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Derrick Story

Writer, Teacher, Photographer


Areas of Expertise:
  • digital photography
  • Aperture
  • iPhoto
  • Photoshop
  • Lightroom
  • speaking
  • training

Biography

Derrick Story is the digital media evangelist for O'Reilly. His experience includes more than 20 years as a photojournalist, managing editor for O'Reilly Network, and a speaker for IDG, PMA, and Santa Fe Workshops. He is the author of Digital Photography Hacks, Digital Photography Pocket Guide, 3rd Ed., and his latest, The Digital Photography Companion. He coauthored iPhoto: The Missing Manual with David Pogue.

Derrick likes to keep his shooting skills sharp by running his photography business, Story Photography. You can listen to his photo podcasts and read his tips at The Digital Story (thedigitalstory.com). Aperture fans might want to check out his co-authored video training on Lynda.com: Aperture 1.5 Beyond the Basics.

Articles

Multimedia

Webcast: Five Ways to Make Your Photos Look Better
March 27, 2008
In this webcast, Derrick Story, digital photographer, blogger, and author of The Digital Photography Companion, gives you the tools to capture the high quality pictures you've always wanted--photos that will distinguish your work from others. Thousands...

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Podcast Know Your Lens Model and Other Metadata Tricks in Aperture
Publish Date: Jun. 5, 2008

Would you like to know the exact lens you used for every shot in your Aperture library? In this podcast with Joe Schorr, Derrick Story learns about the new "Lens Model" field and how to use it. Plus Joe explains how to update your previously uploaded images in Aperture to also display this information. Other helpful techniques include tapping the power of the Query HUD and changes in Aperture 2 to help you better look inside Stacks.

Podcast Layout Tool Disguised as Aperture's Book Making Function
Publish Date: May. 6, 2008

Aperture 2.1 includes a more versatile book-making tool than we saw in earlier versions. So powerful in fact, that calling it a book making tool is really selling it short. It's actually a flexible layout application with some very useful output options. In this podcast, Derrick Story talks with Joe Schorr and tries to uncover all the hidden gems buried in Aperture 2.1.

Podcast John Paul Caponigro on the State of Printing
Publish Date: Apr. 23, 2008

Photographer and fine art printing expert John Paul Caponigro sits down with Derrick Story at Photoshop World 08 in Orlando to provide an inside look at the Epson Print Academy, the changing world of photography, and even a few remarks about his favorite printing papers.

Podcast "Subject to Change" Authors on Product Development
Publish Date: Apr. 15, 2008

Designing products and services that resonate with customers takes more than just a few stock demographics reports. By studying practices of successful companies, you can apply the same techniques to your own endeavors. In this podcast, Derrick Story interviews three of the four authors of "Subject to Change," who provide insights about how prosperous businesses can--and should--use customer experiences to inform and shape the product development process, from start to finish.

Podcast Sal Soghoian on Extending Aperture with AppleScript
Publish Date: Apr. 10, 2008

Apple automation guru, Sal Soghoian talks about the scriptability of Aperture in this podcast interview with Derrick Story. Sal points to the "Aperture-InDesign Integration Demo" as a powerful example of how AppleScript can extend Aperture's capabilities.

Podcast Aperture 2 Features 101-103 with Joe Schorr
Publish Date: Mar. 18, 2008

Apple's web page says, "Aperture 2 delivers over 100 dramatic, new features." And still there are a few terrific ones they forgot to put on the list. In this podcast, Derrick Story chats with Joe Schorr, Senior Product Manager for Aperture, to uncover a few of these hidden gems.

Podcast Aperture 2.0 with Joe Schorr
Publish Date: Feb. 12, 2008

Aperture 2.0 is faster, easier to use, and produces better images, says Joe Schorr, Apple Senior Product Manager. In this interview with Derrick Story, Joe explains how Aperture 2.0 meets those lofty claims. This chat covers a lot of new ground.

Podcast Katrin Eismann's Digital Darkroom Magic
Publish Date: Jan. 29, 2008

Katrin Eismann, coauthor of The Creative Digital Darkroom, sat down with Derrick Story at PhotoPlus Expo in New York for a chat about how the darkroom has evolved from chemical-based to digital, and how that evolution has influenced her approach to image making. Katrin touches on many interesting topics, including her explanation on 3-step sharpening.

Podcast Joe Schorr on Leopard and Aperture
Publish Date: Jan. 8, 2008

Leopard brings a host of new goodies for Aperture users by virtue of the new photography functionality baked right into the operating system. In this interview with Senior Product Manager Joe Schorr, you'll hear some of the most enticing and useful features for Aperture photographers.

Podcast John McDermott on Assignment with Aperture
Publish Date: Dec. 13, 2007

John McDermott's workflow once consisted of handing off rolls of Kodachrome to a courier and waiting to see which images appeared in Newsweek. He then struggled through the awkward digital transition until he discovered Aperture. In this conversation with Derrick Story, John talks about his life as an assignment photographer, and how he's adapting to the changing photography landscape.

Podcast Sal Soghoian on Leopard, Automation, and Aperture
Publish Date: Nov. 27, 2007

Apple's product manager of automation technologies is the same guy who many of us consider the ultimate AppleScript guru: Sal Soghoian. Even though Sal and I live only a few hours apart, I had to go all the way to the Caribbean to chase him down for this podcast interview. It was worth it. Sal talks about Leopard, automation improvements, and of course, how this all affects Aperture.

