Frederick Van Johnson

Is the 13″ MacBook Pro (Retina) a Photographer’s Tool?

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 06:57:09 +0000

Molly Wood over at C|Net asked me to put the 13" MacBook Pro (Retina) through its paces from the perspective of a professional Photographer — was it beefy enough? Could this new machine handle Photoshop, Lightroom, and the other tools of the trade. In a word, yes.

Hanging Out with Conan Obrien

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Wed, 09 May 2012 03:29:29 +0000

I had a blast participating in a Google+ Hangout with comedian Conan O'Brien. This was the first time I've ever had a chance to actually "interact" with a celebrity comedian and it was fun. Conan seems like a talented, yet complex dude.

My TWiT Photo Appearance!

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Sat, 05 May 2012 07:02:19 +0000

The TWiT Photo folks asked me to come on the show to shoot the breeze with host Sarah Lane, and fellow photographer Derrick Story. Check out this interview where I get to be the guest (for a change) and spout on about me and my adventures.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Photographers

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:13:22 +0000

In this interview, I have an in-depth chat with John Pozadzides (aka John P). Not only is he a SEO Ninja, but he also runs a company that aims to bring REALTIME web traffic analytics to your website or blog.

TWiP Joshua Tree Weekend Workshop

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:23:51 +0000

On the weekend of Feb 19, 2010, we conducted the first TWiP Weekend Workshop - in Joshua Tee, CA. And what an amazing time it was!

WIN a Photography Book – Comment on this Post!

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:44:49 +0000

The folks over at Peachpit Press saw how many folks entered my first book give-away contest -- so they kicked down a few (TEN!) more for me to hand out!

Fight, or Light?

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:11:03 +0000

Photographers covering a disasters like Haiti, Katrina, 9/11, the southern California fires, etc. have to ask themselves - when is it appropriate to put the camera down and help your fellow man? Or, is documenting the situation, and helping with your skills behind the camera - documenting history, the correct course of action?

17 Amazing Photographer Interviews from 2009

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:27:12 +0000

What an amazing year 2009 was. I had the privilege of interviewing some of the most talented people in the photography industry.

Your Photo Backup Blueprint – Part 1

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:36:50 +0000

Backup Blueprint: Introduction Have you felt it yet? That sinking feeling that comes when you realize all of your eggs are effectively in one basket? I’m talking about your “digital eggs”. If you’re like most folks, you have all of your precious photos of friends, family, and if you’re a pro even your client work [...]

The Golden Gate Bridge in HDR

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:21:50 +0000

Thanks to some inspiration from Trey Ratcliff after interviewing him for TWiP, and reading his book A World in HDR, I decided to see what all the fuss is about and give this technique a try for myself.

WIN a Photography Book — Just Comment on this Post

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 23:54:44 +0000

I have several really good photography books on my desk that I either have multiples of, or have already finished reading. So, in the spirit of holiday giving, I'd like to give four of them away! So how do you get one?

liveBooks.com – Helping Photographers Flash the Web

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:07:45 +0000

John Philpin is the Chief Marketing Officer of the company, and in this interview he talks about some of the problems facing photographers today, how a new pricing structure deals with many of the cost objections photographers have voiced.

2 Killer iPhone Photography Apps

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:48:22 +0000

A quick review covering two of my favorite iPhone digital photography apps.

2 Models + 100 Photographers = Fun

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:00:02 +0000

The last TWiP/SmugMug event was a smashing success. The previous two photo shoots I organized were sold out, and as I was conducting the last event, I noticed that the attendees *really* wanted to shoot too -- but I was hogging the model.

David duChemin – Visionmonger

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:24:46 +0000

I recently had the honor of sitting down to record this audio interview (via Skype) with author/photographer David duChemin. David is one of those "next generation" photographers that "gets it".

Katrin Eismann — The Photoshop Diva

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 06:42:31 +0000

I first had the pleasure of meeting Katrin at the last PhotoPlus Expo in NYC where she gave an outstanding talk demonstrating Lightroom tips and techniques. I was really impressed at her uncanny ability to relate to, and inform an audience while keeping things light-hearted and candid.

Sleepless in San Jose

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:37:59 +0000

Have you ever had one of those sleepless nights where your brain is preoccupied with so many things that you just lay there, staring at the ceiling… for hours (and hours)? I had a night like a week ago. It was the night before I was scheduled to do a presentation on model photography and [...]

Liana Lehua – Back in Action

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:39:46 +0000

After dropping out of sight for several months, Liana Lehua, photographer, blogger, writer and host of GirlsGoneGeek has reemerged. As it turns out, she's been dealing with HIV/AIDS, and over the past year or so has been working to get things under control in order to continue doing cool things.

Is Digital Manipulation Evil?

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:52:38 +0000

I've spoken at length about my stance on digital manipulation on the This Week in Photography (TWiP) podcast. On the show we banter about the topic, but in this quick video I explain how I really feel about it.

