What is it about Windows?

Jason12 Comments

No, I am not talking about Operating Systems, rather I am talking about a follow-up to yesterday’s photo post with the theme of “Water”.  You see, another recurring theme for me is windows of buildings.  Taken from various angles and in various lighting conditions, and all over the place, ranging from South Carolina, to Colorado, Mexico, and various points in between, here’s a random sampling of windows I’ve captured in camera:

There you have it – just a random sampling of “Windows” as I’ve seen them over the last 5 years.  Got your own archives of thematic images?  Anything that has captured your fancy consistently over time?  Share your own themes and photos in the comments (remember, you can upload to the comments now)!  Happy shooting, and don’t forget about the February contest going on in the Flickr thread – a 16×20 print canvas is at stake.  Get your photos in while there’s still time!

What is it about Water?

Jason3 Comments

Something about water really draws us as photographers – whether it’s the sunrise on a lake or ocean, the beads of dew on a morning flower, the tears or sweat as they roll down a cheek, or even the implied motion of water drops bouncing in the air – water somehow draws us all.  Could it be that humans are made up of a majority of water?  We do need it to survive – water is one staple we cannot live without.  Those two atoms of Hydrogen and one of Oxygen have so much meaning for us, we somehow are compelled to capture water in all its various forms of…dare I say beauty?  Who knows what drives us to capture it in camera, but I for one enjoy it!  Do you?

What is it about Water?

#2 (What is it about Water?)

#3 (What is it about Water?)

#4 (What is it about Water?)

#5 (What is it about Water?)

#6 (What is it about Water?)

#7 (What is it about Water?)

The idea for this post came from a tweet where someone referenced their entire archive saying they had photos of this and that, and were prepared for most situations when clients would come to them and ask “Do you have a photo of…?” so they could say yes!  It prompted me to go through my own archives, and I found several recurring themes – one of which was…can you guess?  WATER!

Go through your own archives and see if you can find recurring patterns – I asked some fellow photogs and water was a common one, which got me to thinking about this post in particular.  “What is the deal with water?”  Do you see a lot of water in your work?  What other themes arise from your archives?  Sound off in the comments, as I’d love to hear what inspires others (even if it is water too!)

Don’t forget, the LDP Flickr contest continues and the “Heights” contest deadline is about a week away.  Get your photos in soon to be in the running!  Happy shooting all and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Software Review: PrintKey2000

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Many times I have been asked what kinds of software I use to do various things for the blog, especially things like videos, screen captures, audio recording, and all that sort of stuff.  One thing that I’ve never really talked about is screen captures…not the videos but actual still shots of things as seen directly on my screen.  There are many programs available to do this, some paid for, and some open-sourced, with some being Mac or Windows specific, and a few scattering that cross both platforms.

Well, today, I am going to give a little nod to a Windows-only program, called Printkey.  Specifically titled PrintKey2000, and under specific note that this is a freeware program (meaning it is not supported – to use at your own risk.)  While I have never had problems with it, the mentality of “let the buyer beware” should always be a consideration when downloading applications, especially freeware.

Those in Apple-land know that there are keyboard shortcuts to do a screen capture of either your entire viewing area, or a specific window, and these can either be copied to the clipboard memory for inserting in an application like Photoshop, or saved outright to your desktop.  While in Windows you can always use the Printscreen and ALT+Printscreen to copy either a full screen or active window to your clipboard, the ability to save directly to your desktop does not exist natively.  Instead, you have to capture the screen to memory, paste into an image editor, and save out as a JPG if you want to use it.  What PrintKey does is fill that void of directly saving to the desktop.  This is especially handy if capturing things for posting in a blog, in creating documentation, and other useful learning resource outlets.

