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As I mentioned before, I’m getting pretty excited to go to Photoshop World next week here in Las Vegas. To be honest, I only use Photoshop sparingly, but in addition to Photoshop classes there will be quite a few Photography classes taught. That is where I will spend most of my time.

Another fun thing about the conference is the Tech Expo. “All the big names are there including Adobe, Wacom, Canon, Microsoft, B&H Photo, and more! Plus, it’s a selling show, so you can save big with special show discounts and deals.”

If you looking for a good reason to come to Vegas next weekend, they are offering free passes to Tech Expo on September 8th. All you have to do is sign up on their site, print it out, and come on in. The sign up page is here.

Depth of field is the area of acceptable sharpness in a photo both in front of and behind the plane of focus.

A Shallow depth of focus (dof) is a picture where the subject is in sharp focus and the backgroun and/or the forground is soft or blurred. This best for portraits as it helps the viewer focus on the person. You’ll also see this in macro shots like flowers and bugs.

An extensive depth of field will be found in an image with a reasonably sharp focus from front to back. This is best for landscapes so you can see everything. Also, you’ll be sure to have an extensive depth of field when taking pictures of large groups. You wouldn’t want your darling niece blurry in the back row while your Uncle Frank is clear as can be in the front row.

There are three main things that determine your depth of field:

1. Aperture: When you use a narrow aperture, such as f/8 or f/11, you will see an extensive depth of field. Reversely, a wide aperture (f/4 or f/5.6 for example) will give you a shallow depth of field. We’ll talk more about aperture is a later “FMP Defines” post.




2. Camera To Subject Distance: The further you are from your subject, the larger the depth of field will be.




3. Focal Length: Focal length is determined be how much of a scene your lens can “see”. For instance, a wide-angle lens may have a 110 degree angle of view. This would result in seeing more of the picture and in turn would provide a greater depth of field. A shorter length, or being zoomed in on a subject will lessen the depth of field.

Well, this seems to be a natural way to start out our “FMP Flickr” posts. A free Mac photo on FreeMacPhoto.com. I like the second comment when someone asks where they can buy a good looking keyboard like this.

If you’d like your photo to be featured on FreeMacPhoto, just submit it to the FreeMacPhoto Flickr Group

On the great Photojojo site (which I love) they wrote a great tutorial on turning your panorama photos into little floating planets. The correct term would be “Polar Panoramas”Althought I haven’t been able to try it yet, I’m really excited to put the technique to the test.

If you’d like to know how to do this, take a look at the tutorial. The Photo above came from Dirk Paessler. If you’d like to see some more examples, you can visit the Creat Your Own Planet Flickr Group.

Over on the Official flickr blog, they have announced that Flickr now offers geotagging for your photos.

In case you aren’t familiar with the term “geotagging”, it means you can set the location on where your photos were taken. I’ve done this a few times on Google Maps using an incredibly useful bookmarklet, but it’s sure nice to have it built into Flickr. And they did a great job, making it real easy to drag and drop your photos onto the map.

If you want to give it a try just log into your Flickr account, choose the organize tab and then click on “Map.” And don’t worry, if you already have some pictures tagged with other services, Flickr will give you a chance to import those as well.

Nicely done Flickr!

Welcome to FreeMacPhoto. We’re just getting started and there is plenty of room for everybody. I’m really excited about this site.

I’ve always enjoyed photography. I always took the role of the social photographer with my family and friends.

Just over a year ago, I got my first SLR camera, and since then I’ve taken photography a lot more serious. I’ve learned more of the lingo, the techniques and the tricks. I follow numerous photography sites and keep up with the news. When the Digital Photography Weblog decided to shut down, there has been a bit of a void for good photography news and tips. That’s where FreeMacPhoto steps in.

Some of the things you’ll find here are tips on taking photos, news about cameras, Photoshop tutorials, software reviews, etc. For instance, I’ll be attending Photoshopworld in a couple weeks and I hope to bring some insight from there.

Also, there is an official FreeMacPhoto Flickr Group. Photographers can show off their photos there. We’ll highlight the best of them here on the site. Hopefully we’ll get one up daily, but I guess that decides on the quality of photos. (No Pressure.)

Lastly, this site will be for both beginners and those who are more advanced. I’ve learned a lot in the last year, but there is certainly more for me to be learn. We’ll break down the most basic photography principles for those wishing to learn, and we’ll certainly appreciate as the Pros share their views and comments. All photographers will find something here to benefit their work. Mac users will especially appreciate the Mac flavor of the site.

The site provides an RSS Feed and updates by email. Feel free to share your thoughts with me.