Tag: photography

The Perils of Polarizers

Jason2 Comments

Happy Monday all!  My apologies at the absence on Friday – it seems some gremlins absconded with all my time on Thursday, so in the absence of any halfway decent content, decided to make it a legitimate “no blog” day heading into the weekend.  But, a new week is here, and I’ve got a cool topic to cover briefly with you…that being:

Polarizing Filters

Polarizing filters can be a godsend – they can really bring out blues in a sky, or minimize reflections in windows, and can really help to improve the quality of your work.  At the same time, polarizers can also be very tricky to use.  On my recent trip to Arizona (I shot a weekend with Rich Charpentier of The Airstream Chronicles), there were many opportunities to bring out the gorgeous blue sky, and contrast it with the amazing colors in the orange rocks that the American Southwest is known for.

The problem with polarizers is that the blue that is brought out is not a consistent blue – it usually gets stronger as you move toward the light source.  So, when you go to stitch things together, the results can be less than satisfactory with evident banding and shifts on hue of the blue skies.  Take a look at the example below to see what I am talking about regarding the banding…

Pano

See how the sky has blues that aren’t consistent?  It’s because I did not rotate the filter to accommodate the shift in blues as I shot across the scene.

Another problem is kind of hinted at above – what if you have a sky where you want the blue to pop, but the foreground includes a water reflection that is an integral part of your composition?  The answer here is to expose both with, and without the polarizing effect, and then blend together the two shots later in post production.  Masking off parts of images is much easier to deal with than the polarizing effect in the sky, but it’s a pitfall of panorama photography to be aware of.

As it happened, later on that day I was capturing another scene where there was no sky, so it was a non-issue.  Here, the key is to remember to spin your filter so that the reflection does reveal itself, otherwise you will think you are doing something severely wrong when you can see the reflection with your eye, but not through the lens.  I probably spent a good five minutes trying to change the angle of view before I realized it was just a quick spin of the filter to reveal the reflection below me…

Reflections in White Pocket

As, as you can see, there are benefits to polarizers and there are also downsides to consider as well.  When used correctly, they can really add to the character of an image.  For those looking at specific recommendations, here are the ones in my gear bag:

But enough about my thoughts on polarizing filters – what about you?  Do you think they are legitimate tools to alter a scene?  What about reproducing the effect in post production?  Which ones do you use?  Do you have a favorite or do you prefer all photography “au naturale”?  Sound off in the comments or via email!

Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow for more photography goodness!

Thank goodness for the blog!

Jason8 Comments

Ever have one of those days where you know that you are doing something wrong with your gear – but for some reason it’s just not clicking (so to speak)?  I had just such a day recently.  I still have the DIY-style radio triggers from Cactus I bought last year (still have not upgraded to the Cybersyncs), and I was trying to light something off camera for a macro shot with this little solution.  Try as I might, I could not get the transmitter to fire my 580 when on camera.  For the life of me, if I tried one setup, I tried at least several dozen, all to no avail!  Finally, in frustration, I tossed the whole thing aside.

Then today, I was considering some advice on blog content to help “promote” archived content.  One such technique is to do a theme of  “a year ago today…” and reference a post from that same day last year.  Well, last year today I did a neat little write-up on…yup, these little Cactus triggers.  Lo and behold, the one combination of cables, wires and gadgets I did not try was the one I demonstrated nearly a year ago to the day that does work with these guys.  Oh the joys of camera gadgetry!  With all the gear and gadgets we own, it’s really amazing that we are able to keep this stuff in our heads as we do.  Well, mine must have sprung a leak, because I ended up reading my own blog on how to configure my own gear!  Well, thank goodness for the blog, eh?

In honor of finally figuring out (from my own writing no less) how to create the shot I was trying to get, and in kind of a rebirth of the “What’s This?” series from last year, here’s that shot for you today.  The first person to guess what this is – wins!

Can you identify this?

I’ll give everyone a hint – it has to do with photography! 🙂  Oh, and as an aside, I am loving the noise reduction in LR3 Beta 2!  I was at ISO 100, but some noise still creeped in – nothing LR3B2 couldn’t cure rather quickly!

Also, in light of it being “tax day” here in the states, to lighten your mood, here’s a laugh from WTD (I’ve not posted one of their cartoons in a while – though I do keep visiting every day!)

