Mark told you that the Nikon D4 was finally announced, but they also announced an 85mm f1.8 lens at $500.  A lens that will give you lots of speed and creamy bokeh for relatively few dollars.

Canon announced their high-end compact, the G1x.  It shoots RAW; 1080p video; and has a 28-112mm zoom.  It will compete with Nikon’s 1 (although the Canon doesn’t have inter-changeable lenses) and the Fuju X100 (also fixed lens).  Go read Google News about all the photo gadgets that are being introduced in Vegas this week.

But the photo world wasn’t just buzzing over the neat new hardware….  Adobe announced the public beta of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.  There are some major changes, including a revamped Develop panel; a Map panel that connects to Google Earth and let’s you geo-tag any image; and a Book panel to create your own Blurb photobooks.  You can download it here; there is no cost to try it.

I’ve been playing with it all week on some recent photos, and I’m already hooked on the improvements.  It is still a Beta, so you only want to use it on copies of your photographs.  You will probably experience some slowness and crashes, but this is normal in a Beta.  They’ll have that taken care of in the final release.  When does the final release come out?   They haven’t announced that, but the Beta expires on 31 March.  (Isn’t that less than a week after Photoshop World?  Hmmmm.)

You can bet we’ll blog about all the features when it comes out, but let me show you a couple of examples of the new Develop panel.  I really love the changes here.

Here is the York Minster.  A blah sky provides enough light to create a common problem – the camera meter averages the scene, and my sky is too bright and the church is too dark.

In Lightroom 3, I would globally lighten the church and then use the adjustment brush to bring down the brightness of the sky.  This isn’t difficult, but it will take a few minutes of brushing to get the sky the way I want it.

In Lightroom 4, I moved few sliders to give much better results in seconds.  The corrections were so fast, I used the lens correction to minimize the image distortion and still had a much better image in less than one minute.

The clouds have more definition; you can see details in the towers; and the exposure is fixed.  The transformation is really something to watch as you move the sliders.  Of course, I could do this in Photoshop, but that would take even longer.

I had to try it one more time.

Wow!  I really like the way shadow detail can be revealed.  You should download the program and give it a try.  This new Lightroom is going to be fun.

Are you ready for the winter weather?  This is a great time for photography.  You’ll find lots of interesting scenes for your camera.   The snow covers the ground clutter and simplifies the scene.  On clear days, the sky seems crisp and saturated with color.

You need to take care to cover your camera and lens when the snow is blowing.  A common problem is the fogging of the lens from large temperature differences as you take the camera in and out of the weather.  You should give yourself some extra time to for the camera’s temperature to slowly equalize to the cold outside or the warmth of your home.  If you wrap your camera in a clean towel and insert it into a plastic bag, you can reduce condensation while the camera’s temperature is changing.  When you’re done for the day and the camera has warmed, dry everything.  Your lens will be ruined if you get moisture inside.

With all the light reflecting off the snow, your camera’s meter will react by reducing exposure to average out the scene.  This will give you gray snow, instead of the white you’re seeing.  Adjust your camera by increasing the exposure 1-2 stops.  On an SLR, you can do that in the menus.  If you have a camera with scene settings, be sure to use the snow or beach setting.  You want to keep your whites nice and clean.  Yes, you can do some work in post-processing, but proper exposure is much better than punishing pixels in software.

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This year, I’ve got a special trip planned to guarantee snow.  I’m heading back to Alaska for the snow and, hopefully, clear skies filled with the northern lights.  I’ve seen them many times, but I was in the field with the 6th Infantry Division.  They had other plans for me, and they did not include running around with a camera.  I’ll also get a chance at photographing a newborn grandson.  Guess I better take a flash with me…

There is one last thing to remember when you’re out there in the cold: batteries hate cold weather.  Make sure you keep a couple spares handy in your jacket.  You don’t want to be forced into quitting before you get all that goodness captured.

If you prepare now, you’ll be ready when the first flakes start falling.  Don’t forget to try to shoot from some unconventional angles to make some interesting shots.  It’s more fun that way.

A phone camera discussion on a photoblog?!  Sure; why not?  Phone cameras are ubiquitous.  Everyone has one, and they are using them.  Probably including you.  I was a late-comer to using my camera phone and still don’t use it often.  However, I’d rather use a Droid camera than no camera.

For many folks, phone cameras are their only cameras.  Unfortunately, most of these photos never see the light of day.  People rarely download them and everything is lost the phone is damaged or when it’s time for a new phone.  Don’t let this happen to you – download your photos.  Then, you can put them into a photo-management program like Lightroom, Aperture, or whatever else you prefer.

Today’s phone cameras are actually pretty good.  They sport higher resolution than the first digital cameras of just a decade ago.  Hold them steady, in good light, and you have a camera that doesn’t require a separate bag; keeps you inconspicuous in a crowd; and you can keep in touch with the family at the same time.

Like all tools, you need to understand their limitations.  Their sensors are very small, which means you’re going to have some noise unless there is lots of light.  They have wide lenses, making images with a wide depth of field – not the best for portraits with blurred backgrounds.   Since they have fixed lenses, they can only zoom digitally, which reduces the image data.  And – oh, no! – they produce JPGs.

Experiment to learn your phone camera’s characteristics.  My Droid camera seems to be a little contrasty; noisy in low light; and always has a wide depth of field.  I adjust my shooting to minimize its disadvantages.

