Six years ago

It has been nearly six years since my buddy Matt badgered me in to getting a Flickr account. I didn't quite understand the impact it might have, but I went with it. He seemed to be smarter on these things than I was. I was interested in photography, and I didn't want to self host images. It was a good solid site, free at first!

Now it is almost six years to the day that I signed up. And I have put up over 7,500 items- 99.999% images. A bucket load of the images are U2, followed by Sierra my dog, then Gamenight. Five years of TurkeyBowl- Thanksgiving day game between Calvert Hall and Loyola. Four years of the Hon Fest.

I could go on and on... and I nearly did... but in most of that time I never really considered myself a professional. Just a guy who like taking photos and sharing them.
Well, recently things have changed a little bit. I am not sure what happened... and without getting myself in to trouble with Flickr, lets just say I have been able to obtain a few things that I wouldn't have otherwise.

So thank you to Matt, and thank you to all those who have taken a look- more than 960,000 times. (seriously, thats a lot)


Just put up my first video from the 7D:

Check me out on Twitter

I do about all my commenting on photography now from Twitter. Check me out there:

http://twitter.com/promans

the end of P+S...

http://photofocus.com/2010/06/09/the-hottest-selling-new-compact-camera-will-be…/

The end is coming... the end of the P+S as a stand alone device. I am sure there are plenty of people don't own a seperate camera, but just use the camera-phone as a 'I've got something' camera.

The quality of the images on phones are increasing- big time. However, the size of the censor, the ISO, and 'lens' are the sticking points in my mind. Just like multi-purpose print/scan/fax/copy systems, the do it alls will never out perform single tasked systems... however multi-use devices are VERY useful for those who use them now and then. Throw in video, HD video, and holy crow. In the hands of someone who knows what they are doing- and they become very serviceable devices.

I would seriously consider getting an iPhone G4 just for the camera aspect in my pocket... Just as the article describes, the Chase Jarvis 'The Best Camera..' project is VERY true. I don't carry a dedicated camera with me all the time. I really have the make an effort to have my camera with me at all now a days. I have a hard time just slapping on a single lens and rolling out- I want to do more... control the lighting now that I know how... have choices of lenses now that I know how and what they all do.... a carry around camera phone? Would make me think a heck of a lot more and at least it would be with me.

I can justify the cost of the device... I can justify the use with the camera, the GPS. The only downside- the cost of the data plan. Seriously... there has got to be a way to bring that price down.

I don't ever see a hotshoe being ingratiated to the phone- but I somehow do see a PocketWizard app. =)

Possibilities

I was thinking the other day... if I had my own photography company- I would want a dedicated piece of transportation for all the gear I would take on various locations. So, what would I use for all that? Of course I would have all sorts of options on site. Better to take it and not use it than go and not have a piece you need.

I would think I would want some sort of roof rack so I could setup on the roof for shots. I would want lots of secure storage in the back... some sort of way of charging batteries on the road too. Inverters off a dedicated battery maybe.
But I think the vehicle for me would be the Sprinter van probably... maybe I just want it to be. More likely I would wind up getting some junker minivan.

Ah... dreams of what might be. I think I am more excited about the possibility of doing than the actual doing. Thats geek right there.

Links:


- Canon 5D Mark II used to shoot entire House season finale, director says it's 'the future'- Engadget; Cool beans... quiet the change from the big cameras they normally use.

- Turn Off the Flash for Better Food Photos- LifeHacker; If you use on-camera flash I would agree... however, if you are a Strobist, then you can figure it out better to light the item.

- DSLR Concept Redesign Makes More Room For Your Face- Gizmodo; Cool idea. How ergonomic can they push it?


- Photographing Children – Know When to Leave your Camera- DPS; Good points... I often leave my camera when going with my kid. Though there are a few times I regret it. The times I do take it, I find that I am paying more attention to locating the shot than I ought to.

- The Most Powerful Light In Your Bag- Strobist; Great article. I often don't take my tripod because it is too balky... but in low light I try to take it with me.

Photo-gathering

This coming weekend, I signed up for a group of folks to get together and do some photography. Nice, good. It will be my first venture out to try things out in a while. Cool beans.
The question is now- what do I attempt to do? Short of possible bad weather, lack of models, and other issues... I want to at least have a game plan.

