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.