After witnessing this beautiful sunset at Lake Geneva near Montreux, Switzerland I felt as though I had been struck with inspiration in the same manner influential European painters like Gustave Courbet and Claude Monet had years earlier. This timeless moment exemplified a misty/smokey golden light that I had seen so many times before in classic paintings I’ve studied. Amazing how viewing the art work of another artists decades, if not centuries, later can seem both retrospective and prescient.

Lake Geneva Sunset, Switzerland

Technorati Tags: photography, landscape, travel, Switzerland, Montreux, Lake Geneva

Copyright Jim M. Goldstein, All Rights Reserved

Lake Geneva Sunset, Switzerland

© 2010 Andreas Manessinger. All Rights Reserved (see policies). Contact for Use.

There’s a pawnbroker in Josefstädter Straße, just for all those photographers in need. When I recently looked there again, as always I found something. Lush and oriental. It’s not Easter yet, but the eggs are on the table

Signed prints available for $490 USD.

Keywords: austria, color, easter, egg, Nikon D300, shop, Still Life, Tamron 17-50/2.8 VC, vertical, wien, window

This photo was posted by Andreas Manessinger on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 3:38 pm and is filed under Still Life

© 2009 Andreas Manessinger. All Rights Reserved (see policies). Contact for Use.

This is an HDR image made of four out of nine bracketed exposures. I used HDRsoft’s Photomatix Pro. For tone mapping I used the rather conservative Tone Compressor algorithm. White balance is deliberately on the warm side. The result is a dreamy landscape, just like an old painting.

Signed prints available for $490 USD.

Keywords: austria, autumn, carinthia, color, evening, HDR, Landscape, river, square, sunset

This photo was posted by Andreas Manessinger on Sunday, December 20th, 2009 at 7:27 pm and is filed under Landscape

I am gonna turn it around to you guys with a question today: Is anyone participating in a formal (or informal) gear co-op program?

It seems like a logical choice as a compromise for gear you cannot rationalize owning.

Obviously, renting is an option for those who live in NYC or LA (and, increasingly, secondary markets). But it seems to me that the idea could easily be applicable to lighting gear. For instance, a group of weekend enthusiasts or a camera club could pool money for a monobloc kit.

There have always been informal arrangements between photogs in a given local area for spotting each other little-used gear. It's a lifesaver -- especially on assignments that require extra equipment. And some photographers even rent the stuff to other shooters, the cost of which is usually passed onto the client.

Personally, I have been jonesing for a Phase One back on a medium format body. But I cannot rationalize the cost.

Okay, let me rephrase that. I cannot rationalize the cost to my wife. I can rationalize anything to myself.

At The Sun, we had a pool of gear that was available to be used when needed by the staffers. Just seems to me that there must be civilian versions of this. And I'll bet someone reading this site has done it.

Hit us in the comments.

-30-

As most of you know, the discontinued Nikon SB-800 speedlight has an awesome -- yet, oddly undocumented -- built-in slave. But given the questions I have gotten recently, many people who own the newer SB-900s are not aware that their flash has the same capability.

A walk-thru on how to access and use the built-in slave in your Nikon SB-900 speedlight, and how to get better results from any slave outdoors, inside.
__________


SU-4 Mode Button Sequence

SU-4 mode is a legacy TTL mode which existed long before Nikon's CLS system. Props to Nikon for continuing to include it. And the day they stop including it is the day I start hoarding old flashes.

By setting your flash into both manual and SU-4 modes, as they say, dis where da magic happen.

Here's how to do it.


1. Press the "OK" button until you see a custom function menu appear. Should take a couple of seconds.

2. Using the command dial, scroll until you get to "SU-4" mode, and press "OK".

3. Use the same dial. scroll to "on." Press "OK" again.

4. Press "Exit" to get out of the menu.

5. Set your selector switch to "Remote".


You are now in SU-4 slaved mode, but you flash may be in either Manual or Automatic firing mode. You almost certainly want Manual mode. Use the "mode" button to get to "M" (or manual) mode.

Now your flash is in manual mode, and set to fire when it sees another flash. You can adjust the power level in manual mode the same way you do it if you were not in SU-4 mode.
__________


Tips on Usage

The slave eye is just below the battery door, and is seen as a small, bright circle in the photo at left. You need to position your flash to where the head points where you want, and the eye points toward the flash which will trip this flash.

(That's why the 180-degree rotation feature is valuable on the SB-900, and why you may want to add the same feature to your SB-800.)

If you read the SB-800 SU-4 tutorial, you know just how good this slave is. I count on them all the time, and they rarely let me down. If I am shooting in a room with all SB-800s, I will usually only take one set of PWs and slave the other flashes. They rock.

Here is how you can improve your already good results when shooting outside.

When you get a misfire, the problem is usually that the slave eye window was seeing bright sun in addition to your other flash's pop. This is easy to fix.

Once you get your lights set, use some gaffer's tape and make a little "porch roof" for your slave eye that will shade the sun but not block the view to the flash being used to trip this one. Your percentages will increase dramatically.


And, Speaking of Master Flash

One common mistake when using SB-800s or SB-900s in SU-4 mode (or any other flash with a good slave, for that matter) is not taking into account any "preflashes" that may be happening before your main exposure.

These slaves are so good they will almost certainly see and preflashes from the master flash and trip your slaved flash, too. And this all happens just a few milliseconds before your exposure, so the flash does not have time to recharge and pop again when you want it to.

The fix is easy -- make sure your "master" flash is not set to "master" mode, which enables a series of TTL-measuring TTL preflashes. You want all flashes in manual, where they will issue just one, pre-set pop. This way all of your flashes will sync together, and exactly when you want.

As long as everything is set to manual, your secondary flash is set to SU-4 mode and the slave eye can see your other flash, you will be amazed at how well it all works together.

And you might even feel good about how much coin you dropped on that spiffy new Nikon SB-900 speedlight.

Photography: Mr. T in DC

On March 26 and 27, Profiles in History, a California dealership, will auction a collection of photographs and memorabilia that is said to include “every iconic image of ‘30s and ‘40s glamour photography by every major photographer.” Among the images to be sold are a negative and custom print of Jean Harlow lying on a bearskin rug, shot by George Hurrell in 1934, which is expected to reach $30,000, as well as photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe, Man Ray and Helmut Newton. The auction is expected to raise between $3 million and $5 million, a large portion of which will be donated to the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center and to the Trevor Project, a non-profit.

For photographers, sales like these generate two kinds of envy. On the one hand, most lovers of beautiful photography would like nothing more than to own a collection of fantastic, artistic photographs, the kind of works they can admire and enjoy for years.

On the other hand though, as artists themselves, photographers would also like to see their own images in collections like these, being auctioned for giant sums of money and fought over by keen collectors.

Neither has to be impossible.

The Value of a Photograph

According to Janet Borden, owner of Janet Borden Inc., a New York photography gallery, photographs do make good investments. Although less liquid than stocks, the value of photographic art has risen faster than the stock market, she says.

While the price of a stock is linked to the company’s profitability however, the value of a picture depends on a number of different factors. Writing in the Huffington Post, art expert Daniel Grant explains that for old images, value is largely determined by the closeness of the photographer to the image. “Original” images — those whose negatives and prints were made by the photographer — are generally the most valuable. “Vintage” prints, those printed up to five years after the creation of the negative, also fetch higher prices. Images created later, in large numbers or by people other than the photographer him- or herself can be relatively cheap. Those photos won’t rise much in value, but they can be good places to start a collection of art from great photographers without spending giant sums of cash. Even some Ansel Adams prints, for example, can be affordable because he printed so many of them.

Darkroom skills and the way the print is made then do influence the price of an old photograph.

For contemporary photographers, of course, the ability to mix chemicals in the dark is no longer important, leaving just the quality of the work itself — and who it’s associated with.

“The art is always of primary importance, but the amount is dependent on other factors,” explains Janet Borden. “The name of the photographer is very important, as is the reputation of the seller, whether it be a dealer, a gallery, an auction house, or a private person.”

To begin building a collection then, Janet advises buying photographs that don’t cost more than a year’s rent and that are being sold by a reputable seller. Artists whose works have been collected and exhibited in museums tend to have potential as good investments, Janet says.

Those images though are also the type most likely to cost more than a year’s rent but a cheaper approach for photographers is to trade photographs with friends. Even if those images aren’t worth a great deal now, if your friend is as talented as you hope he or she is, you might find that that friendship is also a good financial investment. So it pays to make friends with good photographers, and not only for the advice and inspiration they can supply.

Being knowledgeable about photography helps too, and that includes understanding the range of photographic art available.

“I think when someone sees a photograph that they fall in love with, they should buy it.  Then they should just look and look and look at photographs, in books, in museums, in galleries,” says Janet Borden. “We always tell people that buying photographs is what makes you a collector.”

Become a Collectible Photographer

Becoming a collector and creating a photographic collection that can grow in value then is simple enough — at least in theory. If you’ve got lots of money, you can buy old images printed by the photographer and wait for them to rise in  value. If you want to buy contemporary photographic art, then buy from galleries or auction houses, or pick up works that have been exhibited in places with impressive names as they’re the type most likely to prove the best investments. And if you’re cash-poor but rich in friends, then try swapping your photos among yourselves and hope that at least one of you will go on to great things, making you all a little wealthier.

Becoming that great photographer though is clearly a little harder. Asked what a photographer can do to increase the value of their own work, Janet Borden recommended working with reputable people, whether that is a dealer or a gallery, or friends or schools.  That’s sound advice, but it might mean that only marketing your images yourself could restrict their potential as investments. And galleries, such as Janet Borden’s, are notoriously choosy, looking to recruit their photographers through photography schools or by choosing people who already have impressive photographic resumés.

When Michael H. Epstein, whose collection will be autographed this month by Profile in History, began buying images as a teenager he wasn’t thinking about selling them. He just wanted to own some beautiful pictures produced by great photographers. Perhaps that’s the best way to create a valuable photographic collection then: buy the images you want to own and assume that other people will want to own them too. And if you can then use those images to inspire your own pictures — and put them in galleries — you might just find that they form parts of other people’s collections too.

