettle calling the pot black! In what way? Well consider that iTunes will not run on WinXP 64-bit OS without the user manually extracting and altering the .msi files (among other tweaks). Even after that, iPads and iPhones, etc will not sync to an XP 64-bit system. Talk about proprietary!

Here’s how Steve Jobs explains it, “Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but in fact the opposite is true.”

Really, Mr. Jobs? Then why can’t I sync Apple products using iTunes on my XP 64-bit OS? And why does downloading Quicktime (an Apple product) change my default browser/OS settings automatically to make Quicktime the default media player?

Pete Springer Photography, Portland, Oregon

Shot these wedding dress photos recently — especially like the one on the right!

Pete Springer Photographer, Portland

I was a second shooter on a wedding today and shot this cool food photo. Don’t worry Yas– I nailed cool human pics too!

Portland Commercial Photography

This post is going to be all over the place today because I’ve stumbling across all kinds of cool photography stuff this weekend. So let’s start!

First off is Vincent Laforet’s HD DSLR cinema workshop that continues with day three today. I’m learning tons of info there. And… check out the screengrabs (above and below) from the workshop. Those are some mighty tricked out DSLRs. Needless to say, the cost of accessories for shooting HD cinema with a DSLR can quickly eclipse the cost of the camera itself– $50 to $70K just for the steadicam. A steadicam is the device above (with an external monitor) that allows a camera operator to shoot smooth, non-jerky video without a tripod or rails or jib. As cool as that set-up is, my budget is more along the lines of using a wheelchair or office chair as my “steadicam” (both ideas from the Vincent Laforet workshop).

Second, here’s an awesome photo blog that I ran across this week. It’s really one of the best I’ve seen and has definitely made my list of daily reading. Just check out this post on photography vs. reality.

And finally, here’s another cool photo blog I ran across this week. Seven by Five is technically aimed at amateurs, but has some useful posts for you pro photogs out there too!

Pete Springer Photography, Portland, Oregon

I love shooting on the Oregon coast. There’s so much pretty scenery! I forgot my ND grad filter and tried some HDR (three frames, different exposures, blended in PS) but didn’t like the results. With no ND grad, I prefer getting a medium exposure then tweaking with curves/levels adjustment layers. That’s what I did for the above shot anyway!

This above photo isn’t anything special photographically– but it’s a super cool spot on the coast. Devil’s Cauldron. You have to hike off 101 to get to it. You can barely peer into the cauldron because getting close to the edge is hella dangerous– any slight misstep would mean death for certain. It’s a very humbling spot!

Pete Springer Photography, Portland, Oregon

Regular readers may have noticed some subtle changes to this blog as I add more content and in general make this blog more useful. Here are some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned while making those changes:

1. Match your blog branding and design to your website.  They don’t have to be identical pages, but you want the look to be similar enough for potential clients to make the connection between the two sites (ie branding).
2. Don’t use a free WP (or blogspot, etc) theme or template.  Hire a designer to put together a custom look for your blog.  A custom site allows bigger photos and a design that fits the look (and brand) of your website
3. Use the sidebar for widgets, facebook and twitter icons, and links to other pages
4. Use CSS to make tedious coding simpler. But don’t forget– words count in a huge way. Google LOVES text in html
5. Test your changes and updates using a free platform and browser compatibility site such as Browser Shots

Portland, Oregon Pete Springer Photographer

I used to shoot editorial photos and report and produce radio stories when I worked for OPB News. Some of that work earned me some pretty cool awards recently.

I wrote and produced two of the stories in a Hard Times series that won OPB a Peabody Award. You can also see my photos of the people I profiled on that link.

Then there’s the audio slideshow I photographed and produced that won 2nd Place in the Oregon Associated Press Broadcast awards for Best Use of Online Medium. You can view and listen to that story here: “The Challenge: 100 Days to Train a Wild Mustang”

Finally, I also won 3rd Place in the Oregon Associated Press Broadcast awards for Best Use of Sound for an audio slideshow that I photographed and produced here: Patrolling Oregon’s Vast High Desert Country

Pete Springer Photography, Portland, Oregon

Most of us try to maintain a strong internet presence to promote our work and businesses. Social networking plays a vital role in that.

But one place you might want to avoid is LinkedIn. As previously mentioned, I’ve tried my best to use LinkedIn to it’s fullest potential. But I think this is the final straw: you have to have a LinkedIn account and be logged in to see someone’s full profile! That includes any bonus features you add to your profile there– such as Slideshare or Twitter or blog updates.

WTF? What kind of networking site is that? Can you imagine a website or a blog that requiring people to log-in to view all the content? How often would you be willing to do that considering all the other options that don’t require creating an account and logging in?

Just food for thought as you use your limited time and resources to develop a social media strategy. LinkedIn is only going to be useful to people who already have an account and are willing to log-in to view your content. Your energy is likely better spent on websites, blogs, facebook fan pages, twitter, and even slideshare– all of which can be viewed by others without creating an account and logging in.

Pete Springer Photographer, Portland, Oregon