CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-06-19 17:36:23 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 14 +1s)

YEAR LONG PHOTO ROAD TRIP

That's right... I've been planning a project that will have me on the road to all 50 States. It's a huge endeavor. 

It's a Crowd Funded campaign. (Ala Kickstarter)
http://bit.ly/americanfaith

Rewards for Helping
Rewards for funding include a Digital Image Pack, Books and several Photo Education options.

And extra bonus if you love the theme of the project
"Faith in America: Religious buildings of the United States"

Will I see you out there on the road?

2013-06-19 01:33:22 (35 comments, 22 reshares, 500 +1s)

My new favorite lens

I'm renting Nikon's 200mm F/2 (VRII) version for a photo project I'm working on.

And wow!

I'm instantly in love!!! So sharp and so fast and it produces the most beautiful bokeh I've seen.

Thanks to +Kevin Harrington who shot this with... wait for it... Canon's 200mm f/2 which is supposedly just as good. And just as pricy!

#gearporn

2013-06-17 18:08:11 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 39 +1s)

New Android App: Upload, Browse and Share on SmugMug

See More Screenshots At  smu.gs/17TnhJO

For last few years, SmugFolio was the best Android app on the market for SmugMug users to upload, manage and browse SmugMug on the go. People loved it. And so did we.

In fact, that app was so great we just had to buy it. So we did.

Wait, What? Can You Do That?

After talking with the app’s developer, we knew that we’d hit a gold mine of Androidical genius – Brian did such a great job designing, building and maintaining this app we knew he bleeds green just like us. And he’s been a long-time SmugMug customer, to boot. So we asked if he’d come join the cadre as one of our official Android engineers. We couldn’t be happier to have him on our team!

The New (Free!) SmugMug for Android App

Today the SmugFolio App gets a newname (SmugMu... more »

2013-06-17 03:29:41 (21 comments, 46 reshares, 447 +1s)

The final day of my recent photo trip brought me to Sparks lake not far from Bend, Oregon. This image was taken on a cold morning just before sunrise. A nice band of fog added an ethereal element while the snow covered South Sister displayed the first signs of morning light.

Nikon D800 / Nikkor 16-35 / Warm Gloves

Please view full size for best detail

#plusphotoextract #landscapephotography #10000photographersaroundtheworld   #hqsplandscape   #1212Scenery #oregon #sparkslake

2013-06-16 19:00:35 (18 comments, 9 reshares, 346 +1s)

So proud to be a father!

#happyfathersday  to all you fellow dads. 

2013-06-15 15:40:50 (29 comments, 15 reshares, 310 +1s)

Not from this World

True, it's Radiator Springs. What a great place to photograph the Starlight Express... ;)

#DontTakeThisSeriously  

2013-06-14 19:50:05 (29 comments, 0 reshares, 32 +1s)

Leica M9?

So a crazy idea came into my head this week to sell all my photo equipment and get Leica M9. Lots of reasons I don't really want to go into. 

Am I crazy? Any thoughts out there on the M9 or similar digital rangefinders?

cc +Ingo Meckmann  

2013-06-13 16:18:09 (16 comments, 25 reshares, 309 +1s)

Princes Bridge, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

#cityscape   #nightphotography   #longexposure   #melbourne   #australia  

2013-06-12 18:36:41 (20 comments, 9 reshares, 131 +1s)

Just upgraded to Lightroom 5!

Love all the new features. The two I think I will use the most are  -

(a) advanced retouching. Even less time in Photoshop!
(b) smart previews. I have two working machines for my photography, and all of the images on external hard drives. Now my workflow just got a lot more portable!

What are your favorite new features?

2013-06-10 19:25:04 (24 comments, 31 reshares, 275 +1s)

The House Stalin Built

I realize that sharing some of the images by themselves may not have the same impact as sharing the full set, so I'm sharing all of them here. 

This set was shot two years ago on my last trip to Moscow, which is the city I grew up in. I need to go back and add more to it, as I only had few days to shoot, and Moscow Metro is really one of the highlights of the city. The idea for the project came at ramdon and unplanned, as I loved the reflections and the angles at one station, and I decided to keep shooting elsewhere. 

A lot of these stations were built during Stalin era, and his one main goal was to impress the city visitors, as he knew most of them would see Russia's capital through the Metro. They still build them this way - from marble, and other fancy materials. It's getting cleaned every night by an army of workers, soi... more »

2013-06-10 02:53:47 (15 comments, 26 reshares, 431 +1s)

Sometimes light can make poetry.

