Category: Uncategorized

Write it down!

Jason12 Comments

Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday folks – for those of you that Twitter and have me on follow, you’ll know that we had our cars taken out from under our noses (literally while we slept) early Tuesday morning.  By the time I woke up and got dressed for work (at 6) they were gone…

Suffice to say, the wind has kind of been taken out of my sails here, and after an entire day of dealing with police reports, insurance claims, DNA testing (yes, they took DNA from us), finger printing, and pretty much feeling like our private living space was totally disrespected and violated, I didn’t have much of a mood to put anything together for Wednesday.  With another weekend looming large and trying to resurrect some excitement for Tracy’s pending birthday, I am afraid today’s post will be no picnic either, as this is more of a lecture on security.  To make it photo-related, let’s look at it form an inventory perspective.

Say you were the victim of a crime – all your photo gear was taken from you.  Could you produce the records needed to replace everything?  With cars it’s easy, as insurance is in place, titles are held, and banks have documents as well that you can fall back on – but what about other items?  It took some digging through the Mac, but I was able to find the serial number for my iPod.  Do you know your serial numbers?  What about that expensive zoom lens?  What about your SLR serial number?  When was it purchased?  What was the purchase price?  What about the computers?  Software licenses?  Think about it – you’ve invested some serious money into this, whether it’s a hobby or a profession.  Do you have the records to produce in that worse case scenario?  If not, take my experience with the cars and apply it to your gear – write info down!  Update your inventories, and keep records of everything!  Finally, don’t tempt fate – lock things up.  Get a lock box or some kind of safe – and don’t leave things out in the open – it’s just an invitation waiting to be seen and responded to, so take precautions now to avoid lots of heartache and headaches later.  Here’s a sample spreadsheet to get you started:

Inventory Spreadsheet (right-click, and select download or Save as and the file name is “inventory.xls”)

That’s it for today folks – so, sorry for the “downer” of a post, but felt there was something there that could be learned by all of us – so enough of the doldrums now – forget the past and move into the future with positivity – so get out shooting, and be careful out there!  (Hello Hill Street Blues! 🙂 )  We’ll see you back here tomorrow, and hopefully the podcast that I’ve been meaning to finish will go up early next week.  Until then, keep on shootin’ (photos)!

The Business of Selling Your Photos

Jason5 Comments

As economic belts are cinched, and we start spending our dollars more carefully than ever before, I am getting email a lot from photographers asking “What should I be charging for this event?”, or “A client wants a digital negative, what’s a fair rate?”, and even, “How much is my work worth?”

Truth be told, the economics of photography sales are just as much a mystery to me, and I don’t have all the answers.  But I know a few things about where to start, and how to research.  First and foremost, is to know your market.  Are you working in NYC, or in Duluth MN?  Have you looked at other photographers’ websites?  What are they charging?  Are they start-ups or established companies?  What kinds of services do they offer?  What kinds of services do you offer?  Do you provide print fulfillment or is that out-sourced?  What is your overhead?  Cost of equipment?  Cost of training?  The whole 9 yards – it’s a lot to filter.  Well, here’s some software that can give you a leg up in that regard – FotoQuotePro.

This software is very well designed and offers you rates for a wide variety of publications, ranging from magazines, to journals, brochures, quarterly reports, and a plethora of other variations.  Quarter page prints, half page, full page, distribution of media, and many other factors are tallied in to help Fotoquote determine your rate.  Granted this may not help the startup in portrait work, but if you are looking to market your work toward commercial and stock sites – this is definitely the software for you.  And now, in a special offer here at the blog – I’ve been able to garner a 33% discount for some lucky listener.  That’s right…33%!!  It regularly goes for a price of $150, and the good folks over at Cradoc Foto Software have generously donated a discount code.  Rather than buy and install it myself, I would like to pass this savings on to some lucky reader of the blog.

