Friday Follies – Page 2

Back to Basics

July 11, 2008 Jason2 Comments

Today as I am getting back into the swing of things after a day or so of downtime, I have a couple miscellaneous items that may be of use… A lot of it is basic stuff, but there is a common thread to it as they all involve some concept of “back”. So, here is a Friday Foursome of tips to improve your photos. The theme: Back to Basics

Back story – provide some background on how you got the shot. Give it a personal meaning or significance for the viewer. Often times connections with imagery are because of a personal tie to it – and if you give people a hint of the “who, what, where, when why, how” element of your photos that you share, it can increase the impact. Just remember, keep back stories short – if it takes two pages to set the stage, the show will almost always disappoint.
Backgrounds – speaking of backgrounds, take a look at the backgrounds in your photos. Are there any elements there that draw your eye? If so, that is likely a detractor. Keep backgrounds simple. If shooting a lot of family members at a dinner, keep the lower edge of your camera above the table line to avoid the distraction of glasses, plates, food, centerpieces, etc. Likewise, look where people are. Is it a crowded subway or is it a meadow of daisies? Either can serve to enhance or detract from your image because the background can take emphasis away from the subject or it can help focus on your subject. Generally speaking, the simpler the background, the better the picture!
Backsides – in family or group shot settings, can you see anyone’s backside? If so, then their face is not likely facing the camera. We tend to prefer shots of people where we can see their faces, so if you see someone’s backside, hold off on taking that shot – get them to turn around a little.
Backups – It’s been said before, but the importance of backing up your files can never be understated. When do you backup? I do it three times – on first import to the computer, after I sort through and delete out unwanted images, and then after I process for print and web. Typically the latter two will be purged after a month or so of inactivity. By purge, I mean relegated to the RAID side of the house, rather than the active folder I keep on my desktop.

So, that’s the Back to Basics for Friday. Any other tips out there I missed where you can incorporate the term “back” into the subject? I had four, but surely there’s more! (Heh, if it’s not alliterative, at least it rhymes, right?) Happy shooting, everyone! Watch those apertures and we’ll see you back here Monday!

P.S. Don’t forget about the Photographing Freedom contest now underway here at CB – day 7 of 30!

Friday Feel-goods

June 27, 2008 Jason4 Comments

Canon 40D

Found a couple neat resources around the web over the last few days. But, I am not gonna share them today. That’s right, the old bait-and-switch! I say something then switch gears once you’re hooked and talk about something else entirely. But, rest assured weary reader, I am not selling anything…yet! Quite simply – I got my 40D!!! That’s right, pulled the trigger, but the bullet, took the plunge, and every other metaphor you can think of. So, now with not one but 2 SLR’s in hand, I feel a little better knowing I have a backup.

That means my trusty Canon XT is now a backup camera! The funniest thing about it is that when I got my XT about 3 years ago, I paid more for that than I just paid for the Canon 40D (body only)! Back in 2005, the XT was hot off the presses and I was chomping at the bit to get it. The market started with it around $1000, and when I found one at Beach Camera for $850, I thought – “This is a good deal!” So I took the plunge.

Fast forward to 2007, the Canon 40D debuts for $1140 retail for the body. Within a year, rebates start kicking in – the struggling economy starts impacting camera manufacturers, so the rebates are big. The Canon 40D now has a $200 rebate, and it’s not the mail in kind! That’s right, an instant in-store rebate knocks the 40D down to $940 bones. This is a pretty darn good deal considering where the 40D stands in the Canon lineup. (3rd in line as I see it: 1D Mark II, 5D, and then the 40D)

But wait, hold the phones, that deal gets sweeter! If you are a current XT, XTi, or XSi owner, an additional $50 mail in rebate is offered too. So, now after all rebates, you can get the pristine new 40D for under $900…a mere $890! What a steal! But, here’s the thing – that means the aftermarket is starting to feel a pinch. This means the 40D that many bought a mere 6 months ago for $1200 could concievably drop to half that in the aftermarket since the XS is coming out, and a likely successor to the 5D which will push it down further. No one wants to see their gear depreciate to the tune of 50% in a mere 12 months. Heck, the XT new was around $100, and it still can be found for $450-$500 after being in the market place for about 4 years! (Although I suspect not for much longer – it’s not even in the current lineup anymore…)

So, anyway, the aftermarket starts picking up. By keeping up with the market via 1001 Noisy Cameras I can see that Canon is taking the majority of the top ten deals for a good 3 months. Now, with the standard for after market stuff typically running around 10-15% less than retail, 40D owners start pushing their bodies for $900, then $875, and most recently I saw one for $850. Well, last week I posted in the Buy/Sell forums of one particular community that I wanted to buy (WTB) a 40D at the 10% off retail rate…after rebates! That meant $800. Within an hour I had a taker, so – for less than the price of my XT, I upgraded to the 40D a year after its release.

