Yesterday I was sad to read that JPG Magazine is shutting down this month. I always looked forward to each new issue full of colorful, creative, less-is-more photos. Pretty much all the images were available online, but it's not the same as seeing them in print. I got my first issue at the PhotoShelter Photography 2.0 event in New York in 2007.
Similar photography can still be seen on sites like Lomography and Flickr, but it was nice to see it collected into one place in print six times each year.
I was able to snag the last issue off of the shelves today. I'm wondering if there's still another issue in the pipeline that will come out. We'll see.
Somewhat recently, Canon replaced the G9 with (you guessed it) the G10. The G10 does show much improved noise reduction, and a much wider lens. Unfortunately, Canon removed one of my favorite, albeit odd features - time-lapse video mode.
Making your own time-lapse video is non-trivial with most cameras. Having the ability to put time-lapse videos together in the field, on the fly, in-camera is pretty powerful, not to mention fun. I've posted a couple camping videos on YouTube from my trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone (embedded below) last summer. You can even plug the camera into the TV and play the video back; very entertaining.
The G9 also makes a great backup camera for portraits and landscapes. In the past, I had to lug a 5D and 1D Mark II if I wanted to have a backup body. On top of that, the batteries and charger for the 1D Mark II are huge and heavy. Nowadays I just toss the G9 in with my 5D and I'm off. Of course I won't get pictures as spectacular as I would with the 1D Mark II, but I certainly won't be heart-broken if all I had left was the G9.
The G9 also has an excellent flash sync speed - 1/1000! This beats the pants off of the 5D's pathetic 1/200 sync when it comes to killing the ambient light. If you don't know what on Earth I'm talking about, you owe it to yourself to head over to Strobist. I took the swimwear shot on the left with the G9 and a little SB-28DX (fired remotely via a PocketWizard). The Sun was still about an hour from setting, so the only way to kill all that ambient light was to bump the shutter speed up to 1/1000. This would not have been possible with such a small flash had I been using the 5D.
Not only am I planning to keep the G9, I actually just ordered the custom grip from Richard Franiec. I'll let you know how that goes, but based on the review I read on Luminous Landscape, it's a must-have.
I finished reading Annie Leibovitz At Work today. I'd highly recommend it if you have any interest in photojournalism, celebrities, or photography in general. She doesn't get bogged down in the technical details, though she does touch on it every now and then. She talks more about how she came up with the ideas for her photos and how she interacted with her subjects. She also talks about the many photographers and editors that have inspired her over the years. This book is also interesting because it covers her work right into 2008, so it's easy to relate to current events. Check it out.
Just finished reading Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? by Thomas Kohnstamm. It's a fun read. The 270 pages flew by. Thomas manages to describe each scene in detail without slowing down the pace. He also dispels many of the myths that tend to romanticize travel writing. If you're going on a trip and need a light-hearted and light-weight book to read, I highly recommend it.
I'm in the process of moving into a new apartment in downtown Baltimore. As with most photographers, I had some framed prints hanging on my walls. Moving them from one place to another can be easier said than done though. I think I've found a cheap and easy way to do it though. I'm using some three-sided cardboard science fair stand-ups I had been using as cheap reflectors. Just lay the frame face-down on the large center portion of the board, then close the flaps and start taping. The trick is to pinch the top and bottom parts of the board together as you're taping, resulting in a nice, snug fit on all sides. I haven't tried any drop tests yet, but I imagine the board would take the brunt of the damage.
Of course, this will also work for unframed prints that you don't want to roll up.
The G9 also has an excellent flash sync speed - 1/1000! This beats the pants off of the 5D's pathetic 1/200 sync when it comes to killing the ambient light. If you don't know what on Earth I'm talking about, you owe it to yourself to head over to 