I think such gatherings would be good to talk shop, show off technique, and generally learn some new ways of doing things. I am usually pretty interested in finding out how/why others shoot the way they do. It is one thing to see the end result, but 'seeing' the thought process has always been very helpful to my learning. (monkey see- monkey do might be another way of looking at it.)

I am gonna bring most of my gear along just in case, you never know what you might need. (short of the backdrop that is)

But the question is, what do I want to try? My normal photography is fly on the wall stuff, but I have been getting in to more people stuff. Outdoors would be a nice practice for people. With the warm weather, trees blooming, there is more opportunity to photograph people outside. I do love open shade, but what happens when that isn't possible? I guess that is something to think about and work for... and if it is only me- then what? Things I don't want to run in to and tackle when I have a rare paying gig without some information!

Hopefully the weather holds up and we have some people to photograph other than each other... nothing worse than a photographer trying to photograph another one. Seriously... overall, I think most photographers like being behind the camera instead of in front of it.

Links

It has been a while, just been busy. Here is a slew of new links!

• High-speed, medium-format DM40 DSLR puts Mamiya back in the money again- Engadget; Medium format is very cool- but WAY too expensive for my budget.
  
• Get the Most from Your Point-and-Shoot Camera- LifeHacker; Wish I had something like this when I first got my Canon S45 about 7-8 years ago.
  
• Sony's Ultra Compact DSLR Camera Concept May Have Powerful Touchscreen Menus- Gizmodo; Would this sort of touch screen come to other manufacturers? Maybe... I don't know how I feel about it. Literally. When I am shooting I can adjust everything on the fly by touch. No clue how they configure that with a touchscreen.
  
• Understand Your Camera's Histogram to Take More Balanced Pictures- LifeHacker; Very important that histogram. I didn't care about it for years- now it make much more sense in the quality of the image.
  
• Take Better Interior Photos by Kneeling- LifeHacker; Changing your prospective is great way to get interesting photos. I also do this by holding the camera above my head and shooting 'blindly' and seeing what I get sometimes.
  
• 44% of those who own a Digital Camera with Video Never Use it- DPS; I don't know if I would be part of that 44% or not. I think with some messing around I would use it from time to time, but to make home videos- naa.
  
• GigaPan Epic Pro robotic camera mount shipping in April- Endgaget; Ya know, for those EPIC scenes.
  
• Learn to Use Depth of Field to Focus Attention, Take Better Photos- LifeHacker; DOF is where it is at.
  
• Reason #92,417 Why We Should Be Grateful- Gizmodo; I love batteries... just love them. And this is a great example of advances.
  
• Photoshop's Upcoming Content-Aware Fill Feature Looks Like Magic- Gizmodo; Wow and wow. If they brought this little bit to Lightroom, I might pee my pants.
  
• A War Photographer's Storage Casualties- Gizmodo; Sounds about right.
  
• Print a Lens Hood for On-The-Cheap Sun Blocking- LifeHacker; I've never needed this, but I am glad something like this exists.
  
• 26 Gigapixel of Paris. 

I so love What the Duck

U2 photo auction for AWF

I have coordinated two different photo auctions in support of a great charity called African Well Fund. Over those two, they have raise about $19,000 for the cause. Wonderful!
This write up from @U2 does a much better job than I could ever try to attempt.

I offered my help to the charity a while back with the idea to auction off photos of U2 from fan photographers. It was a modest idea, one I thought would raise maybe a thousand or two, and it just took off from there. I had some issues with shipping and shelved the idea until the folks from AWF came back to me asking to help with the goal of raising $50,000 for Bono's 50th birthday. Sure!

There was already a great list of photographers from the previous auctions, and we were off. Lots of great shots. Some from way back in 1983, and some from just about the last show of the tour so far. And a little bit in-between.

As always it is interesting to figure out which three images of my own I am going to pick. I think I got two of them, the third is still up in the air. It is a small matter of pride to see how my images do with the rest. I think my efforts to get quality images this tour finally matched up with my ability. The only downside is that I was only able to attend two concerts instead of 16 like the previous two tours each.

Links

I had entirely planned to go over filters in an article until I saw my first link. Damn.

Photo articles are becoming hard to come by as my time is now being diverted outside with the nicer weather. A good problem to have!

- The Essential Filters for Controlling Contrast in Digital Nature Photography- Singh-Ray; See the first sentence. Seriously though, the shot of the filter being put in to place could be my camera setup. Exactly the same.

- 21 Reasons to Use Lightroom- PB; In case you needed more.

