The Super Fast Hoodman Raw Steel 1000x Compact Flash Card

As an advertising photographer that is also into video I’m always looking for the best media I can get.  I want fast, sturdy cards that I can trust to record and keep my data safe.  This is especially true when I travel.  I’m going to be spending over three weeks in China shooting once in a lifetime projects.  I taking the Hoodman Raw Steel 1000x Compact Flash card and 300x SDHC cards.

Hoodman 300x SDHC

Hoodman Raw Steel 1000x compact flash card

Just remember to update your firmware to the latest version before trying to use these cards in your cameras.  You might find some side benefits like upgrading the Canon 7D firmware to the 2.3 version will allow you to finally control the audio levels manually.  It does not deal with the issue of connecting professional audio XLR cable which will need to be run through a Beachtek adapter but again there are many advantages in controlling the audio by doing it  that way

Roberts Camera Supplying Your Photo and Video Needs

Last chance! Hurry and get your submissions in The APA 2^nd Annual Short Video Contest. The contest closes Sunday June 2^th 5:00 PM, so you have less than a week!

The prize for the “Best Timelapse” category is partly sponsored by Roberts Camera is a Tamrac Jazz 83 Camera Bag with custom neoprene large lens pouch, Promaster optic lens cleaning tissue, 8GB SDHC card, Robert’s compact DSLR carrying case with vest/belt attachement.

Roberts Camera opened its’ doors on August 21, 1957.  While not always a photo specialty store; over the past 56 years we have grown into a premiere source in the Midwest for photo, video and electronics equipment.  We have a group of professionals here that are extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the photography industry and the people in it.  We value our customers (these days we can call most of them friends) and feel lucky to do business with them each and every day.  Roberts not only focuses on the retail and on-line side of things, but we try and grow our customer’s knowledge base about the equipment they are buying as well as photography in general by offering many classes and seminars.  We hope that your experience with Roberts is first class, and we hope we can continue to help you capture great moments for years to come.

Visit us at either of our brick and mortar locations in Indiana, online at robertscamera.com, or call us for help at 1-800-726-5544.

Roberts Downtown Indy: 255 S. Meridian Street Indianapolis, IN 46225

Roberts North Store: 12761 Old Meridian Street Carmel, IN 46032

For more information go to Roberts Camera (link: http://www.robertscamera.com/)

Interested in winning the Tamarac?  Check out APA’s 2ND Annual  Short Video Contest for 2013.

Agency access Helping You to Find Clients

Last chance! Hurry and get your submissions in to the APA 2nd Annual Short Video Contest.  The contest closes Sunday June 2^th, so you only have a week!

The prize for the “Best Overall” category is partly sponsored by Agency Access and is a 1 year membership to TV/Broadcast Database

The Agency Access membership lists are the key to your direct marketing success. No matter your market or budget, Agency Access has an option for you. And with the launch of the brand-new TV Database, you can open up new markets with buyers who hire for TV media. A brand-new Broadcast database of 6,000 creative contacts with jobs in broadcast media. Recognizing the fundamental effect evolving motion-graphics technologies would have on visual arts markets, Agency Access set out over a year ago to create a new database of television – and broadcast-industry contacts, and to make it the most updated and refined list of potential buyers in those select markets.

The ideal complement to our global database of over 90,000 creatives, the TV/Broadcast Database is a highly targeted marketing tool for illustrators becoming animators, photographers becoming videographers and any freelance artist trying to connect with broadcast-industry contacts – art directors, creative directors, television producers, traffic managers and more.

A list membership also lets you:

Search the database by contact, company or brand

Create as many customized lists as you need

Refresh your lists with recent additions whenever you want

Download data and create your own labels and reports

Use our Database Changes feature to monitor who’s moving where

Other Agency Access services include:

Email marketing, campaign manager, design services, direct marketing, and consulting.

For more information visit Agency Access

Creative Cloud Changes Everything

The prizes for the Best Editing category in the APA 2nd Annual Short Video Contest is a 1 year subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud.

Adobe believes the creative process can be better. New, more connected tools. Fonts, files,ï¾  and projects always in sync. Your creative community just a click away.

All the tools you love.  Totally re-imagined.

