Official Unboxing Yongnuo YN 622N Flash Triggers

March 7, 2014 — Jack Okorn

Well I ordered and received my new flash triggers. Anyone that have watched any of my You Tube videos already knows that I have had wireless triggers for sometime now. I just never could afford triggers such as these.

What makes these triggers different from the others it that they offer what is known as ITTL or Through The Lens Metering. The way this works is that the camera takes a millisecond burst to see how much light is needed. The camera then tell the flash how much output power to use for the shot. This saves time by not having to meter every shot when you move people or your speed lights.

These triggers also offer what is known as High Speed Sync. I have wanted this for years. Normal flash triggers only allow you to sync to your shutter at 1/200 sec shutter speed. If you go any higher you will see a black line on your pictures. This is the shutter closing and not having enough light to capture the picture. With High Speed Sync the flash will pulse light even at high shutter speeds.

And yes the triggers can be used as manual flash triggers as well as working with a sync cable for your studio strobes.

All of this for only $85.00 US plus shipping. Watch the video to see these in a short demo I did last night. If you order these triggers please use my Amazon link on this page before you place you order. Thanks and Enjoy!

Posted in Cameras, Lighting, Photography. Tags: , , . No Comments »

Your Being Watched

March 6, 2014 — Jack Okorn

Since I write about technology and a lot of times how it changes our lives I thought I would talk to you about what you most likely already knew.

In this world and at this time we are always being watched. Do I mean big brother with a satellite beaming down and watching us in our homes? No, what we are talking about is everywhere you go and almost every store you walk into you are on cameras. People watching our every move. Sort of, I’ll get to that in a moment.

Once my brother in-law was traveling on the turnpike and as he approached the toll booth he discovered with great horror that he had no cash for the toll. Not knowing what to do and since this is 2014 and the turnpikes still did not have a swipe and go with our credit cards, he drove through and keep going. Three to Four days later he received a ticket in the mail with a picture of his license plate. The camera caught him.

As you walk down the streets of most major cities in the USA you will find cameras hanging everywhere. This makes me feel safer because I know that the police can’t be everywhere. But for the bad guys this is like putting the law on every corner.

My thought of you really being watched all of the time. I used to work in retail theft prevention. We had cameras covering almost every corner of the store and they were all displayed on about forty monitors in the security office. We watched one at a time. So you have a 39/1 percent chance that I would miss what you might be doing.

The next time you walk around you city look above your head and see what you might see looking back at you. And when you walk into stores look around for dooms hanging from the ceilings.

Security

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When Old Meets New

March 5, 2014 — Jack Okorn

Technology has been solving issues all over the world and each and everyday. I never thought technology could be brought into something that I didn’t even know was an issue?

My Step Daughter handed me her new vapor cigarette last evening. I looked at this little tube of metal and said what is this used for? She said that it is a way to smoke huka pipe without all of the smoke. With my wife yelling don’t smoke that thing in this house. My step daughter said not to worry it is a water vapor. NO SMOKE.

I took a drag and felt what seemed like smoke entering my mouth and it had a pleasant taste to the vapor. She took a drag and made small smoke rings as she exhaled.

You can find these vapor cigarettes  with and without nicotine. And there are almost a million companies that are making and selling these little vapor wonders. I found an online store that I am going to order my first set and try them out to allow me to sort of pipe smoke in the house. Since I have to do that outdoors. I will keep you updated on how my experiment goes.

Vapor

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Digital Recordings

March 4, 2014 — Jack Okorn

In our new found or at least still young world of digital media we have been lucky to be able to record on devices that we can fit into our pockets.

When I was young, I can still remember setting up the reel to reel tape recorders to record my sister singing. I can remember the 8mm tapes and my father carrying around a clanky video camera. I can also remember film. How many canisters could you carry. I used to even load up my kids pockets with extra film.

It amazes me that I can pull out my cell phone anytime and create a video or an audio recording. And the video from todays cell phones is amazing guilty. If you are in school, you can pull out your cell phone and record a lecture in either video or audio. I have a lot of You Tube videos I created using my IPhone.

They there is the SD cards for your digital cameras. Once when I was teaching a photography class I had an older lady attending. When I started talking about SD media the lady spoke up and said I have a lot of those little films. After I told her you can clear them off and reuse them she looked a little dumb founded.

In the end folks digital media and the devices we use to capture stuff on them is changing all the time. I always love having a camera and a video recorder in my pocket!

Tape

Posted in Audio, Gadgets, IPhone, Media, Photography, Smart Phone, Technology, Thoughts, Video. Tags: , , , . No Comments »

Photoshop Elements

March 3, 2014 — Jack Okorn

A lot of people don’t realize that when you use Photoshop Elements you also have a powerful organizer.

I have been using Elements since version 1. I have always been impressed about how easy it is to organize all of my photos. It is also really nice in that it allows you to build albums so you can keep your photos together. I also like that it imports based on events. A event is really the date that the pictures were taken.

Once you get all of your albums built and you have all of your photos imported; you can also builds tags. Tags allow you to really drill down to each person or even each place. They when you click on the tag no matter where the photo is it will be reviled.

I also like the faces feature. This allows the software to recognize faces if you marked them before as you are importing your pictures to the organizer. This is nice because if you are looking for all pictures of Aunt Sally you can click on her name and all of her pictures will be displayed.

How can you go wrong. If you do not have Photoshop Elements I would suggest to download the trail version and have a look. If you need more help after downloading it. Please pick up one of my DVD’s from: http://www.jackstechcorner.com.

Ornanizer

Posted in Cameras, Elements 6, Elements 7, Media, Photography, Photoshop Elements. Tags: , , , . 3 Comments »

2 Step Verification

February 28, 2014 — Jack Okorn

Yesterday we talked about security and keeping your digital life safe and personal. Today I was digging around and learning more about 2 step verification. And I found a cool app I wanted to share with everyone.