- How to WaterMark or add Logo to a Batch of Photos and Images!- tnerd; Great stuff! Though I run my through with LR plugin.

- "I'm Not Taking Your Picture, Don't Look at Meeeeeeee"- Gizmodo; I looked at this, and it is too complicated and a hindrance to normal photo process. I guess if you want to look creepy you could use it.

- Don't Be Afraid to Shoot in Low Light Without a Flash- LifeHacker; I started out shooting without a flash because I was lazy and thought it would be easier. Now I go in to a room looking to see how I can light it. Maybe I ought to go back to natural lighting for a bit......... naaaaaa, rooms are hardly ever lit nicely even for a 50mm f/1.8

- Judge Joe Brown - Cheap wedding photographer- YouTube; I don't even know where to start... hundreds of weddings with a Rebel XTi?!

- Greatest Swag In The History of Swagginess: The Canon Lens Thermos- Gizmodo; That is so amazingly amazing. I think I passed out from amazingness.

Feeds and links

I currently have 29 RSS feeds in my Photography folder, and if you count WTD, then I have 30. And they represent the most active way I have of keeping up to date with what is going on in my interest in photography. I am not saying they are the best out there, but for what I like and am interested in they do keep me well informed.
Some sources are updated daily, one barely twice a year. But they are all important to me. One is a feed for keeping up with new comments on my Flickr stream- I don't always go there to keep up to date. One is for friend's photo blog, and another is for a charity photography event.
I thought about posting the feeds, but realized that you should find your own. If you are interested in checking them out- I will post them in the near future. Just let me know.
Here is a link to that OPML file (right click and save) that you can import in to your favorite RSS aggregator/reader. When you import it, the file will create a subfolder called Photography and have the links I use be added.

On with the links!

- Pixel LV-WI Wireless Live View Remote Control: look out, family self-portraits- Engadget; Not sure what to think of that. Good for... ummm, yeah- self potraits I suppose.

- Through the Viewfinder Method Makes Your Digital Pics Look Analog- LifeHacker; I've read about this before. Not sure if I want to go down the arty route of photography. One of my orginal goals is to reproduce photos as best as I saw them.

- 122 Brilliant and Blinding Blow Outs- Gizmodo; I suppose there is always a time and place to break the rules!

- Snapm Helps You Find and Book Photographers- LifeHacker; I might try this site- but the 15% off the top it takes for a gig booked is a bit much. How does it know you booked the gig if they can contact you? Supply an email address and avoid it... then again, I haven't used it yet.

- 17 Clever Tricks of Scale- Gizmodo; Good stuff.

- Lowepro Unveils Next Generation SlingShot AW Bags- PB; I love my SlingShot, love the addition for the tri/mono pods. Heavy gear makes it tough to carry a single strap system though.

- Retrospective Shoulder Bags from Think Tank Photo- PB; When I think bags, I think protection for my gear, then I think ease of transporting- ie how easy is it to carry around. It comes from my backpacking days when comfortable straps is vastly more important than looks.

Links

Another round of photo-related information I have found.

- Build a High-Speed Laser-Triggered Photography Rig to Capture Split Second Exposures- LifeHacker; That is simply amazing.

- Giz Explains: Why ISO Is the New Megapixel- Gizmodo; Very good stuff. I have wondered why most folks need anything above 8megapixel. You are never going to crop a photo and print it bigger than 8x10. The better ISO is one key to a great quality image. (Along with the lens)

- Flickr meetups! There is some great action going on with the photography world and it is tied to Flickr groups like the DC/Baltimore Strobist. For these groups, members are arranging for get togethers to discuss, do, and learn. Some people are professionals, some are newbies, most are just eager to learn, practice, and share with others of like mind. I've only been to a couple, but they are fantastic things. The group dynamic makes they fun and interesting. It is relatively easy to get it all lined up... spend a day shooting with folks, and maybe create some new friendships through photography.

- Finally, WTD mirrors my life. In my case, it was cupcakes not beer.

SNOW!

Now that the two blizzards in the area have gone away, I can report on my few photography attempts. The first was to do time lapse photography of the progression of the storm. I do not have anything fancy like a Timer Remote Control. I would also not argue if someone bought me one. Instead I went old school and snapped at semi-regular intervals. I used the tripod to setup a spot next to the front door so the images would be consistent. What I did not count on was the blowing snow melting on the window and creating a bad image. Live and learn.