Photography: Mike Stimpson

When Toyota hired Rebekka Gudsleifdottir to shoot a series of billboard ads for the Prius in 2006, it was an idea they were after. Rebecca, then an art student in Iceland, had already gathered a large following on Flickr by creating a series of self-portraits in which she appeared twice. That double-appearance, Toyota’s advertising company felt, reflected the hybrid car’s two power sources. These days, they might want to avoid photographers whose careers appear to be as unstoppable as Rebekka’s (her work this month will be exhibited in New York) but that commission – remarkable for a non-professional — does show how sometimes a good idea, combined with the right execution, can be enough to win paid work. Rebekka though isn’t the only photographer whose creativity has helped to fill her order book. Here are five others:

Kevin Bauman’s 100 Abandoned Houses

Kevin Bauman’s idea was perhaps the simplest. A resident of Michigan, he became fascinated by the abandoned houses he saw in and around Detroit as industry closed and people moved away. He began taking pictures of the properties, shooting them front-on, so that as his collection grew the individual houses became part of a crowd, describing both the beauty of the decaying architecture and the spread of that decay. When he put those pictures up on a website, the result was phenomenal. The site was Dugg and StumbledUpon, and featured on ABC. A report about  Kevin’s work appeared in The New York Times and sent him about 8,000 unique visitors.

It also delivered 70 print sales at $35 a time, $10 of which were donated to Habitat for Humanity and the Greening of Detroit.

The images themselves aren’t particularly complex, but the idea struck a nerve at a time when Detroit was in the news. Matching the political zeitgeist with charitable donations, a clear way of shooting a subject, and a way to buy the pictures, helped Kevin turn his idea into cash.

Beth Dow Takes a Platinum Idea into the Garden

For Kevin’s photos the creativity is in the concept. For Beth Dow, it’s in the execution as well. In 2008, her Blurb book In The Garden, a collection of images shot in English and Italian country gardens, won the Photography.Book.Now competition. Unlike most landscape photos the images were made from platinum prints, a hand-made “slow art” process that Beth said she found seductive.

“I drew compulsively when I was growing up, and I filled stacks of sketchbooks with pencil drawings of twisted trees and anything else that would stay still for me,” she told us then. “I still love the subtlety of graphite, and platinum is the closest photographic medium I can think of.”

The result was a set of photos that Beth describes as “meditative” and “spiritual.” It was also a set that, despite also being exhibited at the Katherine Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota, was tailor-made for a book, Beth’s format of choice.

“I’m seduced by the “thingness” of books – the smell and feel of them, and this notion of the book as artifact is echoed in a platinum print.”

It helps too that books are easier to buy than prints, allowing Beth to turn her idea into more sales.

Vanessa Dualib Plays with Her Food

While Beth Dow’s style is serious and atmospheric, Vanessa Dualib is able to earn income through play. Her decision to start posing food items came when confined to her home while recovering from an illness. It started as a joke, she said, a way to avoid boredom and to combine her three great passions: photography, food and humor.

When she put the pictures of animal eggplants and skating carrots on Flickr though, like Rebekka, she found herself developing a following. And like Rebekka, that following attracted the attention of the professional world. Getty, which was then starting to build its Flickr collection, invited her to submit her photos. Put off by their licensing requirements, she kept most back but offered four, each of which sold licenses in the first four months on the market. She’s also put all of the images in a Blurb book.

For Vanessa, sales come from a mixture of fun, creativity, Flickr’s support network and, most importantly, the concept.

“If you got an idea but you’re a bit shy of trying it out because you don’t think you have the right technical skills or equipment to do it, my advice would be to just really give it a try,” she says. “The real important thing here is just to actually have the right idea. Have fun, do your thing and enjoy!”

Mike Stimpson Builds Sales out of Lego

Playing seems to be a good way to come up with valuable, creative ideas. It worked too for video games programmer Mike Stimpson. After taking up photography, Mike became interested in the history of the subject and decided to re-create classic early images… using Lego characters. The photos were spotted again by Diggers, who in turn were spotted by the BBC. The Sun, the UK’s highest-selling tabloid wrote an article about Mike’s work, including the link to his page on RedBubble.

The newspaper’s publicity generated sales of more than 150 cards and about 30 print sales. The BBC gave those revenues another boost.

For Mike, as for Vanessa Dualib, it was the idea that was key — and the lack of fear about doing something new, fun and imaginative.

Vlad Gerasimov’s Siberian Houses

Kevin Bauman isn’t the only photographer to recognize the beauty — and the earning potential — of old homes. Vlad Gerasimov’s series of wooden Siberian houses are shot in a very different style, filled with color and texture. They’re also sold in a different way too. While Kevin Bauman relies on print sales to generate revenue, Vlad’s following on product sites like Zazzle has enabled him to create subscription models that let him sell his unique pictures as computer and mobile phone wallpaper.

Sometimes, creativity can extend beyond the picture into the sales channel too.

One of the biggest challenges for photographers is the conservatism of buyers. Customers tend to buy what they know they — and sometimes their clients — like. Being creative then can mean sticking your neck out, but it can also be fun, rewarding and remunerative too.

I started Photodoto in 2006. In four years, we’ve published nearly 600 articles on a diverse range of topics for beginners to advanced photographers. I’m proud of the work. For myself, and on behalf of all of Photodoto’s contributing writers: thank you for reading and contributing.

When I started Photodoto, my mission was to try to make photography more accessible to everyone. I believe strongly that anyone can be a good photographer and that photography is not as mysterious or difficult as many people think. I hope that I’ve achieved that goal, at least for some of you.

Unfortunately, over the past year, I haven’t had the time to dedicate to Photodoto that I think it or you deserves. I’ve got a lot on my plate. I’ve been forced to prioritize and Photodoto just didn’t make the cut.

Photodoto will not just disappear. There will be no new blog posts. But the content will live on in some form. I intend to reorganize and republish the most popular articles. And all existing links to content here will continue to work.

There are many great photography blogs out there. Here are three in particular that I think have a similar aim as Photodoto and that I think you will enjoy:

• Epic Edits
• Beyond Megapixels
• Digital Photography School

See you around. :-)

-John
john@photodoto.com

This guest post was written by Sherry Osborne. Sherry is unable to leave home without at least one camera hanging off her shoulder. She posts photography tips geared to beginners several times a week at photoblog.net. Contact me if you are interested in guest writing for Photodoto. -John

I don’t know if this has ever happened to you but one of the worst feelings in the world (photography-wise at least!) is discovering that your memory card has become corrupted and you’ve now lost all the photos you recently took. It happened to me on my old point and shoot card but I was really lucky in that there were only about five or six photos on the card and they weren’t particularly important to me.

It can, however, be a disaster to lose your photos before you can remove them from the card. While you can’t prevent all problems, here are some memory card tips to avoid as many issues as possible.

1. Enjoy sales on memory cards but avoid cheap. When you’re shopping for a card buy the big name brands when a store is having a good sale. No matter how tempting it is, don’t pick up a card with a name brand you’ve never heard of and say, “Huh, only five bucks! I’ll get this one.” Sometimes price and brand really do matter and while even the popular brands can occasionally produce a defective card, you’re less likely to find yourself asking where all your photos went if you don’t buy a cheap card.

2. Do not leave your card in a card reader, even if you don’t think it’s doing anything. This is one of the tips that is hardest for me to follow. I have a tendency to take an average of 100+ photos on any given outing so I’ll often put the card in my reader, let it start, and then I’ll wander off to do other things. Then I realize, hours later, that the card is still sitting there. It seems like no big deal but as long as something is in the reader the computer will keep interacting with it. Don’t use it if it doesn’t actually need to be used.

3. Format your card each time you finish removing photos. Even if you delete the photos from the card, some data is still embedded in the card. When you load it back in your camera, take a moment to go into your menu and format the card each time.

4. Avoid extremes. Cards don’t like a lot of intense cold or high humidity. Keep it away from a lot of dust, and magnets. Be careful with it. They may look all sturdy and compact but they’re very sensitive.

5. Don’t use your card as a storage unit. This is such a common mistake and it’s so easily avoided. My parents travelled out East for my sister’s wedding back in September and my father took hundreds of photos while out there. I visited my parents at Christmas time and was utterly appalled that my father had never dumped his photos onto his computer. It was over three months after the fact and he had simply left the pictures on his card, continuing to take more on a fairly regular basis. He’s extremely lucky that his card didn’t become corrupted because he would have lost hundreds of pictures of his youngest daughter getting married, not to mention all the travel photos he took during his week-long visit. Just because your card can hold hundreds or even thousands of photos doesn’t mean that you should. Dump them and back them up often.

6. Consider more than one card. If you can buy two it’s a good idea to do so because then you have a back up. Change out your cards partway through the day. If you lose photos on one card, at least you’ll still have some on the other.

7. Don’t remove your card from the reader while it’s accessing the photos, don’t remove it from your camera while it’s turned on, and don’t insert it when the camera is on. All of these things can potentially corrupt your card, causing you to lose some or all of your images.

Do you have any memory card tips that work for you? Share them in the comments!

Kidding!

You could not even afford the mortgage for one of these Briese parabolic light focusing reflectors!

But they are fun to look at, and you can get most a small amount of the way there for under $100 with a Paul Buff PLM! If they ever get back in stock!

Gratuitous use of one more exclamation mark!

-30!-

© 2009 Andreas Manessinger. All Rights Reserved (see policies). Contact for Use.

This is one of my semi-diptychons, images that are composed to look like a diptychon, but are actually taken as one image. I discovered the format almost two years ago, and during this year’s SoFoBoMo I have explored it greatly.

This particular image shows an advertising in a shoe shop as well as part of the window viewed outward onto the street.

Signed prints available for $490 USD.

Keywords: advertising, austria, color, horizontal, shop, Street, vienna, wien, window

This photo was posted by Andreas Manessinger on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 7:24 pm and is filed under Street

There’s been a lot of discussion with in the California photography community this week in regard to the Wildflower Hotsheet run by Carol Leigh coming to an abrupt end. Opinions and questions abound, but I decided to hold off on sharing my take on the matter until I had a chance to hear back from Carol regarding an email I sent her. I feel for Carol. She is certainly in a tough spot and I sympathize with her. Only she will be able to make a decision that she feels comfortable with and all photographers should support her decision.