The app is called, Google Authenticator. This app can be installed for FREE onto your IPhone or Android phone and it allows you to lock it down! I locked my GMail accounts down this morning and it only took me a few minutes.

So how does this add extra security? Easy it adds a layer of security that you are adding to only allow you to access the computer you are sitting at. How does it do this? Easy download the app and then turn to your computer. Visit: Google 2 Step Verification. Log into the site with the account you want to secure. Once you answer a few questions you will see a QR code. Scan this with the app on your phone and it will link the two together.

Once you link the app with your account you will need to authorize each computer you wish to use to access your email. You do this only once every 30 days.

So might this be a pain in the side? Sure security is not easy and it is not suppose to make life easier for you. But it will keep you safe and allow you to sleep better at night. Setup you 2 Step Verification today.

Google Lock

 

Posted in Computers, News, Security, Technology, Thoughts. Tags: , , , . No Comments »

Security

February 27, 2014 — Jack Okorn

Need I say more? In our line of work we see a large lack of security every where we turn. I wanted to give you some thoughts about how you control and secure your digital life.

I treat my digital security just as I treat my personal physical security. What I mean is that I always lock my house and my car when I walk away from them. I also have to always lock my computer screen before walking away from from my machines.

Passwords: Why do so many people in every work place in the world think that is okay to tell each other their passwords? Let me give you a wake up call! People get fired all the time, people leave companies all the time and people can be resentful. They might remember something you said, or you might have showed them a email or maybe they just might delete all of your working files before the hit the door? What ever the case you never ever give your password to anyone.

Now let me reflect this back to my physical items. If one of my co-workers ask me for the keys to my house, I wouldn’t hand them over. If someone in my work place I didn’t even know walk up to me and ask me for car keys, I am not handing them over to them. You need to protect your digital life in the same manner.

I know a lot of you reading this are using the same password for you work accounts that you use for your personal accounts. So go ahead and give someone your password to access your email and next thing you know your banking account is zero! You just do not know?

The bottom line is take a minute or two each day to think about protecting your digital life. And always LOCK your computer before you walk away from your computers.

Hacking

Posted in News, Security, Technology, Thoughts. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment »

High Cost Of Software

February 26, 2014 — Jack Okorn

There is what we refer to in any business. It is “The Cost Of Doing Business.” When we talk about software most of it anyway we talk money. I know being a photographer I have to have software tools just as much as I need to have camera gear. Just think years ago when we were still using film cameras. I had to have a darkroom in our house or I could not develop my prints.

Even if you are a writer you will be using so kind of software. I have been using a program call Scrivener to work on my novels. Of course you could use free tools such as Libre Office, which I have used for years writing my books.

If you own a business, which I work for a number of clients that use Quick Books for their finance book keeping. This software if not cheap but it is much needed to manage all areas of business including billing. For my consultant work I like to use ZOHO to manage and create invoices. I use the FREE version because I only have a few clients.

Normally for any paid software product I can introduce you to a FREE open source software package. But if you are working in business you might want to have a software you pay for because there will be support for the product. Either way when you are considering a new software package, do a Google search for something FREE like what you are looking for. You might be surprised in what you find.

Software

Posted in Computers, Education, Mac, Software, Technology, Thoughts. Tags: , , , . No Comments »

Flash Triggers

February 25, 2014 — Jack Okorn

Most people you will see with a speed light or off camera flash always seem to have their flash hanging off the camera. They connect the flash directly to the hot show of the camera. I also did this for years, I didn’t know of any better way.

Now I know from years of studying flash and the way that light falls off of our subject we need to get the flash off the camera and place it on angles. This will allow us to create different lighting effects.

There are a few ways we can get the flash off the camera. We are going to only concentrate on one for this column.

We are talking about flash triggers. Flash triggers come in many shapes and sizes and yes prices. So where do you start in your quest to find the perfect trigger? I am glad you asked.

If you go the cheapest rate, which I did this once. You will find triggers that work, sometimes. This means I was experiencing a lot of misfires. If you ever want to make a client upset, get them in the perfect pose and have your flash not fire. Also makes you look really like an amateur. This is not to say you have to buy the most expensive, pocket wizards. You need to find the middle of the road.

My triggers I go to most of the time is Impact triggers I bought from BH Photo Video, they are the only company that carries them. I have also heard really good things about Yongnuo. My next set of triggers I am ordering soon is the new Yongnuo YN-622N. These triggers allow is to shoot off camera and high speed sync, more on that later.

If you are going to buy any new triggers please don’t forget to use my Amazon link before you order: My Amazon Link.

Triggers

Posted in Cameras, Lighting, Photo News, Photography, Speed Lights. Tags: , , , . 2 Comments »

Shall We Continue?

February 24, 2014 — Jack Okorn

I watched this weekend as we had a few more people unsubscribed to this blog and my daily posts. When you begin to see a decline you have to ask yourself, “Shall We Continue?”

I do have to take my hat off to a few of you who added comments to my posts. I always feel that this adds a dimension for readers to have a few of someone else by you adding your input.

I enjoy writing about tech, photography and tech education but I don’t want to do this morning work just for me.

So today will be my wake up call to all of you who are reading this blog or at least the blog posts on a daily bases. Do they add something to your day or are they just feeling up your inbox?

Please add a comment today and let me know who you are, where you are reading from and what you like to read the most about.

Thanks for following this blog and Jacks Tech Corner. It is all of you that make up the JTC Nation!

Blog

Posted in News, Technology, Thoughts. Tags: , , , . 5 Comments »
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