I had thought that was pretty cool.. then we had a second blizzard. In less than five days- wow. I did the same setup, and while I knew the window would get really crusted, I didn't care. However there was a point that my inner-photogeek awoke- a snow plow at 5:51am! Wonderful! Low light meant I would do a 2 second exposure and the slower snowplow with lights would make some good streaks.
I was very happy with the results...

Here are the two sets of images:
Blizzard #1
Blizzard #2

Funny thing you can see from the shots was my slowly disappearing mail box. I don't think I will get it delivered again until July!

In an attempt to do something other than snow photos, I did some others. Most from an attempt I saw else where. A piece of glass, with a strobe underneath shooting up, and a second strobe isolating the item from a different angle. Here is my favorite of the attempts.

Bald eagle nest

On my commute home, I have seen Bald Eagles several times now. And over the past two/three weeks I have spotted what I believe is their nest. It is almost at the intersection of two major interstates. I would love to find some time to spot them and photograph them, but after looking at the map of the area- the only way to do so would involve parking on the interstate shoulder.
There are some businesses on the other side of the swampy/pond area, but I doubt I could zoom in close enough with my 70-200 to make it interesting.

Ah the joys of seeing nature but not being able to photograph it!

If anyone has suggestions let me know.

Links

Stuff I have found in my travels on the web:

- Hydrophobia rain cover promises to keep your DSLR dry, mysterious- Engadget; I don't know if I want to be out in the rain snapping photos if I need one of those. Best for sports photographers probably. 

- The Making of an Expert- HBR; Very interesting stuff.

- DIY Camera Sling Keeps Your DSLR at the Ready- LifeHacker; Nice idea. Seen the R-Strap stuff around for a while now. Never done it myself, but I see the value.

- Unconfirmed: New Canon Rebel DSLR Coming Next Week, Bringing Better Video- Gizmodo; How many cameras does Canon release in a year? This backs this rumor.

- World's Oldest and Most Expensive Camera Hits the Auction Block- Gizmodo; Wonder what sort of megapixel it gets... shutter speed might be a touch slow.  =)

- Pricing Professional Wedding/Portrait Photography: Resources and Ideas- PhotoFocus; Good article on pricing and professional photographers. I have done a wedding or two, but the people knew going in that I was not a professional- I told them at least three times. I would do my best, but this is not my livelihood and I am going to make mistakes/miss things. They accepted that risk and still went with me.

The Photography Channel?

Trying to get to sleep last night, I was hit with the thought of 'why isn't there more photography related shows?' Then the next thought was 'I wonder if there could be a Photography Channel' like FoodTV? I still recall hearing when FoodTV started that it was a little odd to have a entire network based around food. But I saw the light... I doubt that a Photography Channel would ever get to the level where it is selling its own gear at Kohls like FoodTV, but I do believe there is a place for it.

I realize there are drawbacks- like current lack of any successful photography related TV shows. Most of the content is rolled in to shows about something else. Like Christmas in Yellowstone by PBS. It showed some of what it took to get amazing photos in those conditions. But that was it.

I think if photography was more popular like cooking, that there would be more shows devoted to them. The push for it does not seem to be there.

However, I think it could be a good niche channel. There are plenty of channels on cable/dish etc that you do not watch, so why not give it a try? There could be all sorts of subjects. Here are some that I came up with off the top of my head:

• Gear reviews- from camera bodies, to lenses, to lighting, to extras.
• History of photography
• Classes/follow-along to try your own hand. 
• Professional uses- wedding, portraits, sports, photo journalism
• Contests
• Best of
• Photography stores
• Computer based photography- editing, posting, hosting
• Copyright laws
• Selling images in various formats
• Film studies
• Travel base photography
• Editing tools like Photoshop, Gimp, Lightroom, Aperture, Picasa

Gosh knows there is always something new to report on. Every year there is new gear introduced, lots of new people using them... I know I would latch on and find a couple shows to work with. May I put in an early vote to give David Hobby his own show!  =)    (I suppose it was only time until he got a Wiki entry devoted to him!)

In any case, has this been tried or attempted yet? Has anyone thought about this? Can I get a large benefactor to help me out here to get this started?

Or is the current state still scattered enough to support the market place? Various support websites do an amazing collection of people. But I think there are plenty of people who don't want to dig in to the sites to learn nor want to spend lots of money for classes. There is a market out there folks- now lets get this started!

