Where is Ben?

Heading to Florida

I'm heading out on another trip after being home for only four days. I'll be speaking at the following public events and taking some time to explore Southern Florida. 

1. November 29th Fl. Lauderdale, FL Photoshop for Photographers seminar. If you're interested in attending, the seminar is from 10am until 5 pm tomorrow at the Broward County Convention Center and the price is $99 for a full day of training.
2. December 7th Jacksonville, FL Photoshop for Photographers seminar.
   

The Dec. 7th event will be my only public seminar for the month of December.

Aperture Is Shipping!

I received a shipping notice today that indicates Apple's new Aperture software is being shipped via FedEx to my house. It's too bad that I'll be heading to the airport before it arrives.

For more info on Aperture and an interview with Apple's product manager, visit CreativePro.com

Image courtesy of Apple

Color Scheme Tool

If you're working on a design project (like your next web re-design) and are having trouble figuring out which colors go good together, then consider visiting the Color Scheme Tool. This free tool allows you to specify one color you'd like to use in your design and then it generates a set of up to 14 colors that should go well with the color you've chosen.

Better iPod Accessories

Paul over at One Digital Life has a good post about how to save money on iPod accessories. He compares the price of Apple's accessories to what you can get from third parties and how those alternative options cost a lot less and many times are more utilitarian.

Flipbook Printer

All you need to create your own flipbook animations is a AVI movie file, a pack of business card paper for your printer and the Flipbook Printer (Windows), or Movie Flipper software (Mac). It will print each frame of the movie to an individual business card, you staple the results and flip away. This free software can help you produce low-cost personalized gifts so you can have more money left over for your photo equipment addition :-)

via Lifehacker

Photograph America Newsletter

If you're serious about nature photography, then do yourself a favor and subscribe to the Photograph America newsletter. It tells you the best places to capture great photographs. Everyone I know that subscribes can't say enough good things about the publication. They even have a special offer that allows you to get all back issues (90+ issues with over 1,100 pages worth) and a one year subscription on search-able PDF's for only $150. This is the perfect holiday gift for any serious nature photographer.

Bill Atkinson's Book

I was fortunate enough to go to lunch with Charlie Cramer and Bill Atkinson last week. Charlie is a photographer who's work I've enjoyed for decades. Bill was one of the original members of the Macintosh team and was responsible for creating MacPaint back in 1984.

It was fun chatting with Bill about the early days of the Mac... early graphics tablets from the Apple ][ days and MacVision and ThunderScan from early Mac days. If you haven't had a chance to check out Bill's book With The Stone, then you're missing out on one of the highest quality fine art books I've seen printed. The book would usually cost over $90 a copy, but Bill was able to do some trade for the printer, which allows him to sell signed copies for only $40. You can see many examples of the photographs on Bill's web site.

Add a Spreadsheet to your Web Site

If you ever need to share numeric data with friends, then visit Num Sum, which will allow you to create a spreadsheet that can be linked to from your site and viewed from any web browser. It's simple, free and can be setup in minutes.

Young Activity Trailer (YAT)

Here's a sweet trailer that you can have outfitted with a bed, sink, toilet and storage space, or have it setup to haul two motorcycles and fold down benches. It could be the perfect companion to your next photo taking adventure.

Interesting Optical Illusion Site

This site is full of interesting optical illusions that will mess with your mind. For instance, in the image above, all the lines are parallel and the white and black boxes are real squares of the same size.