Archive for May, 2010
A Pox on Russian, Chinese, Ukranian and Nigerian Spammers
by Lee on May.09, 2010, under Monday Morning Tips, Webcast, Website
I Hate Being a Webmaster
Over the past week, a perfect storm of self-inflicted disasters as well as junk from all the creeps in cyberspace has left me with with anger management issues. If I had a tactical nuclear weapon, I would be inclined to turn parts of certain countries into large, glass parking lots.
A few months ago, I noticed traffic from Russia, China, Ukraine, Nigeria and other unsavory places had increased noticeably. After watching the trend for a few weeks, I went searching for an answer. There were many snake oil remedies as well as a few legitimate sounding fixes. After reviewing about a dozen solutions, I selected what I thought was the most rational sounding. Blockacountry.com is a service that allows a webmaster to block whole countries based on IP addresses. As soon as I applied their solution, my site traffic dropped by 40% which worried me since I wasn’t sure it was only blocking Russian traffic. Click to read more
New Palomar College Classes and Webinar Goodies
by Lee on May.02, 2010, under Monday Morning Tips, Photos, Photoshop CS2/4
Topaz Labs Adjust 4 for Portraiture
This weekend, I had the opportunity to photograph two perfectly delightful sisters at the Deer Park Winery Auto Museum. Nicole works at the winery and brought her older sister Paola. We only had about 40 minutes so it was a bit rushed but, for a POC (proof of concept) shoot, it turned out well. My idea was a hip-hop look to complement their dark Latina complexion, dark eyes and dark hair. Being 20 somethings, the concept worked well for them.
Keep in mind, we didn’t have a MUA (make-up artist) and we were in a dark, cavernous barn-like building crammed with dozens of vintage American convertibles. I wanted to show some of the background but not enough to distract. In the middle photo of Nicole, my fill light, for some reason, didn’t create a catchlight in her eyes. I may try to add one with PS. Tell me how I did overall. Click here to read more
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Here’s What’s New at Strobist- SaxonPC Grids: Straddling Store-bought and DIY May 17, 2012Like McNally says, if you want to make something more interesting, don't light all of it. And to that end, I use grid spots a lot. In fact, probably just as often as I use umbrellas. My workhorse speedlight grid has long been the HonlPhoto 1/8". But for those looking for a lower entry point (or more extreme beam widths) SaxonPC grids offer a second […]
- Anatomy of a Project: Miller Mobley's Re-enactors May 14, 2012When I worked at The Sun, a lot of emphasis was put on always having multiple projects in the hopper. Self-generated projects are the lifeblood of any good paper, and they promote exploration and serendipity. Since I have gone out on my own, I can honestly say projects have the single most important vehicle for developing my photography. I always have at lea […]
- SaxonPC Grids: Straddling Store-bought and DIY May 17, 2012
- Here’s What’s New at DP Review
- Samsung announces US pricing for Wi-Fi-capable NX20, NX210 and NX1000 May 17, 2012Samsung has announced the US prices for its latest 'Smart' Wi-Fi enabled NX mirrorless cameras, the NX20, NX210 and NX1000. It has also said the NX1000 will be available from June at a price of around $699 with the 20-50mm retractable zoom. The range-topping 20MP NX20 with its electronic viewfinder will retail for around $1099, with the i-Fn versio […]
- Sony announces NEX-F3 16MP mirrorless and E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS LE lens May 17, 2012Sony has announced the NEX-F3 entry-level 16MP mirrorless camera and lightweight 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS stabilized superzoom lens with for the E-mount. The NEX-F3 gains a built-in flash, along with the updated 16MP sensor from its NEX-5N big brother. Its big party trick is undoubtedly its LCD, whose image automatically mirrors when it's flipped up for ta […]
- Samsung announces US pricing for Wi-Fi-capable NX20, NX210 and NX1000 May 17, 2012