That being said my email to her was to try and highlight alternatives to shutting the hotsheet down. I’m a firm believer that the majority of those who took part in the hotsheet reports (those that provided information and those that leveraged that information) did so with the intention of sharing something worthy of enjoyment by all. The core community has been doing this since 1996 when she started the hotsheet. The people behind the CalPhoto.com community by and large are responsible people. Sadly not all people are responsible and as the hotsheet has picked up notoriety it has also picked up a broader audience beyond the core community. Among this broader audience there certainly have been bad apples included in the mix.

Here is where my opinion diverges from many who have talked to this issue…

1. The format of the hotsheet is old (circa 1996) and there are an ample number of community platforms now available to collect and share share information with responsible members.
2. The established CalPhoto community should be restructured to expand by referrals… not too unlike the way Sportshooter.com operates.
3. In the field etiquette standards might also be provided with each report and/or as part of new membership admission.
4. Another barrier of entry might also be to employ a membership fee to weed out bad apples who are looking for a free ride.
5. Reporting standards could be modified so that only submissions also reporting on land conditions (with photos) be included in the hotsheet. Entries with land conditions of concern would then be omitted from the report and/or display a status of “closed”.
6. The communities land condition reports would be provided to land managers to better protect these beloved locations.

The bottom line is that photographers have a responsibility to not just “take photos and leave only footprints” but to embrace a role as co-protectors. We photograph beautiful places because we feel a connection to nature there, and cherish locations we can commune with nature. These locations are perceived to be free, but they are not. Whether we think we’re the greatest stewards of the land or not we all take a toll on the land. No one photographer is holier than another. We owe it to the land, animals and ourselves to do our part. Leveraging that effort as a community is where we make the greatest difference.

At the same time we should not delude ourselves in thinking that because one report is gone that these locations will magically be safe again. Many know where they are and it’s not that hard to find with a Google search. At the same time no community is perfect. Information is out there and it moves freely. Sure some might argue that at least the movement of information can be slowed, but I would argue that is not a solution. That is merely putting ones head in the sand. Out of sight, out of mind… all while the damage continues from people visiting popular locations over longer periods of time. More importantly it circumvents an opportunity to  raise awareness of the problem to those who can make a difference to protect the areas we value as photographers and naturalists.

The responsibility and criticism put on to Carol is unfortunate. In many regards she has become a lightening rod for this discussion. How do we best protect the areas we cherish that are under loose management? Some have framed this discussion around how much we share as photographers and how others don’t look beyond themselves and their own desires. How about we frame it around the hard introspective question that we should be asking ourselves, “What am I doing to give back to the areas I photograph?”

Copyright Jim M. Goldstein, All Rights Reserved

Hotsheet in the Hot Seat

Dear readers, sorry for the temporary absence. It’s been over ten days since the last post. I’ve been busy working on my other site, Photocrati. If you haven’t been there yet, check it out: Photocrati Photography Blog and Digital SLR Camera Reviews. We’ve recently added a gear review section and brought on Peter Burian (co-author of the National Geographic Photography Field Guide and author of numerous Magic Lantern guides to digital SLRs) as a reviewer. We’re also about to add Jack Neubart, author of the Photographer’s Exposure Handbook and at least three other books on photographic lighting, as a reviewer. They join a team of 7 other pro photographers working in diverse fields. We’ve added a Twitter account - you can follow us at www.twitter.com/photocrati - which something I’ll be doing soon on DSLR Blog as well. And we’ll be launching a forum and major photo contest sometime in the next two months.

Anyways, now that the flurry of changes is done on Photocrati, I can get back to sharing some business tips here. Up shortly: a review of Printroom.com online storefronts.

Thanks for the patience, Erick

It looks like where ever we look HD-DSLRs are gaining momentum and more and more photographers are using videography as a way to express themselves, to offer services to their customers and to create art.

No wonder with HD-DSLRs like Nikon's D300s and Canon's EOS 5D Mark II you can use all your exquisite optics and get results that will not shame a pro video cam.

With all that it is no wonder that video DSLR started getting some hacks and mods.  [image by blhphotography]

read more

A Digital SLR is a modern piece of equipment. It has nothing of the old-world charm associated with photography. No “wait till the film is processed“, no “did I get the exposure right“, no “oh, this is not good enough to be photographed“, no “Is the light right?”, no “I’ve got only 2 frames left. They’ve got to count“. Instead, you’ve got instant gratification, with nothing left to your imagination. You see the exact photograph that will be printed (or viewed on your screen) instantly, and if you want to change it, you can experiment till you get it right.

But why not try to experience the magic of not knowing exactly how your photographs are going to turn out? Want to try it? Simple.

1. Set your ISO to 100, 200 or 400, and set your white balance to Daylight because these are the most easily available film rolls available.
2. Set your camera mode to M so that all the aperture and shutter speed decisions are made by your brain, and not the camera’s.
3. Set up your camera to disable image reviews after you’ve taken a photograph. If you don’t have this option, stick a Post-it Note on the rear LCD screen so that you can’t see the image. Post-it Notes leave no sticky residue on the camera once you peel them off, so they’re perfectly safe for your camera.
4. Stick a cut Post-it Note on the top LCD so that you resist the urge to look at the number of frames remaining, shooting / AF mode and other details.
5. Rely on your intuition, and try not to use the light meter readout in the viewfinder.

Any other suggestions? Leave ‘em in the comments.

Watch out for a Photo Project based on your newly set up Retro DSLR in the days to come.

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

Similar Posts:

• Selecting Photographs: What not to show
• Photo Project: Going Retro With Your Camera
• Canon’s New EOS 50D
• Photoshop Process – Edit Brian’s Picture

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For pro photographers, there is life before and life after LaCie – the new back up and storage data system will hold up to staggering 6TB (6000GB).

Let’s keep it B+W today:

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Little Update to the Noiseware Review

You guys know I love Noiseware and use it all the time. I added another screenshot to the Noiseware Review so you can see it in action under normal settings.

I have used many different noise-reduction software packages. Many are very good! In fact, it’s almost a push. To me, it comes down to the best UI — and, for me, personally, Noiseware is the easiest to use.

What is your experience? Do you have Noise Reduction software you prefer?

Daily Photo – Riverfall

Even though I know the science inside out, the idea that one hemisphere swings into Autumn while the other turns into Spring always is a very cool concept to me! It’s so strange to go from the southern hemisphere where the colors are just starting to change to the deep oranges and reds — and then arrive in the northern hemisphere where everything is just starting to bloom!

This is a perfect little river down in Argentina. It emptied from a big glacial lake, so there is always a bit of a strange color and tinge to the water… but it is very nice and other-worldly, in a way.

In Limited Editions of 250…

There is a new print release from Yellowstone: The Atomic Explosion and Mushroom Fallout at Sunset. Getting this shot was quite difficult because earlier in the day I forgot my tripod! I left it at a ranch where I was staying, and then rode a horse for 3 hours… and forgot I left it back at the ranch! That would have meant another 6 hours of horse-related-activity, and I was not up for that!

Luckily, I had gotten to be friends with the head park ranger for Yellowstone, named “Ranger Rick”.  That’s his real name! How cool.  Anyway, I had stopped at his place where I talked with Rick and his wife before he filled me up with all kinds of powerbars, snacks, and other goodies (he is so nice!) — AND he let me borrow his tripod!  So, that was a real life saver.  I spent another few hours out shooting until dark, then stopped back by his place after I took this shot, and left the tripod on his doorstep, not wanting to wake him up.

Daily Photo – The Dock to Forever

One of the advantages of going down all the side roads is that you get to find cool places! After leaving Nelson on the South Island, we found a little lake on the map that looked about perfect. After a few hours of meandering, we discovered this place was almost completely empty (just like every place else on the South Island!). Even better, there was a perfect little dock jutting out into the lake.

I first took a bunch of shots with my 14-24mm lens… but it was not really getting the dock with the distant valley in the right way. So, I put on my 70-200mm, zoomed in almost all the way, then backed up quite a bit to get the compression effect of the valley. Remind me to post the other version someday so you can see the comparison! I haven’t processed it yet — but it is in my “Pile to Process” — which is now 22,000 strong.

Photos from shadowplay, Ting Hay, Esther17, Doxieone and Leafsgirrl.

Please join us in welcoming two institutions to The Commons from the midwestern United States: the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest, featuring the Jewish history of Minnesota, the Dakotas, Northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and the Upper Arlington Archives, the digital library initiative of the Upper Arlington Public Library in Ohio.

They both have a fine slice of early 20th Century heartland Americana in their collections. We look forward to seeing your stories unfold in the comments and tags of these photos if you have history to share. Galleries are another great way to blend together Commons images to weave a story. One fascinating aspect of The Commons on Flickr is the ability to search the world’s public archives to find themes across nations, culture, and time. The photographs in The Commons carry No Known Copyright Restrictions, too. Enjoy!

Photos from the UA Archives and the Jewish Historical Society.

The new external bling from SONY – HVL-F58AM flash – can be turned not only up and down, but also by 90 degrees to the sides which means it potentially covers 180 degrees in total.

"Bee in control" with the soon to be released transmitter and receiver from AlienBees.

Photography: James Higgins

Prowling used bookstores in the search for old photography books back in 2002, photographer Karl Baden began to notice something unusual. Many of the most iconic images in the history of photography, he saw, were turning up on the covers of books that appeared to have nothing to do with the subject of the image. Man Ray’s Violon D’Ingres, for example, appeared on the cover of Walter Redfern’s Puns, one of four books that Karl found with that photo on the cover — and one of 41 books that use images by Man Ray.

Fascinated by this use of a work of photographic art, Karl began collecting books that place famous photographs on the cover, eventually building a collection of around 3,000 books. About  350 photographers are represented, and their images can be viewed at CoveringPhotography.com.