To use Printkey, simply download the free application from here, run the executable, and let the program start in your system tray.  The entire packaged zip file is half a megabyte, so the footprint is super for those that are space conscious.  Here’s a capture of the software itself in action (don’t ask me how I got it – that took a few minutes to figure out!  LOL):

Printkey200o Interface

While there are many features wrapped up in this handy little application, the ones I use most often are the Save, Rectangle, Print, and then the dialog screen at the bottom of the screen (click the image above to see a larger view).  These should be pretty straightforward to those who are familiar with the concepts, but here we go regardless:

  • Save – saves the current capture to an image file…you can specify whatever format you prefer (jpg gif, etc.)
  • Rectangle – gives you a + sign that you can drag and drop around a custom area for capturing only part of your desktop
  • Print – sends the captured image to your printer…(hope that was explanatory enough)

The last one is the bottm details area…I am talking about this little section here:

Details

It’s very handy because it will tell you the dimensions of the image, how large the file is in terms of storage space on your computer, and how much free memory is left out of the total memory.  While some many not need all this info, the geek in me likes to have this!

So, there you have it, Printkey2000 in action.  I feel that I should also mention another really good counterpart and that is the program, SnagIt from the folks over at TechSmith.  With that handy application, you can not only capture images on both Windows and Mac, but you can edit them on the fly, including inserting text, arrows to call out an area, and other fun stuff.  Alas, it’s not free though – 30 day trial is allowed before you gotta cough up the $50! (Which for me is not worth it for something like this.  I have some friends that use other applications too, especially for video screen captures on both Mac and Windows platforms which include names like IShowU, Camtasia, and much more.  Here though, was just a little scoop on a little known application for the Windows crowd out there.

Got your own favorite little unknown program?  Have you used PrintKey?  Like it, love it or hate it?  Sound off in the comments as new little handy utilities are always welcome.  Happy shooting all and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow! 🙂

One last thing all – don’t forget the Height themed contest for the month of February – get your photos in while the gettin’ is good!  Deadline is a week from Friday!

Hardware Review: Rapid R Strap

Jason6 Comments

I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to talk about my Rapid R Strap.  This is a very cool camera strap developed by the folks over at Black Rapid.  I had been wanting one for a while, and made it known to everyone prior to the holidays over a year ago (think pre-Christmas 2008).  Thankfully, my wife saw the writing on the wall, and I ended up with one on Christmas Day!

Black Rapid R Strap (RS-5)

So, let me tell you what makes this camera strap unique.  First off, it’s unique design has a built in “stop” so that you just let your camera slide down to that point and it just hangs there, conveniently out of the way, but immediately accessible when you want to bring it up for capturing a shot.  This strap is the perfect accessory for going on photo walks whether in an urban environment, wildlife, or other setting.  The fact that your camera is hanging out of the way makes it much easier to do things like climb rock walls, interact with others (getting signed model releases, passing out business cards, etc.), or anything else that you may need both your hands for.

Another nice feature set on this is that the front of the strap has a Velcro section where you can throw a cell phone in (probably not an iPhone though), and a zipper section where you can store things like spare memory cards, business cards, and other accessory items (I was able to fit a spare battery in there…)

There was an awkward adjustment for just a little bit, getting used to a camera not only dangling from this strap, but also dangling upsidedown!  It was a very short adjustment though, and I quickly adapted to the nature of how it works.  What was super cool for my setup is that I was able to utilize my quick release place as the “hook” for the clip, so if I wanted to quickly go from shooting on the go, to setting it in a tripod, it was simply a matter of releasing the clip, mounting in the tripod and lining up the shot.

These straps come in a variety of sizes, with one even offering dual straps for a two-camera setup (I know a few guys that do this, with one body holding a long lens and the other holding a wide angle…ready for anything!).  The size I ended up getting was the RS-5 (medium), and it fit my 6’1″ just about perfectly.  Choose the option that works best for your frame and gear setup, but this is definitely a purchase worth getting, especially if you go on a lot of photo walks.

Got any of your own gear predilections or preferences?  Want me to review something you’ve not seen here yet?  Do you own a Rapid R Strap?  Like it, love it or hate it?  Sound off with your own thoughts in the comments.  In the meantime, keep on shooting as we have another contest underway for a free 16×20 canvas print of any picture you have in your gallery from the talented Rich Charpentier!  Check out his printing services and you’ll be glad you did!  The contest page on Flickr is here, and is also linked in the content menus at the top of every page (the theme this month is Height).  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

