Kaleb!

I’ve posted a bunch of photos on our Smugmug account. The four new albums are: Visiting Kaleb on Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, Getting Together at South First Billiards, and Genentech Holiday Party.

For me, taking photos has been a bit more fun the last several weeks. I’m not sure if it’s the holiday season that has gotten me snapping away, but I hope to have more updates in the New Year.

Also, I’m evaluating a few programs from Nik Software, so some photos may look as if they have better post-processing than others.

As always, most of the albums are password protected.  If you need the password please contact me. And, as always, if there is a photo of you that you want me to take down, let me know as well.

One of my sisters recently was given a DSLR as a gift. She went to the Canon side, whereas I’m a Nikon person, so we won’t be able to share lenses. But we can share the abundance of resources available on the Internet. I have a few bookmarked sites and podcasts that are focused on photography I can share. This should be good for a few blog posts.

First off, I’ll provide a few sites you might consider visiting for general photography tips and information. I’ll follow up with other photography websites I visit for both inspiration and information. And there are also podcasts to listen to on photography as well.

Websites and Forums

Photo.net - One of the first sites I visited on photography. It was easy to find - given the name. But the best parts of the site are the Learning and Community sections. You may want to create an account to post questions and comments.

dpreview.com Forums - The main part of dpreview has detailed equipment reviews. But I prefer the forums, where a variety of answers are given to many posted questions. Sign up for an account and post, or answer a question.

Flickr Groups - Flickr is a great photo community website. A large portion of the interactivity takes place in groups. You can find a group for almost anything photography related. You’ll need to sign up for a Yahoo! account in order to access Flickr.

PopPhoto.com - The how-to section on PopPhoto’s website has plenty of information. They provide tips on how to shoot a variety of photos, how to use that new photography equipment you just got, or how to navigate through Photoshop. You might also consider picking up an issue of their magazine, known as Popular Photography.

Photofocus - A well-put-together blog providing information, reviews, and resources on photography. They also have a podcast, one I listen to when I can.

Nikonians: A good site for information, not only on Nikons but on photography in general. I’m sure there is a Canon equivalent. They have a strong community but require a paid membership to access it. Luckily you can sign up for a free trial.

I’m sure I’ve missed some great photography websites for information. I’ll add more as I come across them.

So much read this week:

• One of my favorite bloggers, Dooce, started publishing her hate mail/ comments. People can be nasty
• Is the Palm Pre really selling much
• Microsoft’s nifty Zune HD is out.
• Can’t we be civil?
• Did you catch the latest Twilight: New Moon trailer?

This week’s Missing Link List includes:

• 33 things you should stay away from.
• Did you know Apple released a new iPod Nano this week?
• You do have superpowers. You just don’t know you do.
• If you’re in trouble, don’t forget to update your Facebook status.
• An update for Snow Leopard already?

This weeks list includes:

• Tips regarding secret menu items
• Rare photos of now extinct animals. How sad is this?
• An interview with Natalie Portman in Interview magazine.
• The evolution of movie titles.
• Is House science fiction?
• Finally, MMS for the iPhone on AT&T.

A Missing Link List (MLL) is a weekly list of links, stories, photos, etc., I happen across during the week. The list will be things I want to share, but had no time to write a full blog entry. This week’s MLL is a build up of two weeks worth of web surfing. I apologize ahead of time if you’ve seen any of these before:

• If you haven’t heard, Starbucks has raised, and lowered, it’s prices. Confusing, huh?
• I’m thinking of doing home cold-brewed coffee to offset my Starbucks addiction.
• I hope unemployment in California doesn’t get worse. Unfortunately, I think it might.
• You can use Twitter for other things, really?
• I have never fully embraced the semicolon. Perhaps I should look into it more.
• StripTea Tea bags are interesting. I wonder how much they cost?
• Tough climate changes ahead for Midwestern states?
• Check out Playgrounder for toys.

I just reserved our iPhone 3G S for pickup at an Apple Store next Friday. Reserving and buying are two different things, but I’m thinking we’ll end up gettting it. We still have the original 2G version, so our upgrade pricing wasn’t bad. I’ll be happy with the hopefully improved camera and expected bump in overall speed.

The reviews are starting to come in on the Palm Pre. Reviews from Engadget, Gizmodo, Walt Mossberg, and David Pogue.  All the reviews seem positive for the most part. I don’t think I’ll be swayed to leave my iPhone though.  I hate Sprint more than any other cellphone carrier I’ve ever had.

I was in a seminar about twitter a few weeks ago. One person about the safety of tweeting, such as mentioning you are at a restaurant or traveling and not at home. The answer the presenter gave was “you don’t have to share everything”.

Common sense people.  Common sense.

mashable:

Going out of town? Most of us who tweet have been known to share that little tidbit of news with our followers, especially if that out of town journey is to a conference or event where we’re…

Another way to enjoy Twitter

Visible Tweets - Beautiful visualizer thingy, nicely done in Flash. (via and kangster)

It’s always difficult to hear about layoffs, especially in times like these.  Flickr has always been a great site to look at, and be involved in. I hope it continues to be so.

I tried the beat. Simple, straight-forward setup. Not much needed to do afterward. The problem is I have a lot of data already on Mozy, so no compelling reason to switch.