coosashows.net

OK, I’ll be honest. I’ve been slacking a great deal on this thing. For that, I apologize.

Life’s be super busy lately (I just graduated from college, for example) and Coosa Shows has been working hard to do its job at Lodge, Section and National levels.

You’ll see our work at ArrowCorps⁵, in the opening and closing gatherings at each location. You’ll find us on YouTube and you’ll find some of our ideas in lodges throughout the Order who are finding ways to bring their lodges into a “digital” era.

So here’s the plan.

If you’re reading this, I’m talking to you.

We’re trying to use this domain to create gathering place for creative minds in Lodges throughout the Order. We’re trying to create a think tank where people can polish ideas, abilities, and networks to the point that every lodge has people participating and that we’re all pushing each other to better promote Scouting and the Order.

This blog clearly is not achieving that goal. So I’m looking for ideas.

Would a forum do the trick? A public wiki, perhaps? I’m open to suggestions.

If you’re interested in helping lay the foundation for this, please email me or leave a comment on this entry and I’ll get back to you ASAP.

ORDER NOW!

If you’d like a copy of the “Arrow Ads” DVD (which also includes “iSash” and “The Legend”) head on over to our online store right away.

The DVD and its content are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 License, meaning you can copy it for friends, family, lodge members, and other lodges. If you want a copy of an original disc with artwork and a nice case, this is the place for you.

A few of you have already emailed me, asking for DVDs. We plan to get those out to you in the next few days. If you’d rather buy one from the store, just send me an email and let me know.

Thanks for your interest and support, everyone. These have been more popular than we expected.

Building on the success of “iSash” and “The Legend“, both available on YouTube, Coosa Shows proudly presents its latest production — A set of videos collectively known as “Arrow Ads”.

This set of videos is geared toward new Ordeal members, beginning the day of their Ordeal, introducing them to several members of the lodge and answering some of the most common questions heard from new members.

Please, take a look at all of the videos on YouTube (there are 7, plus the creidts), share your thoughts, and share them with your lodge. If you’d like a copy of them on DVD, please drop us an email and we’ll get it to you as soon as we can.

We really look forward to seeing what you all think of these videos!

If you have an account on YouTube, add us to your friends list!

http://www.youtube.com/coosashows
http://www.scouthistory.net/wiki/Arrow_Ads

When I first bought my DSLR (a Digital Rebel XT), I have to admit that I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the jargon that surrounded it. The learning curve was steep, but I think I’ve finally managed to learn the basics. I just wish I’d had this page to help me.

Focal Lengh and Aperture Explained for the Photography Novice:
http://www.photoaxe.com/understanding-the-lens-focal-length-and-aperture/

If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for a cheap and easy way to light something while you’re trying to photograph it. Most folks are quick to pop their on-board flash up and fire away, but I generally hate using the flash. With that, I’ve become more of an “available light” photographer and, with that, have developed my eye for lighting.

I’ve been looking for a good way to setup a cheap photography “studio” — for portraits, product shots, and a handful of other tasks — and finally found two DIY projects to help me get there: a softbox and a lightbox.

With a little bit of engineering, you might be able to make one box serve a dual purpose … put the flash on the outside for a lightbox, move it inside for a softbox. Throw in a decent portrait lens (lots of folks rave about 50mm f/1.8 primes, usually available for under $100) and you’re on your way to doing headshots, product shots, and whatever else your $50 in lighting gear can handle.

Softbox: http://lactose.blogspot.com/2007/03/hobo-diy-softbox-for-perfect-portraits.html

Lightbox: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html

With one of the most obvious domain names possible, digital-photography-school.com aims to do its best to give you the insight and thinking process to become a better (digital) photographer. With categories ranging from case studies, gear, travel and portait photography, and a veritable slew of other things photographic, this is a great one-stop shop for anyone looking for an easy resource to start the long climb toward becoming a “better” photographer.

The author, Darren Rowse, has this to say:

This ‘School’ is not a formal one by any means. There are no classes, no teachers, no exams - rather it’s a learning environment where I think out loud about what I know and where in our Flickr Discussion Group we share what we’re learning by showing our photos and ask and answer each other questions.

If that sounds like something you’re up for, check it out: digital-photography-school.com.

Let’s face it … we’ve all been in that dreaded place where we don’t have the right font to do the job. Whether it’s titles for a video, captions or watermarks on photos, preparing a PowerPoint presentation, or updating that ubiquitous TPS Report, the perfect font can make all the difference.

The problem? That font usually costs $100, or maybe more. Ouch.

To the rescue of the would-be media geek comes urbanfonts.com and their massive selection of free fonts. They may not have exactly what you want, need, or are looking for, but they might get close. The price is right, at least, so it can’t hurt to take a look at what they’re offering.

http://www.urbanfonts.com/free-fonts.htm

Blogger and commercial-prepress worker Philip McClure runs Photoshop by day and GIMP by night. Which is better? Read his thoughtful comparison to find out.

Specifically, McClure points to what the average user wants from an image editor–retouching personal photos, removing red-eye, replacing the background, etc.–and highlights GIMP’s prowess in these areas. He also points to the program’s advanced, Photoshop-like features, such as layers, alpha channels, and robust plug-in architecture.

Ultimately, McClure says, Photoshop is the obvious choice for business environments, but home users should always choose the open-source GIMP–instead of pirating Photoshop. It’s an interesting comparison and a good read. — Rick Broida

Gimp vs. Photoshop [GRIMTHING.COM]

Via LifeHacker

If you’re anything like me (And, really, who is?), you’ve undoubtedly deleted a few digital photos from a memory card that you didn’t mean to delete. If not, then you’ve probably accidentally deleted a master image from your desktop before you backed it up and after you formatted your memory card. Either way, you’ve lost the original photo. What do you do?

You download a copy of PhotoRec — available for anything from DOS to Mac OS X — and hope for the best. It’s free, open-source, and even a great general purpose file recovery tool.

via LifeHacker:

‘Tis the season for sharing home movies–but don’t try your friends’ and relatives’ patience waiting for something good to happen in the hours of tape you shot on vacation. You need to learn how to edit your video, to turn boring footage into compelling movies.

This is a great tutorial for those of you who know little (or nothing) about how to setup your video editing “workflow.” If you’ve got a DV camera, a firewire-equipped computer, and some time to climb the learning curve, this is a great way to start.

Read the rest of the article here.