A Primer on Licensing Your Work

Jason1 Comment

With so many people likely covering the CS5 launch event later today (http://cs5launch.adobe.com/), I thought I’d take a different tack on things, since the launch really is just talking about when it will be available.  (In other words, everything you hear today will be nothing more than hype and PR excitement.  Nothing to really sink your teeth into…except pricing, which has already been leaked):

  • CS5 Regular Price is $699 for the full version and $149 for the upgrade…
  • CS5 Extended Pric is $999 and $349 respectively…

So, for something to sink your teeth into – here’s the latest short of an larger article I am working on that covers the exciting, heart-stopping, living on the edge, never-say-die, run ’til you drop matter of…

Photography Licensing

Okay, so maybe it’s not that exciting, but think about licensing for a minute.  There are so many terms bandied about when it comes to licensing and usage, fees and rights, that it can be very difficult to navigate the jungle of not only what to charge, but which licensing approach will work best for you and your style of work.  Well, fear not fellow photogs!  Today, I’m going to take a look at some of the basic concepts and  terminology of licensing.  While this is not legal advice, consider it a resource that you can use as a springboard or basis for understanding.

First off, let’s get a handle on what exactly the term “licensing” means.  Licensing (in a very general sense) means that you are giving permission to print your work.  Whether that permission is granted to an individual or a company can define particular licensing options for you, in the end, it’s permission to re-print or re-use your work that licensing grants the buyer.  (Yes, this means you as the photographer are the seller!)  Also, as a general rule, if the buyer wants to use your work a lot (say National Geographic wants to print it in their magazine, on their website, and include in videos and email flyers) then you can usually command a higher price than someone who just wants to buy a single print of your work (smaller usage).  So, more use equates to a higher fee.

Now that we know what licensing is, and how pricing in general is structured, let’s take a look at some of the more common forms of licensing that you will see.  There are several categories of licensing and it can get confusing when you start to cross categories, so let’s talk about categories first, so we can distinguish all the elements involved.  The first categorization generally used is between  commercial use and non-commercial use.  Other categorizations include Rights Managed and Royalty Free.  Before delving into details on other types of licensing available, let’s cover briefly what each of these means.

Commercial Licensing

Commercial licensing means that whoever is purchasing wants to turn around and make money off your images.  They are likely going to redistribute usually in the form of print publications like magazines, corporate papers (like annual reports, brochures, and other types of media that is distributed to a decent sized audience like their stockholders, prospective clients, etc.).  As a general rule of thumb, the wider the distribution (more copies of your pictures are being printed/used), the higher the fee for usage.

Non-Commercial Licensing

Conversely, a non-commercial usage generally means that the use is not going to be generating any money for the person/company that is buying the license.  It also means that the image purchase will not be redistributed elsewhere and this is usually part of the terms of the license.  Here, a good example would be a medical office buying an image to hang on their wall, a church making a flyer, or some other instance like that.  Since this is a much narrower distribution (a.k.a. usage), the fee will not be as high as it would for commercial work.

If you think  that was a lot of reading, there’s so much more!  Licensing can be customized for pretty much any use by an attorney!  You can cross any of these and get a literal jungle of licensing protocols, including others like First Use, One Time Use, and much more!  Attorneys are available that specialize in licensing and copyright.  If you really want to get into the nitty gritty talk with them!  This is just a beginning dialog…

Speaking of dialogs – got any stories of licensing or copyright that helped save your bacon?  I’ve read a few in the NAPP forums, and from several other outlets too.  Feel free to share your own thoughts and questions in the comments or via email!  Who knows – the podcast that’s coming out soon may feature a question or two! 🙂

In the meantime, keep on shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

What's In Your Backyard?

Jason5 Comments

Remember the interview I did on a podcast a while back with Andie Smith?  One of the things we talked about was that you don’t really have to travel a whole lot to be a travel photographer – that sometimes your best shots are in your own area.  Well, a local Denver magazine, 5280 Photo, just put out an article in their most recent issue that talks about 52 things to do in Colorful Colorado this year.  Naturally, many are photogenic too.  So, for a dose of inspiration, don’t forget to look at what’s around you! Continue reading “What's In Your Backyard?” →

The Rest of the Story…

Jason1 Comment

Last Monday, you learned of my trip to White Pocket, AZ.  I met up with fellow photographer/blogger Rich Charpentier of “The Airstream Chronicles”.  As we left off last week, he had met me at the Page, AZ airport, and we were heading off into the Arizona desert.  The ride was smooth at first, but as soon as we started the off-roading, things got a little bumpy.  True to form though, his Nissan Titan handled it with aplomb.  Check out this short video footage of the off-roading adventure, with Rich driving and me recording:

You’ve also already seen some of the shots from the trip, but here’s a few more to satisfy the image-intensive crowd!