It’s a fascinating overview of one use of well-known photographic images, but most of the photographs that appear on book covers are not well-known. They might be drawn from stock inventories, and even these days microstock. Occasionally, they could be sourced on Flickr, a good place for buyers to find unconventional imagery. But many are commissioned, giving photographers a way to land interesting projects that put their works in stores.

You Can Sell a Book by Its Cover

Wendi Schneider has shot around 100 book covers in a career that has lasted more than twenty years. Many of those books are romances, a genre that suits her “graceful, romantic” style of hand-painted photography, she says, but they’ve also included The Picayune’s Creole Cook Book, her first cover, and Louisa May Alcott’s collection of thrillers.


Photography: Wendi Schneider
The aim of the image should always be to attract the eye and interest browsers because a good cover, says Wendi, can be enough to sell books.

“A good book cover image should convey to you a feel for the book. It doesn’t need to tell you the whole story or be entirely literal, but should tease you, tempt you and draw you in,” she says. “I for one, will definitely ‘judge a book by its cover’ and have bought many books for their stunning covers.”

The process of creating the image depends on the book. Usually, says Wendi, the art director, editor and marketing department will have already conferred and decided what the cover image should be before she’s commissioned. Sometimes, she’s given the manuscript, allowing her to read the book, research the period, if relevant, and then begin looking for props, a model, and a location.

James Higgins, who has created about 30 book covers, many of them mystery and suspense, works in a similar way. He usually asks for a synopsis of the book so that he can “get a feel for the emotional center of things.” An image then usually comes to mind that might be something he’s already shot or “bits and pieces of things that, when put together, become the cover.”

“The cover image needs to be compelling enough to make the browser stop and read the intro text,” he says. “Keep it simple and dramatic.”

Find Work with Friends, Cards and an Online Portfolio

Finding that work, of course, is never going to be easy. Wendi Schneider’s career began in the late-eighties while working at the Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans. A background in painting and a love of photography led her to paint on photographs, and her images were used editorially in the newspaper and the Tulane Alumni magazine. It was while she was working for the New Orleans media that she was asked to design, photograph and art direct the Creole Cook Book. That project gave her something to show when she later moved to New York and was introduced to artist reps.

“It has all been a bit serendipitous and fueled by friends,” she says.

In addition though, Wendi also sent art directors at the major publishing houses 5×7 cards of one of her hand-painted images, together with her contact information. She created three cards during the six years she lived in New York. Today though, she assumes that many art directors are using a lot of stock images, and also search the Web for photos and photographers. A strong online portfolio is crucial today, Wendi says.

That’s what works for James Higgins. Most of his work comes either from word of mouth or from hits on his website. When he started, however, James placed advertisements in trade publications to advertise his photography.

Clearly, connections help then, and they’re always going to be easier to pick up and keep once you’ve already won your first job. But shooting the right images is vital as well. Wendi Schneider’s unique hand-painted photos match the atmosphere of romance books so closely that it’s easy to see why the art editor at a publishing house would be confident of hiring her. James Higgins, too, understands the importance of researching current trends, as well as the physical needs of an image that’s going to be used on the cover of a book.

“Doing your homework is very important: go to the library or to the books section of Amazon.com and study the cover art,” he advises. “Besides the obvious vertical format, you’ll notice that the better cover artists know where to leave dead space for the title and author typography, and know how to create drama without a lot of clutter!”

Few photographers think of targeting publishing houses in their search for clients, and even fewer rely on them entirely. Wendi Schneider also offers editorial, fine art and commercial photography, as well as design. James Higgins provides a range of photography services too, and much of what he says about creating a good book cover is also true of stock images — and they have more buyers.

In fact, according to Karl Baden, many of the famous images that he spotted on book covers weren’t just there because they were famous but because the pictures themselves had an “open” quality that allowed them to be interpreted in a range of different ways. If you want to see your photos on book covers then, it pays to focus your marketing on publishers, but make the images broad enough to be used again and again.

If not, here is what you’ve been missing…

PhotoNetCast #22 – Defining your photography goals – We tried to show how important defining goals is in order to help your photography, whether from an hobbyist or professional perspective.

PhotoNetCast #23 – Photographers’ Rights and the new UK Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 – The title says it all. A must listen, specially if you’re based in the UK.

PhotoNetCast #24 – Filters in the Digital Age – And what about those weird little pieces of glass that film photographers used to put in front of the lenses? Do they still have a place in the digital age?

PhotoNetCast #25 – Best Practices for your Photography Site – Not all photography sites are the same (gladly), but some work better than others depending on the objectives. Here are a few tips to make your site work for you on promoting your photographic work.

 

If you want to keep up-to-date with PhotoNetCast (no iPod needed), the best way is to subscribe to our feeds. If you use iTunes, you can use this link. Even if you’re already subscribed through iTunes, I’d still encourage you to subscribe to the full feed to get everything else that is published on the site (polls, news, contests, etc.).

And as always, your comments are truly appreciated. Also, if you have any photography questions you’d like us to answer on the show, just send us an email.

Happy listening…

Social Media for Photographers

 

In the show we frequently approach the topic of social media and how we are using it. Even here on the show, PhotoNetCast is active on twitter.

My guess is that besides the common downfall of "wasted time", there aren’t many disadvantages for a photographer to be active with social media networks and share their knowledge with a wider audience.

To help us with our discussion, we invited Jack Hollingsworth (@photojack on twitter). Jack, a photographer for over 30 years mainly in the stock photography business, is one of the most active photographers on the popular social network, and explains how he uses it, shares some tips on how to best use it, and why being absent will mean "not existing" in the near future.

Before we got into the main topic, we had the opportunity to discuss some relevant news topics like the announced acquisition of Picnik by Google, the fact that Canon was absent from PMA and the polemic disqualification of an awarded image from Word Press Photo awards 2010.

If you enjoy the show and appreciate our effort, help us spread the word about PhotoNetCast.

And thanks once again to Jack for his time on this one.

 

 

Show Notes

Social Media for Photographers

• New Media Photographer
• Social Photo Talk
• Why social media matters to photographers
• Social Media for photographers (Photoshelter)
• Social Media for Photographers (Prodig)

Selected From the Web

• Jack:
• Epic Edits Weblog
• Social Media Photography Survey Results 2009
• Brian: Lightmeter iPhone App
• Antonio: Nuit Blanche (Making of)
• Jim:
• Photographer films anti-terror arrest
• First Look: How Penguin Will Reinvent Books With iPad

We understand that the length of the show is also time that you have to invest in listening to it. But it’s a very fine balance: on one hand we want to deliver the information in a clear and relaxed way without being restrained by time (something that from my experience in radio shows, for example, it’s not always possible) and on the other hand we don’t want to "steal" too much of your time.

To help us define the correct length for each show, we asked you about it.

And here are the results…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do we conclude from these data?

Did I sound too much like the scientist in the headline?

We are currently aiming for the duration of each show to be between the 45 and the 60 minute mark. It seems that about 70% of you agree with it.

Sometimes, especially when we have guests on the show, it’s hard to cut the interviews, and this should actually be my job, but normally the conversation is flowing so well that we don’t even realize how much time we’re taking, but we’ll make an effort.

In any case, we’d like to thank everyone who participated on the poll. We hope that the show doesn’t feel much like a sluggish block of wasted time on your mp3 player and that you keep looking forward for it every two weeks. We know we do.

As always, if you have comments that could help us improve the show, use the comment section or contact us directly through the contact form. Any feedback is appreciated.

I’ve just finished looking through approximately 550 of your photographs. A tough undertaking, and one of my own making because I’ve put off writing this post far too often.

However, there is a bright side to it. Here, we have 113 of your photographs that are really cool. They’re all my favourite photographs from the ones you submitted to the Beyond Phototips Flickr Group. Please take a look at them, and if you think the thumbnails look cool visit the group and check them out. If you would like your photographs to be featured here, I invite you to submit them to the flickr group. I’ll take a look at the submissions and post some of my faves real soon.

Really!

Hope you enjoy viewing the results of your own hard work.

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

Similar Posts:

• Beyond Phototips Photo Contest Extended
• Beyond Phototips’ Photography Contest
• Beyond Phototips on Flickr
• Photo Project: Symmetry

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When a Canon and a Nikon come together…

… at least they’re not a Pentax.

Joey L & The Photo Club.

This post was published on Beyond Phototips.com if you like what you’re reading, please visit the website.

Similar Posts:

• How your lens was made… a video
• Amazon’s top Digital SLR Cameras, Lenses & Books
• Lenses for Architectural Photography
• Possible pics of the New Canon 40D

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I've had it happen when I heard a veteran photog telling another, "This one? You cannot do this one, you don't have the gear".

Now, as the name of the site suggests, this is not what I consider a good answer. A better answer would be a breakdown of the shoot, trying to get some understanding of what is a must for it, what gear is needed and how can we make up for the gear we don't have. Maybe with another piece of gear; maybe in post; and maybe by changing one of the underlying assumptions that we initially had when thinking about the shoot.

Photographer Scott Bourke (flickr) shows this exact king of thinking in his Sportraits session. There is a nice how to video and then some thoughts. I'd love to hear your take on dealing with gear shortage in the comments.

read more

Optical Slaves are the simplest (and cheapest for the most part) method for using off camera flashes.

The principle is simple, when the optical slave sees another flash fire, it fires too. Kinda like yawning. Once one of goes, it is catchy.

Of course optical slaves have their limitations, one of which is that they are too dump to understand the difference between a flash and a pre-flash. There are a few more limitations to optical dumb slaves, but this post is about overcoming the pre-flash issue with a cool gizmo called Arduino.

read more

As you know I’ve been slowly (very slowly, sometimes) working on a series of reviews of website templates for photographers. This has given me a bit of insight into the advantages and disadvantages of various kinds of solutions.

Along with the team over at Photocrati, as well as a couple teams of web designers, I contributed that insight to help design a new series of WordPress themes for photographers. I think these are now one of the best low-cost solutions on the market (I’m biased, of course). I’m not going to write a full review of the themes, since it’s hard to objectively review a product you’ve helped design. But I do want to talk about what some of the advantages are, and, yes, some of the disadvantages. I’m going to structure this like my other reviews.