Podcast Mikkel Aaland Shares CS3 RAW Tips
Publish Date: Nov. 21, 2007

The new Bridge 2 and Adobe Camera Raw 4 combination included in Photoshop CS3 provides photographers with the tools they need to build an excellent post production workflow. In this interview at PhotoPlus Expo in New York, Mikkel Aaland, author of Photoshop CS3 Raw, talks about the power of these applications and how best to use them.

Podcast Rick Sammon's Travel Tips for Photographers
Publish Date: Oct. 26, 2007

Seasoned travel photographer Rick Sammon sits down with Derrick Story in the O'Reilly Media booth at PhotoPlus Expo '07 in New York City. In this podcast, Rick draws upon his experiences to offer good advice for photographers on the go.

Podcast Tim Grey on HD Photo and Microsoft Technology
Publish Date: Oct. 11, 2007

"HD Photo has been in development at Microsoft for the better part of 5 years now," says Tim Grey during his interview with Derrick Story on the expo floor at Photoshop World 07 in Las Vegas. "It enables us to have really good images within a smaller file size." Tim goes on to explain the benefits of HD Photo in detail during this chat in the O'Reilly booth.

Podcast Peter Krogh on Digital Asset Management
Publish Date: Oct. 11, 2007

"When you think about keywording," says Peter Krogh, "you have to determine what the use will be. Are the keywords to help you find you own pictures, or are they for a stock agency?" Peter, author of The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers talks about tagging and other important organizational tools for photographers during his interview with Derrick Story on the expo floor at Photoshop World 07 in Las Vegas.

Blog

Summary of Ink Costs per Print for Epson R2400 & R1900

June 17 2008

Drew over at Red River Paper Company just sent me a link to summary of ink cost by print size for the Espon R2400 and R1900 printers. It's a cool (and somewhat sobering) study where I learned that a full-coverage.... read more

Digital Media Gems on Twitter

June 11 2008

I keep an eye on all of the content that flows through O'Reilly's Digital Media site and on The Digital Story. When something particularly good or notable catches my eye, I'm posting a tweet about it on Twitter. If you're interested in these "editor's picks," then you can find me… read more

"Inside iPhone" Site Launches

June 09 2008

If you’re more interested in iPhone application development than the latest designer case, take a look at Inside iPhone. The site features a knowledgeable blogging crew, forums, code sharing, and much more. read more

More on "Hidden" Layout Tool in Aperture

May 26 2008

If you haven't discovered some of the hidden layout options yet in Aperture 2.1, I'll show you where they are. Once discovered, you'll look at this program in a new light. It's like having an application within an application.. read more

Living, Breathing Digital Photography Companion

May 19 2008

Since the things that people like best about The Digital Photography Companion are the DIY tips, I've created a web page so we can keep them rolling. It includes techniques for both capture and post production. read more

Your Favorite Aperture 2 Tip

May 19 2008

I'm recording a Lynda.com Aperture title this week, and I thought it would be fun to include your favorite Aperture 2.1 tip. I'll even give you credit :) Check out the details in this post.. read more

PDF Services Provide Big Bonus for Aperture Users

May 02 2008

You may have missed that the "Save as PDF" button has changed to a PDF pop-up menu in the Print dialog box for the Book tool. There are a few things going on here, many of which I'll cover.... read more

Aperture 2.1 SDK Available

April 22 2008

Apple has made available via the Apple Developer Connection site the Aperture 2.1 SDK. You'll need your ADC login info to grab the 596 kb disk image. But once you have it, you can use it to develop Export and Edit plug-ins. The download includes documentation to help you get… read more

Downloadable Photo Reference Card

April 22 2008

Have you ever forgotten to reset the ISO or white balance after a shoot, only to use your camera the next day with the wrong settings? I have. And to help us all remember how to be ready for the next session, I've posted this handy reference card that you… read more

Drobo Robotic Disk Array and AirPort Extreme

April 15 2008

I’ve been curious about the Drobo Fully Automated SATA Robotic Storage Array and how it might perform on my AirPort Extreme network. if this combination turned out to be practical, I could have 2 Terabytes of hard disk backup storage available to any computer on the 802.11n network. The big… read more

Alas, No Aperture on my Drobo

April 14 2008

I've been testing a Drobo for network backups. I like the little robotic array, but darn, wouldn't it be cool to use it with Aperture too?. read more

Tethered iPhone in Aperture 2

April 08 2008

I can't resist any longer. I've tried not to write about connecting my iPhone to the MacBook Pro and shooting tethered images controlled by Aperture 2, but I can't stop myself. It's just plain fun. And it makes a good party trick too (some clue about the parties I attend).… read more

Kelby's Ride

April 04 2008

Scott Kelby, NAPP President, was touring the expo floor at Photoshop World Thursday in his new ride. We're not referring to just any run-about vehicle. Kelby's ride had 8-spoke mag-alloy wheels, metallic flake paint job waxed to high gloss, and running lights for that distinctive, "I am here" look without… read more

Lightroom 2.0 Beta Featured at Photoshop World Keynote

April 03 2008

Adobe selected the spotlight of Photoshop World in Orlando to introduce the beta version of Photoshop Lightroom 2.0. Tom Hogarty showed off some of its alluring features, including the new dodge and burn tool. You can see for yourself in this video from the keynote. read more

"Edit API" in Aperture 2.1

April 01 2008

Apple has opened the door to third party image editing tools for Aperture 2.1 by launching "Edit API." And to show you how powerful this feature is, they've included the first plug-in, "Dodge and Burn," with the version 2.1 download - for free. And there's lots more to come, and… read more
Derrick Story

"I just scored O'Reilly's new 'Digital Photography Hacks,' written by the inestimable Derrick Story, a geek's geek and a photographer's photographer, whose work I've admired for years."
--BoingBoing.net