Ironic, because it was about a year after the XT was released that I got it for about just as the retail price dropped 10%. In the aftermath, I learned a valuable lesson about camera gear: bodies depreciate, lenses retain value. If you want to spend money wisely, don’t upgrade your body every year, upgrade your glass. Hopefully this upgrade will have been worthwhile – 3 years in the making, and for $100 less than my previous body – I think it was probably a good investment. The only reason I did it was because I really did feel as though I was starting to bump up against the limitations of the XT body. Frame rate was not where I wanted it, the image counter was becoming more of a hindrance as I take more, the images were harder to see, and it was just starting to show signs of wear and tear. A bit of the plastic casing had peeled off in my sweaty mitts. It was just time to upgrade. To the forum guy (you know who you are) that hooked me up…thanks so much!

In looking at the counter, it seems the actuations are even lower than I thought with the count in the 500’s! I simply just re-set it back to 0 and I am rockin’ and rollin’! So, in case you hadn’t guessed it – this is just a “Feel Good” post today – nothing insightful, informational, or even useful – just a gleeful post of what was formerly an adult and what is now a 5-year old kid at Christmas! Have fun all, go out and shoot some (I know I will be…)

Oh yeah, here’s your WTD for the week:

The week in review

June 20, 2008 Jason2 Comments

globe

I know web links are typically done on Wednesdays, but a little schedule change was in order given the recent news from this corner of the internet. So, for this Friday, here’s some stuff I read around the web recently:

Brian Reyman of Professional Snapshots has released a beta version of a neat Flash program for schematics of lighting setups. It’s a very helpful in documenting studio work and other such photo utilities. Best of all, it’s Flash-based so it will work on Mac and PC! Many thanks to Brian for all the time and energy he’s put into this program.

Being very much a fan of DIY photography, I have to give shout outs to the guys over at This Week in Photography for their post on making your own reflectors from cardboard, styrofoam, or plywood and either paiting white or covering with aluminum foil. Very clever, and a great tip! Thanks to Scott Bourne for this…oh yeah, check out their weekly podcast too. Lots of info and always fun to listen to!

Scott Kelby needs no introduction, as he’s pretty well recognized throughout the industry. He also most certainly needs no help from me for publicity, but his post this week about the “School of Hard Knocks” really hit home as I forgot a CF card for my camera just the other day. So, sometimes I really am just like Scott Kelby!

David Hobby also gave a little nod to this over on Strobist, and while it’s a little late to be saying it here, there was a Shoot! the Day scheduled for today – photogs the world over will be sharing their shots taken from today over at Photoshelter in the coming week or so. I signed up, but because I forgot my CF card, was not able to participate. Still, stop over there to see a day in the life of photographers the world over!

Michael Johnston of The Online Photographer anounced his newist list of Top Ten Cameras, and Canon gear made it in twice (three times if you count them in with the “any entry-level DSLR” listing.) The top Canon recommendations are the 5D and the SD870 IS.

Finally, in Canon-specific news, we’ all have likely heard about the upcoming release of the Canon XS. Scheduled for release in July, it’s gotten a few reviews trickling out from various resources. The best review I’ve read is over at the Photokina site.

Last, but not least, don’t forget to take a break, and laugh a little over at What the Duck! My favorite one from this week:

What the Duck

Smell the Roses

June 6, 2008 JasonLeave a comment

Rose

Yes, we love this craft of photography, and we could spend every waking hour studying nuances of esoteric subjects related to the field, and peeping at the pixels of countless photos, analyzing techniques, and all that stuff. That wouldn’t be a very balanced existence though, and through having some balance, we can actually probably better focus on our craft when we do delve into it.

So, for this Friday, I’d like to suggest taking a break from photos every once and a while. Consider taking time to “step back and smell the roses”, and stop just taking pictures of them! Rather than thinking about your depth of field, whether to use a ring flash or a fill flash, what ISO to set, and what lens to use – take some time to just step back and enjoy the moment. The same holds true for any photography field. If you’re a landscape photographer, take some time to just enjoy that sunset, or that mountain range. If you’re a portrait photographer, let go of the camera and interact with your models and subjects.