2013-06-07 22:05:16 (25 comments, 48 reshares, 515 +1s)

cow parsley curve

2013-06-07 16:29:35 (3 comments, 3 reshares, 139 +1s)

Elektrozavodskaya Station, Study 3

Happy Friday!

2013-06-06 16:11:00 (16 comments, 8 reshares, 261 +1s)

"Enough of Kindergarten"

..said this Big Boy.. Officially a first grader in 4 hours!

2013-06-05 19:51:36 (1 comments, 7 reshares, 35 +1s)

Fstoppers just dropped a cool, original video which they shot at Gulf Photo Plus this year. I am humbled to be included in the group of photographers who gave their heartfelt advice for this:

2013-06-05 19:00:43 (22 comments, 10 reshares, 142 +1s)

If you're post processing your photos, here's why you may want to switch off auto-enhance photo function

When Google recently updated Google+, they introduced a featured called "auto-enhance" which is supposed to improve our photos as we upload them. Don't know how or why.  

Unfortunately, it's turned on by default. And as I just learned, it's not doing a very good job. Click on the image I posted and see how Google+ "enhanced" my photo. 

Fortunately, you can just turn that feature off. 

Go to Home -> Settings -> Scroll down to Photos -> uncheck "Automatically enhance new photos"

2013-06-05 04:49:02 (9 comments, 11 reshares, 216 +1s)

Colorado Based #SmugMugPro +Casey McCallister gives us a perfect example of how including a person in a sweeping landscape photo can add drama and scale with this incredible image from The Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. 

Casey talks about the effort that went into capturing what could be our favorite self portrait of all time. 

"Within the past few weeks I've seen gorgeous photos from +Colby Brown +Scott Rinckenberger and Becca Skinner from Great Sand Dunes National Park. Somehow I've lived in Colorado for over 4 years and have never made it down to check out. Inspired by these three photographers who's work I greatly respect, I decided to finally venture down to check it out myself."

"Knowing that light creates nice shadows in the afternoon, I wanted to capture a high contrast image in black and white. I figured the difficult part, though,woul... more »

2013-06-05 01:36:05 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 67 +1s)

Plus One Collection 2012

So excited that my copy of Plus One Collection 2012 arrived. I had some issues with the shipping but +Ivan Makarov was a superstar in sorting it all out. Thanks so much for your prompt responses and amazing service, Ivan!

I have to say that the images are incredibly inspiring. I don't even know how I made it into this book, but I'm so glad to have this beautiful source of inspiration hanging around my apartment.

If you're interested in picking up a copy, please see the link below as the book is on sale today for only $74 if shipped within the US / $99 shipped outside of the US - a steal.

Link to Ivan's post:
http://goo.gl/RQvUP

#PlusOneCollection2012

2013-06-04 16:34:25 (32 comments, 142 reshares, 83 +1s)

Today Only - Plus One Collection 2012 is on sale for $74! - PLEASE SHARE + GIVEAWAY

Don't miss out! #PlusOneCollection2012  is back on sale - we have a limited number of the books still up for grabs. We're not going to do another print run, so once the copies are gone, they're gone! 

Link to purchase -> http://plusonecollection.com/plus-one-collection-2012/

To celebrate our campaign, today only we're offering 25% off the price of the book. If you already have a copy, why not get another one for your loved one? 

Otherwise, please help us spread the word by re-sharing this post. I'll pick three random people who re-shared it and send them each a limited edition print of one of the photographs in the book! 

It's been a long journey to get the book out there this time around, but I hope we can sell outthe ... more »

2013-06-03 16:49:06 (11 comments, 16 reshares, 277 +1s)

Clearing Storm near Stockton, CA

On our way from Lake Tahoe ski trip few weeks ago (last snow of the season). 

2013-05-31 23:12:22 (10 comments, 19 reshares, 367 +1s)

Mayakovskaya Station, Study 2

2013-05-31 20:34:51 (27 comments, 2 reshares, 58 +1s)

Plus One Collection - NEED YOUR FEEDBACK

Our community has been a source of inspiration for just about everything we did as we published +Plus One Collection and formed +Photographers for Good Foundation. 

What else can we do that could help us raise additional funds for our cause? Or any other causes that may spring up soon? (By the way, I'm always open for new ideas - so don't be afraid to contact me).  