So, here’s how the winner of the discount code will be chosen – post a comment here at the blog.  Say what you like about the software, why you could use it, or simply introduce yourself to the rest of the readership.  This particular post will take comments through the end of June, so you have about two and a half weeks to get something out there and get a chance to win the discount code.  In the meantime, head on over to Cradoc Foto Software and download a trial to see what the program is all about.  In the meantime, here’s a few screen shots from the demo version to show you what they have to offer…

Tab 1 of FotoQuote Pro
Tab 1 of FotoQuote Pro
Tab 2 of FotoQuote Pro
Tab 2 of FotoQuote Pro
Tab 3 of FotoQuote Pro
Tab 3 of FotoQuote Pro
Tab 4 of FotoQuote Pro
Tab 4 of FotoQuote Pro
Tab 5 of FotoQuote Pro
Tab 5 of FotoQuote Pro

Happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!  (Oh yeah, and don’t forget, you can also share your thoughts and suggestions for future hardware and software reviews that take place right here on the blog!  Let me know what you think as it’s the contributions of readers that make this such a fulfilling blog – who knows, there might be a giveaway in that too!)

Grab the Feed

A dash of splash

Jason8 Comments

First up – another web gallery of water drops – this time with a neutral black background that I developed in Lightroom.  I am tellin’ ya – this product is just too cool!  Photo management, editing, tagging, and gallery production all in one – what’s not to love?

Also up today, a little shout out to Dave Zarzacki, who owns a like new Canon XSi in mint condition, but just doesn’t need it in his gear bag (he’s trying to round out his collection with an SLR that will take all his current lenses).  It’s a great deal which includes the following:

  • XSi body (black) – $640 value from B&H
  • Canon 18-55 IS lens – $60 value as part of above kit from B&H
  • Tiffen UV filter – $7 value from B&H
  • 2 4GB SDHC cards – $25 value from Amazon
  • Gary Fong Puffer flash diffuser – $20 value from B&H
  • M-Rock Yellowstone bag ($54 value)

Individually, this would sell for over $800 easily, and Dave is only asking for $650 plus shipping.  I know the guy personally and can say that he knows how to take care of gear – this stuff will not have a scratch or scuff and will work as though new.  A great deal for someone starting out!  Any takers?  Drop me a line to get his email address and information.

Finally, for today, the Sigma lenses are in, and I can’t wait to start the review process on these this weekend!  Already found a few features that are just too cool for school!  Some other gear review items are on deck too – but I want to hear from you!  What do you want to learn more about in the way of products, gear, accessories, and such?  Sound off in the comments or with me via email!

Happy shooting all and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!

Grab the feed

Coulda beena contenduh

Jason4 Comments

Actually, all 53 of the images that were submitted to the Lightroom Giveaway I’ve been taking entries for on the blog were contenders.   Truly some great images were submitted to the Flickr Thread for the giveaway I’ve been hosting for the past month.  Some really great images.

The rules were simple:  Take any two pictures you like in May, share them on Flickr thread (& be family/work-safe) and you are eligible to win a copy of Adobe Lightroom – courtesy of the good folks over at Adobe (especially Tom Hogarty who was kind enough to make an appearance on the podcast to talk about the product and to take so many listener questions!

Anyway, I said that after the close date (end of May), I would pick the ten images I thought were best and forward those on to him for a grand prize winner decision (not that there’s a 2nd place, runner-up, or anything like that).  well, in perusing the images Monday and Tuesday, I really couldn’t decide on ten.  There were just too many images that I felt deserving.  Such is the case of contests and giveaways though – and the role of judge is a lot harder than I thought it would be.  But, I did winnow the entries down though – just couldn’t go lower than 14.  So, without further ado, here are the 14 finalists!

Lightroom Giveaway Finalists

Naturally, rather than display the images in the blog, I figured it’d be appropriate to do so in a web gallery, created at the hands of Adobe Lightroom!  Hopefully, this will also give people a little more insight into not only Lightroom, but into critiquing your own work and prepping contest submissions.

That’s it for today – congrats to all the finalists, ant thanks to everyone who participated – it was a lot of fun to see everything.  We’ll see you back here again tomorrow, and hopefully I’ll hear from Tom soon on who the lucky winner is for the free copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom!  Keep on shooting, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!

Grab the feed

Airtight Viewers – Web Gallery Options Reviewed

Jason7 Comments

Initially, this week was supposed to be the second in a series of software review posts to take a more detailed look under the hood at Photoshop Elements as an alternative to Photoshop Creative Suite.  Truth be told though, the more I poke under the hood with Adobe’s Lightroom, the more hooked I get.  One of the absolute best features (in my opinion) is the web gallery options available to you in Lightroom.  The options are endless!  You can go from standard HTML, to Flash-based templates, and hybrids, with customizations galore.