White Pocket, AZ

White Pocket, AZ

White Pocket, AZ

White Pocket, AZ

Have a great Monday and we’ll see you back here tomorrow when I announce the winner of the March Contest and the theme/prize for April…it’s another good one so be sure to tune in for that!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you then!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

White Pocket, AZ

Jason5 Comments

Many of you have written in, asking when I am going to post some of the photos taken from the Arizona trip over last weekend.  Wait no longer, for here are some from the trip!  Several of these are potential “portfolio” shots…still debating which ones to include and which ones to leave off.  I’ve posted them to Flickr and to NAPP with some pretty positive feedback thus far, but here’s your chance to sound off on which ones to include in the newest updates.  Let me know what you think:

#1

White Pocket, AZ

#2

#3

S Curve

#4

The Road Less Traveled

#5

Lone Tree Hill

#6

Many Lines

#7

Window to the World

#8

Colors and Lines

#9

Other Worldly

So, which are your favorites?  All, any, none?  Sound off in the comments!  Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!  Happy shooting!

The Journey Began…

Jason3 Comments

“The Journey” began with a double-stop plane ride on a double prop plane.  From Denver to Farmington, then Farmington to Page.  Each ride was about an hour, but in this cramped sardine can of a ride, there’s never a dull moment!  The pilots did their level best to keep the plane not only aloft, but sailing sans bumps.  Given the snow in Denver on Friday, the outbound trip was no picnic.  Thankfully motion-sickness is not normally a factor, but alas, no in-flight naps were possible for all but the soundest of sleepers!

Twin Props to White Pocket

After the trip, the question was now whether the unknown stranger would reveal himself.  Of course, having talked to the guy for over a year via email exchanges, shared podcasts and blog posts, it was a pretty safe bet this guy wouldn’t hack my head off with an ice ax or anything.  Still…with a trail name of “gadgetat” when he hiked the  Appalachian Trail for over 4 months straight – you never know what you’ll run into.  This guy has already indicated he beats to his own drum.  A former engineer with AT&T, HAM radio operator, and New Hampshire resident found enough internal strength of will to head out and travel the land in an airstream – not a lot of space to live in, but enough for him!

Rich Charpentier of "The Airstream Chronicles"

Not only did he reveal himself, but the easy-going nature and willingness to really engage in conversation and talk similar interests was evident.  So off we rode into the desert…with the rocks, the cacti, and the sand.  Oh yeah, and the heat – because it is a desert, so it’s warmer there than anywhere right?  Don’t forget the heat…

Desert Heat

We traveled in his Titan, not the Airstream (thank God!) – and this was a monster of a truck!  It flew down the paved roads with ease.  The size and strength was enough to reassure me that this could probably handle most off-roading adventures.  Of course, having never off-roaded much myself, the durability remained to be seen…

Rich's Titan

More tk…

Sun wind and Frost

Jason3 Comments

White Pocket

A short excursion over the weekend took me down to see Rich Charpentier of “The Airstream Chronicles“.  For those of you that follow the blog, you’ll know that Rich has been on the podcast before and we’ve been sharing war stories for a little over a year now about photography.  Well, this last weekend, we got a chance to shoot one of his favorite little haunts, the not-so-well-known “White Pocket” in the dunes.  It was quite the trip…from a windy trip down in a twin propeller plane, to some nice afternoon sun while there on the afternoon Saturday, to frost at night inside our tent!  Yeah, it got pretty cold!  So much so we ditched the tent and went for the warmth of his trusty Titan before shooting some sunrise shots of the morning colors.  Quite a spectacular trip, and while only there for 12 hours of shoot time, I managed to burn off 8 gigs of photos!  I can’t even imagine what a 3 day trip would result in (lots of post process time is my guess).

More to come with the full back story and more photos that are worked up from the trip, but for now, it’s good to be back in a bed with controlled heat and coffee!  Thanks to Rich for the invitation, and be sure to visit his blog for more of the sordid details this coming week over at The Airstream Chronicles!

In other news – the podcast and blog now has an 800 number!  That’s right, you can call in your questions and get them answered right here on the blog, or listen to answers on the podcast.  To call in and have your questions responded to directly from me give it a whirl:  866-809-8663  If you are outside the U.S., I’d recommend Skype for calls as 800 number calls are free from anywhere!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow, when I’ll for sure have some more details and photos from the trip to White Pocket!