One in ten, if I am lucky

Just the other day, someone saw my photos and said, "I really like your camera- it takes such good photos." At first I was miffed because they were bypassing all the work that goes in to a photo. What about complementing me and my hard work? Then I thought back to when I was just using a point and shoot. All my photos were 'ok' enough. As long as they were not blurry, they were pretty darn good. Don't mind the 57 other things that lead up to the photograph and the 52 things that had to happen after the photograph was taken. Point and shoot means, you are happy with what you go because it is automatic and everything is equal.

In this post, I am going to focus on the after part of the image taking- editing.

I equate photography to painting a wall- no one sees all the extra effort it takes to get everything done. They only see the end result- a nicely painted wall. Same with photography- no one sees all the work it took to get that one photo, they only see that one resulting photo.

Locating information

This is a biggie for me.

Photography is a never ending process of learning.

I took a beginners class in photography in college. Digital photography wasn't even out yet, well, in a consumer form at that time. So it was all film, dark room work, and developing your own prints. I was highly interested in the end result, but I hated all the work/time it took. Just hated it. It was costly in money too. But importantly, I learned some basics. I felt a little more intelligent when people talked images, or I saw a print that was interesting to me. But photography as a hobby was too far away because of the dollar and time cost to me.

So moving quickly forward to now- I get my photography information from various sources. I read books, magazines, talk to other photographers, look on websites, read photography forums, and investigate. I honestly feel like I will never come up with an original idea ever. Seriously. It is daunting!

The one marriage of tech and photography that has worked out nicely for me are RSS feeds. I currently have 28 different directly related to photography in my Bloglines account. (I don't count techie sites that post about photography) If you can wade through the muck and find some gems, it is more than worth it to use this form to stay on top of your reading. Think of it as getting mail to your computer and having it keep sorted which information you have read and which ones you haven't.

Some sites updates frequently like Patrick Smith. Some update as an event is coming like Photo Nights for Charity. I also subscribe to my own Flickr account to keep tabs on comments that pop in, and a group conversation in the area. So there is power in that as well.

I encourage each photography to figure out new ways of staying informed and challenged. Of course it doesn't help I am a geek at heart, and now digital photography hits my wheelhouse. If I can't feel challenged with just these three blogs, then I need to get paid for photography.

- Strobist
- Digital Photography School
- Zach Arias

Until then, I have another 25 other blogs or so keep informed with. And if those get boring, I can find a huge load more. Sites that cover just filters, or ones on DIY photography... I could keep going.

Speedlite

When I finally decided to get a flash for photography, I broke a barrier I had set for myself. I was very happy with just available light. I didn't have to do much else other than checking to see the image was bright enough. Even that could have been tweaked slightly. I was trying to get away with not doing much with as little as possible. Often that meant cranking up the ISO to a high, and usually unacceptable, level.

The break through was seeing what people were able to do with their lighting. Photos with additional light was entirely different. With and without photos of extra light made me a believer. Even short movie clips of people showing what they could do with extra light finally convinced me. Available light was not enough, and most likely would never be. I had to come to that conclusion.

Leftover links

Here are a listing of interesting photo related links I have found since the last leftover links posting.

• Entire City Rendered In 3D Using Nothing But Flickr Photos- Gizmodo; That is pretty damn impressive. But to have thousands of photos posted of a single place in a single location like Flickr is very impressive as well.
  
  
• Hang Perfectly Level and Centered Artwork- LifeHacker; I know I don't print much of my work for myself... but knowing how to hang prints is important.
  
  
• Stanford's open-source camera could revolutionize photography, you'll still use 'Auto' mode- Engadget; Thats pretty darn impressive. Would keep older working cameras around and on a level playing field with all the rest of the older working cameras. Interesting concept.
  
  
• I Coulda Been a Contendah…..- Joe McNally; I feel like I have no clue and a bit nervous all the time when I shoot. And if Joe is admitting he feels the same, I feel like at least we all need to keep learning and figuring out new things. It is a never ending field.
  