One of my favorites though, is how Adobe integrated a certain type of web gallery – those from Airtight Interactive.  Not sure what the deal was, but the delivery of images via these methods is just amazing!  So amazing, that I had to visit the website of the developer a while back just to see for myself.  The best part is that this guy developed even more than what’s in Lightroom.  I literally could get lost in these viewers, and as a fan of imagery – cannot imagine anyone similarly inclined that would not just love these displays.  Easy to install, a snap to finish, and Adobe Lightroom integration – what’s not to love.  Rather than go into the nitty gritty details, I’d rather just let the products speak for themselves in a few web galleries I put together.  There are four main ones, with three having Lightroom integration:  Simple Viewer, Tilt Viewer, Auto Viewer, and Postcard Viewer.  Each holds appeal for me, and depending on the imagery I am delivering, I can see where each may be the one of choice.

Airtight Simple Viewer

For me, the go-to one is the Simple Viewer though.  Clean, simple, easy lines, and somewhat traditionalist, the simple viewer allows for intuitive and easy navigation while delivering your images with precision and clarity.  This type of display option is great for people who enjoy looking at images, but also don’t want to have to think about how to do anything.  Just click and serve up the next image.  Clean, simple,and to the point.  Artistic types and non-artistic types alike will enjoy this for the ability to rapidly peruse many images fluidly and easily.  No muss, no fuss, just photos!

Here’s a sample gallery from a little photo project I did over the weekend.

Airtight Tilt Viewer

A little tricker to manipulate for the one viewing the show, I can see why Adobe didn’t want to incorporate this one into their web presentation.  Where the Simple Viewer is easy to manipulate for even the most simple-minded, you   actually have to have a little acuity and dexterity to maneuver your mouse to control this slideshow.  I think portfolios that would work well with the Tilt Viewer are ones that are are more edgy and off the beaten path.  The grunge type look is pretty popular right now and these galleries work well in this kind of display because the viewer that comes here is more artistically inclined to begin with, so they probably enjoy the “tilted view”.

Here’s another sample gallery from that photo project I did over the weekend, as well as the preview of it in a browser:

Airtight Tilt Viewer Preview

Airtight Auto Viewer

By its own definition, the auto viewer is  “designed to display a linear sequence of images and captions”.  Photo journalists may find the chronological characteristics of their work to fit well in this viewer, as would sequential types of shots.  Event photographers would find some appeal in this also because it delivers up a single image at a time, which gest every image some “face time”, whereas the Simple Viewer is more of a mass display where the viewer can just pick out their favorites to view closer.

Here’s that same gallery viewed in this style.  Because of the nature of this project, it actually may look a little disjointed, but only because I purged out some less than desirable shots before creating each gallery, so there could appear to be gaps.  When approached from a more journalistic approach, that element could easily be managed with more inclusion.  For RSS readers, here’s a snapshot of the gallery in a web browser:

Auto Viewer Preview

Airtight Postcard Viewer

Here, the gallery has a great blend of classic photo gallery look and feel, while also incorporating a more “regular” sense to it.  The very name “postcard” suggests that anyone could look through this album and feel like they were a part of it.  Journalistic styles and event work would find appeal here again, but this style also lends itself toward the enthusiast or “prosumer” who wants to share their works with family and friends, but wants to do it with panache or style.  My only nit is that you only get one page of photos in either the LR or PS versions so images will extend above or below your page limit.  So, with this in mind, keep your galleries under the 20 count or keep the images smaller.

And finally, the photo gallery from this perspective, and a quick view:

postcard

*****

Having seen and read about each flavor, it’s your turn now.  What do you think of this approach toward web galleries?  Any particular favorites out there?  What about other web gallery options?  Any alternative approaches that people find unique or that offer an interesting way to display images?  Sound off in the comments, and let me know what you think – one may just end up getting reviewed! 🙂

In the meantime, happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!

