As an avid proponent of doing due diligence, I’ve always encouraged people to do research on lenses before buying them. Whether it means renting them from vendors like LensProToGo, Rent Glass, or through vendor relationships, it’s a great way to get a first hand look on how lenses perform under a variety of circumstances. This was the case when I’d been the benefactor of a solid relationship with the folks at Sigma. I spent about a month kicking the proverbial tires on one of their latest lenses to hit the market: the Sigma 8-16mm lens. Continue reading “Hardware review: Sigma 8-16”
Category: Announcements
In Loving Memory
5/4/2013 was a sad day…after 12 years together, our family dog Maggie had reached a point where her body is just not able to sustain her anymore. Over the last 9 months we have seen her deteriorate slowly. Her Lab face always seems to defy the pain she is in as she perks up whenever we come in the room, take her on a walk, or give her some “floor time” to play. Play times have gotten shorter, walks are probably more appropriately referred to as stumbles and flat out face plants, and her smiles when we enter the room have changed first to tail thumps, and more recently, just an ear perk.
I remember when I first got her – a dozen years ago. I was a single guy in St. Louis, and many family and friends suggested I get a dog for companionship. This bundle of energy snuggled into my arms from the litter almost immediately:
Over the years, she grew, and enjoyed many many happy days. Some of my favorite moments include particular events. Here she is expressing her curiosity the year I got a 10-22mm lens, checking out the new gear in my bag:
Us humans can take a page from our dogs, because they always seem to be smiling, happy to just be there, and both giving and receiving companionship, even just enjoying something as simple as a warm sunny day:
Being the Lab that she is, Maggie also enjoyed every moment she could in water, swimming, chasing sticks, and of course, giving me a dousing whenever I needed one…
Maggie is such a good dog – and acutely aware of people and their emotions This dog never left my side when I was bedridden with pneumonia. When something is missing or unfamiliar, she is always on the alert, checking things out to make sure all is in order…
Not to say that she was always good – as sometimes Maggie would get into something either with our consent, or just from her own search and explore sessions…
Her signature mark is a “happy wiggle” where she would literally throw herself down on the floor, and wiggle around on her back. This was always a sign that we knew she was in a happy place…
One of our favorite shots of her is one where she is obliging us with a pose over Halloween, so I feel compelled to share it here as well – so prim and proper…
So, we made the painful decision to let her go with some dignity. It was SO HARD to make this decision. We cried and reconsidered countless times whether we were doing the right thing or not. With no human children, Maggie really is our only child, and letting her go even today is something we feel physically ill about. She just can’t handle another move though – there are literally weeks, possibly only days left, so we opted to let her go gracefully…
It’s an inevitable part of the circle of life, and while the logical part of me knows and understands this, the emotional side of me will never be the same person again. It hurts so bad to let her go, even though I know she is going to a better place. Thanks for the lifetime of memories “Moo”…we love you! You were larger than life itself!
Creating the color video
As promised from last weeks post on Youtube, I promised to share the “how to” on the creation of the little teaser video for transitioning from a black and white photo to color. For those that don’t remember, the video is here: Continue reading “Creating the color video”
The Rule of Thirds in History
We’ve been looking at the Rule of Thirds in photography for compositional approaches, and I commented on what seems to be a trend toward the former being more popular in portrait work and the latter being more popular in landscape type work. The idea makes sense as portraits have subjects within the picture, while with landscapes the subject IS the picture (the entire scene). Click here for the full blog post with examples.
Well, today, I am taking advantage of the open sourced nature of Wikipedia (all images link back to the Wikipedia pages they came from) for some well-known works of art that have survived the test of time to see how they measure up under the Rule of Thirds. The results are kind of interesting:
The first is from Picasso, from his Cubism work, titled Three Musicians…
A super-imposed Rule of Thirds grid is rather telling. While this construct is somewhat different, because of the style of Cubism, I found it interesting to see the lines that he painted also fell into roughly the same places as those of the Rule of Thirds. And the hot point in the upper left is kind of close to the “face” of one of the musicians. Does the rule of Thirds apply here? Given the linear composition, my vote is Yes – what’s yours?