Let me start by saying that we’ve converted this site and I’ve converted my own phojournalism site to the new Photocrati WordPress themes. Check them out here:

MORE INFORMATION | DEMO

OVERALL APPEARANCE

In my view, these templates are beautiful. They have just the look I like, which is a simple, elegant look that emphasizes the images. The rest of the site just kind of fades into the background. They use primarily whites, grays, and blacks for the background, which for me is less distracting from the images than greens/reds/oranges or other bright colors.

Let’s start with a few screenshots of the themes. Here they are:

They have the look of many flash sites, even though they are not flash. The home page is designed with one large image space that contains a flash-style slide show.  The gallery pages contain rows and columns of thumbnails, which I prefer to “filmstrip” style thumbnails that require you to scroll up/down or side/side to see all the thumbnails in a gallery.

I actually like the gallery look enough that I actually use a gallery as my home page on my new photojournalism site. Below a screen shot of my new homepage. It also shows you want the galleries generally look like (although you can customize those like everything else.

Grade: A

EASE OF USE

I’ve often noted that there is an almost direct trade off between Ease of Use and Flexibility. Designers of templates can make thing easier by limiting the number of options you have, or they can give you lots of options, which will complicate things.

WordPress has lots of options. You can do almost anything with it. One downside of that is that WordPress themes are very much do it yourself solutions. You need to set up your own domain, your own hosting, and install WordPress. If you are familiar with all that, it’s really not too complicated. You can do it all in a few minutes at sites like <a href=”http://www.BlueHost.Com/track/erickdan” target=”_blank”>Bluehost</a> that offer one-click installation of WordPress.

Once you’ve got your blog and you’ve got to fill it out, and make many of the layout decisions yourself. Again, this is great for flexibility, but less so if you are looking for a plug-and-play-and-don’t-worry-about-it kind of site.

That said, pound for pound, WordPress is known to be one of the easiest web platforms to learn, giving you a tremendous amount of flexibility for a relatively short learning curve. And once you know WordPress, it IS easy.

Grade: B

FLEXIBILITY OF DESIGN

If these themes have a learning curve for WordPress newcomers, then the payoff is incredible flexibility. There really is very little you CAN’T do with a WordPress site. You can change colors, fonts, layout. Add elements or take them away. Move elements around. Add text where you want it. Integrate with social media. You can even add a full-fledged forum or e-commerce shopping center to your site if you want to.

The WordPress community is huge, and there are thousands of plug-ins that allow you to do just about anything.

Grade: A

BLOGGING CAPABILITY

WordPress is the world’s most powerful blogging platform. Not much more to say.

Grade: A

E-COMMERCE FUNCTIONALITY

I mentioned just a paragraph or two that there are all kinds of E-Commerce plugin-ins that allow you to add full shopping capability to WordPress. So the potential is there.

But for the time being, these these don’t offer what many of us want, which is the ability to sell photos directly from our galleries. The Photocrati team is working on this, but doing it in a way that is simple and elegant is tough work.

So for the time being, unless you are a WordPress guru who can do it yourself with one of the E-Commerce plugins, then you are out of luck until the Photocrati team comes up with an easy method to do it.

Grade: D

COST AND FEE STRUCTURE

Again, it doesn’t really get any better. Right now the Photocrati themes are selling for $59 each - for lifetime rights to the themes any updates. Pay once, low price, and it’s yours for life. Most highly managed template solutions (Photobiz/PhotoShelter/etc) entail ongoing monthly payments ranging from low to very high.

Grade: A

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Once again, WordPress is widely known to have about the best SEO capability that it’s possible to have. It has an inherent advantage over managed flash solutions, because it is a powerful blogging engine. And search engines love blog-style content - it fits all the qualities that search algorithms look for and therefore does very well. That’s while small mom-and-pop blogs can compete on the front page of Google with major multinational corporations.

Grade: A

FREE TRIALS AND GUARANTEES

Photocrati offers a 30-day money back guarantee that entails sending one email requesting a refund. Easy enough.

Grade: A

CONCLUSION

So, as you can see above, the Photocrati themes are strong in almost every aspect. They have two weaknesses: they do not yet offer the ability to sell your images directly from your site, and there is a learning curve for users who are new to WordPress. The second weakness, however, goes hand-in-hand with overwhelming flexibility. The reason there’s a learning curve is that, with WordPress, you are in control, and you can do just about anything.

As of now, pound for pound, I think these are best low-cost solution on the market, and it competes effectively with some highly managed solutions that cost 10-20 times more.

OVERALL GRADE: A-

Today, pro photographer and fellow Photocrati contributor Steve Buchanan offers some advice on marketing plans for your photography business. Steve is a commercial photographer in Maryland. His work can be seen at www.buchanan-studios.com.

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When is the last time you updated your marketing plan?

This is of course assuming you have a marketing plan. If you do - good for you. If not - get on it. I certainly don’t want to hold myself up as a model of small business marketing. I have definitely made my share of mistakes (and will hopefully continue to do so) but I have invested a lot of effort, time and even some money into learning about what works and what doesn’t.

I’m not here to tell you what will work for you and what won’t because those will be different for each photographer. Your particular market, the type of work you do and your geographic location all come into play when determining the right mix. The point I want to make is that all successful marketing campaigns have a few things in common.

1. They are planned and executed according to a plan. Failing to plan is the biggest single error photographers when it comes to marketing.

2. They are executed as campaigns - not discreet events. I’m regularly amazed at how many photographers try a marketing technique, don’t see results and abandon it relatively quickly.

3. They are consistent with the core values of the business.

Whether you shoot commercial or retail work, people, food, or weddings - you’ve got to market yourself in order to bring in new business. As of this writing the international economy, well, sucks. Things are looking better now than they have for a while but they’re still way down.  In times like these it’s easy to pull back on marketing expenses, after all, if the money’s not coming in, you can’t put it out again. While I’m not indifferent to the plight of small business owners, and I certainly wouldn’t advise anyone to pay for and ad before their mortgage, cutting marketing budgets and efforts right now is a big mistake. Look at it this way. If you have a 10% market share of a million dollar market, you have sales of $100,000. If that market shrinks to $800,000 you need to increase your market share from 10% to 12.5% just to hold steady. That’s certainly not possible without marketing.

Writing a marketing plan is not an easy task and brining in outside professional help can be great. A marketing consultant can bring their expertise to yours and help you drill down through your business data. In the event you’re not able to afford or find a good marketing consultant there are a plethora of books and internet tutorials on writing marketing plans. Ask 100 different marketing experts how to write a marketing plan and you’ll get 100 different answers - but the basic concepts are the same.

1.  Establish your goals - these should be solid, measurable goals, ie increase sales to $350,000 or shoot 47 weddings this year.

2.  Establish a budget - usually a percentage of your monetary goal.  It will be different depending on your particular area of expertise, geographic area and your customer base. My personal marketing budget is 7 percent of intended sales for this year.

3.  Establish methods to reach your goals.  This is the meat of the plan and requires the most research. This includes the tools you’ll use as well as a schedule.

4.  Establish systems and methods to measure the effectiveness of your efforts.

I use a program on my Mac called Omni Outliner to keep track of my efforts. This program is great because I can essentially create an outline very easily add sub headings and break down larger tasks into smaller discreet tasks.  How do you eat and elephant?  One bite a time.

Of course writing the marketing plan is not enough, one must follow and execute it.  But this is the beauty of the plan. This business is usually very cyclical and inconsistent. With a well written plan and schedule in hand you can best utilize your down time.  If this week is slow get your newsletter articles written, start the printing on your postcards, shoot for your portfolio.  In other words, use your downtime and check those things off of your list.

For this edition of Pick of the Week: Photo Edition I’ve noticed a pattern in my choices – Black and White. Not all, but I’m spending more and more time admiring black and white photos. I hope you like the selection.

Don’t forget to go to the photo pages and leave your comments. I’m sure the photographers appreciate it.

 

 

 

 

 

Five Stars of the Week

I have to say that I’ve spent a LONG time admiring this photo. Overall, everything seems right with it. The backlighting creates a perfect mood, and even the light in the curtains looks good. My Five Stars of the Week.

 

Full disclosure… Ken and I have been friends for about 25 years or so. We have traveled the back roads of the Sierras together and solved the ills of the world over about a hundred lunches. It is fun to present this interview with him for you all.

We met and chatted over lunch at a tiny little restaurant within walking distance of Ken’s studio. The studio, by the way, is located in the very first studio in Arizona, and was a full TV Broadcast studio for decades. From “Wallace and Ladmo” to Ronald Reagan, the studio has seen its share of celebrities, actors and politicians. Today those same floors and walls house Ken’s working commercial studio.

I just finished working on Ken’s new website, and we launched it this week. Ken takes a minimalist approach to many things, as do I, so the site is very open, clean and easy to navigate. Here is a screen shot.

I brought along my trusty iPhone and did a few clicks, and Ken sent some images from his portfolio to share.

Ken has been shooting a wide variety of work ever since I met him. From landscapes to interiors, food to people, Ken shoots it all. His style also lends itself to a wide variety of applications.

Ken shoots just about every format camera there is. “I haven’t pulled the Hasselblad out in a few years,” he said with a smile. But I know he will soon. Ken is itching to do something new and different. He is looking for a challenge, a project to spend some time with. I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.

Recently Ken was invited to submit a print portfolio for a review process. He put together 10 images that showed his style and the breadth of his work. “It was a bit scary at first. I only chose 10 images, made large prints and put them into a very simple presentation box. I kept thinking that I should show more, second guessing myself on the decision to show only 10 pieces.” He smiles when he tells me “it actually worked in my favor. The reviewers had more time to remember each image. I was surprised at how well it was received.”

The studio is quite an old structure and has been everything from a TV studio, to offices and at one time held about a dozen radio stations. There are places in the building that don’t really make sense now, but he has had fun hanging art and shooting in some of the passageways.