The Canon Rebel T2i – A First Look

Jason12 Comments

The New Canon DSLR: EOS Rebel T2i

Yes, that’s right, I am looking at the T2i, but like everyone else, my look is virtual rather than real, so for those expecting a hands-on review, you’ll have to wait until it ships.  For what it’s worth though, here’s some initial thoughts on looking through the specs that Canon released.  First off, their PR description from the landing page on their website: Continue reading “The Canon Rebel T2i – A First Look” →

Pardon the interruption…

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but another drop dead date was today as tomorrow we have our first showing after listing the house on the market.  My task of the day (it seems I am getting more and more of these)…clean the garage.  So, to make it really worth my while, I told Tracy that if that’s the case I needed a Shop-Vac (and a good one) to get all the standing water out that had dripped off the tires onto the garage floor – it just wouldn’t get clean without that.

It worked!  Not only did I get a clean (relatively) garage floor – I also got a brand new 14 gallon ShopVac from Lowes.  A few extra attachments and a spare filter only set me back about $120, so all in all, it was a good deal!  (Although I realized how much junk I’d managed to accrue over the last 16 months…)  Just goes to show you that with all the gadgetry in the world, there is always something out there you still want and/or need!  Ladies and Gentlemen…I give to you – my new ShopVac (and now clean garage!):

Ain’t she pretty?  And the job she did on the garage was pretty amazing too!

We Have Floor Space

Okay, sorry for the photo interruption, but I just had to share now that I have a clean garage space – first time in over a year…back to photography:

Stay tuned tomorrow for my full write-up on the new Canon Rebel (the 2T I think), and some great creative challenges for you heading into the weekend.  In the meantime – anyone else have any non-photo gadgets that they got and suddenly realized they should never have been without?  Mine is definitely the Shop-Vac!

Composition and the Angle of View

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We’ve talked a lot about various rules of composition – what they are (Rule of Thirds, Golden Mean, etc) and when to adhere versus eschew them to create dramatic effect.  One thing we’ve not talked much about is the idea of changing your angle of view.  We have mentioned the concept in the past, suggesting that to get a good perspective to look up, look down, look behind you, and in new directions to get a unique view on things.  While this is always a good practice to remind yourself that there are other perspectives, it’s never really been discussed or illustrated in depth.

So, what I did was take a pretty ordinary object – my coffee mug – and take ten different pictures of it.  I challenged myself to look at one thing in ten unique ways – at different angles, and to try and find one that showed me something different than what I would usually expect to see.  I did get ten different angles, so technically I accomplished the objective.  Since some were very close to one another though, I am sharing here six different angles of view to help illustrate the purpose behind the exercise:

Angle 1

Angle 2

Angle 3

Angle 4

Angle 5

Angle 6

I used my 70-200 f4 and a tripod.  The white background you see in some pictures is just a piece of foam packing that was used to ship prints to me a while back.  I had my flash on the hot shoe, pointing up and to the rear most of the time.  Camera settings were 1/250th, at f4, and an ISO of 400.

It was pretty fun actually because I drink coffee every day! So, taking this regular object that I usually don’t even think twice about (although I am a coffee hound so I do have quite a collection of mugs to choose from…), I took 6 distinctly different angles of view.  Some are more boring than others, sure!  But some are actually kinda cool – in particular I am fond of the one with the mug handle sticking in the air!  To keep it in place I simply stuck my lenscap behind the mug as a prop!  It’s a fun exercise, and can make you see regular objects and scenes in new ways.  This is just one way to force yourself to think creatively.

So now, it’s reader assignment time – go find something regular, anything!  Whether it’s a coffee mug, a screwdriver, a telephone or a clock radio…pick something then force yourself to take ten different shots of it.  Zoom in close, go super wide.  Drop your aperture way open for more blur and selective focus.  Use a totally different lens than you normally would.  Going with the 70-200 I forced myself to back up.  I could have swapped to the 10-22mm and gotten something totally different…and the same goes for the 70mm macro.  Whether you live in an apartment, a house, or……an airstream (do you really know anyone that would live in an airstream?), there are tons of  ways to think creatively that surround you!  Seek them out, and you will find a piece of yourself – share it with the world!

