4 days ago
Think Tank Airport Airstream
Every photographer I know is on the constant look out for a new gear bag. One that is portable, handy, rugged and will pack as much as they can cram into it. Photographers have a lot of gear. I am no exception. Even though I don’t always need all of it, I have a bunch. I have a Tenba Shootout rolling bag, that I really do like a lot. However, the last trip I took to New England I was on a puddle jumper (small prop airplane) to Maine and the bag would not fit in the overhead, so I had to gate check it. Everything came out o.k., but my worst fear as a shooter is getting off the plane to find out either 1) the bag was left behind or worse 2) I pick it up and hear rattling of broken glass.
My buddies Chuck Barnes and Matt Kloskowski both were sporting the Think Tank Airport Airstream roller bags. I flew with Chuck and his fit neatly under the seat and overhead. I had to have one. I called up the folks at Adorama and ordered one for the holidays. With the NAPP discount I got it at a little less than the current MSRP of $299.75.
It doesn’t quite have everything I am looking for in a bag. The space inside is roomy enough for most of my travel gear. I’ll still need to pack my vest and tripod in my bag, but I can overlook that. It’s rugged and handles really well. It also comes equipped with 3 locks, so I can secure it in several different ways. I am looking forward to traveling with it to see how it handles. I must say that I’ll also have to mark it so I know it’s mine. One of the things that happened with Matt and Chuck is they switched bags at one point and didn’t realize it.
CNN gives photojouralists the pink slip
According to senior CNN vp Jack Womack;
We also spent a great deal of time analyzing how we utilize and deploy photojournalists across all of our locations in the U.S. We looked at the evolution of daytime and evening line-ups. We analyzed how stories are assigned and more importantly the ratio of stories assigned that actually make it on to our networks or platforms. We know that we have to sharpen our focus on stories assigned to ensure that this great work gets on air. We looked at production demands, down time, and international deployments. We looked at the impact of user-generated content and social media, CNN iReporters and of course our affiliate contributions in breaking news. Consumer and pro-sumer technologies are simpler and more accessible. Small cameras are now high broadcast quality. More of this technology is in the hands of more people. After completing this analysis, CNN determined that some photojournalists will be departing the company.
I am not a photojournalist, do I ever dream of being one. I respect this profession. It’s hard long hours for a passion you love in very difficult places. Obviously the general public is going to get shots that come up spur of the moment. Everyone carries a camera with them now a days in the form of a cell phone. Should that really replace photojournalists? I think it should augment them, not replace them. Then again, I am a photographer and I do not run a large business like CNN.
source: Hollywood Reporter
Photography vs Snapshots
I like to take my camera out on “get lost” treks from time to time. We’ll stop along the road and I’ll hop out and take a few dozen photographs. One of the largest complaints my fiancee has is the fact that I don’t share most of those photos. She’s constantly wondering why? Why do I feel the need to process everything and not allow anyone to look at it, if it doesn’t meet my self imposed satisfaction. I am not a perfectionist, by any means.
Scott Kelby once told me that you only want to show your best work. You don’t want to show 100 photos, have the first 20 be really good and the last 90 be “well, that one is ok too”. I have taken that to heart. I look to succeed in this, if for no-one else, but myself. I want to look at a photo and be proud of the photo on it’s own.
I think one key difference comes down to taking a photo versus making a photo. Anyone can take a photo, process it and make it come out alright. It’s much more difficult, as I keep finding out, to make a photo. You have to understand light, color, balance, conditions, visual cues and leading lines (to name a few). It’s hard work. Sure some folks make it look easy, but it’s not. I am much more critical the further I travel down this rabbit hole of photography. I am ruthless with my own work.
Another key difference between the taking of snapshots and the making of photographs is the emotional investment. We take snapshots to capture a moment in time that is important to us. It holds a special feeling that the taker might only understand. Some of the photos I like the best hold a special emotional attachment. They may not be good photos, let alone great ones, but I can be blind to that. Making a good photo can trigger a heavy emotional response, but that’s planned by the photographer and not because the viewer needs to understand the back story.
This is my niece Evelyn. It holds special emotional attachment to me. I don’t, however, think it’s an especially great photograph.