Your favorite tools are about to get even better. Introducing Creative Cloudâ„¢ desktop applications, including Adobe® Photoshop® CC and Illustrator® CC. They’re the next generation of CS tools. Get hundreds of all-new features. Keep your entire creative world in sync — files, feedback from team members, fonts, settings, and updates. And, as always, your applications live on your desktop, not in a browser and not in the cloud.

Everything you need to create.

All-new desktop versions of your favorite creative tools and services, check. Immediate access to new features and updates, check. And that’s just the beginning. With Creative Cloudâ„¢, everything you need to create intuitively and collaboratively is included. All-new tools and services will be available in June just as the APA 2nd Short Video Contest closes.

Interested in winning a subscription?  Check out APA’s 2ND Annual  Short Video Contest for 2013. (link: http://www.tinyurl.com/apavideo).

Think Tank Photo Designs Carrying Solutions for the Working Photographer

Hurry and get your submissions in.  The contest closes Sunday May 26th, so you only have a week!

The prizes for the Best Overall and Best Documentary categories in the APA 2nd Annual Short Video Contest are the Airport 4-Sight Rolling Camera Bag and Airport International Rolling Camera Bag.

Think Tank Photo Airport 4-Sight

The Airport 4-Sight™ is the most convenient, lightweight camera bag solution on 4-wheels. With the introduction of the 4-Sight, Think Tank Photo has created an entire new category of lightweight rolling camera bags.  Features: International and U.S. carry-on size, 4 wheel rollers minimize effort when transporting gear, especially in crowds and airports, Side rolling feature easily navigates narrow confines such as airplane aisles,  two position locking handle for better ergonomic needs, Lightweight, yet offers outstanding protection for Pro DSLR kit and other fragile accessories, 3 handles for easy retrieval from overhead bins, integrated removable Cable Management organizer, lockable zipper slides on main compartment.

Airport International Rolling Camera Bag

The Airport Internationalâ„¢ V 2.0 Rolling Camera Bag has been designed to be both huge and small. The perfect roller for traveling both US domestic and overseas, it’s compact yet spacious and fits in overhead bins on most international flights. The Airport International V2.0 is a real workhorse with room to carry two or three pro-size bodies (unattached), all of the standard lenses and other gear a professional or semi-professional photographers may need while working on-location. Front cable & lock secures laptop, keys or other other items, strong rear cable & lock secures entire bag to a fixed object.  Holds up to a 500 f/4 lens, unattached, additional smaller lenses and up to two, professional size camera bodies

Think Tank Photo was founded by professional photojournalists who now firmly occupy the cross-over/convergence space.  Think Tank Photo focuses on studying how photographers work, and developing inventive new carrying solutions to meet their needs. By focusing on “speed” and “accessibility,” we prepare photographers to Be Ready “Before The Moment,” allowing them to document those historic moments that reflect their personal visions and artistic talents. For some companies, it is only about the product. For us, it is more: It is about supporting photographers doing their job. If we can design products that help photographers travel easier, take pictures faster, and organize their gear more efficiently, then we will have accomplished something beyond the bags themselves.

More information at thinktankphoto

Interested in winning one of these cases?  Check out APA’s 2ND Annual  Short Video Contest for 2013.

O-Fly Lightweight Shoulder Rig and iLED 144 Dual color light

The prizes for the Best Overall and Most Innovative categories in the APA 2nd Annual Short Video Contest are the O-Fly Lightweight Shoulder Rig and  iLED 144 Dual color light respectively.

ikan designs and manufactures digital video and DSLR gear used by independent filmmakers, videographers, and professional photographers. Our mission is to build products creative people want and need at a reasonable price.

ikan’s commitment to delivering quality gear with exceptional customer service sets us apart from competitors who offer similar products. These traits have helped us become the leading manufacturer of affordable production gear for use in the field or in-studio.

ikan O-FLY Offset DSLR Shoulder Rig

The Flyweight Offset DSLR Shoulder Rig, O-Fly, features lightweight and easy to break down comfortable padded shoulder, ribbed non-slip rubber handles, offset system with vertical adjustment, and designed for DSLRs and small to mid-size camcorders.

Ikan iLED144

The iLED 144 On Camera Dual Color LED Light features wide angle beam pattern, tungsten to daylight switching, intensity dimming, on-board battery indicator, and stackable mounting option.