Next up, is Van Gogh, with a painting titled “Street Scene in the Montmartre”:
Here, hot points are very much at play, with the people walking down the street, coming in at the lower left hot point, and the red splash of color on the windmill is very close to the upper right point. The fence line also roughly follows the lower third so elements of both compositional styles are present here. Does the Rule of Thirds apply here? I’d say yes! Do you agree?
Lastly, let’s take a look at one of the more abstract artists in history: Monet, and one of my favorite works of his, “Impression, Sunrise”…
The sun – pretty close to the upper right hot spot, and teh reflection in the impressionist waters, almost as in line with the right third line. The boater shadow, being an opposing color, stands out anyway, but it also helps the composition that the lower third intersects it to a degree. Remember, art is not an exact science, and creativity wouldn’t have variation if subjects were always right on the hotspot. Equally, it wouldn’t spark or inspire us to always place things on the thirds lines. These are guides, meant to help you compose in aesthetically pleasing and appealing ways. Does the Rule of Thirds apply here? Without a doubt, is my answer! Am I wrong? What’s your take?
These are but three single instances of works of art that have survived the test of time. There is so much history to art and its creative appeal, but I would venture to guess that much of it has some elemetns of composition in common throughout the ages. Yet, there will always be exceptions. That is the challenge for today – do you know any famous works of art historically that break the rules? What makes them work and why? Share your comments here in the blog.
A few other tidbits to share today outside of the main focal point (get it? 🙂 ):
- Three more days to the Worldwide Photowalk, hosted by Scott Kelby and with tons of sponsors and prizes. Have you registered? Some cities still have openings so check cities near you – there’s still time to register! (It’s free!)
- A fellow NAPP member had started a community forum thread asking about the graphics tablet pen as a useful tool, and Dave Cross stopped in to share that he made a blog post scheduled for yesterday. I made a mental note to stop over and read it – great thoughts, and definitely worth the 30 seconds (I read his blog daily anyway)!
- Last, but not least, I got an email recently about this new site where photographers of any background can upload images of their lighting setups or other creative perspectives and setups with light to share with the community at large. It’s a great outlet and you can get some pretty incredible inspiration from it…the name is Light Test and coincidentally, so is the web address. Check them out here.
As a final note today, as I always like to share sources of creativity, I’d like to give some special thanks to Elizabeth Gast (a.k.a. Firgs), of Design by Firgs. She has been instrumental in helping me think outside my own box of creative limits, and in working hard to improve both the quality of work and how I present that work. Today, she featured me on her site as a “Hot Site!”. While I am always going to take the self-deprecating approach, here I must simply and humbly say thanks to her. Not only for the mention on her site today, but also for her instrumental help in helping me improve my own web presence with regard to branding and design styles (see my Twitter background for an example).
That’s enough for one day, doncha think? Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.
49 Photo Tips Cheat Sheet
The quintessential PDF that started it all – my 49 Photo Tips Cheat Sheet! Over the course of my foray into the world of photography, I have been been busy compiling of my favorites and some unusual ideas for photography. Ranging in subject matter from how to improve your composition to gear tips, making money, photo walks, and everything in between, here are 49 Photo Tips – all compiled nice, neat and easy as a PDF for easy download and reference (top 50 lists are so cliche! 🙂 )! This was initially launched as a freebie several years ago, but has grown in such popularity, and takes enough of a draw on my bandwidth for hosting and file storage, that I had to start charging for it. But, for less than a cup of Starbucks coffee (it’s only $2.99), you can get your own digital copy of the
49 Photo Tips Cheat Sheet
Remember, we learn best by sharing with others, so if you like it – tell your friends, they’ll like you better! If you have an idea for future inclusion, then tell me! I am always looking for new ideas, sources of creativity and ways to learn and improve so by all means, let me know if I got something wrong, or if you have an idea to include.