Gravity in Ambient Flight

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:29:49 +0000

I recently did some remodeling to my home and wanted some art (other than photography) to put on the walls. I wanted a piece that reflected my personality, you know - kind of whacky, colorful, and oh yea, it had to have an element of photography in it.

Jim Heid – Author, Photographer, Flickr-er

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:03:30 +0000

As far as I know, there is no bigger fan of Apple's iLife software than Jim Heid. He's a self-described poster child for the software and has been using it since pre iLife, when there was only iMovie. Jim is also the author of the extremely popular book entitled The Macintosh iLife.

Steve Simon – Photojournalist

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 07:19:53 +0000

Steve Simon, born in Montreal Canada - and now a resident of New York City is one of the busiest photographers I know. He's created an impressive body of work that can be viewed on his website, and looking at his work you'll see that he is one of those photographers that always seems to be "in it". He's a true photojournalist, and seems to be willing to put himself in harms way to get the story.

Nicole Young – iStockphoto Contributor

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 07:01:52 +0000

Nicole Young is an excellent example of a next-generation stock photographer. She is a regular contributor to iStockphoto and has seen some impressive revenue generated from her images.

Michael Adams – Son of Ansel Adams

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 07:35:09 +0000

An up-close and personal conversation with Michael Adams, son of legendary photographer Ansel Adams. In this brief interview, Michael and I discuss what it was like growing up as the son of one of the worlds most prolific and respected photographers. Michael’s background is very interesting on its own – having been a physician, Air [...]

MC Yogi – Vote for Hope

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:20:26 +0000

Obama ’08 – Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo. From MC Yogi’s Vimeo post: “Vote For Hope” was written to encourage and inspire the hip hop generation—and everyone—to get involved, and contribute their time, energy, creativity, and other resources to be the change they want to see in the world. We have been [...]

Congratulations President-Elect Barack Obama

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:56:42 +0000

Congratulations to President Barack Obama and Family!

Merkley??? – Artist, Blogger, Flickr-er

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:06:27 +0000

Merkley is one of the most popular photographers on Flickr, with over 17,000 contacts, and millions of photo views, he’s a real testament to how digital imaging technology has changed the way we consume photography. The last time I sat down and had a chat with Merkley he told me if it wasn’t for Photoshop [...]

Matt Kloskowski – Photographer, Educator, Author

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:45:02 +0000

At the recent Photoshop World Expo in Las Vegas, I had the opportunity to sit down with Matt Kloskowski from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). Along with Scott Kelby, Matt produces a weekly online video containing great Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom tips and tricks. Matt is also a highly sought-after educator, and has [...]

Introducing Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:22:12 +0000

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 2 software, the photographer’s essential toolbox for managing, adjusting and presenting large volumes of digital photographs. With new enhancements such as dual-monitor support, radical advances in non-destructive localized image correction, and streamlined search capabilities, Lightroom 2 is a compelling upgrade that simplifies [...]

John Nack – Photoshop Principal Product Manager

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:45:08 +0000

Along with managing one of the most popular software products of all time, John Nack, Adobe Photoshop‘s Principal Product Manager, is also a blogging pioneer at Adobe Systems, Inc. Having paved the way for folks like, well, me to blog and otherwise participate in public forums he has helped lift the curtain on the sometimes [...]

Phil Clevenger – Lightroom Interface Designer

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:22:09 +0000

Phil Clevenger is the man behind the Lightroom user interface. Phil and I sat down to chat about what brought him to Adobe – and what he learned from his time at MetaCreations designing rule-bending interfaces for software like Bryce and Kai’s PhotoSoap. He also gives some hints at some possible directions of the Lightroom [...]

A Girl Gone Geek

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:03:50 +0000

Recently I caught up with Liana Lehua, one of the co-hosts of the Girls Gone Geek podcast. The show is targeted at, you guessed it, girls. More specifically, geeky girls… or rather females who like technology. On the show they discuss hardware, software, gadgets, etc. — all from a female perspective. It’s really a unique [...]

Canada's Sexiest Geek

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:22:00 +0000

This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting Canada’s sexiest geek – Lisa Bettany of mostlylisa.com. She was an in-studio guest on the This Week in Photography (TWiP) podcast, and did an awesome job putting up with our on-mike craziness. It was interesting to learn about her life, and the things she likes to [...]

Dane Sanders on Fast Track Photographer

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:25:31 +0000

My good friend, Wedding Photographer Dane Sanders, talks about his highly anticipated new book Fast Track Photographer. We chat about the book, and the changing face of wedding photography and what it takes to break into the business, especially considering with the current market climate.

Candy for Candids!

frederick@frederickvan.com (Frederick Van Johnson) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:40:04 +0000

I met up with Photojojo CEO Amit Gupta last week in San Francisco. Check out this video to hear how he suggests convincing strangers to pose for photos. And he wasn’t kidding! There’s even a write-up on his website with tips and instructions on how to best utilize “candy for candids”. Apparently Amit has a [...]