The studio is a huge room with a 2.5 story ceiling. There are still lighting instruments left on the railings above, and they give the space an amazingly fun feeling. The end of the studio has a second story walkway where clients and guests can stand and look down at the shoot in progress on the studio floor below.

Lunch at Matt’s Big Breakfast was simply a great time. If you are in the area, you should drop in.

If you are considering a workshop, please take a look at the Lighting Essentials Workshop Site at Learn to Light. Now on to the LE Interview with Ken Easley.

1. How long have you been in business? Was it a slow transition or did you just open shop?

For whatever reasons, I never felt I had the “chops” to work in photography until I had my degree. A month after graduation with a BFA in Photography in 1980, I was a full time assistant in a commercial studio. Been making my living doing nothing but photography since. 2 years assisting, 4 years as an in house corporate photographer, then my own studio.

2. How did you get started? Any mentors or great stories here?

My first job was with Rick Gayle. He really opened my eyes to commercial photography. I saw first hand the level of commitment it would take to make it, and he also helped me realize that I could satisfy my creative drive in a commercial photography setting.

I’ve been interested in photography since I was 10 or 11. My first camera was a brownie starflash, a gift from my aunt. My strongest memories are trying to shoot frogs and waterbugs in Oak Creek Canyon. And my Dad complaining about how much film I was using and how expensive it would be to get it all processed. The next year I got an “Ansco Developing Kit”.

3. Describe an average week at your studio.

This has really changed over the years. I have gone from doing lots of small jobs, shooting almost every day, for years on end, to having several days between shoots. The crowd sourcing of digital images has made the small product illustration, for several hundred dollars or more, a thing of the past. Fortunately, somewhat by design, my average shoot is now much more extensive, more expensive and more profitable. Factor in the preproduction time and post production time expected on each shoot and I work just as many hours in a week. But, I’m doing fewer invoices.

4. Why Phoenix? Have you considered anywhere else?

Born here. I guess I just got used to it. No snow, no earthquakes, no hurricanes, no tornadoes, just the heat which I really don’t mind. My work has taken me all over the US. Personal travel even more. I’ve been to many places I love. Briefly considered lots of them, but no matter where I go, it just feels good to come home. I do love to travel though. I figured long ago that if my goal was to be a really big name in the biz, it pretty much had to be NY or Hollywood. Yes it’s possible from other places, but much harder, almost a fluke. I made a conscious decision to stay local and try to work with companies that could send me out of town, rather than try to build relationships long distance. Now with the internet firmly taken hold, it matters less where you are from.

5. What motivates you, or gets you going? What do you use for inspiration?

Mostly other artists. Sometimes photographers, sometimes painters or sculptors. Anything that is visually new or interesting. That’s part of the appeal of travel. Seeing new sites (oh, and food.)

6. What is it you like the most about being a photographer? Do you do anything else for a hobby or avocation?

Paraphrasing the cliche, “a bad day as a photographer is better than a good day at almost anything else.” I’ve mentioned this as a generality in conversation but it did actually happen to me. After a really bad day in the studio, nothing went right, not feeling well, etc., even left to go home early. Within a couple blocks of leaving the studio I passed a crew of street repair guys. It’s 110 degrees, they are working with hot smelly asphalt and shovels. My day was not so bad.

I am a serious amateur woodworker. I like to think I’m an artist in that area too.While I do make practical things, including furniture for the house, etc. I really like woodturning. After working with art directors, meeting deadlines, running a business, it is very therapeutic to take what would most likely be a piece of firewood, and make a great big pile of wood shavings. If I happen to get a cool little bowl or vase or something out of it so much the better.

7. Are there any downsides to being a commercial photographer that you would like to change? How would you change them?

So many rambling thoughts on this. I have often thought that photographers should be licensed like doctors, or even plumbers and hair stylists. Make it illegal for someone to photograph a real job just because they have a 6 megapixel camera. I know it wouldn’t work and probably shouldn’t, but can’t help thinking about it sometimes. The fact is, I’m really not interested in the photo assignments someone would trust to an unknown. I’d rather work with creative dedicated people who care about the end result. They see me as a part of the solution, not an afterthought. The change will ultimately be determined by the marketplace. Like anything else, some people will only want their company or brand to be associated with the best, or at least convey the idea that there is nothing better, while others will be satisfied with the cheapest solution to showing the customer the goods. The buyers will have to decide where along that scale they want to be. Individual photographers will have to decide where they will draw the line for their own work, I hope to stay much closer to the best.

8. What was your most memorable assignment?

It’s been a while now, but I spent two weeks in Alaska, shooting for the National Park Concessioner at Denali. We really got special treatment, did some great work, and saw things that blew my mind. Denali, (Mount McKinley) on summer solstice with not a cloud in the sky. Standing next to a beaver dam and looking over at a water level just below my eye level, being held back by some sticks and twigs, amazing.

9. Any ‘war’ stories you would like to share? You know, the ones that always start with “There was this one job where….”

Every assignment has a little of this. I’ve never been a photojournalist, although that is part of what got me interested in photography as a kid. Nothing as harrowing as those guys see regularly. However, I did see my life flash before my eyes while shooting for a river rafting company on the Grand Canyon. I was way out on the nose of the raft while going through a rapid, Crystal Falls, and a guide who was holding my feet let go (to keep himself from going over) and I cartwheeled off the front, camera in my right hand and a rope wrapped around my left hand. I came up underneath and face against the bottom of the raft, and was more or less pinned there for what seemed like several minutes. Eventually I worked my way out from under and got my head above water a few yards downstream from the rapids. A couple shots of brandy and I was fine. It was a truly great trip.

10. What would be your ideal assignment?

I like shooting way too many things. I guess a corporate job for a large multinational, where “corporate photographer” was on the same level as say, CFO, or CIO. Where I could determine what was next up to document, advertise or illustrate, and how. The company should be in several countries, have several subsidiaries in varying lines of business, and it would be nice if they were doing something good for the planet as well, perhaps they would have a large charitable arm or foundation. Of course all expenses would be covered, and I would have access to any equipment I wanted. I would never have to send an invoice or negotiate an assignment. fee, yet had a very respectable income.

11. Future plans for (your name) and his/her photography?

I’ll be happy just to stay on top of technology and trends for my commercial work. I think I do a pretty good job of that but it takes a determined effort. Perhaps, like thousands of other photographers, try to do a little more fine art, and maybe even teach a little.

12. Tell us a little about your new work…

Personal work is always a struggle. If you are an ice cream taster for a living, you might not want ice cream on the weekends. That does not mean you don’t love ice cream. Ongoing projects include simple studio floral/botanical shots. When I can, a series with the working title “modern ruins” that documents abandoned architecture. And a few other ideas that have been rumbling around in my mind for quite some time. Commercially, I will continue to strive for the interesting and challenging work. I’ve always done some video production, starting in 1990 or 91, and will look for opportunities for pushing that a little.

13. Oh, and what is on the music box right now at your studio?
(yes, it was supposed to be 12, but what the heck…)

Right now my iTunes is playing “The Crusaders.” My taste in music is fairly eclectic. From Green Day to Billie Holiday. Last album into the collection was Tomo Fujita – Jazz/Rock/Blues electric guitar instrumental (iTunes says his genre is blues.)

Thanks Ken.
You can visit Ken’s Site Here. And drop him an email if you are wanting to take a look at the book.

Thanks for visiting the site, folks. You can follow me on Twitter if you are twitterly inclined. Workshop information is here, and my website is here.

This is a RANT, folks. I am totally and definitely pissed off. If you decide to read this, you will find I am not kind or reticent in my total loathing of this situation. You are warned.

(UPDATE:
There are many, many comments to this post. Seem to break into two camps: Cool that JJB took this lousy photographer to the woodshed and beat her down good. To that sentiment, I would simply say… grow up. The fact that the photographer seems to not be terribly good, or aware of what she should have been aware of does NOT reach the point that many of you may find yourself in. Namely that the work that was delivered match the work that was shown. The woman’s work was online, at the time I wrote this anyway, and it seemed to be, well, not so good. I can’t imagine the work delivered to be much better. But that is exactly the point… the work looked like what was shown. The other group seem to get it. It isn’t about the gear and all the fun toys… and feeling all superior to the woman… it is about the law, and how it was abused to ridicule and destroy someone who obviously couldn’t fight back well. Hey… maybe you wanna kick her while she’ down too.

There may be a time when this “Bride’s” complaint will come back to haunt you. It received far more showings on YouTube than it did on TV – no one really watches that stupid show… and the point that so many photographers made was that “if you don’t like your pictures, complain and get your money back… cause we got Pelican cases and 1D’s.

I don’t care what kind of gear you have, it is not relevant. There is no statutory rules or listed code of what makes a ‘good’ photograph. Believe me, you don’t want one. Soft focus? A lot of art shooters would be out of business shooting their Lomos and Dianas. Sharpness? You should take a look at the average fashion editorial.

My point is not to defend the photographer (even though that seems to be a difficult concept for some to get their thought processes around) it is to defend the rights of the photographers to not be trashed by people making assumptions that are not true, or have NO business being included in the case.

Yeah, I have seen all the photographers – some big time shooters – jump on the “hey, this is fun to beat up this woman and ruin her life and business… but I find that totally arrogant, elitist and sad. No offers to help, just a mob mentality to throw her under the bus and feel all good about themselves cause, you know, she is ‘ruining the business’ and other pure BS crap.

Seriously, is this $1300 wedding shooter – including proofs, enlargements and book – cutting into the profits of people shooting for realistic pricing? I refuse to believe it. Says more about those being ‘threatened’, than the woman with the Rebel.

And keep this in mind… lots of weddings were shot on ISO 320 with lenses at f-4 (Hasselblad’s for you new digionly folks), and in some pretty dark places. And also remember this – the camera she is shooting is BETTER than the original 1DS.

Finally, I find it repugnant that photographers find such a thrill in belittling other photographers – no matter what. Provide help, work with the shooters to get better, but laughing at a kangaroo court that probably ruined her business… unconscionable.)

