Is it time to jump ship?

Developing a solid workflow is one thing that a busy photographer must learn to do, especially if they want to stay busy. Since I started shooting professionally I have been using Adobe Lightroom. It is great for cataloguing, managing large amounts of files, basic photo correction, as well as ways to export your files into web ready flash galleries and even upload directly to your website for instant client viewing.

However early this month Apple unveiled the most recent update to their popular photo editing/cataloguing software, Aperture 3. It offers a few new features that really take your photo organizing, editing and sharing to the next level. Some of the listed features include: faces, which allows users to organize and search their photos by the people who are in them using new face recognition technology, places, allowing you to organize your photos by location (through GPS technology) and digitally map out your entire trip by the photos you took, and brushes, that allows you to apply adjustments to only certain areas of your photo versus the entire image. These are just a few of the 200+ new features that Aperture 3 is offering. A cool video by one of my favorite photographers, Chase Jarvis, shows how he is using the new version of Aperture can be seen here.

Now this is all great and grand but I have been using Adobe Lightroom for a couple years now and have gotten comfortable and familiar with using it. I also just watched this great workflow video from photographer Zack Arias showing how he uses Lightroom as part of his very productive and efficient workflow.  In watching I learned some features that I didn't know existed in Lightroom and want to explore this technology a little more.

Here lies my dilemma.... is it time to jump on board the Aperture 3 ship, or stick with what I know. Has anyone used one or the other, or both. If so, let me know what features you like or don't like about the software you are using. Thanks!

Everything is amazing right now.

To borrow the ideas of Louis C. K., "Everything is amazing right now and nobody is happy." This was the idea behind the "interview" he had with Conan O'brien. Basically he talks about the fact that things are so much easier now, compared to the past, and everyone still complains about the smallest things. I know as a photographer, I am extremely frustrated when my digital camera is acting up or it is taking too long to transfer images from my SD card to my computer. However, this semester I have been given the opportunity to become more appreciative of the marvel that is modern photography. I am currently taking a Black and White (film) photography course. You know, the camera's your parents had when you were a kid that had to be manually advanced after each shot. Oh yeah, and you couldn't see the image after you took it... you had to wait a whole hour for the Walgreens photo department to process your film.

In this class I have acquired a new found appreciation for the art of photography and print making. I first start with an idea. I then use my camera to frame this idea and press the shutter. From then I have to take the film out of the camera and in complete darkness bust open the canister and load the film onto a reel. Then I add developer to the film for about nine minutes, rinse, add fixer for four minutes, rinse for a minute, add hypo clear for two minutes, a ten minute rinse, and then photoflo for ten seconds. Then the film goes into a dryer. Now I have my negatives. Are you tired yet? Next I choose a negative that I want to print. Load the negative into the enlarger and then run test strips until I find the amount of exposure time I want to make my print at. Then I expose a sheet of photo paper (not your typical ink jet printer photo paper, this stuff is light sensitive). Next the paper goes through the same (roughly) process that the film had to go through. Yes.... all of that for one print!

You can clearly see the difficulty and amount of time that used to go into making one photo. Now, I can actually pull out my phone (which used to only be attached to the wall in your house) and snap off a picture. I can then instantly post that photo to my website, upload it to facebook, tweet it, email it, or text it to a friend, among other options. Your photo could easily be taken and sent to anywhere in the world within seconds. Amazing! If making prints the way I'm learning now was the past to snapping a picture on your cell phone and sending it somewhere instantly, I can't wait to see what the future holds for the world of photography.

Post One

First, welcome. This blog is going to focus on emerging technologies in respects to the photography industry. I have recently been developing my own photography business, Bram Photography, and have greatly utilized some of the newest trends in technology and social media. I feel one of my greatest advantages in the industry so far, is my ability to upload, tag and share my work with the world. I owe a great deal to emerging technologies, as a great majority of my business has been generated through popular social media sites, such as flickr, twitter, and facebook. In this blog, I will share some of the networking tools and technologies I have taken advantage of, as well as explore new technologies within the realm of photography. I hope to explore some of the ways that manufactures of cameras and photographic tools are working to keep up with the ever evolving world of technology. We are truly living in a digital age.  I look forward to recieving feedback, hearing some of your own methods, and discovering things I have yet to find. Thanks for reading.