This pretty much sums it up.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Photoshop eBooks by Gry Garness (review)

I've recently purchased the fantastic Photoshop eBooks by Gry Garness. These are the first eBooks I've ever bought and the format is pretty slick. The books are password protected so you'll need to enter a password each time you open the file-a slight inconvenience but not a huge deal. I've found the book is not searchable with (Apple) Preview 5.0 which is very unfortunate since I may be using that as my primary .pdf reader under Snow Leopard. The text is searchable using Acrobat and the feature comes in handy since this is a reference book with specialized information you'll want to access from time-to-time.

I ordered the bundle of books which includes: Digital Retouching for Fashion, Beauty & Portrait Photography, Essential Color Optimization, and Essential Color Management. The retouching book is by far the most useful to me by providing a wealth of trade secrets that are used in the fashion industry. There is quite a bit of overlap between the three eBooks particularly in the area of color management. Nevertheless, there is a discount for picking up all three and the extensive information is very worthwhile, particularly with color critical imaging work such as magazines, product photography, and advertising photography. Garness suggests a very specific, practical workflow which keeps photo file data as clean (and editable) as possible throughout the process-from capture to output.

I'm not going to get too in-depth about what the eBooks cover, but I do highly recommend the books for professional photographers who want the very best reference information for high-end retouching and color management. Personally, I find color profiles and management are the most difficult skills in photography and graphic design to grasp and these books concisely cover the latest advanced principles. A preview of the books can be found at Google books.

My thoughts on the new M9 digital rangefinder from Leica

Leica has introduced their second professional digital rangefinder the M9. The solid, magnesium alloy camera body now features a full-frame, 18 megapixel, Kodak CCD sensor with dual-imaging processors. The M9 accepts nearly all of your Leica M bayonet lenses, which are widely-considered to be the best [compact] glass in the world. The craftsmanship and German industrial design that goes into Leica's high-end photography products is legendary. I have a serious technofetish for the steel-gray finish M9 with some fast, prime lenses in the 35mm to 50mm range.

This is a very specialized camera and one that requires some training for those not experienced with rangefinder operation. Some of the advantages of rangefinders include compact size, whisper-quiet operation, and the ability to focus by precise lens markings-all which are excellent qualities for street photography. With no on-camera flash and a list price of US $6995, you can probably be the first kid on the block to pick one up.

Reading over the specs and preliminary test results indicates Leica has taken some huge steps forward with overcoming some of the shortfalls the M8 body had. I believe as they continue to evolve technologies (particularly in the high ISO area) the M9 will finally meet and exceed image quality (IQ) of the venerable Leica 35mm film rangefinders.

Portraits and jewelry photos in Madison Magazine (October)

Photo © Copyright 2009 Timothy Hughes/Madison Magazine. AD: Tim Burton


Photograph © Copyright 2009 Timothy Hughes/Madison Magazine. AD: Tim Burton, Stylist: Shayna Miller

Several new photos in the October edition of Madison Magazine. Had a lot of fun shooting the images and I've been incredibly busy in September. I'll be posting more published work as it is released.

My first 10k race

Woke up early today to run a course with my friend Kevin. I'm happy to do runs for a good cause and needless to say, I love keeping in shape. I added the route as close as I remember it to the above map but it might not be 100% accurate in the city section of the course.

I'm pretty excited about the run, though I was a bit short of my goal time. I think I paced myself a bit slow overall, and wanted to break the hour mark. Anyway, I banged it out in 61:21 and now I've got a time to beat next year.