Post your creativity exercise shots up on Flickr in the LDP pool – show that creative side and happy shooting!  Until tomorrow, keep them shutters clicking, and watch out for a new Audioboo about the new Canon T2 Rebel – gonna be a fun clip on what Canon has been up to! 🙂

The nitty gritty details of FTP

Jason11 Comments

As in anything, there are terms often bandied about under the presumption that we all know what the term means, what it refers to, and how to do it!  Living with such blinders on is often dangerous and I fell victim to it recently when I gave someone an answer about hosting their photos online that referenced FTP.  I presumed they knew what I meant, knew what FTP was, and had their own method for using FTP, when the truth is – FTP can be very confusing, especially if all you do is take pictures.

So, in the interests of helping people get a clearer picture of what FTP is, how it relates to being a photographer, and how to use it to share your images online – keep on reading!  For the rest of you – keep on reading anyway, as I might get something wrong, and I need a lot of people to double-check me and keep me on the straight and narrow! 🙂

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and it’s really just a fancy name for moving your files and photos from a local storage device (like your computer) to a remote storage device (like a website).  You can run FTP through your browser, (think uploading images to places like Flickr or MPix), but this is slower, and more clunky – a dedicated application can do it much faster, and handle more files!  These are called FTP clients.

So, which FTP client should you use?  It depends on a couple things – first off, what type of computer you are running.  Windows and Apple have different systems and some applications (like FTP clients) aren’t universally designed for both.  So, your OS matters.  I look at 2 on each system in a companion article I will attach to this post.  Pick whichever one works best for your budget and work flow.

There’s only one more point I can think of regarding FTP that you should probably consider – security.  Some applications allow you to store your FTP site connection details  – the web address, your logon credentials, within the client.  While this may make connecting easier for you – now anyone can do it.  So watch out where you save this stuff.  if it’s on a computer that you have constant control over that is one thing, but if you are portable, or using a web-based client, that could be dangerous.  My recommendation there is not to save these credentials.  Doing so just opens a security risk – and your website being compromised could be a serious problem.

Security of the client application should not be confused with the security of the protocol – remember, FTP stands for file transfer protocol, and it’s an open format.  Depending on how your website is hosted, you might be able to transmit content over a secure connection (it’s called SSH, but you can think of it as a “secure file transfer protocol” or SFTP if that makes it easier), and while this is the preferred method, some hosting companies don’t like it.  So, before you decide on a host – shop around and ask if they have port 22 access (the number specifically associated with SSH).  Another thing to consider – even if you don’t think you need to know now – down the road is another story!

That’s it for today.  What are your favorite clients that you use for website content?  Share your own thoughts in the comments, and feel free to download my article on “Choosing an FTP Client” that goes into all the details!   Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.

As always, don’t forget about the monthly contest series.  This month, be sure to post your best Height shot to the Flickr Community thread

 

Camera Bag Must Haves?

Jason5 Comments

Over the weekend in between packing and moving boxes, I spent a little time with the Twitterverse and had a chance to get some fun dialogs going.  One of the questions posed was “Camera body aside, what are the must have essentials for you in your camera bag?”  My answer was my two filters, the polarizing filter and the ND filter for the wide angle (10-22) and telephoto (70-200) respectively.  I got some great responses from people that I thought would be interesting to share here on the blog today.  Here’s the responses from each twitter name:

  • tcrpmg:  Charger, extra cards, batteries bug spray and hand sanitizer
  • DIYPhotography: SB800, trigger, gridspot, flash clamp
  • playleimagery: extension tubes, reflector, filters, and a Cokin p350 hood  (plus tons of batteries)
  • steelersnm: batteries, charger, cleaning supplies and business cards
  • pwscott: Giotto Rocketblower
  • kevin_mullins: My lucky feather
  • lesault: 430EX, diffuser, wireless trigger, hair ties

Batteries seem to be a common favorite accessory, which makes sense because you never wanna be without the juice!  What about the rest of the reading audience?  Any personal favorite accessories you take along with you when shooting?  Sound off in the comments!  Oh yeah, and if you’re not following me yet, jump on board and you too can sound off in real time, as well as see your Twitter account up in lights (well, maybe not in lights, but at least mentioned when I do these questions from time to time…)

In the meantime, keep on shooting – this month the contest theme is Height and the Flickr thread is open for entries through the last Friday of the month – midnight mountain time as always is the deadline.  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow for more photo goodness!