And if that’s not enough, Volume 2 is available here:
Can You Shoot Thirteen Views
I was reading a book recently called “Beyond the Obvious” by Phil McKinney (great book by the way) that challenges people to think about concepts and questions, and then encourages people to look beyond the knee-jerk reactions and responses. This same mentality exists in the world of photography. We see a scene, a portrait, or something that catches our eye and our instinct is to capture that “something”.
McKinney illustrates his point in asking the reader to answer the question:
“What is half of 13?”
He then goes on to show that there are many responses to this. The canned answer is always 6.5, and that’s what came to my mind too. But in going “beyond the obvious”, he shows that if you think about it from the perspective of say, a deck of cards, and 13 cards in a suit. Since the ten, jack, queen and king all are values of 10, then really, half of thirteen in that scenario is 5.5, not 6.5. You could also say that half of thirteen is really “thir” with “teen” being the second half! By illustrating that you can divide either numerically or semantically, entirely different perspectives, thoughts, and answers can be right at the same time! Once I got on the mental plane of looking at things differently, my own result was that half of 13 could also be 1 or 3 – applying the semantic concept to the number…
That is such a great concept, and one I’ve always tried to help people understand here in many different ways. The “half of thirteen” way is probably one one the most succinct I’ve ever seen though. Let’s take that concept now and apply it to photography. Go get your camera! Right now…seriously! Go get your camera, and pick some random object in your room, office, or where ever you happen do be. I don’t care if it’s your SLR, P&S, or camera phone.
Now what? Take 13 pictures of that object. Make each one different! Change the angle, change the light, change the object itself. It doesn’t matter what you do, just do 13 different things. I can guarantee you that at least one of those photos will be something new, unique, and even compelling. Now, take the most compelling one, and post it here. To get you started on the right mentality, if you’re not already, here’s my own set of thirteen:
The shots above come from the “Wreck of the Peter Iredale” – on the coast of Astoria, Oregon. Now, granted, the setting sun, and the unique nature of the composition made my 13 shots a little easier, but there’s now reason you can’t do the same. Take a speaker and shoot it from as many angles as you can. Run out of angles? Try a different tack and change the lighting! What happens if you pop an on-camera flash? Try throwing your hand up to act as a barn door of sorts. There’s no end to potential…it just takes thinking outside the box!
Adobe Acknowledgement
Whether tacit or not, Adobe seems to have listened to the concerns voiced by many in the creative community over their impending pricing and licensing policy changes. As you may recall, I ran three posts late last year, first calling attention to the new policy. Secondly, as discussed on Scott Kelby’s video podcast “The Grid“, called “Why Scott Kelby and Crew are Wrong“ Finally, I started running a poll to tally people’s thoughts on the policy shift. Scott himself ran an entire post as an Open Letter to Adobe shortly thereafter, both addressing the issue squarely, as well as offering an alternative. Apparently, Adobe was listening!
A news post came to my attention a few weeks ago, and while in the midst of the holiday fracas, I did not want to minimize both the significance and importance of this change. So, with the holidays behind us and a new year ahead, I’d like to give some kudos to Adobe for recognizing the painful effect their new policy would have on legacy customers. They’ve made a change to their plans, allowing CS3 and Cs4 customers to upgrade at a reduced pricing schedule (very much in keeping with what Scott Kelby suggested), thus easing the cost of upgrading for them. The full release is here:
Adobe Special Upgrade Announcement
For those not wishing to follow in-post links, here’s the full text of that announcement:
Upgrade offer for CS3 and CS4 customers
We’re very excited about the upcoming release of Adobe® Creative Suite® 6 software and Adobe Creative Cloud™. CS6 will be a major new release of our creative desktop tools, with huge improvements for every type of creative professional. Adobe Creative Cloud will be our most comprehensive creative solution ever, giving members access to all of the CS6 desktop software plus additional services, new tools, Adobe Touch Apps, and rich community features. In addition, Creative Cloud members will receive continuous upgrades and updates to all products and services as part of their membership.
With these great new releases coming in the first half of 2012, we want to make sure our customers have plenty of time to determine which offering is best for them. Therefore, we’re pleased to announce that we will offer special introductory upgrade pricing on Creative Suite 6 to customers who own CS3 or CS4. This offer will be available from the time CS6 is released until December 31, 2012. More details on this offer, as well as any introductory offers for existing customers to move to Creative Cloud membership, will be announced when CS6 and Creative Cloud are released later this year.