Grab the Feed

Impact Lightstand – Hardware Review

Jason2 Comments

This week’s hardware review is the Sigma Lightstand.  Specifically, the Impact 8 foot Air Cushion Lightstand.  While you may think that this is something that wouldn’t garner much discussion – I actually have found this to be a very handy tool.  “Tool?”, you ask.  Yes, a tool.  Sure, it’s primary function is to hold lights, but look at the variety even there – I’ve used it for small flashes (like my 550 EX II), studio strobes from Smith Victor, and water bags.

Lest you do a double take, that’s right, I used it along with a makeshift boom (arm that extends out to the side) to hold a water bag for a photo project.  The point is, light stands, like tripods, can function in a wide variety of capacities.   While I tend to shy away from making generalizations because I know my own gear experiences are unique, for me the biggest difference between a light stand and a tripod is weight and stability – light stands seem much lighter and aren’t as stable.  I am sure there are some high end light stands that provide excellent stability and can weigh a decent amount, but this one that I use is pretty light:

lightstand

I’ve linked the photo to the item at B&H (Item #IMLS8AQ  ) for those that want all the detailed specs, but here’s my two cents.

Pros:

  • Weight – these things are super light, and very easy to move around.  I could literally pick one of these up with one finger.
  • Extension – this basic model extends up to eight feet tall and compresses down into a shade under 3 feet.
  • Cost – very inexpensive, running a mere $35 from B&H Photo – small price to pay for an assistant
  • Size – this collapses down so small, I can fit my tripod, my monopod, umbrella, and this all in an over-the-shoulder bag!  Compactness is a plus, especially when travelling!
  • Functionality – aside from the obvious funtion of holding lights of various sizes, with a small clamp, you could hold pretty much anything from lights to grey cards to reflectors, to booms with water bags.  Heck, you can even jury-rig something from your garage or storage shed to make this guy hold pretty much anything for you.  So much for the photo assistant, eh?

Cons

  • Weight – yep, while a pro, it’s also a con – because they are so light, the can get easily bumped out of position or knocked over.  While using it with the boom/water bag for a weekend project, I bumped it ever so slightly with my foot and everything got knocked out of position.  Not by much, but when your DOF is a mere quarter of an inch and you are zoomed in tight on a water drop, one little bump requires re-setting everything from scratch again!
  • Workmanship – I was rather disappointed when I was going to pull out one of the extensions one day when the whole top pulled off the bottom legs.  It seems the nuts that are used to anchor legs and extensions into position weren’t tightened down all the way and as a result, a firm yank can pull it off the assembly.  Then, when I went to tighten it back down – the plastic collar that the screw/net combo fits through cracked on me.  *Sigh* Ah well – it still works, and I just have to make a mental note not to pull on the extension too roughly as the top will pop off.  But, what do you expect for $35?

Bottom line – I’d recommend this for people needed an extra set of hands from time to time.  If you are into off camera lighting (and after Wednesday, you should be!), then a light stand is a must – and this is a great entry level one that will fit your needs indefinitely, because even if you upgrade, an extra set of hands is just a few seconds away.

That’s it for today – make sure you stop in tomorrow for the next installment of software reviews!  Happy shooting and see you then!

Super Sigmas, photo walks and seminars!

Jason3 Comments

Lame teaser alert, but that’s the title for the podcast over at Learning Digital Photography.  Make sure to stop over to the podcast and download the show today!  Here’s the show notes (I may add to these as I remember link references – if any are missing, let me know in the comments so I can be sure to add them…)

  • The last day to enter your photos for the Lightroom giveaway is super close – so get your shots in the Flickr thread here pretty soon!
  • Adobe updated the ACR to 5.4 (still in beta), and is downloadable here
  • Canon announced some firmware updates and break/fix news on some of its SLR lines.  Tune into the podcast for details.
  • My Pick of the Week:  Photoshop Insider
  • Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk
  • Chuck Conder’s Flickr Thread (listen to find out why…)
  • Wireless USB Dongle from Engadget

Seriously folks, don’t miss out on your chance for a free copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom!  Get your photos in today!  A $30o retail value and free from the folks over at Adobe – in this economy we could all use a little help and Adobe is being very generous here.

Well, that’s about all for this week.  Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you back here on Monday – as we head out for the weekend, don’t forget to have fun out there.  With that in mind, here’s my favorite WTD from this past week – so fitting for my job in IT!

denial

Happy Shooting!