One idea I've been toying around with was to release a set of prints from #PlusOneCollection2012. For example, we can sell a set of 10 prints (letter sized, or A4 for you Europeans), and sell it for $100 + shipping, thus raising $80 or so per sale. If we sell 50 of those, that's substantial. 

Would you be interested in buying a set like that? 

What else? Any other ideas? I want to do something else before the year is gone,and ... more »

2013-05-30 22:36:07 (11 comments, 1 reshares, 78 +1s)

Creeper Ivan

I think +Ivan Makarov is taking the San Jose Sharks loss pretty hard....he came into work with this windowless white van kinda 'stache, and ACTUALLY thinks it is a good look for him...Oh, those crazy Russians. 

#Photography   #Creeper   #Portrait  #SmugMug

2013-05-30 02:35:04 (25 comments, 57 reshares, 389 +1s)

Photographer Quinn Miller captured this amazing scene while shooting wedding couple James & Katie Lowder this past Sunday at the Myrtles Plantation in Saint Francisville, Louisiana.

We here at SmugMug think this belongs in #WildLifeWednesday , no?

Check out more of Quinn's incredible work at https://www.facebook.com/QuinnMillerPhotography

Thanks +Amy Heiden  for finding this gem!

#Wedding   #Photography   #Dinosaur  

2013-05-28 23:33:13 (31 comments, 6 reshares, 129 +1s)

Lumix GH3 - does it make me look less manly?

So the topic of discussion today at +SmugMug office was Panasonic's Lumix GH3 camera, which +BorrowLenses.com  let +Chris MacAskill borrow for a week, upon the suggestion from our friend +Andy Williams. 

The comments below are based entirely on Chris' point of view and testing. We know there are a lot of fans of this camera out there and we'd love to hear other inputs.

The good  

- Beautiful files, very hard to tell the difference between GH3 high end Canon DSLRs
- Nice and light - you can take it inside many places you can't take SLRs in - so tiny!
- Even when you add lenses, the whole set is still lighter than SLR with one lens
- The system has a compatible lens that can shoot at f/0.95 - WOW!!! Check out that other shot

The quirks  

-It... more »

2013-05-28 20:49:32 (5 comments, 6 reshares, 185 +1s)

Paveletskaya Station, Moscow Metro

While prepping some photos for a work project, I revisited my set from my last trip to Moscow which was two years ago. I discovered a few more images to process, so I'm sharing them now. 

That's one of the least discussed gems of Russia and one of few things that Stalin did well - Moscow Metro. 

2013-05-27 18:55:18 (24 comments, 3 reshares, 177 +1s)

Plus One Collection Update - SHIPPING + news from the Kilgoris Project

Thank you all for your patience. Glad to report that majority of the books have shipped in the last two weeks, with few remaining ones shipping today. We're also shipping other awards (prints) today, so all of this should be arriving soon. 

The remaining copies of the book (200 or so of them) are going to go on sale very soon. If you want to have an early opportunity to purchase your copy, make sure you're on our mailing list - http://plusonecollection.com/mailing-list/ 

We're also working closely with +Jon McCormack  from the Kilgoris project on getting the cameras to the kids we're supporting in Kenya. The first few were already delivered to them, and the children produced some amazing art. You can see it here - http://kilgoris.org/kids-with-cameras.html

Thank youfo... more »

2013-05-24 19:26:45 (8 comments, 16 reshares, 230 +1s)

SmugMug Memorial Weekend Sale - Enjoy 30% off a new SmugMug account w/ code SUMMERFUN (exp 5/27) http://smu.gs/Z5lEDx

Congratulations to New York based photographer +DeShaun Craddock for being selected as the third winner of the SmugMug May Cover Photo contest!  Want to get in on the fun and win a year of SmugMug? Submit your entry today!

https://plus.google.com/events/cnhjt521ao0e7ilenvhs7mltj84

#Photography   #memorialday   #NewYork   #Manhatten   #statueofliberty   #CityScape 

2013-05-24 18:08:19 (25 comments, 14 reshares, 173 +1s)

More Proof Pets Really Do Look Like Their Owners -- Mountain View, CA

Had a great day hanging out down at +SmugMug today with the awesome +Michael Bonocore and his doppelganger Rocky.  Always great to get to spend time with the excellent team at SmugMug.  Thanks guys!

#GoogleGlass   #Glass   #SmugMug   #DogsInGlassThursdays  

2013-05-24 17:01:23 (18 comments, 5 reshares, 208 +1s)

What I have to deal with sometimes..

So occasionally I bring my kids on my shoots. They mostly walk around in a distance enjoying the scenery and fresh air with their mom.