The only caveat here is that we still do not know when the CS6 suite will be released (well, some of us do…but as they say, those that don’t know guess, and those that do know – can’t say a word!). All we can ascertain from this is that CS6 is coming in the first half of the year. No surprise there, but if it is released closer to June, then that shortens the window for Cs3 and CS4 customers to take advantage of the reduced cost upgrade that Adobe is offering. Still, better to not look a gift horse in the mouth. Adobe has heard our concerns, and responded in what I think will be an appropriate manner. While we don’t know the specifics of the pricing offer, we do know that they have heard us and are giving customers an opportunity to upgrade for a limited time. So, start saving pennies now to make your eventual upgrade that much easier to swallow!
Of course, Cs5 or Cs5.5 customers will be able to upgrade at normal rates, so this announcement doesn’t really affect you – but it’s a welcome sign that companies and and do listen to their customer base! So, thanks Adobe for listening!
Why Scott Kelby and Crew are Wrong
It was brought to my attention over the weekend that Scott Kelby chimed in on the pricing and policy change that Adobe has implemented on their latest episode of “The Grid”. It’s a great vidcast that hits on the meat of topics that photographers are talking about, and this episode was no exception, helping to dispel some of the myths that surround photographers. What I want to talk about here is what they prefaced the show with: a short five minute blurb about the Adobe policy, and what’s wrong/right with it. I was dumbfounded.
Fair warning – this is a long post….much longer than what I normally post – but it’s that important! Please take the time to read this whole thing because you will have a complete and clear understanding of these odd terms like Subscription Service, In Perpetuity, and Creative Cloud. You’ll understand the differences, and see why the new pricing scheme is not a good decision for anyone – personal or professional businesses!
So, in the interests of getting it right, I went back and listened to it several times, finally writing a transcript of it (which you can read here. Here’s the nuts and bolts though of what they had to say…
[Scott] And that’s my guess. I haven’t talked to Adobe on this. Nobody in Adobe’s pricing dept. said this. I can imagine the reason why Adobe did this is a couple of things:
1. I…and this is where all the controversy is, I don’t think it’s the pricing so much, I haven’t heard anybody gripe about the price it’s like $50 a month and you get everything they do. You get everything, right? You get like the whole Master Collection. Again, I didn’t look at all the numbers, so I don’t …I could be a little off.
[Matt] It’s ballpark and if you add up what it would cost you to buy the Master Collection, it actually in some ways can save you money.
They are looking at the Creative Cloud service, not the subscription pricing. Let me state that again, unequivocally:
They are confusing the subscription model with the Creative Cloud stuff.
These are two different things, so let’s get that on the table right away. The subscription service is not $50 a month! What’s the difference? It’s easy! A subscription service is something you pay a small amount for every month (or week, or year…whatever, you are a subscriber. How is that different from the current licensing? The current licensing (whether by download or media – it doesn’t matter)…means you own that license forever. In legal terms, it’s called an in perpetuity license. You’ve bought that license and are entitled to use it forever! Renting a house (or apartment) is far more expensive than buying one. Renting (or leasing) a car – the same. Would you rent a camera? For one time uses, sure…but who wants to use that model if you plan on doing anything regularly? The answer: no one! From Adobe’s perspective (or any provider for that matter), it’s a great business model because it makes the renter more money. The same holds true here for Adobe! Don’t believe me? Take a look…
We are assuming that we are starting from an upgrade perspective – people that already own a CS5 license. The following chart is based on the cost to upgrade an in perpetuity license (assuming that doesn’t change…) and shows what that same cost would be under the subscription model based on a 24 month cycle:
An important qualifier here – Adobe is also moving to an alternating schedule whereby dot releases are put out in alternating years to full version releases:
CS5 – 2010 CS5.5 – 2011 Cs6 – 2012 CS6.5 – 2013 CS7 – 2014 etc.This is why you are renting on a 24 month schedule. It’s also why there is no way that renting anything would cost you less. They said they hadn’t had the time to look into it. Several others have. In their defense, the 5 minute bit was full of qualifications – Adobe didn’t tell us, we don’t know, we can only guess…all that sorta stuff, which is fine in and of itself. But how can someone say with a straight face that renting costs less than owning? Seriously. Take any basic business course or economics course. The pricing factor aside (which is already been demonstrated as exorbitant…) at the end of renting – you own nothing!