  
• Use a Vacuum to Clean Dust Particles Caught Inside a Camera Lens- LifeHacker; I have no clue if this would work... but I see a lot of people cringing at the thought of violating their $1,000 plus camera body to their shopvac. And yes, this is a LAST resort... personally, I would just send my camera body off to the shop for a professional cleaning. (and have)
  
  
• Canon EOS 7D 24p footage tries to make indie filmmakers / chain smokers out of us all- Engadget; I still don't know if I would do much video on my DSLR... I know thats all the rage, but I would rather have photos than video. Video is still a major pain to get right and edit in my book. Oh, and why smoking Canon?
  

Photography review of U2 in Chicago on September 12th

I am a huge U2 fan, no doubt about it. As I attended more and more shows, I found myself watching the side stage and other inner workings as much as the band. Then I found photography and concert photography and wanted to take on the biggest band in the world. I had a chance during the Vertigo tour to photograph the band with a photo-pass. I was nervous as hell, over-matched, and clearly only had a slight clue about what I was doing.

A photo-pass for U2 only allows media to photograph the band for the first three songs of the concert. After such time, the photographers are escorted out and sent on their merry way. Most photographers sent to do their work to photograph the band are full time photographs, AP, local newspaper, etc. They have a job and this is ‘just another show’ for them. They usually are not vested in the band, the music, or finding out the deeper information meaning of the music. They are there to do what they have to, which is to find one or two photos to go with a review for a newspaper or website. They have about 15-20 minutes to do this. I was there representing www.atu2.com , a fan site around since 1995. I have been on staff since about 2001 or so in various roles. I was not getting paid, it was more of a dream assignment than anything.

Preparing for U2 in Chicago

As I prepare to travel to Chicago for the US leg of U2’s world tour- I need to get my camera gear together. What all am I going to take? Here is a brief checklist of gear and explanation if needed.

Leftover links

Here are a few links that I can't find a reason to post full write-ups about.

Seven Samurai chipmakers set to take on Intel- Engadget; I find it interesting that Canon is joining in. No Nikon though. Not surprising.

Video: Canon EOS 7D gatling gun shooting 8 FPS of awesome- Engadget; Wow, that is all sorts of awesome.

Ask a Pro: How to Shoot (and Not Get Shot) In a War Zone- Gizmodo; While I have seen a bunch of photos from various sources about different wars, I really don't want/need advice on photographing a war. Still, some good information in there.

AP Photographer Loses Foot in Bomb Blast, Never Stops Taking Pictures- Gizmodo; Ok, thats a bit nuts. At least he has the sense to use a Canon. Ha.

Anything for the perfect shot- Dark Roasted Blend; A collection of interesting poses people put themselves in to shoot a photo.

Leaving It Out

A man's hand drips blood as he stands in front of riot policemen during a demonstration in Athens December 9, 2008. Hundreds of protesters threw stones and bottles at lines of riot police outside the Greek parliament on Tuesday, in a fourth day of anti-government clashes triggered by police killing a teenager. REUTERS/John Kolesidis (GREECE)

There are times when a photo just grabs me for some reason or another, and this was one of those photos.

I was browsing a series of photos on Rueters that all had a technique called 'Leaving it Out.' The style is to only show part of the total image. From the lack of information, the viewer has to extrapolate the rest of the image and what is happening. For me, it is all drawn to that one little stream of blood going down the man's hand. Add that he is holding a folder, and the police shields. Each piece separately is rather boring photography. Perhaps if you had the man with his folder after the protest holding his bloody hand up to his face might make something... but add the lack of rest of the information and I am left somewhat spellbound with this image.

It is easy to take a photo, it is easy to share the result, it is easy to have the right gear, it is somewhat easy to know how to use the gear and edit the photos. It is VERY hard to make that image compelling and interesting to the viewer. And I am very certain that many other people will think the opposite of it than I. I am also sure this photo could have been bigger and contained more facts in it, but with a little crop it becomes something else. For this photo it is called 'Leaving It Out.' Capturing a scene through a camera lens is sometimes more about telling the viewer about events that are happening outside of the frame. This selection of images hints at the context that surrounds them. - Rueters

As I find more photos that just hit me right, I will try to add them here as a running commentary on things that interest me. I know one of the keys to me thinking about a possible photo is part of my brain going, "huh, thats interesting." I wish I had a better description of what makes part of my go, but that is as close as I have ever gotten. I am not very knowledgable in the different pantheon of photographers in history, styles, edits, cameras, shows, etc. Though I am learning, slowly, oh so slowly.

