Camera Owners of the Bay Area

Two months ago, we had a “>presentation on Canon Professional Services (CPS). Well, it looks like new submissions are not being accepted, as Canon has announced massive changes to the CPS program. Read all about the details here, or the short summary below.

There will be a tiered service plan for CPS members: Silver, Gold, and Platinum:

CPS Silver level membership will be offered free-of-charge to qualifying photographers. This level of membership includes a welcome kit, access to the CPS phone hotline and a 20 percent discount on repairs[i]. For professional photographers requiring a higher level of Canon support, CPS Gold level membership additionally includes access to loan equipment for a two-week trial period and an expedited three-day turnaround on service items.[ii] Along with a 30 percent service discount, CPS Gold level membership includes two free Check & Clean vouchers. CPS Gold level membership will have an annual fee of $100*.

The CPS Platinum membership level will include priority access to loan equipment for two-week trial periods, 60 percent discount on repairs[iii], expedited two-day turnaround on equipment service and backup equipment loans if service is longer than two days.[iv] CPS Platinum level membership will have an annual fee of $500*.

The October meeting for the Camera Owners of the Bay Area (COBA) user group will be held on Wednesday, October 8, 2008, in Cordura Hall 100 at Stanford University from 7:30-10:00 pm.

Photokina Wrapup

Photokina 2008 is happening right now in Cologne, Germany. We’ll have a recap of the most exciting news from the event in our annual biennial conference recap.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Last month, we spoke about the convergence of still photography and videography. The 5D Mark II, along with the recently-released Nikon D90, are ushering a the era of convergence faster than we may have anticipated.

If you haven’t seen it already, check out the Reverie video by noted photographer Vincent Laforet. Shot using the 5D Mark II, the video demonstrates what use to cost ten of thousands of dollars is now possible with a $2700 camera!

Political Photography

Mona T. Brooks will be on hand to talk about political photography her recent trip to Denver, Colorado, where she was a photographer at the Democratic National Convention. Mona will discuss the following topics:

1. How I got started and what I’ve done the passed 5 years
   • school
   • experience
   • publications and clients
2. My Passion
   • A school assignment got me interested in photographing women in politics
   • How I got to be Obama’s fundraiser photographer in the Bay Area
3. Networking
   • My business relies on word-of-mouth
   • A stranger helped me a job as a Democratic National Convention (DNC) photographer
4. Documenting “A week in a life of a DNCC CEO”
   • The access I got was a documentary photographer’s dream
5. What’s next
   • How I plan to market myself
   • Keep doing what I love

Mona T. Brooks quit corporate America in 2003 and started a new career in photograpy.  She graduated from the Academy of Art University in December 2006 with a BFA in Documentary Photography.  She’s been in 29 issues of San Francisco Magazine since November 2005 and been published internationally in Le Monde, Europa, Augenzeuge, and UK’s Intersection Magazine.  Her clients range from Obama for America to Nokia and Microsoft. You can currently see her images on MUNI buses for ads of Park Merced Apartments.  Her website is http://www.monabrooks.com and she can be found 24/7 on Facebook.

Monthly Assignment: CHOICE

We all have a choice coming up this November, so the October, 2008, monthly assignment will be CHOICE. You can choose Red, Blue, Canon or Nikon, but please choose to bring a new photo for this month’s contest!

The winner will get a free Pro Account on SmugMug for a year!

COBA finally has a presence on Facebook. Sign up and join the new COBA group!

Tentative meeting topics are political photography and Photokina wrapup. The contest for October will be CHOICE.

Here are the slides from Edward Casati’s presentation on Windows Home Server.

The September meeting for the Camera Owners of the Bay Area (COBA) user group will be held on Wednesday, September 10, 2008, in Cordura Hall 100 at Stanford University from 7:30-10:00 pm.

Windows Home Server (WHS)

Edward Casati of Unbound Photography (www.UnboundPhoto.com) has recently switched to using Windows Home Server (WHS) as his main ‘bulk’ file storage.

He had outgrown his ReadyNAS and decided to build his own WHS with some extra hardware that he had. He’s been pleased with its performance, and his presentation will cover the following topics:

• What to look for in mass storage: Expandability, Non-proprietary storage format, Room for growth, Remote access, flexibility.
• Brief comparison of other alternatives
• Standard features of WHS
• Hardware options
• Remote Access capabilities

Convergence: Videography and Photography

Is the convergence of video and still photography just around the corner? The newly announced Nikon D90 DSLR features a built-in 720p HDTV movie mode, and the upcoming Red Scarlet is a digital videocamera that captures 5MP images at 24fps (with burst modes going to 180fps).

In the future, will we all be using video cameras that take still photos or still cameras that can take video?

We’ll take a look at the current slate of cameras, make predictions, and debate what lies ahead for videography and photography.

Shutterbudd Monthly Contest: Life in the Bay

This month’s contest comes to you via Shutterbudd. The company is hosting a few local art displays in the San Francisco Bay Area and they’re looking for submissions from photographers such as yourself! The theme for this show will be “Life In the Bay” since they are located in the San Francisco Bay Area and will be showing the art in local businesses. They’d like to see images that really reflect the feeling of the Bay Area and of living in and around San Francisco. They are asking for stunning black and white images that evoke any number of emotions and are immediately recognizable as having been taken in the Bay Area.

For the very first show, they’ve chosen two lovely local businesses in Mountain View, California: Sweet Corner and zpizza, both located on bustling Castro Street. They have both expressed an interest in giving back to the artistic community and hosting beautiful art in their spaces, and this is a great chance for everyone to win!

For details, please check out http://www.shutterbudd.com/theshow.

NOTE: For this contest, you can use any prior photo you’ve taken in the past. It doesn’t have to have been taken in the past month.

Location

Cordura Hall 100
210 Panama Street
Stanford, CA 94309

Cordura Hall is on the corner of Campus Drive and Panama Street. Park in the lot across the street. Cordura 100 is next to the courtyard between Ventura Hall and Cordura Hall.