How is the subscription model a better model for anyone besides Adobe? Scott and crew answered with the following:
“[Matt] The biggest problem I see, there’s gonna be a barrier to entry for someone who is on Cs3 or CS4.
[Scott] Especially hobbyists
[Matt] That’s who I’m really talking about. For a company I think…it’s not just better for Adobe…to put in a subscription model because now they know how much they are gonna take in every year…but now a company knows exactly how much money you’re gonna spend each month on software. So it’s easier for a company.
Hobbyists though, ya know, it’s hard to swallow six or seven hundred dollars…
[Scott] A year…
[Matt] And then go into the subscription model too…
[Scott] Oh no no…you’ve gotta upgrade…it depends on what you have…if you have the Suite..I don’t know…
[Matt] It does get, it can get hairy…”
As you can see – it’s not that hairy – it doesn’t matter what you own: CS2-Cs5 will cost more to go to a subscription model than it would to stay on an in perpetuity license. One more time for clarity, here’s where Scott Kelby and Crew got it wrong:
They are confusing the subscription model with the Creative Cloud.
Not only is it not that complicated – even for businesses, it’s very easy to extrapolate out the Total Cost of Ownership over time and see how this is not a good economic move for anyone (unless you are Adobe). With all due respect to Scott and crew – I would ask them if they will switch to the subscription model? My guess is no. They also provided, in my estimation, a pretty lame explanation for why Adobe is changing their policy. Here’s what they said:
“[Scott]I’ve been getting so many people asking about Adobe’s new pricing and all that stuff.
Adobe does not call us and ask what we think about pricing. We learned when everyone else did. I haven’t had any time to really look into it. I think there are some good things about it. I think the subscription model is really great, and by the way, you might as well get used to the subscription model, because it’s the wave of the future. You’re going to be subscribing to everyone’s software. Especially when the big people like Adobe start moving into that thing. I think the days of you going to the store and buying off the shelf – it’s either going to be direct download or it’s going to be subscription based. And everyone wants the subscription model because it gives you revenue all year long ya know
[Matt] Well, it’s predictable they know Jan through December what they are going to get.”
Huh? So they can get revenue year round? They do already! Different folks buy at different times…it’s called effective management of resources. This isn’t about regular revenue – it’s about more revenue! And we all know Adobe isn’t hurting.
That isn’t on the NAPP gang though – that’s just Adobe greed. But I do think where Scott and crew are misunderstanding the outcry is that they think we are upset over the subscription offering. It’s not that we are against the subscription offering per se. It’s the exclusive and disingenuous way that people are being set up into that option. Let me state more unequivocally what I think is wrong:
1. The sudden elimination of 3-versions back upgrade options. The solution to this is rather than just cutting it off immediately, to phase it out. (This was posted in the comments from last week here.)
Since there was no major outcry when Adobe said that only 3 versions back could upgrade you would think that if they wanted to do this to go 2 versions back for CS6. Then they could offer a graduated sliding scale something like this:
Upgrade 2 versions back. Upgrade price $189.
CS3 and CS2 Upgrade at $249.00
Older Versions Upgrade at $329.00
Every Quarter or so offer older versions a 20% discount if purchased directly from Adobe.com
2. For those that want the subscription program, fine, but I am here to tell you from a financial perspective: It is a horrible idea for anyone…personal or professional! The TCO is 4x what it would be for an in perpetuity license, and if you ever end the subscription program for yourself or your company – you have nothing left to work off of. It’s like renting. For most outfits, that makes no sense for any software (or hardware) used on a regular basis. Now if I had a one time need for In Design or something, that’s another story – but we are talking regular use here. Heck, I’ll rent glass I can’t afford, but I also am not using that glass every day! Only for 2 or 3 days.