But sometimes things get out of hand like the time I shot Ashley and Alex few weeks ago. As we were wrapping up the shoot, the kids decided it'd be fun to help me out. So I took the pictures of the couple laughing at the clown show and they took a picture of me.

2013-05-23 22:01:22 (12 comments, 2 reshares, 172 +1s)

+Thomas Hawk is in the house. So is Rocky and Google Glass.

2013-05-23 17:12:30 (14 comments, 3 reshares, 80 +1s)

Look what arrived in my mailbox yesterday!

The Plus One Collection book is just awesome. 
So many talented photographers are there.

A big Thank You to +Ivan Makarov, +Andy Lee and all the other persons involved in this beautiful project!

2013-05-21 19:44:31 (3 comments, 7 reshares, 70 +1s)

Introducing Snapsation

Amongst the greatest human needs is the need to tell stories, to record memories, and to share our moments with the people who matter the most to us.

When you need an awesome dating profile picture, a business portrait, photos of your family reunion or milestone events. You need an amazing local photographer to help you to capture all of  life’s moments.

As a local business you want to show off how amazing your restaurant is, the decor in your Bed and Breakfast, to show off your beautiful store or great new products, to record your industry happenings and events.

Finding a photographer is intimidating. And harder than it should be.

Photographers need customers. No matter how experienced a photographer is, there never seems to be enough time to focus on getting new customers. And for the many passionate andta... more »

2013-05-21 05:26:47 (20 comments, 51 reshares, 497 +1s)

Amazing photo for #MacroMonday  by +Geoffrey Dunn! Check out more from Geoff at http://www.lushpupimages.com/

#MacroMonday  is a weekly hashtag to celebrate the beauty (and challenge) of Macro photography. #MacroMonday  is curated by +Kelli Seeger Kim and +Kerry Murphy. 

#Photography   #Macro   #Color  

2013-05-21 04:45:28 (29 comments, 10 reshares, 125 +1s)

What's your verdict on the new Flickr?

Spent all day in meetings and then watching my son's hockey practice, so haven't really had the time to catch up on all that's been going on with Flickr today. 

However, would love to hear your opinions!

2013-05-20 06:23:37 (27 comments, 38 reshares, 460 +1s)

⁜
Seljalandsfoss II


Seeing how good portrait images look in the stream, I don't shoot many, this worked as a portrait quite well at the time just because of the scale.
The first time i visited this waterfall the weather was terrible, hammering it down with rain, though it didn't stop this little girl from getting up close to take her shot... Shot hand held for just under quarter of a second, as much as I could do while still keeping some kind of sharpness. To all the people who have already visited here, yeah I removed the little rope barrier... :-)


#iceland  | #icelandscapes  +Stefan Brenner | +Happy Campers Iceland  #Seljalandsfoss  

2013-05-18 18:48:20 (79 comments, 221 reshares, 626 +1s)

See? Those Russian dashboard cameras can capture other things besides the meteors. Well worth 5 minutes of your time.  Best video you'll see today. 

2013-05-17 21:51:14 (6 comments, 10 reshares, 77 +1s)

My personal Checklist for the new Google+

1. Disable 'What's hot and recommended" as it's full of animated GIF's that brought back memories of the old Flickr days
-> https://plus.google.com/explore -> click the settings icon and disable "Show Posts in home stream".

2. Disable "Auto Enhance" for uploaded photographs. This might be useful for some people who bulk upload their mobile-phone pictures but I'm spending quite some time on post-processing my work and I don't want Jack Nicholson to look like he is using the same skin cream as Beyonce.
-> Go to https://www.google.com/settings/u/1/plus - In the Photo section remark "Automatically enhance new photos".

3. Once all the GIF's are gone, enjoy the new beautiful design. I absolutely love the new multi column view. Great stuff.
more »

2013-05-16 03:08:12 (19 comments, 23 reshares, 411 +1s)

Profile of San Francisco

Because new G+ photo experience is cool!

2013-05-16 03:02:59 (7 comments, 7 reshares, 123 +1s)

New Google+!

Wow - what a nice surprise. The thing I always hated about Google+ experience was how terrible it was on the big screen with the short column and all empty space. Looks like they solved that problem, and gave a lot more space for photos.

Just nice!