It’s the interaction between the photographer and their subject that actually forms the connection. If you sped all your time taking the pictures, and never interacting with the subjects, your reason for taking the pictures can lose meaning beyond the dollars and cents. Remember, photography is a means of sharing your vision with the world. Losing sight of the vision, and the reason why it’s your vision can diminish both the message and its impact on your viewers. Through connecting with your surroundings, you can actually inspire creativity, and take your own visions to the next level.

I was reading through John Paul Caponigro’s new blog he rolled out recently, and found some audio clips on there – one of these spoke specifically to expanding your creativity, and he suggests closing your eyes to heighten the awareness of your other senses. This same philosophy can be applied to the concept above. By setting the camera down every once and a while (and stepping away from Photoshop and the computer), you can become more aware of the rest of the world around you. Heightened awareness is ultimately what will expand your vision, and in turn, expand your creativity. Enough esoteric mumbo jumbo though, just some food for thought as we move into the weekend. Here’s the weekly installment from What the Duck. Happy shooting everyone and watch your apertures!

Better luck next time

May 30, 2008 Jason3 Comments

Heh – I had been so good lately about planning ahead and recording my video podcasts ahead of schedule and just setting a publish time in WordPress, I got on an automatic pilot routine. When that routine got disrupted from some dental and sleep deprivation issues the other day, I didn’t realize until just a short time ago that the post for Friday had not been scheduled. Not only had it not been scheduled – it didn’t even get written yet!

So, a thousand pardons as I rush to get a somewhat photo-related post out before the end of the day. Since it is on short notice, I will simply relay a funny story that happened to me the other day as I was out walking the dog. I had taken the camera and flash with diffuser attached as the day was actually perfect for photography: late afternon, cloudy skies, and evenly light all around. So, I am bouncing along, trying different settings here and there with various subjects – a flower, a reflection in some water, and I have the bright idea to do a macro shot super close on a flower. But, instead of going wide open to get available light, I figured let’s try the flash here – so I pop the flash on, attach the diffuser and set it to ETTL. Then I dial the aperture down as far as I think it can go on the fill flash setting – f22! I pre-focused on the lower third of the frame, then set the focus to manual. Finally, I shifted the camera up just a smidge, knowing that the lower portion would be in focus and because of the f-stop, I would have a pretty solid dof throughout.

Well…there’s always something you forget, and in this instance, it was the ISO setting. You guessed it – 1600! ARGH! Well, I cleaned it up a little with NN after the fact, and yeah, it’s okay, but imagine how this shot would have been without the noise and tack sharp?

So, it seems another one that got away from me! I think I am going to tape a label to the back of my LCD and write on it in big fat letters ISO! Long story short – always double check your settings, and always take a few shots. I only took the one, so it’s all I had to work from. Oh well…better luck next time! Hee’s your traditional WTD episode for Friday:

Hope everyone has a good weekend. Happy shooting and watch those apertures!

Finally Friday – A Week in Review

May 23, 2008 Jason2 Comments

Yes, it’s finally Friday, and with a long weekend ahead of us, we can enjoy a little more down time. Mine will start about 30 seconds after I finish this post! Anyway, some updates on the Orphaned Works Act – some very passionate members of the NAPP community have been working together to get a website up to get the word out on a broader basis, so keep your browsers tuned to www.defendyourart.com over the next few days as updates, links to news items, and representative info will be going live. Additionally, posters and graphics are being compiled for people to share in their own regional communities too. So, if you participate in the arts (and you likely do if you’re reading this blog), tag the site as a bookmark: www.defendyourart.com

Brian over at Professional Snapshots got a G9 and shared some initial thoughts on that (as well as an interesting test shot), so stop over to his blog and see his feedback. Comment if you get a chance too – Brian always has fun stuff to read and share.

1001 Noisy Cameras does their latest update to the Canon SLR Market Price list indicating that prices pretty much remain the same, but now we have rebates! There’s also a link to a lengthy review of the Canon Xsi (and apparently somewhere in there a comparison between the 40D and the 450D??? I, like them, don’t understand – it’s apples and oranges. Anyway, stop over to 1001NC and read all about it – thanks guys for your info -you are on my must-read list since I learned about y’all! (Also, the TOP Test you linked to had some updates – see below for more)

Scott Kelby reminds us to back up our hard drives today (which I need to do btw…)

Ctein makes a passionate plea to avoid using music in website design over at The Online Photographer (thank you!)