Find out more at http://ikancorp.com

Interested in winning a shoulder rig and on camera light?  Check out APA’s 2ND Annual contest for 2013 at www.tinyurl.com/apavideo.

Customizable Music for All Your Video Production Needs

The prize for the APA 2nd Short Video Contest “Best Audio” and “Best Overall” categories is sponsored by SmartSound and is 5 free albums and music editing software.

Plus ALL entrants receive 1 album and music editing software.

SmartSound has created a unique, patented technology that allows the user to easily and quickly manipulate music content in certain key ways, so that it can better fit a visual sequence. When music is customized to fit a visual sequence, that sequence is significantly enhanced and has much more impact than a scene with either no music, or music that is just simply attached as is.

This SmartSound technology needs certain music, which is “enabled” to work with its system. It’s this unique combination of patented technology and music designed to work with it, that results in such power and ease for the creative user. All SmartSound technology products are based on this combined system.

For more information go to www.smartsound.com

Master Directing With Hollywood Camera Work

The Prize for APA 2nd Short Video Contest “Best Directing” and “Best Overall” categories is sponsored by Hollywood Camera Work and is a Master Course DVD Set

Master Course DVD Set – The most comprehensive Directing Course in the world. Over 9 hours of 3D animated instruction. Region Free. Plays on all DVD players in the US, 99% of all DVD players worldwide and all computers and notebooks worldwide. Includes access to the Hollywood Camera Work User Group, where you can discuss high-end filmmaking technique with like-minded and serious individuals and Personal support and coaching by Per Holmes through the Forum — get help with specific production problems, take part in exercises, and get the most out of the training by having direct access to its creator.

More information at Hollywood Camera Work

Controlled Vocabulary Controls Your Keywording

The prize for APA 2nd Annual Short Video Contest “Best Comedic Short” and “Best Overall”categories  is sponsored by Controlled Vocabulary and is a 1 year Controlled Vocabulary Library.

The Controlled Vocabulary Keyword Catalog (CVKC) is ideal for creative pros that want a thorough set of terms for keywording images for use in their choice of a number of professional metadata annotation tools. Version 3.0 contains approximately 11,000 keyword terms organized in a hierarchical structure with segregated synonyms. A broad range of people, lifestyle, and concept themes are included. Use of the CVKC insures consistency in the selection and spelling of specific keyword terms and helps guide the keyworder to appropriate synonyms.

Takes the Guess Work out of Searching:

A controlled vocabulary makes a database easier to search. Since we have many different ways of describing concepts, drawing all of these terms together under a single word or phrase in a database makes searching the database more efficient as it eliminates guess work. However, arriving at this efficiency requires consistency on the part of the individual indexing the database and the use of pre-determined terms.

A Familiar Concept:

It’s likely you are already familiar with the concept of controlled vocabulary. Phonebook Yellow Page listings are arranged using controlled vocabulary. For example, a search for “Car Dealers” leads you to a note to “see Automobile Dealers.” At a basic level, this is how a controlled vocabulary system works.

One Search is All it Takes:

Conducting a search in a database that uses controlled vocabulary or indexing terms is efficient and precise. The biggest advantage to controlled vocabulary is that once you do find the correct term, most of the information you need is grouped together in one place, saving you the time of having to search under all of the other synonyms for that term.

For more information go to Controlled Vocabulary

A New Way to Move the Camera the indiSYSTEM Vortex dolly

The prize for the “Best Dramatic Short” sponsored by indiSystem is the Vortex DSLR Dolly.

indiSYSTEM Vortex dolly

Their slogan isn’t a fancy one made by a focus group, or a bunch of ad men, it is the philosphy behind indiSYSTEM.

indiSYSTEM is capable of being your number one source for follow focus, matte box, DSLR rigs, camera slider, and other custom camera accessories meant to make your photography life easier and more efficient.

The Vortex dolly is a completely new way of moving the camera for spectacular new shots.  Its’ two arms allow movements that up until now have not been possible with any other dolly.  You can move in/out, around corners, in circles just about anyway you can imagine.  Think combination steadicam, slider, and skater dolly, all quickly set up on a set of tripod legs or the available indiBASE!  It’s hard to describe but a dream to use.

For more about the Vortex visit www.indiSYSTEM.com