2013-05-15 05:56:51 (40 comments, 61 reshares, 440 +1s)

Fluidity

2013-05-13 16:12:18 (40 comments, 3 reshares, 54 +1s)

Plus One Collection Update + NEW PRODUCT? Feedback needed

First, good news is that 2/3 of all the pre-orders for #PlusOneCollection2012  have now shipped. I spent the last two weekends doing that. Most of the orders that shipped so far are US-bound. Internationals will ship in the next couple of days, because they require a lot more work with customs paperwork. In the end, I'm hiring few high school students to help me get all books out the doors because otherwise it's consuming every minute of my time at home and it's taking too long.

Second, the book will be back on sale sometime later this month. A few of you haven't had a chance a buy your copy, or want to buy an extra copy. Let me sort out all pre-orders first!

Third, and this is the best news of them all - I've been talking to my friend +Kevin Harrington about building Plus OneC... more »

2013-05-12 15:13:57 (28 comments, 17 reshares, 312 +1s)

Happy Mother's Day!

I'm always little jealous of how much my kids love my wife Becca. But she deserves every little bit of it because of how hard she works and how much she gives away of herself to raise these little clowns. 

2013-05-09 16:31:58 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 38 +1s)

Have you heard? Luca Cesari and Mike Diblicek will lead a magnificent three day fine art photography workshop in the stunning city of San Francisco!!!
When? This 12-13 and 14th of July! Don’t miss it!

For further information head to:

www.glass-star-agency.com/event-services

We are offering 10% discount to the first three people registering. 

See you all in sunny California!

2013-05-06 02:23:53 (15 comments, 2 reshares, 104 +1s)

Plus One Collection 2012

Just returning home from +Ivan Makarov's place where we packed about half of the Plus One Collection 2012 books that need to be send out. +Barry Blanchard was helping too. He even gave some blood. Fortunately it was nothing serious and after he got a nice princess band-aid we were back in action.

Anyway, let me tell you that the book is just magnificent and well worth the wait (it comes from Iceland after all). Oh and I almost forgot: The special edition book comes with a beautiful print. Mine is a photo made by +Karen Hutton. I will enjoy it for a long time.

2013-05-02 21:45:56 (46 comments, 5 reshares, 158 +1s)

PLUS ONE COLLECTION UPDATE: The books are here!

Phew.. What you see on the left are two pallets with all copies of #PlusOneCollection2012 . What you see in the middle is my garage. And what you see on the right is the freight truck that dropped off a delivery from Iceland just moments ago. 

Thank you for your patience! All those who have seen advanced copies have commented that it was worth to print it this way. I can't wait to put all the pre-orders into the mail for you this weekend. It's going to be a fun one! Near San Jose, CA and want to help or pick up your copy in person? Send me an email via my profile. 

Yes! Yes! and Yes!

2013-05-02 02:06:55 (17 comments, 4 reshares, 89 +1s)

Want to know what's it like to work at +SmugMug?

Great article by +Resource Magazine on our company culture, with a quote from yours truly, and also the one and only +Michael Bonocore. 

http://resourcemagonline.com/2013/05/smugmug-the-family-who-works-together-stays-together/

2013-05-01 14:58:02 (27 comments, 16 reshares, 167 +1s)

Beautiful Websites - Show me and win a +SmugMug account!

Last night I asked you to share examples of beautiful photography websites. I got some good links, but it wasn't enough. So let's do it again this morning, and as an incentive, I'll give away 1-year of Portfolio account at SmugMug to a random commenter later this evening.

A simple task:  share an example of a beautifully designed photography site you discovered recently. If you want to enter more than once, share more another website in another comment. I want to see them all!

What are your favorite websites that you love visiting not only for photography, but also because they're just as well designed? 

A new rule though: you can only share someone else's website, like +Amy Heiden did, thus helping me discover Joey L. website below, which is exactly what I waslookin... more »

2013-05-01 04:03:32 (37 comments, 20 reshares, 251 +1s)

Examples of Beautiful Photography Websites?

So I'm thinking of making some changes to the design and organization of my site. HELP!

As I'm going through the websites of some of my favorite photographers to see what I like and dislike (like the one by Michael Levin, which I love!), I thought I'd reach out to you as well for some ideas. 

What are the recent photography websites you've seen that impressed you? In particular, I'm interested in beautifully designed sites, and/or those that are well organized.

Throw the link in the comments - would love to see more. And if you think yours looks good, don't be shy either - would love to see it. 

2013-04-28 16:37:40 (143 comments, 158 reshares, 895 +1s)

Breaking in new 6 TBs of storage. That D800 sure fills up my drives fast!