It's been almost two years since I posted a random picture from our trip to Salzburg, but strangely enough I never posted the mini-tip for inserting a random picture from a SmugMug gallery.  It's actually simple enough.  Just insert an image link which points to random.mg with the album id and desired image size.  The URL ends up looking like this:

http://pictures.little.org/photos/random.mg?AlbumID=1886470&Size=Thumb

You can find the AlbumID by browsing to one of your SmugMug albums then examining the URL.

Go forth and randomize!

One of the reasons I'm a huge fan of smugmug is because they've made it possible for their customers to enhance and extend their web pages.

I wanted to have a gallery on my smugmug site which consisted entirely of my favorite pictures.  One of the ways I could do this was by taking each picture I like, then making a copy of it into a new, "favorites" gallery.  While this would have done the trick it also means having to manage duplicate files and I would no longer have the context of when the picture was taken.  I had to find a better way.

While trying to figure out if there was a good way to do this I stumbled across David's automatic "recent" featured gallery. The recent gallery used JavaScript to insert a gallery of recent pictures into the smugmug web page.  I realized that with a little massaging the code could instead display a gallery based on a keyword.

I now have the feature I desired: a gallery of all my favorite pictures which didn't require duplicating pictures and was automatically updated.  Anytime I find a picture I like I simply add the keyword "favorites" and it is automatically included in the favorites gallery. Check out my smugmug site to see it in action.

If you are interested in doing the same thing on your smugmug site, I've written up complete instructions and provided downloadable JS files to cut and paste into your smugmug control panel.

Note: I really must give all credit to David for this since I really just trimmed and modified his code for this.

If you're like me and like to adjust the look and feel of your SmugMug site then you'll love this: a visual reference for the SmugMug Class and DIV IDs.

I was poking around Chris MacAskill's SmugMug galleries and came across this wicked cool reference.  I'm now going to load the printer up with 8x10 photo paper and print this beauty for my wall.

I've made no secret of how much I love SmugMug.  Great price, straight-forward UI, unlimited photo storage, open APIs... blah, blah, blah.  You want loyal customers?  Simple: make a great product and support it well.

Well, here's another tip for loyal customers: give 'em free stuff for no reason whatsoever.

I logged into SmugMug tonight to check the stats on my pictures and guess what?  They're going to send me stickers and a camera strap...  just 'cause.

I'm feeling the love.

Nikon announced some rather drool inducing product today.  The new bodies and lenses have me looking into my camera bag and feeling rather inadequate.  I turn my gaze into my wallet and find myself lacking there too.

We'll discuss my failing self-image later... on to my wish list... (someone pass Santa a note in gym class please):

New lens please - Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8

My absolute favorite lens for my Nikon N90 was my Nikkor 20mm 2.8.  The 20mm when used on a film camera was just shy of fish-eye and gave me a view of the world which almost matched what I saw with my eyes.  Even today I'll put on this fixed lens because it produces such great images.  I do have a wide zoom, an 18-55 hand-me-down lens... but it just doesn't go nearly wide enough (and the quality is, of course, questionable).

Now, at the very wide end of Nikon's new lens announcement is a lens which gets very close to the 20mm images I got on my N90.  The 14-24mm translates to 21mm on my D100... close enough.  I'll once again be able to get the interior perspectives I see in my head... but not until I come up with a spare $1,800.

New body please - Nikon D300

Back in 2002 I made the switch to digital and have never regretted it.  The release of the D100 gave me a DSLR I could afford and a size I could stomach.  I've always drooled over the D1 & D2 cameras and the new D3 is no different.  The features are incredible (view and take pictures remotely from your laptop: sweet) but the size is still for the pros. 

When Rob bought the D200 I was certainly tempted but I'm glad I waited.  Nikon's new prosumer body, the D300, has some really great features and twice as many pixels as my D100.  The most interesting thing I'd like to try out is the new "liveview" mode which allows you to use the LCD for confirming framing and focus before taking the picture.  The reason I didn't get the D200 was I didn't have the scratch... at $1,800 I don't think I have the means for the D300 either. <sigh>

Back in May when Paula and I were state-side for her graduation we picked up a couple of presents for ourselves: a Nikon D40X for Paula and a Nikon 105mm macro lens for me.  Like most photographers with a new lens I have spent most of the past couple months shooting almost exclusively with my new toy.

What's the dealeo?

Early in 2006 Nikon updated their popular 105mm Macro lens with the addition of their VRII vibration reduction system.  Used by many as a multi-purpose lens, Nikon's 105 produces roughly a 1:1 reproduction ratio when used for Macro photography and the shallow depth of field make for a passable portrait lens.  While I've found I can use it for a lot of different types of photography, I must state: it's not quite a Swiss Army lens... and it certainly won't fit in your pocket.

VR on macro lenses?  Genius

Well, perhaps "obvious" is more apt than "genius".  Having the image stabilization functionality for close up photography is really a bit of a forehead slapper.  Why hasn't anyone done this before? 

Our backyard has some wonderful flowering bushes which draw in a happy little cloud of bees.  Having the VR allowed me to grab my camera out of my bag and hand-hold some close-ups of the bees with their pollen saddlebags, something for which I would certainly have needed a tripod.  Electronic Quaaludes... nice.

Say cheese... okay, again... wait...

Macro lenses can be roped into duty as a portrait lens, their shallow depth of field providing wonderful blurring of background elements.  There is, however, a catch: their focus is manageable when tight into subjects but getting a subject properly focused at 10 yards away can be a touchy operation.

That said, it still does a decent job in the role of a portrait lens.  As your lens collection grows you'll want to have both portrait and macro lenses (I assume).  My priority was macro first, portrait second... and I'll be able to press this lens into portrait service until Santa brings me one of those 30mm f1.4 lenses Rob's been raving about.

So, what is it? Whine or roses?

I love the lens, but there are a couple things to note: the touchy focus I've mentioned and the size.  The addition of the VR mechanism has turned the 105 into a beefy lens.  The barrel is thicker and the weight has gone up over 30%.  It's a good thing they added the VR, your arms may get shaky after shooting with this beast all day.

Break it down for me

Pros: great optics, VR
Cons: touchy focal throw at distance, hefty

Bottom line: get one

I'm betting that you, like me, have been to plenty of cool places where your eyes could adjust to a dark space but getting a picture in the poorly-lit space was nigh-on-impossible.  A flash in many cases will create a harsh effect and (if you shouldn't be taking pictures) may draw unwanted attention (shhh!).  If, however, you carry one of the new, powerful flashlights you can get some great shots.

When Paula and I were in Salzburg we visited the catacombs at St. Peter's and came across this wonderful altar in a cave that dates back to medieval times.  The room was quite dark with a bit of lighting behind the items of interest.  Fortunately we now carry a great flashlight given to us by Phillip, Paula was able to light the center of the altar while I snapped a couple pictures.

The flashlight was also helpful for examining the faded paintings on the walls (and before you get on us about deteriorating the paintings... Paula has a masters in archival studies, we were sure to not do any damage. ).  While traveling we've used the handy light to look into shadowy nooks, light up hidden signs and generally find our way in the dark.  At first Paula made fun of me for my geeky obsession with carrying the new toy, but she soon came to appreciate the added light-on-demand.

There are a whole mess of HI (high intensity) flashlights out there, but I'm quite smitten with the unit Phillip gave us, the SureFire G2.  It's carry-on friendly (no complaints from security yet) and despite being very small and light it packs quite a punch - the thing puts out so much power that you can burn yourself if you leave it on too long!