The Killers at Merriweather Post

I had done some research before the show, and from most reports I would have 'issues' with taking my Canon 30D in to Merriweather Post Pavilion. I was warned that the security didn't mind going in to the pit for something. I didn't think I would if I stick out with my 50mm lens and nothing else. Got it all in no problem, however the problem became quiet evident when I got to the top of the seating bowl and looked down. The pit area was pretty darn full.
I had gotten to Merriweather Post a little late- 8:40pm or so. I had missed the opening act without too much issue. The problem occurred when everyone was pretty set in their location and I am not a pushy person to get closer. I get a bit self conscience being as tall as I am and blocking other fans views because I shoved my way in to a spot. If I had gotten there earlier and laid claim- I would not have a problem.
Once the music started up, I broke out my camera rig. No problems. With the short 50mm lens, it was easily hidden among everyone. The biggest problem, besides the distance, was the number of fans. This would include heads, arms, and me bumping in to the people in front of me as I raised and lowered the camera.
Initially I had the ISO at 800 because I didn't know how easy or tough the lighting would be. However when I spotted the three lighting rig guys above us, I was fairly confident the lighting would be better than the last time I saw them- which also meant it would change a lot quicker.
As the lighting changed, and the band moved around a bit- I found myself sticking with the settings of ISO 640, shutter of 1/100, and dialing up and down the F/ range from 1.8 to 8. Yes, upwards of f/8 because of some of the really bright conditions. I also had the camera set to hi-speed mode because of the chance at catching something in a burst that a single shot would most likely miss. (that was a big goal of mine, shoot 2-3 burst shots at every opportunity)
As it turned out, my location and short lens really did not provide me with much opportunity to get some of the better expressions of the band. I turned to the chance to capture the lighting and other broader visuals that had going. I think I did a decent job nailing down a few key visuals to express the mood of the concert. At the end I attempted to just hold the camera up above the crowd and shoot blind. I got zero usable shots from that experiment.
When I got home, I got a count over slightly over 550 shots from the entire night. I quickly discounted many, and after a first pass I had about 70 shots I thought were ok. After editing and pre-processing those 70, I narrowed it down further to about 50 shots that were better. I sent those results shots through the processing in Lightroom. Most of the editing involved cropping. The white balance on most were pretty dead on. Once detached from all the shots, I whacked more and came out with 38 that were usable and shareable. While I might have shot a crap load, it was very easy to remove most of them for being blurry, out of focus, hands/heads in the way, etc.
Concert photography is something I enjoy doing but I don't think I could make a profession out of it. The Killers have a full time photographer on staff, and I spied him on the side of the stage- for the entire show. I hope he had an assignment for that night to get a certain shot, otherwise I would be a little disappointed with his lack of movement. Even if he was trying for one shot, he didn't even try to get down low for a different angle. At least I never saw him move.

Here is the resulting 38 photos I uploaded to Flickr to share.

It's official- Canon 7D

Color me confused! I was honestly thinking this was a clever ruse. I was wrong!

The only thing I can think of is that it is the tweener body- between the Canon 5D Mark II and the Canon 50D- which means it is targeted at me.
Not sure if I would use the Wireless file transmission, but it is an expensive option- $700.

I do like the artificial horizon overlay. That does rock.
Dual processors for wicked fast processing.
Still has the 1.6x cropped sensor.
ISO up to 3200, or a possible 128000 in H mode.
Still uses CF cards, no SD dual slots.
19 points of AF
weather-sealing
oh, and HD video.
It is something I will be seriously considering when I am going to replace my aging 30D. Now, can a brother spare $1600 for the body- please? I'd be willing to give up my 30D in trade!

(update: one thing I am not sure I like- it uses a new vertical battery grip. Another $300 investment. Grrrrrrr)


Read a hands on review from DPreview.
Read the official Canon press release here.