Today, we’re all over the place.

Not just in a busy sense (well, that too), but also in a digital sense. We leave our footprint (Foursquare checkins, Facebook wall posts, Tweets, Blog posts, Comments, Yelp Reviews etc..) all over the ‘net. We share where we’ve been, where we’re going, what we did, ate, thought and felt with our friends, family and even complete strangers whom we’ve never met.

But, in reviewing a few photos that were posted by @GeorgeGSmithJr from a recent trip up north, all of the tweets and foursquare checkins fall in the shadows of some of the pictures he uploaded from the trip.

So my question is– we’re sharing our social lives online- but it all seems to fall short when you compare it to a picture.

I think this one’s my favorite, but check out his Flickr stream here for the rest (if you’re interested).

Sometimes I forget my headphones at the gym and so, I usually pick up Popular Science or some other techy/semi-geeky magazine.

Create an infrared effect in Photoshop

Anyway, I found something cool in the November edition of the magazine— infrared photography.

Infrared Photography blocks visible light and captures only the IR spctrum. When you use an IR filter, the result is  false-color or black-and-white images with a dreamlike or sometimes lurid appearance known as the “Wood Effect.”

It looks the coolest with trees because foliage reflects in the same way visible light is reflected from snow.

Since not all of us can buy or add an IR filter, us normal “point-and-shoot” camera people can use Photoshop to get this awesome effect by following the steps below:

Create an infrared image effect in Photoshop:

1. Open your image and save a copy as a TIFF or PSD.
2. Go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Black and White. Name the layer and click OK.
3. In the Black and White dialogue box, click the Preset arrow and choose Infrared. Adjust the slider bars until you get the look you like.
4. When you’re happy with your image, click OK then Layer>Flatten Image and save it.

Let’s be honest- we all take tons of digital photos. Sure, they get posted on facebook and stored in iPhoto, but how many actually make it to the press?

Whenever my mom goes to get pictures printed at Sam’s Club or Costco, I shudder when I see the final product. The colors are off and it just looked better on my the display of my MacBook Pro.

So, when I run across those special few worthy of the honor of paper printing, I use Mpix, a professional printing company. Sure, it’s not as cheap as VistaPrint or Snapfish, but if you’re looking for a good quality print on some nice paper, check it out.

In addition to standard photo printing, they also have cool products like gallery wraps, where your photo is printed on professional grade canvas and wrapped around the edges- ready to be hung.

They also hand color correct your photos, which is great. All of my photos printed via  Mpix look amazing. And when your photos arrive to you in the mail, each one is wrapped separately.

It’s the little things that count.

eyefi

Announced in October, these WiFi enabled SD cards allow you (and me!) to upload photos from camera to Flikr, facebook, iPhoto, Snapfish and the like without having to plug in your USB cable and sit (im)patiently and wait.

Currently available at major retailers including Amazon.com, this 2 gig disk could help make your digital photographic lifestyle a little more efficient. (oh and it’s rated 4/5 stars so far by users)

According to the website,  users select from among 17 popular online photo sharing, social networking or blogging sites to share their photographs, and select where on their PC or Mac they want to archive their images. Once the set-up is complete, users can focus on taking pictures and sharing memories – and not on the process of uploading photos from their camera.

Eye-Fi’s free upload service allows users to transfer an unlimited number of photos. It handles full-resolution JPEG pictures and intelligently resizes the images if required by the selected online destination.

process improvement. love it.