they’re coming fast + furious these days, which i have to admit i don’t mind a bit. nice to satisfy the inner geek once in awhile. that past two weeks have seen major updates for apple, canon + onone (software manufacturer).

the biggie for the general public is the apple keynote earlier this week from the ongoing worldwide developers conference (WWDC) in sf which let loose new macbooks + safari as well as a new iphone + update. you can watch the keynote yourself here (as if you haven’t already). all in all great stuff, especially as the creative community is always hungry for speed. have to admit though that i was let down with the whopping upgrade in the iphone camera – from 2 mp to 3?!?! not that we need 45mp or something but at this stage one would think it would be a notch or two higher. the video, of course, will be grabbing all the attention anyway so i’m sure there’ll be more camera on the next go ’round. the mobile me upgrade is a damn good call + i’m sure it won’t be seeing much fanfare.

canon had the cojones to give us what we’ve been asking for last week and this is good stuff – full manual control in HD video. now i’ve been running this thru the paces + am much more at home with it than the auto controls. of course i shoot primarily manual with my cameras anyway so this is a natural progression for me. the freedom is well worth the wait. tech wise, i have a grasp on the iso changes + the physical aspects of aperture but what does the !??! does shutter do when working in video + why does it stop @ 1/30th???. you switch the dial up + sure enough get light adjustments but what’s causing that – you’re not changing frame rate or anything? anyone?

last on the upgrade list is onone software with their much trumpeted DSLR camera remote app for the iphone. now i may be an iphone kinda guy but i had trouble getting this to function where i needed it – mainly because it needs a computer connected directly to the camera. for me that doesn’t happen all that often, at least not where we’re dealing with a remote when you can work with pocket wizards or the canon TC-80N3 intervalometer sans computer (or if you’re a real geek). inside, however, this slick interfaced little app did studio work proud especially the live view feature, brilliant, but outside on an ad hoc network i was SOL.

trying to come up with a reason why i should buy the app the one thing i thought of was the possibility of using the intervalometer feature (check the video here) simultaneously with my canon intervalometer. working one camera wide + the other shallow i envisioned a time lapse that could run split screen with both big picture + detail. we’re putting the video together now but suffice it to say that despite setting up my macbook pro mere inches from the largest lake in glacier national park in order to run the iphone app via an ad hoc network i was allowed only a single image. the rest i ran on my own, which in the end wasn’t such a bad workaround.

so tying these three seemingly unrelated updates all together, what might be the best thing now that onone has to update the app for the new iphone 3GS anyway, is to simply drop the computer from the scenario + work with canon to get some type of bluetooth or similar set up in the camera so that the images can be downloaded directly to the phone. better now that apple had provided us 32gb versions as the norm.

here’s a great way to start the week – a sweet mix of inspiration in the form of new hacks + variations and a discussion on crap.

one of public radio’s greatest features is no doubt, this american life, hosted by ira glass. a long time radio host/producer who’s now expanded into tv. you know that he knows his stuff by the way he puts his shows together. the topics are engaging and the edits are tight. was discussing my post “edit” + the idea of how to get to the best of your work lately and this came up. part of a larger series, here’s why we all have to deal with the crap.

in your quest to fight through all the ho-hum mediocre stuff, here’s some fascinating alternative firmware for canon point+shoots called CHDK. it unlocks a ton of hidden potential in your powershot camera – HDR bracketing, time lapse + my friend ross’ favorite, motion detection! supposedly fast enought to get lightning strikes… wtf! haven’t tried it yet but definitely worth a go. and if you’re wondering the G9 is compatible thank you very much. cheers for the connect ross.

the best way to find more info on CHDK or anything online for that matter is now here. google’s been great at searching + really can’t be beat there but for the new wave of information presentation, the future will look a lot like kosmix – the web organized for you. another well financed silicon valley start up it is but another search engine it is not. not only does it find what you’re after but it presents it an encyclopedic format – a wiki definition, images, blogs links, videos, related links – all right in front of you in a google second. hard to go back once you’ve given it a whirl.

more inspiration ala pdx’s own w|k with their latest for nike + king james. the candyman is back (which incidently is the only nickname i ever really had) is up on their blog.

and lastly a bit of bono, inline with the new release, on theft. in this case, music theft via the copyright alliance blog.

I was talking with a friend recently about the success ratio of photographs and how to improve that. He works as a ski guide in Canada and uses a point and shoot to nab images for clients while he’s working. The kicker is that his images are quite good. Why? He keeps the camera in his front pocket and it literally takes him a second to pull it out – there’s no room for doubt.

Why do I mention this? I think this is THE largest detractor from shooting any shot – how much perceived trouble is it to access one’s camera. This doesn’t solely apply to pros but across the board. If you can improve access to your camera then your shot ratio will definitely increase as you have little trouble to overcome, no reason for hesitation. And the more you push that button the more the images improve.

For me access was everything. When I began to sink my teeth into photography I was living in Japan. A friend sent me down to Denki Town in Osaka where anything and everything electronic is sold. In preparation for a half year adventure in Southeast Asia I nabbed a Tamrac courier style camera bag (still have it too). This move alone vastly improved my photography as my camera was never buried in a bag, at the bottom of a backpack or stuck in a suitcase. Not that every shot from that trip was a winner but my ratio definitely went through the roof.

A current parallel for me has been the Canon G9. Great camera and though heavier than I’d like you can keep it with you a good chunk of the time and end up with great images. And when I’m on location, particularly an active hands on job, I’ve developed my own bags and systems to make sure that I can easily access my gear regardless of the weather or my position. It’s an ongoing process this picture business but finding a way to keep access to your tools is one of the most effective changes you can make. My friend the guide, he’s shooting more than ever with his pocket point & shoot and as you can see it’s working.