Last, but not least, here’s some blog updates for CB:

I am almost done with the article compilations on creating your own photo website, so thanks to all for their patience.
The Online Photography Test has moved and now as TWO tests: Basic and Advanced! The latter still needs a few questions so stop over and take it, see your scores and share thoughts to round it out!
My photo shoots have been keeping me busy, but a gallery has been published here for viewer enjoyment: A Day in the Park
Another gallery should be forthcoming shortly too – still waiting on a model release.

Finally, lest I forget the Friday Funnies, stop over to What The Duck for a chuckle – or would it be a Duckle?

What the DUck - Friday May 23rd

Friday Flights of Fancy

May 9, 2008 JasonLeave a comment

I was out on a shoot Wednesday and in setting up, I realized I forgot my White Balance card. I always used my WhiBal card to get accurate settings – it’s the cornerstone of my entire workflow! I was sweating bullets…what would I do?

Well, I’d read about white balancing en masse off the eyes, so thought it might work out. But, with the sunny afternoon, pupils were dilated, and kids were squinting, so…I went with the next best thing – their teeth! Turned out to work okay, and I’ve got about 20 shots to share with the mother at work on Monday. In light of my “success” at setting white balance off a subject’s teeth, I thought I’d share that tip with the readership this Friday – take flight in charting new waters – shoot without a white balance card and just use what nature gives you.

Since I’ve not gotten the model releases signed by the mother yet, I can’t make a gallery of images, but I expect to have those on Monday, so stop back in to see the full gallery by then. For some reason I can’t get to WTD so will add my “Friday Funny” later. Alternatively, you can just stop over to www.whattheduck.net to enjoy the humor – I hit it every Friday and read the entire week.

Finally, I’d like to close this week out with a challenge – show me your shots! Let’s see everyone get out there and take pictures. Email me pictures taken from the theme for the week (or email me a link and I can download that way), and I’ll put a montage together here on the blog. With me being a Canon shooter, I figured it would be fun to start with a related theme – RED. So, show me shots with something red – anything you want, and I’ll put a gallery together of all of them and offer some thoughts and feedback on all contributions in a post the following week. So, the dates that I’ll take shots starts today, and will end next Thursday at midnight. Please re-size your shots to 800px on the longest dimension before sending.

Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to get out and shoot this weekend – remember the theme is RED! Happy shooting and watch those apertures! 🙂

Freezing the frame (for Friday)

May 2, 2008 Jason1 Comment

Read a neat little blurb in Popular Photography, May issue that I cut out and added to the “clip binder” recently…Four good rules of thumb for fast shutter speeds and what they translate to. So, regurgitated for you here today, are…

Four Frame Freezing Follies

1/1000th of a second will freeze action moving either up and down or across the frame.
1/500th of a second is good for aerials (coming in over a scene, like in a plane or along those lines)
1/250th of a second is good for freezing action coming straight at you (toward the camera – unless of course it’s my dog who comes toward you then lurches to the side for no apparent reason)
4 seconds takes objects in motion and turns them into streaks of light (think car headlights here – night photography will never be the same)

In other news, I also saw over on Jeff Revell’s blog today (PhotowalkPro.com) a great post on how to be a frugal lens shopper. Stop over there to read all about saving money. We bloggers love to get feedback too, so if you like it, make a post to let him know!

The camera poll has officially ended, and the results are in. Looks like many of us have at least a few cameras in our bags…fun stuff. Where did you fit into the picture? Thanks to the 66 that did join in for these last two months!

Check out the new poll listed today too…on audio podcasts! I am thinking of adding yet another multimedia feature (audio podcasts) to round things out (presently I’ve posted videos, documents, and pictures, so audio is all that’s left! Don’t forget to vote before you leave.

And, so no one feels left out from friday funnies, another week’s favorite episode from What the Duck:

Friday Night Lighting…(and a funny)

April 18, 2008 JasonLeave a comment

Normally Frida posts are filled with humor, funny and generally stuff that is trivia to help keep us all grounded in reality and realize that there is more to life with photography. I am starting to get a little of a backlog with the projects I’ve been working on though, so I am goig to lighten the load by one project here today – and that is a DIY lighting project.

Before I continue, the DIY lighting concept is not something that comes easily to me, as I fully admit that I am no lighting pro. If you want pro advice, the best place to go is to Strobist where David Hobby hosts an excellent lighting blog that has become pretty much the place to go for lighting tutorials. What I have learned from that site would take days to rattle off here. So, rather than regale you with all of that, I’ll just say that Strobist has given me new insight into uses for everyday objects.

