“Have you played with Google Labs’ Ngram Viewer? It’s an addicting tool that lets you search for words and ideas in a database of 5 million books from across centuries. Erez Lieberman Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel show us how it works, and a few of the surprising things we can learn from 500 billion words.”
Try Google’s Ngram Viewer here.
View more of my favorite TED talks here.
Get $10 off all Blurb books with this code BIGTEN.
Offer expires Nov 20, 2011.
Preview all of my Blurb books here.
Visit Blurb today.
Darius Himes and Mary Virginia Swanson’s book Publish Your Photography Book offers clear cogent advice that will help anyone interested in navigating the waters of book publishing. This is true whether your goal is to work with a major publisher or to self-publish or both.
The book covers everything you need to know; concept and mission, financing and contract negotiation, editing and sequencing, design and production, marketing and more.
The countless case studies in this book give it a flair unlike any other. David Maisel, Daniel Milnor, Alec Soth, and Alex Webb are just a few.
The voices of experts in the industry give this volume a broad diversity you’re unlikely to find anywhere else. Eileen Gittens (Blurb), Michelle Dunn Marsh (Aperture/Chronicle), Rixon Reed (PhotoEye) are just a few.
I can’t think of a better duo than Himes and Swanson to help you understand the world of book publishing.
I can’t recommend this book more highly.
Find Publish Your Photography Book here.
Visit Darius Himes’ website here.
Visit Mary Virginia Swanson’s website here.
Find more bookmaking resources here.
How to Sequence and Design Your Next Book Like a Pro from Blurb Books on Vimeo.
“Pro photographer and book designer Mat Thorne presents an introduction to book design principals. This webinar covers an overview of typography, essentials of cover design, and laying out front & back matter. Mat also shares examples and offers inspiration from published photography books.”
Find more bookmaking resources here.
Learn more in my digital printing and digital photography workshops here.
Now you can seamlessly flow the photos you edit in Lightroom 3 straight into your Blurb Bookify™ books with our new Lightroom plug-in.
Here’s how simple it is.
– Flow edited Lightroom images into Bookify™ (online).
– Choose your book’s layout and style from within Lightroom.
– Stream photo captions automatically into your book’s text boxes.
– Automatically capture file data for the images in your book.
Blurb’s BookSmart is also coming soon to Lightroom.
Find out more about Bookify.
Read more with my Bookmaking online resources.
Blurb recently updated their free bookmaking software BookSmart (3.0).
New feature highlights include …
Change book sizes automatically with one click, making it smaller or larger.
Create two-page spreads automatically.
Read more about the update here.
Watch more about using Blurb in these useful videos.
Learn more in my Bookmaking lessons.
As a fine artist, I advance my career with personal projects. Personal projects also create a clearer direction for and develop greater meaning in my life. My life would be unfulfilled without them
You don’t need to have a fine art career to benefit from personal projects. Many commercial photographers find personal projects reenergize them, add purpose to their lives and quite often lead to new assignments or whole new streams of income. Many amateurs, making images purely for the love of doing it, find greater satisfaction and personal growth through personal projects.
As an artist who mentors other artists in workshops and seminars, I’ve often been called to speak about the importance of personal projects; how to find them, start them, develop them, complete them, present them, and promote them.
Here’s an overview of what I share.
Personal Projects
Defining a project is one of the single best ways to develop your body of work. When you define a project you focus, set goals, set quotas, set timelines, create a useful structure for your images, collect accompanying materials, and polish the presentation of your efforts so that they will be well received.
Focusing your efforts into a project will help you produce a useful product. A project gives your work a definite, presentable structure. A finished project makes work more useful and accessible. Once your project is done, your work will have a significantly greater likelihood of seeing the light of day. Who knows, public acclaim may follow. Come what may, your satisfaction is guaranteed …
Read the rest on scottkelby.com.
Learn more in these related digital photography ebooks.
Develop your personal project in my digital photography workshops.
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Want to become more perceptive?
Want to improve your concentration?
Want to optimize your performance?
Want to reduce stress?
Mindfulness can help you do all of these things and more.
Some people think meditation is Buddhist; it’s pan-cultural.
Some people think meditation is religious but many forms are non-denominational.
Some people think meditation is doing nothing; there are many active forms.
Some people think meditation requires a lot of time but a few minutes a day offer many benefits.
It’s likely that there’s a lot more to mindfulness than you think.
Apps
These apps are an easy way to start and sustain your practice.
Check out these apps …
Headspace (breath awareness-based)
Chopra (mantra-based)
.
Books
I recommend these books for their approachability and practicality.
David Fontana
Learn to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Self-Discovery and Fulfillment
David Fontana
The Meditation Handbook: The Practical Guide to Eastern and Western Meditation Techniques
Mark Thornton
Meditation in a New York Minute: Super Calm for the Super Busy
Thich Nhat Hanh
The Long Road Turns to Joy: A Guide to Walking Meditation
Shakti Gawain
Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life
“Getting your Canon Speedlite to produce the light you need can be a real challenge. For those new to flash photography—or for anyone who has previously given up out of frustration—Speedliter’s Handbook is a revelation. Photographer Syl Arena takes you on a journey that begins with an exploration of light and color, moves through a comprehensive discussion of the Canon Speedlite family and all of the accessories and equipment available to the Speedliter, then settles down to crafting great light in one photo shoot after another. Whether you want to create a classical portrait, shoot an event, or simply add a little fill light to a product shot, Speedliter’s Handbook shows you how.
Illustrated with over 500 images, Speedliter’s Handbook covers:
• how your camera sees versus how you see light
• all the buttons and dials of the entire Canon Speedlite family
• the basics of on-camera flash…and getting your flash off the camera
• how to beautifully balance flash with the existing ambient light
• all the equipment necessary for great Speedlite shots
• how to get amazing shots with just one Speedlite
• how and when to use E-TTL versus manual flash
• the use of color gels to balance color, as well as create dramatic effects
• how to tame the sun—or any really bright light—with hi-speed sync
• and much, much more
Whether you’re shooting portraits, events, or sports, Speedliter’s Handbook is an essential resource that teaches you how to craft the light you need for any type of shot you want.”
Find out more about Syl’s lighting seminar and workshop series.
Get the book here.
Learn more at Speedliting.com.
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