Recently I was shown this video on You Tube of some TV Judge ridiculing another photographer for being less than professional. Instead of getting to the heart of the matter, the ‘judge’ decided to use the power of the bench to humiliate, denigrate and castigate the photographers for alleged ‘crimes’ against photography and the use of ‘less than professional’ gear.

I found this man to be despicable and his ravings somewhat in the “best to keep one’s mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” I will admit to not watching a lot of TV (Burn Notice and the Closer get my vote) and especially TV where the sole purpose is to denigrate and ridicule other people. To think that those kinds of shows are popular is sickening to me. Uplifting, and good value filled programming sucks I guess. But that isn’t the point.

The point is the despicable way this man treated a fellow photographer and the despicable way other photographers then jumped on board ready to throw her under the bus. So much bad information now being disseminated as reality on forums all over the interwebs.

In the video, the photographer, not as poised or pretty as the complainant, doesn’t get a chance to even explain her side.

At 2:10 she complains that the complainant is not correct about where they met. Joe, I’ll just call him Joe because I have such contempt for him I would not ever use the word “Judge” to describe him, tells her that isn’t important to the case.

So OK to lie when you are complainant. It would be very much a part of the case if there was another place that the photographer met the woman or she could have been confused over which photographer she actually hired. Got it Joe.

At 2:35 the complainant states that the photographer had the photos done at WalMart on Fuji Paper – not professional paper. Really? I can state with certainty how many PROFESSIONAL wedding photographers charging more than this photographer uses Fuji Printers. And you all KNOW WHO YOU ARE. The Sam’s club by my home is the printer de-facto for a ton of wedding shooters doing weddings in a much higher scale than this woman.

At 3:15 he launches into what gear she was using. A Rebel XTi with a kit lens. And while that may not be the top of the line anything, I can tell you the XTi takes really good photographs. I SHOOT THAT CAMERA on all my workshops. I teach that it isn’t the camera, it is the photographer. And I will stick to that.

He asks her for the other lens and she states it is a 70-300MM and he asks what speed it is. I can understand how the answer “I don’t know” is so funny to gear heads, and lots of serious photographers. I teach workshops and consult with lots of professional photographers. When it is a graduated aperture lens, you may be surprised how many times the photographer will have to grab the lens to see.

Is this a professional response, of course not. Is it automatically damning that she doesn’t know? No way.

AT 4:00 he asks how she is going to be able to take “adequate photos with a lens this slow”? And before she can answer, he cuts her off. Hey Joe, maybe with a tripod, or upping the ISO? Lots of ways, and we may have been able to hear how she would have done it if you hadn’t cut her off.

At 4:12 here it comes… “When I do it I am prepared with the kit I have… blah blah…” Dude’s even got himself a Pelican case. OK.

At 4:45 he starts to address sharpness. Sigh… then states that they won’t be any good enlarged. Uh… he is looking at 8.5 x 11’s there… uhhh… they are, you know, enlarged. And when she starts to tell him that they are, he dismisses her. “… but that’s not what we are gonna get when we start to enlarge them on a hard copy..” His words. Looking at enlargements. Dense? You make the call.

At 5:04 it starts with the grilling… what F-Stop, what aperture, did you ‘note’ the f-stop. How many of you ‘NOTE’ the f-stops.

At 5:35 he states that the ‘natural light was soft and diffused and ideal for taking a picture…” Oh… he was there? The amount of photographic mistakes he makes in the next 25 seconds are breath taking. And when the defendant offered that there was a meeting, the jerk sits back and pontificates what the complainant was thinking. WTF? How does he know what she knew? And the dipshit audience applauds. It isn’t about what is real, it is about what is denigrating and humiliating.

And here it is: at 6:05 he makes the judgment that to be a professional photographer one must use a “1″ series camera. I won’t even go there. Fool. What about 5DMKII’s – losers. D300’s – crap. (The fallacy that this represents goes much farther than some lame-ass TV show. It goes to the very core of who we are as people and what we want for others. And how much compassion we are really capable of… not much, I guess.)

“…we don’t have sharp edges…” He doesn’t allow for her to explain post-processing choices or anything else. Her frustration and anger in being lectured by this guy is now real. And it should be.

Then at 6:15 he becomes so beclowned that he starts to pontificate on the edges being soft focus because of the camera… or something. I can’t follow this illogical crap.

Then he declares that the Rebel will not make a 24 x 36 inch print. Joe, you are a total moron. It will most definitely make enlargements that big. Done every fkn day, buddy.

I will not continue down the video as it becomes so painfully stupid that it is hard to watch. Especially when he called her a liar for saying the pastor wouldn’t allow flash photography. In my brief flirtation with the genre way more than half would not allow flash during the ceremony. And I charged a boatload more than $1300.

Look… before you think I am defending bad photography, I will point to this: The question could have been easily handled: Does the work match the photographers portfolio. I can tell you that in the professional world, this type of case arises… and that is the point that the ruling is made on. Does the work match the samples. In this case of course it did. Was it great work or bad work? Does that matter? It is work that was agreed to.

But I must say this: The photographers so damn ready to throw this lady under the bus better watch out for the Karma this may bring. I can only imagine how frustrated a person would be when confronted by an angry moron with a lot of power pontificating over what they did and what HE would have done. No dialog, just him preaching.

Why would so many photographers be so ready to attack her and side with him? Why the continued hatred and anger toward this woman? My God, glass houses are obviously made much better in the digital age.

And the fact that the ‘bride’ met with the photographer, saw a portfolio, agreed to the style should have been discussed. That the ‘bride’ only wanted to spend $1300 should have been noted. The fact that there was contention between whether there was a meeting at a bridal show or whether there was a tripod used should have been addressed.

We have millions of people who are struggling to keep their homes and their families together in tough times. We just witnessed a fellow photographer have her livelihood demolished by a know-nothing fool and we are good with that? Does that make us more powerful? Does it vindicate our purchase of an over-priced camera to shoot girls on Saturday afternoons?

I hated the attack on this woman from mean-spirited people.

I loathed the response from so many photographers. Isn’t there any pride left in our profession?

End of Rant… to summarize. Don’t be so damn happy to see other people lose their business. It is not a good place to be as a human being.

UPDATE:
It is important to remember that the point of the case was whether the work that was delivered matched the work that was used to get the commission.

It is NOT about what gear was used, or the photographers ‘attitude’ or whether she knows what lens speed was what or any of that at all. None of that would have mattered if the images came out good. And supposing that the images would come out good if she had used a 1DSMKIII is wrong.

However, the judge decided to attack her on nearly everything but whether the work delivered matched the work shown to get the assignment. This sort of thing doesn’t happen to just low-end wedding photographers, it happens to some big guys as well. In real courts. With real judges. And it can be terrifying when it does.

But again, there seems to be a focus on what kind of camera she used and her knowledge of the lens speed and all that stuff that makes for great forum fodder. And if you think that protecting someone from injustice is only worthwhile if they have really neat gear and meet some sort of madeup code of professionalism then I feel that there may be no ‘discussion’ at all.

UPDATE: BIG TIME, BIG DOLLAR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID JAY CHECKS IN VIA TWITTER:
“LOL – I’m so glad these arrogant, rude, and pathetic excuses for professonals got their clocks cleand by Judge Joe – http://bit.ly/99QMO9″
Guess little low end photographers in small communities are really pissing him off. Jaysus…. man.

You can leave your comment here at the bottom of the page.

Critics… there are a million of them. Seems like it anyway.

And when you are starting out in the world of professional photography, getting good, really good critique on your work is very important. Getting poor, or mis-guided critique can be damaging to the progress of your book.

We want to find out what others think about our work, right? And hopefully by doing that we can see what we are doing right or wrong, correct it and become instantly wildly successful. OK… maybe just a little more successful.

But that critique must be tailored to what we need to hear. It shouldn’t and cannot be sugar-coated sweetness designed to not hurt our feelings, nor should it be harsh and overly critical with tones of jealousy and envy. And it should come from a place of knowledge, real knowledge about the work being criticized.

Now with the web we have the ability to have our work criticized by experts all over the world. And also, of course those with no clue at all, but they live on forums where they suck up the ‘lingo’.

So the question we answer first is: Is all criticism, from anyone, important?

No. It isn’t. Not at all.

Criticism from people who are not knowledgeable on what you are doing, the genre of the work, the history and legacy of that genre, and what you are trying to achieve is simply not worth listening to. Or asking for. It can be frustrating for some, and a source of irritation to others, to be critiqued by those with no understanding of the work, and it enlightens the photographer not at all.

Posting your work to places like zoomr, flickr and other photo ’sharing’ sites and looking for critique is asking for people who have no clue to say things about your work that have no meaning for you. Good or bad. And the work doesn’t have to be good to get a ton of wonderful comments and critiques. At the time of this writing this photograph has 550 “wow” comments on Flickr (SFW unless you work with idiots). Think about that the next time you go looking for criticism on some internet forum. (I do not link to that image to make fun of it, and it is absolutely certain that the image is not put out there as art or serious photography. The point is that on Flickr the image is ‘popular’ and totally capable of getting hundreds if not thousands of ‘comments’. If you are thinking that popular means you are a great shooter… well, think again.)

“Dude, rockin’ color…” means what to an emerging photographer? That the color was, uh, ‘rockin’? Substantially more must be involved when doing a critique of your work.

If you are a fashion photographer looking for serious critique, I would make sure that the people who are critiquing your work know who Patrick, Arthur, Albert, Annie, Helmut, Richard, and Peter are. If you need the last names, you probably aren’t a fashion photographer anyway. Even if the names are not the ‘new’ shooters, I can tell you that everyone in fashion knows who they are. Everyone.

And if you are working toward a ’snapshot’ style reminiscent of Shore and Eggleston, wouldn’t you want someone who knows what that means to critique your work. Someone who understands the aesthetic? Someone who won’t say… ‘dude, looks like a snapshot’.

Yes, we have been told that everybody has a right to their opinion. I get that. No problem. But not every opinion has the same weight or value. I do not look for the opinions of people who are not involved in what I do for guidance. If I was a consumer product looking for mass appeal, yeah… I would probably go for ‘mass appeal’ opinions. But I am not, and we are not. We are looking for criticism from the heart, passed through the brain for filtering. The filter is the most important part.