Channeling my inner photographer

Finding time is a new issue of mine when dealing with my primary hobby of photography. My job change a year ago has left me with less access to open resources to get myself interested- Flickr, training videos, general inspiration. The other big time change is my daughter. She is a wonderful, incredible, change in my life. I look back at photos from the first month and I can't believe it happened still. 

I do a lot of photographing her, and she is my main target of focus. My nature and other object photography has taken, a literal, backseat to her. I used to go out side to photograph frost on blades of grass, but now I spend that time playing with her. So the time I spent practicing photography is no longer as abundant as it used to be. 

I don't feel like I am in a rut with my photography, but I don't feel natural progression I had felt for the past couple of years. I have taken a grand total of one vacation day for travel in about a year now. (thankfully that was to Chicago for U2) I've been to a couple concerts, but photography was not a primary goal due to new time restrictions. I used to look forward to trips as adventures in photography. Ways of getting out and capturing the locations I was visiting. For instance, traveling to Peru two years ago. I was super excited about that prospect. I came back looking for ways I could have improved myself, or if I had other gear in those conditions. I always try to learn from those conditions.

But now, I am not traveling, limited free time to venture out for photography, and very little research time to get inspired and learn. While I am very happy with the resulting photos I take, I always want to get a better shot or expand what I am able to do. I am my own worst critic I suppose. So what can I do to grow?

Links

Another batch of Photography related links!

- Pack a Gun to Protect Valuables from Airline Theft or Loss- LifeHacker; Good information if I ever become a paid-traveling photographer.

- 570-Megapixel Digital Camera Is the Mother and the Father of All Cameras- Gizmodo; See next.

- Stay Under 7 Megapixels to Avoid Photo Noise and Diffraction- LifeHacker; See previous.

- Super-Budget Lens-Mounted Ring Flash for DSLRs- Gizmodo; I want to see results before buying something like this. Also, whats the white balance like for this LED source?

- An Introduction to Creative Commons Licensing for Your Photographs- DPS; Good information, and a great primer. One note- if you change your license after posting, things could get harry. I think.

Links

I have new gear from Christmas, but I need time to set it all up and shoot examples. One is a backdrop, which I have an example of here. Thanks to my ever present assistant Sierra for helping me model the new use. It may look like a sheet hanging up, but thats pretty much what it is!

I eventually would like to get some seamless backdrop working. But for now the muslin cloth will do. Combined with two shoot through strobes, and the short distances I am using, I think the results should be plenty good.

The other item I received for Christmas is a 5 in 1 reflector and a multi-angle stand to hold that, or other things. No examples of that in action or use yet, hence the lack of a better posting.

On to links!

- Canon announces new Wireless File Transmitter units for latest pro models, enables DSLR hive-minding- Engadget; I can only wish I had a need to instantly transmit data from my camera to a laptop. I can see this being very helpful in studios and perhaps at weddings, but for my need- not so much.

- PaPaLaB's YC-3300 camera sees same colors as human eyes- Engadget; About stinking time!

- A Day in a Photographer's Life- Gizmodo; Nice little slice. Still convinced I wouldn't be able to hack a full time gig as a photographer.

- Repurpose a Drawer Liner as a Powerful Flash Diffuser- LifeHacker; Interesting little hack. Nice.

- Get Your Camera Returned with a Great Photo Message- LifeHacker; Cook idea. Though I format my card a lot. Not sure if it would work so nice.

- Three Songs, No Flash!- New book about concert photography. First one I have seen regarding just this topic. Plenty of websites out there, but no books.

- PLM umbrellas offer sweet combo of efficiency and softness- Rob Galbraith; Nice recap of a very cool system.

- Twenty Questions- Strobist; David Hobby, always thinking.

Once again, What The Duck steals my life:

A photo request I could not do

I do love What The Duck, the comic. It is just darn funny, and it also helps it is all about photography. I noticed that the creator was donating 10% of his sales to a charity called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation. I didn't think much of the news. Not much at all...

Until last Thursday when I looked it up at work, and nearly couldn't go to a meeting because I was starting to cry.

I will let you click on their link to read the about us section. Go on- read it.

As a recent parent, I couldn't even think about something like that. Going someplace to snap photos of a family at their final moments. It is heart breaking, completely and utterly. To see a family being ripped apart at the very core of the meaning family.

It is something I could not do.

Yet, there are over 7,000 volunteer photographers to do this very thing. Good on every last one of you.