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.