Here’s the lighting project – a while back David talked on his blog about using household items to create lighting peripherals such as reflectors, bounce lights, light stands, and has been a common theme for quite a while. So, the inspiration for this came from what to use to make your own DIY snoot. A snoot is a device that focuses the light from your flash (which you know of course to take off the camera if you want really good light).

Well, at work I noticed one day that a commercial industrial sized roll of TP had been used and the cardboard roller that it was on was just sitting on top of the paper towel dispenser. I picked it up, looked it over and it seemed to be close to the size of my 550EX flash. I took it home and tried it out – bingo! The only problem was, it really wasn’t long enough. Well, no biggie, I just waited another few weeks and sure enough, another TP roller appeared on top of the towel dispenser. I snaked that one away, and brought them home. A few pieces of scotch tape to attach the two devices together and I was ready for my test shot:

Notice the light leaking through the side though? Well, I decided good old duct tape might be able to fix that. So, a few tears and strips later, and I got this shot:

Looking a lot better now, but now I am noticing a little light seeping through the back end still – any ideas how to eliminate that, or is that there in most snoots? Not sure, but this cost me a grand total of probably 05 ¢ of tape. So, I played around with the distance, as David suggests over at the Strobist site, and I finally am happy to announce that this snoot works best at a distance of about 4′ from the subject, and (surprise surprise) at about a 45 degree angle to the subject. I was hamming it up for the camera just to give a little variety while I figured this out, and actually came out of the lighting test with a self-portrait I am not too ashamed of. It’s end-of-week scruff, so that will be gone come Monday, but I thought the lighting effect of a snoot (concentrated light) is pretty useful.

So, there it is – the Friday Night Light experiment. I know it’s late, but better late than never right? Anyone else have any DIY lighting experiments they want to share? If so, all are welcome to join in the comments area. Otherwise, have a great weekend, happy shooting, and watch those apertures! (mine was a little soft – but I think that may have been oof, not dof softness)…

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Fridays always feature a WTD cartoon, so here’s my fave of the week:

Another weekend shot to….heck

April 11, 2008 Jason2 Comments

First it’s the teeth, then it’s the toes – anyway, another weekend of hopefully getting out and shooting for a change of pace (I really do prefer to be out taking pictures, rather than in PS or LR editing them, or even be inside on a computer, but being in the IT industry as a profession, well, that’s the fallout…anyway I digress). As it is, I am stuck inside again, so after a day of actually walking around on my feet, I am trying to post with one leg sticking out to the side (left) and leaning back to write. Needless to say, it’ll be a short post. As a kind of wrap-up of the various projects I have in the works, here’s a week in review:

Work is almost finished on the web gallery articles. I have one more video tutorial to record on JAlbum, and two articles to share with the readership.
My magazine cutting frenzy continues as I shred through stacks of almost two years of photo magazines. The binder is getting thicker and the magazine stack is getting smaller!
I’ve launched a beta for a new idea on a sub-domain for Canon Blogger, The Online Photograph Test (or TOP Test), which has already seen a few corrections and improvements, so thanks to those that wrote in and emailed…keep ’em comin’!

In other news around the photo world:

Adobe launched their new “TV” service…it’s really a flash-based online multimedia portal to all types of content, naturally with much of it focusing on Adobe products. Seems like a cool enough idea, and probably intended to compete with YouTube, but on with a more professional and polished approach. We’ll see if it catches on – my guess is yes with the poster boys talking it up all over the web.
Adobe makes the weekly news twice as they re-released Camera Raw 4.4 that were previously pulled.pulled, have since been re-released by Adobe. This link is for the Windows version of CS3, LR and Mac versions are also available from the download site – just use Google as needed to find the version you are looking for.
In case you missed it earlier this week, Donny did his last episode (my guess is “of the season” in another hysterical segment of You Suck at Photoshop -careful with kids around…’nuff said. Well, it ‘s been followed up by a “honorarium” of sorts where you can vote for the DIY’er in both Photoshop and comedy categories. Kinda funny, but not the same as Donny – so go watcfh, then vote to bring Donny out of hiding!
What The Duck makes it’s Friday appearance below, which means my leg is getting numb and the hour is getting late, so it’s time to bid a hasty adieu! Good night, have a great weekend, happy shooting, and watch those apertures!