Since abstracts are more about shapes and colors, you can shoot without worrying too much about the disadvantages of your phone camera.  In this shot, there are windows from three different eras.  The wide depth of field keeps everything sharp, and the nice light just after sunrise gave me some interesting color.

The distortion of the wide angle lens and the digital noise keep me from shooting many portraits.  There are times, however, when the phone camera is all I have.  You have to take the shot.

I tend to shoot snapshots of things to come back to – you know, when I have a “real” camera.  I don’t have a real good track record, though, of always returning, and, even if you do go back to a previous scene, it will probably look different than what originally caught your eye.  Which means I may work on an image I’ve taken on the Droid to enhance it some.  Camera phone photos deserve post-processing, too, ya know.

Here’s an example of what I mean – this image is right out of the camera.  It’s in Boston, where the modern Hancock Building sits right next to an old church.  I like the way they designed the building.  It reflects the old, and the reflections reduce the impact of its size, so close to the much smaller church.

The wide angle lens distortion is visible in the slanted buildings.  I don’t like the fluorescent signs.  The building is in shadow, so it’s a little dark and a little too blue.

When I took it into Lightroom, I was able to crop out the splotch of light on the sidewalk and one of those signs.  That helps, but I had to lose the edge of the Hancock Building.  I warmed up the color balance and put some more light into the shadows.

In Photoshop, I cloned out the signs, so my new crop gives me back the edge of the building, giving more dimensionality and more reflections.  I adjusted the perspective to reduce the building lean.

I wouldn’t trade my Nikons for the Droid camera, but being caught with only the Droid is not a reason to despair.  You can do just fine with your camera phone.  Your post-processing skills can help enhance the results.  This last photo is a panoramic merge of three photos.  As we always say, learn your tools and go have fun.

A simple way to get a different look is to change your position to the subject.

The first flower is taken standing upright, the way most would take the picture.  The second is much closer to the level of the flowers.

The lower angle can make such a small difference, the viewer won’t even think about why your photo looks different.  Or you can make it obvious that you’ve taken the photo at an unusual angle.

Break a rule of thirds, and put a subject in the dead center of the frame.  It helps if the subject is symmetrical and strong enough to catch the viewer’s eye.  What could be more powerful than a battleship?

Put some kind of framing element around the edges.  This can be almost anything to direct your viewer’s eye into the key element of the photo.  It doesn’t have to be a complete frame; a partial frame will still direct your viewer’s eyes.   I like to find something that seems natural to whatever scene your shooting – stage lights in a concert; buildings in an urban scene; or rocks in a park to frame the distant glacier.

Instead of trying to capture the whole subject, focus on just a portion of it.  Bring in enough of the subject, and your viewer will create the rest of the image with his imagination.   It’s a subconscious reaction for most folks.  I very rarely get questioned about why I didn’t shoot the whole flower or car.

We’ve talked in other blogs about the joys of abstract photos.  Concentrate on shapes and patterns.  Again, you may want to just take part of the whole subject.  You can leave viewers guessing as to the identity of the real object.  A carefully placed interruption to the patterns can also make an interesting shot.

So, get out there and change your approach.  It can help you take more compelling shots that look different than most.  The more you practice with your photos, the more automatic it becomes.  And, you’ll have more fun making them.

Street photography has a long and storied history.  Many photographers have made it their primary effort.  They captured little slices of everyday life, making great photos from seemingly mundane settings.

There are many great examples of street photography for you to discover, and I urge you to look at them.  Find the photographs that talk to you, and try to figure out what you like about them.  This is a great way to learn, and the price is right.  Many are presented in black and white.  Since, historically, you had to load film, you made that choice at the beginning of your photo session.  (And, of course, the farther back you go, that was your only choice.)

Today, we have the choice.  There are lots of reasons to stick with traditional black and white.  Colors can distract your viewer’s attention away from your subject.  Maybe you just want to make your images in the style of the old street photographers.  You can hit the topic cloud at the bottom of the current blogs to find black and white topics from our earlier entries.

I usually expand the definition beyond just images of people on a street since I don’t live in a crowded, urban area.  I make my “street” images wherever I happen to be.  It might be in Fairbanks, Alaska, with a street musician (they’re always happy to let you snap some shots).

Street performers are another group that will gladly cooperate with your efforts.  You don’t have to worry about asking them if you’re a shy person.  They are out there to be seen.

But there really is no reason to be shy.  I have rarely been refused when I asked for permission to take a quick photo.  I found the next photo in Alexandria, Virginia.  There we were, in one of the historical parts of our state, with a big flag on the building behind this New Age tea vendor.  How could you pass this one up?  As soon as he saw what I wanted, he happily posed for several shots.

Last weekend, I was up in Boston, walking downtown, and we stopped into the open air market.  The vendors completely ignored my camera.  They were trying to get a few more sales while the weather was nice.

For someone who likes making images of people, it’s just another fun way to practice your craft with spontaneity, shooting without all the reflectors and lights. You get to meet lots of new people and share interesting stories.  While we were out, we ran into Kevin McBride.

You don’t know Kevin?  Well, Kevin is an Irishman who currently resides in Boston.  He was a heavy weight boxer, and, in June 2005, he beat Mike Tyson in a 6th round TKO.  We met Kevin near Harvard Square.  He talked with us for a while and had no problems with me shooting some up-close shots, including this typical boxing pose.

So get out there and make some images of new acquaintances and people just enjoying themselves.  You’ll have fun, too.