ETA:  Thanks to reader Don for reminding me about the link to the PhotographyBB magazine article.  You can download the full magazine here

Grab the feed

A video short on HDR and bracketing

Jason4 Comments

One of the more popular posts here on the blog has been two that consisted of explanations on how to bracket multiple exposures in camera in order to capture a wider range of exposure values than is typically permitted in a single frame.  Typically, these various exposures are then seamed together in some editor like Photoshop, Photomatix or other that is available to produce an effect called HDR – high dynamic range.  You can get some impressive results with various techniques that appeal to different subjective perspectives.

Here at the blog though, rather than take sides on such post processing methods, it’s more fun to show people how to do things, and then let you all take your own liberties either with the approach or with your processing afterward, or both to get results that appeal to you!  With that in mind, the feedback I’ve received from the previous discussions included a large number of people that asked for visuals of the process (I guess they are all visual learners).

Well, rather than take several dozens of images showing all the various settings and then explaining how I got toeach, a video seemed a more appropriate approach.  So, here’s the video short for those of you that requested visual aids.  It’s not the most professional but you should be able to get the gist.

This would also be a good time to remind everyone that we are in the dwindling days of the Adobe Lightroom contest.  You can win your own free copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, courtesy of the folks at Adobe, simply by entering images you’ve taken in May over at the LDP Flickr thread.  Limit two images per person, but there’s still room for many more entries (no limit on the number of PEOPLE that can participate!)  just join the group for free and post your images.  Good luck to all and may the best photo win!  (Final results will be posted in June – I’l send my top ten picks back to Tom Hogarty for final judging when he’ll pick the winner!)

That’s it for today – I should have the podcast up tomorrow, but as always, no promises as my schedule has been fluctuating at work lately.  Happy shooting, and I will be back with more news, information, insights, tips and tricks tomorrow, whether in written or audio form.  Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Grab the Feed

And from the Bag of Tricks…

Jason1 Comment

Wow – it’s been a crazy couple of weeks:

  • Interview of Tom Hogarty over at Adobe, to the generous donation of a copy of Photoshop Lightroom for a contest (only two days left!)
  • A 3 minute clip on The Tech Guy Radio Talk show with Leo Laporte
  • Invitation to go on a photo shoot with Scott Kelby, followed up by dinner with the crew
  • Front row seat at Lightroom Seminar
  • A very kind and thoughtful mention on Scott’s blog only yesterday
  • And now…

Well, I don’t want to jinx it, so I am going to have to leave one of my tricks still in the bag until things get firmed up.  Suffice to say, if it comes to pass (and I am still not holding my breath)… this will be a very cool thing for the readers of the blog, listeners of the podcast, feeders of the…well, all of it!

So, for the time being, here’s a few other photo tips to help you improve your composition when out shooting:

  1. Keep a quart sized resealableplastic  bag with you.  Fill with sand or dirt on location for a quick and dirty beanbag support for the camera.  Empty when done and toss it back in your bag!
  2. Got a monopod with you?  Attach your camera, set the timer and hold it out facing down (or up, to the right or left) for a new and interesting angle.
  3. Need a quick gauge on how much time until sundown?  Hold your hand out at arm length and count the number of fists between the horizon and the sun – each fist = 1 hour!
  4. Carry a small sample of sticky putty with you to immobilize objects for capture – great because you can use it over and over again and it won’t leave marks on gear or portrait subjects in tabletop environments.
  5. Wear cargo pants – that way you can walk with one lens on your camera, another in a leg pocket, and other accessories in the other side (media, spare batteries, business cards, etc) for easy on-the-go access to your two favorite lenses.  This works for lenses up to the 200mm range, depending on your height and the cargo pocket size), thus keeping your hands free to shoot and interact, while also not being saddled with a heavy backpack or slingback (you can now carry a Camelbak to keep hydrated!)

Got your own tips and tricks to help photographers on the go?  Share them in the comments or with me via email.  Remember, the Adobe Lightroom Contest Giveaway only has three days left including today, so get your photos in over at the Flickr group here!

Grab the feed here

Steady as She Goes…

Jason3 Comments

This first day after a long Memorial weekend, things are a little slow out of the starting gate, but as luck would have it, slow and steady is the theme for today, because my gear review that I postponed from yesterday is none other than the trusty tripod!