3. The last part I have a beef with is whether this will ripple over to other products. We don’t know yet, but I can only assume that Lightroom and Acrobat are soon to follow if this subscription service takes off. The installation base for Acrobat is far more extensive – going into regular businesses, not just creative businesses, and the impact there could be dire. I suspect Adobe is merely giving an indication of what’s to come by testing their leading products in this model. Unless we want to see everyone adopt this method of sucking that much more from our own wallets – we need to tell them to stop now!
So, chime in now, and share on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus – as well as to Adobe. I gave out links on how to do this here. Here’s the on-going poll too if you don’t want to comment. Speak up now and let Adobe know how you feel. We still have a chance to change their minds.
EDITOR NOTE: This post was written and published before I had a chance to read Scott’s Open Letter to Adobe on his blog today. That letter pretty much takes Scott and Crew off the hook – they are advocating on our behalf and I’ve already given my accolades to Scott over there. Please read that post as well!
What? You’re Not Going to PSW?
Photoshop World – aka PSW – has become a week-long hug-fest, and is a bi-annual tradition,especially among the NAPP faithful. As an active and sometimes promotional arm of NAPP, I can promise you that if ever given an opportunity to attend PSW, I will jump at said opportunity. Having said that, I’ve been a member fr nearly four years now and still have not found the financial wherewithal to pony up the necessary funds needed to:
1. Pay for the cost of entry
2. Pay for the cost of travel
3. Pay for hotel accommodations
4. Pay for the cost of food
It’s an expensive proposition, which I conservatively estimate at nearly $1000. This does not mean it isn’t worth the money, because it most likely is, even if for networking purposes only (and I am sure there are educational opportunities galore)! Let’s face it – if you want to be a “player” in the photography world, there is usually justification to attend PSw either in Orlando (Spring) or Las Vegas (Fall).
My problem is that I am something of a one-man-show. And photography is very much a secondary stream of income, when it even does present opportunities. My primary job has always been in IT. I suspect it always will be. So, to find the time off for a traditional working stiff is tough – I am often needed, and earn precious little vacation time every year. So, unless a company that values both my IT and photography skills hires me (Adobe, are you listening? ), I will likely not be in a position to attend this event.
As is often the case, I know I am not alone. So, here’s your chance to let your non-PSW light shine! What are you doing this week? For me, I am taking a little time off between jobs actually. After accepting an offer at a new company (I am not holding my breath for Adobe), I have a week or so to spare from my calendar (but not my budget) to travel a little, and am visiting family in both AZ and NY. Let’s face it, family should always come first, and here is no exception. This last weekend I spent in AZ, and coming up later this week is a trip to NY. Maybe I’ll get in a little fall foliage out east, but not sure as the fall seems to be late arriving all over this year.
So, there’s my plans, and why I won’t be there! What’s your excuse? Why are you not at PSW? Sound off in the comments! See ya back here tomorrow, and keep on shootin’! I’ll be back again with the August contest winner and a new contest for September that will knock your socks off!
Learning Digital Photography: Episode #57
You heard it right, the latest and greatest episode of the LDP Podcast is now live and downloadable from your favorite outlet. Six long weeks in the making and with the patience of my special guest, Kevin Mullins, this is Episode #57!
For those of you that may not have heard of him, Kevin Mullins hails from across the pond to get together on a podcast and talk shop on photography. A well-established wedding photographer in the UK, Kevin is probably one of the most talented wedding photographers I know. He joins me in the latest episode of the Learning Digital Photography Podcast to talk about the documentary style of photography and the impact that has on how you both shoot and manage your business. You can download it from iTunes or directly from the website via the following links. Below the links are the show notes…enjoy!
Talking Points
- Approaching group shots versus cookie-cutter portrait poses
- Work flow of the wedding day – how things start, where to budget time, & how things end.
- Gear preferences
- Pre-planning the event in Documentary Photography
- Still and video convergence
Links Mentioned:
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