How to get Great Critiques.

Ask the right people. Ask the right people for recommendations of more right people. If you don’t know the right people, find out who they are. You do have to do some research. There are photography consultants, portfolio consultants, gallery owners, editors, other photographers, designers who can work with you to develop your work by critiquing what you are doing. You have to dig to find them.

And sometimes they will do it cause they love to, and sometimes they will do it for a fee. Either way can help or harm you if you haven’t done your research well. And both ways should be considered.

When looking for someone to critique your work, from consultant to buddy, make sure they have skills to offer to help that process go smoothly. Have they done it before? Do they do it often enough to be good at it? Are they offering constructive criticism or is it ‘this sucks, this sucks, this sucks…” sort of college art class crap? Will they offer guidance to help make your work stronger?

If I was seeking advice on how to get into a fine art gallery, I would make sure the critic had knowledge, real knowledge, about that tricky endeavor. If fashion is your thing, make damn sure the consultant has some real working knowledge of the fashion industry and what is hot/not to get your work ready. Same with industrial, corporate, architectural… whatever. Good photographic consultants can help you get your work ready faster than most any process I know of… but you have to be ready.

(Personal story. Back in the early 80’s I had the pleasure of working for one of the most hardass AD’s in the region. He would cajole, yell, pout, and be so obnoxious as to make you want to put the dark slide down and leave. He also helped me make some outstanding, and award winning, images. I realized one day that all that bluster was to get the people who he was working with to do it better and better and better. We spent two days on a bar of soap on a sink. Final shot was simply astounding… and that is what he was after.

I asked him to critique my book one afternoon and he told me to bring all the images that I had thought about putting in my book, my book, and images that I loved but thought had no place in my book.

I almost canceled it three times, but the day we did it he blended hardnosed critique with pure love of the business and I left there with a new book, and some hard things to think about. Very next time my book was called in, I got the job immediately upon showing it. The book kept growing and I can still hear his voice, and his demanding determination for excellence, when I am working on new stuff.)

More after the jump…

Present the work in a cohesive form.

I get calls and emails to critique work many times a month. “See my flickr site and can you give me some advice.” “Can you take a look at my web site and crit my shots?” Well, actually, no… I cannot do that. We have to narrow it down a bit. And set some ground rules.

I always have the following criteria for anyone wanting a critique from me:

• Tell me why you want ME to look at your images. Because of what I do, and how I do it – or because I have a web site? (HINT: number two don’t cut it.)
• OK: Put 20 pictures into a “set” at flickr, or a gallery at whatever site you are using.
• Better: put 20 images into a folder, zip it up and send it to me.
• Number them in the order you are currently using (1.jpg, 2.jpg etc)
• Tell me what you are trying to accomplish with the images.
• Share your photographic business mission statement with me.
• Briefly tell me where you are level wise in your business – starting out, thinking about starting out, etc…
• Agree that you understand I am not going to give you anything but my opinion.

I can tell you that only 2 or so out of every 10 requests will honor what I have asked them to do. Other people who critique work will have different criteria. Consultants I have known have asked for all sorts of things. Remember that it is important to their process for you to bring and do what they ask of you.

How to Take Criticism:

Understand that if you have done the research, prepared your work for presentation, and opened your mind to receive what is being offered, it can be a wonderful experience. A good consultant will deliver the news you need to hear… and while it may not be what you want to hear, remember our flickr post above.

Listen to the critic and make notes. If asked, offer insight about image and how it relates to your total offering. If questioned about something, answer with your conviction, not what you think the consultant wants to hear.

Keep an open and accepting mind. The critic is going to challenge you, lift you up, dash you on the rocks like yesterdays soup, sweep you to the edge, pull you back with acceptance… and so much more. Going in with a closed, or intellectually belligerent mindset will not help you. You must listen. You must take the information and synthesize it. If it ultimately cannot be worked into your world you either picked the wrong consultant, or have your very own, intractable way of doing things. (I will never tell anyone to not be intractable… heh. The irony of that would be thick enough to cut with a knife.)

Take the knowledge of the critique back with you and think about it. Write about it. Look through the work and then make notes and ideas on what you WILL do to initiate the advice into your work. DO IT. And with all sorts of reasons I will state again… DO IT. Do what the consultant said. Even if it is hard to implement, and you find yourself floundering a bit… yeah… that is good in many cases. From comfort, mediocrity grows at an astounding rate.

How to Give Criticism.

Know what you are discussing. Know what the work you are looking at was supposed to do. Otherwise, referring to the flickr post above, you should simply say… “wow, great composition, nice color.”

Giving criticism when you are not ready to critique may be more difficult than you think. To do it with any meaning, that is.

Without knowing what the photographer was trying to say, it is simply impossible to judge. Sharpness? Noise? Saturation? Composition? – All depend on what the artist was trying to say with the work. In a vacuum, critiquing the color can be done, but no one needs criticism that lives in a vacuum.

So find out what the intention of the photographer was. Does that work for you? Do you feel that there are things that could be stronger in the work to help get it to where the artist intended?

Tell them that.

Do not tell them what you would have done. To say that is totally and incomprehensibly stupid. We don’t know what you would have done that day with that subject and the parameters that constrained the photographer. To say that you do is totally BS. (And most of the time, when clicking to see the work of the photographer who has so much to say on what he/she would have done, the work is most often of kitties and laundry… sorry, just is.)

Do not tell the photographer that the work is “awesome” as that is probably a bit of hyperbole, and is certainly welcome on the sharing sites, but is not a critique of the work. A photographer who is asking for a critique wants to know what is wrong and what is right about the work… not that you think it is awesome. Ego stroking is not critique.

If you have nothing good to say about the image, then don’t bother. If you can see that the photographer had a good idea and didn’t carry it far enough, that is fine. But image bashing is also not critique. If there is nothing of value in the work, pass on the critique. Telling someone that they suck totally is not as helpful as letting them know that while they are not ready, there are places to go to get their work up to a level that could be acceptable. I generally send them to several blogs and sites that can help them get their work to the next level. I want to be helpful, but sometimes pointing out what is needed is help in itself.

Learning to critique an image is one of the most important things you can do as a photographer. It will be necessary to do in your own work, and invaluable when working with others. Take your time and learn to do it well.

Bring compassion, opinion, and goodwill toward the image maker.

Leave belligerence, anger, jealousy and what you THINK a reviewer must do at home. Come prepared to help someone who is asking for help. If you think that tearing someone down will elevate you, well, you are sadly mistaken. No amount of belittling will ever bring you to a higher plane.

Conclusion:

Know what you want to accomplish.
Find the critic / consultant that can help you with your goals.
Prepare your work for the critique.
Listen to the critic with an open mind.
Take what is learned and follow through on it.
Learn how to give good, honest critique.
Remember that what we say and what we do is ultimately who we are.
Be kind, be tough, be human.

Over the years we seem to have embraced the harshness of Cowell as our level of critical discourse. Too bad. I think you can tell someone that they need work, and didn’t rise to the occasion without humiliation and colorful, but mean anecdotes. In the end, the one doing the humiliation (except on reality shows) seems all the weaker.

UPDATE: I forgot to add something I feel really strong about. Don’t offer unsolicited critique. It is rude, amateurish and quite honestly rather stupid. If you have not been asked, then you probably don’t know what the photographer was trying to do, what the legacy of the image is, where the photographer is going, what the purpose of the image is and more… way more. Wait to be asked first, then do the best you can to answer. I have seen some people have terrible experiences because of some joker deciding to ’skool them’ on photography. Want a good ’skoolin’, watch Judge Joe Brown. He has a pelican case.

BTW… if you really cannot think of anything ‘deep’ or ‘arty’ there is this handy link. Heh.

UPDATE 2: One more link that makes me laugh. Henri Cartier Bresson’s famous photograph “The Bicyclist” is shredded at Flickr after being added to a “delete me” critique group. All I can say is… well… there ya go.

Courtesy A Photo Editor, here is a list of photographic consultants. Here at LE, we kind of dig having Selina pop in from time to time to help the photographers who follow this site. Another wonderful site to follow is Heather Morton in Toronto.

Thanks for following along on this rant thing about criticism. I think it is important to discuss, and I look forward to a lively discussion on the comment boards. As always, if you would like to stalk… err, follow me on Twitter, or visit my site, or see my Flickr stream where you can leave really pithy comments like “you rock” and ‘duuuuuude… whoa…”, those are the links.

If you are thinking about a workshop this year, I hope you take a look at Learn to Light. We teach a totally interactive, hands on workshop. You will learn the tools of lighting in an intensive 2 day workshop.

Including copyrighted works on your photography

 

We’ve all been there – photographing a nice street scene only to find out later that the art installment on the background is indeed copyrighted by the artist.

While for editorial use this might not be much of a problem, for any other use that photo is pretty much out of bounds. Still, once in a while some horror stories of photographers getting sued for copyright infringement come up.

So, how to deal with this issue? What is fair use and what isn’t? While the definitive answer is too much of a gray area even for the courts, from our discussion you might be able to get a few pointers on what is allowed and what you should avoid.

Many thanks to David Sanger (@davidsanger, David on facebook) and William Burrard-Lucas (@willbl, Will on facebook) for their insights on this discussion.

As you’ll probably notice, the conversation was going and going and I didn’t want to interrupt just for time reasons. In any case, I know that not many people have over one and a half hours for just one episode of PhotoNetCast, so we’ve decided to break the conversation in two. The remaining part (including answering some listener questions and our Selected from the Web) will be released in a few days.

As always, your comments are very much appreciated. Drop them below or use our re-opened Listener Voicemail.

 

 

Show Notes

 

Intro

• Feeling Negative?

Copyrighted Works in Photography

• Photographers beware: This Seattle case opens a can of legal worms
• Broadway sidewalk dance causing another legal two-step
• Mike Hipple’s side of the story
• Public Art Lands Photog in Hot Water (the photo in question)
• The art piece
• Eiffel Tower by William
• Eiffel Tower by David
• Eiffel Tower by William
• Photo Attorney