The tripod is probably one of the most basic and easy-to-understand pieces of equipment in a photographer’s gear bag – yet likely one of the least used.  I can’t tell you the number of times (myself included) I have heard someone utter “Argh!  I left my tripod back in my car!”  We’ve all done it, so the question becomes one of how to ensure you take the tripod with you.  The answer lies in making the right investment the first time.

FOr me, the first investment (because we all invariably try this route first), was a cheap an economical one from Wal-Mart for roughly $20.  I was quickly disavowed of its ability to support even a Canon XT with a 70-200 lens on it.  I went so far as to weigh down the plastic center column with my gear bag to little avail.  It was just not built for my gear.  Perhaps such a tripod would be good for the P&S crowd, because I would rather not disparage any gear intended to provide an increase in stability.

Anyone who goes to any length to increase their camera stability recognizes the benefit of a tripod.  So many pictures out there can benefit from increased stability – yet they continue to pepper the internet in perpetuity.  So, if you really are strapped for cash – something is better than nothing.  But, if you would like to invest a little in “some legs” (parlance for a tripod among photog-types apparently), then take a look at Bogen/Manfrotto.

Bogen/Manfrotto gear is recognized as one of the industry leaders in tripods, monopods, and camera equipment.  Another serious name in the game is Gitzo, and I’ve heard good things about them too – but for my money, I went with Bogen a few years back in my pursuit of stability.  My choice?  The Bogen 3021BPro:

tripod

This set is really sturdy – made of aluminum and an extended eight of nearly 70″ (69.29 technically), this was a great investment for me.  I stand at 6’1″ (73″)  so the height appeal was a major contributing factor.  Cost-wise, it also came in within my range at roughly $150-$200 new.  With quick-clamp leg extensions, and the ability to set up at varying ranges of 25°,  43°, 73° and  90° it was a great investment for me.

With the stability and low price though, came a downside – weight.  The legs themselves weigh in at a little over 5 lbs, but I did not plan on being very mobile with the set.  So, it was a great starter set for me.  The reason why I said “set” though is because any good tripod also needs a good head.  You’ll notice from the inserted image that the legs have a lonely screwmount at the top.  This does not give you much mobility for the camera when attached, so you really need to also invest in a head.

The head attaches to the tripod, and then in turn attaches to your camera and allows you a little more flexibility in moving the camera position around to get the right angle on your shot.  There are many types of heads including trigger mounts, ball heads, and pan-and-tilt heads.  Rather than get into an extensive discussion of the various heads as well, here it’s sufficient to say I chose the ballhead route.  Specifically, I went with the Bogen 488RC2.

ballhead

This is super nice because it allows you to pivot your camera around very easy and go from landscape to portrait mode in a snap.  Also nice is the fact that the head comes with a quick-release plate, basically allowing you to go mobile from your stationary tripod in a snap.  I’ll go into the various heads and how they work in some future post.  For here though, I got the ehad at about $120, so for less than $300 total, I had a pretty decent workhorse for a tripod/head set.   Here again, the only downside I can think of is weight.  The head also weighs in at 1.5 lbs so I am getting near 7 lbs of tripod weight total.  It doesn’t sound like much, but if you’ve tried lugging a tripod/head combo around on a photowalk, it can get pretty heavy pretty quick if you don’t have some strapped method for carrying it while walking or traveling.  For the most part though, it’s lasted me well and worked gloriously – when I remember to take it out of my car!

Eventually I will probably either upgrade this set of legs to the more lightweight, yet also sturdy, carbon fiber material that is becoming more cost effective.  At the time when I got this set, carbon fiber was very new on the scene, and thus very expensive.  As we see the presence of carbon fiber increase in the market place, the price has also come down some.  Not a lot, but enough for me to start considering it.  In all likelihood, I could see myself hanging on to this set for studio or location work while also adding to the gear bag with the more lightweight carbon fiber legs for on-the-go types of photography.

All in all though – if you don’t have a set of legs, this would be an excellent starter set.  For under $300 your pictures will undoubtedly see marked improvement – that’s assuming of course you don’t forget the gear in your car!  Happy shooting all and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!