My fiancee, reminded me that sometimes the very worst that comes out of my camera is better than the best that comes out of hers. (ego boost) So how do we as photographers show only those closest to us those snapshots? Do we? Are we afraid that if we show off our “worst” work to those we love, they will think less of what we do? Will they like what they see when they “look behind the curtain”?
I’m no shrink, nor do I play one on TV, so I don’t think I can answer those questions for anyone else but myself. I struggle with what I show and to whom. We must always remember, as photographers, why we are taking or making a photograph. Our loved ones will love us for who we are, even at our worst.
Shooting animals (in the photographic sense)
We went out to an alpaca farm recently. This was just before I sent off my camera for maintenance and cleaning and before I lost the hard drive. As you can see, since this image was one of the ones I thought I lost, I came out the other end with some success.
Taking photos of animals is tough. Especially ones that love to move around on you in light that is less than desirable. I know that there is a time to shoot and there is a time to put the camera down and just enjoy it. But when you have a camera, it’s hard to tell yourself that. So even though I should have left the camera in the car, I shot anyway. Most of the images were overexposed or just lit wrong. I chalk it up to a learning experience. When shooting animals, captive or otherwise, it’s a waiting game. Trying to chase something down to get a good shot will get you one thing, tired legs. You have to pick a spot, wait it out and be prepared.
Photography as art vs Photography as a service
This is photography as art. I made this image as a form of self expression, which is what most photography is.
I have, on occasion, been asked to make a photo of someone’s work. This is done as a service with a bit of art involved. I say art, because it takes a certain technical finesse and tools to ensure that what the artist rendering is the same on canvas as it is on digital film.
I use several items in my arsenal to ensure that what I am putting out looks the same. First is the XRite ColorMunki Display. I just got this monitor and projector calibration tool. I upgraded from an earlier product and I love it. You can create profiles for your monitor or projector in very short time. It has an easy and advanced mode that allows you to tweak the settings yourself. I also use the XRite ColorChecker Passport to create a color profile for my camera an lighting conditions on site.
In this example I took a photo at the beginning of the series of artwork I was going to photograph.
Uncorrected
Corrected
You can see my fiancee holding it in the corner. One I had this as a reference I created a profile with the software that is included and used it inside Lightroom to Calibrate the rest of the images. To do this from the Develop module choose Calibrate and select your custom calibration profile. The color checker software will put the profile in the correct location on your hard drive.
Here’s the final image. This was painted by Stan Fontaine, a wonderful artist from New Orleans transplanted after Katrina.
First Pass editing
The first thing I do when I get home from a photography trip is go through my photos and start getting rid of stuff I know I won’t use. I am viscous with this. I have plenty of photos and memories so I don’t need to keep things around, “just in case”. From this last trip I had over 2000 images. I am not quite done with my first pass, but I am down to less than 1000 on disk.
Some of the images are in the category of “what were you thinking?” While others are just plain failed attempts at art. If I walk away from a trip with 6 images to show, it’s been a really successful trip. Besides for these photo workshops, it’s the people I meet that make them a success for me.
Tamarac ZipShot Small Tripod
The new Tamarac Zipshot looks like an interesting new tripod. Weighing in at 11 oz and a short 15 inches while folded (44″ setup), looks like the prefect small tripod for backpacking. It will only hold up to 3 pounds of weight, so my full 5D with battery extension and 100-400 lens is out, but for a small DSLR or point and shoot, this would be great. I wish I had something like this on my trips to Boston (taking a tripod on a plane is impossible) or even hiking through the mountains would have been nice. Only $50 from Adorama.
Canon EOS-1D X
Canon just announced the new Canon EOS-1D X camera. What a lineup of features.
18.1 mp sensor
two DIGIC 5+ processor & 1 DIGIC 4 processor
12 to 14 fps burst mode
ISO 50 – 204,800
61 pt autofocus
Multiple exposure mode – HDR-ish in camera
larger LCD screen
Dual CF cards
Wired LAN
GPS Add on option
Wireless Add On option
Check out more at Canon.
USB focus controller for Canon
A Chinese company called Cinematics has released a focus controller for the Canon cameras. Mainly for video production, it looks pretty cool.
It controls allows you to manually focus an autofocus Canon EF lens by using the lenses own built in focus motor. To do this it communicates with the camera using Canon’s own USB protocols which are normally used when the camera is communicating with Canon’s EOS Utility software on a computer.
It’s good to have friends
I have been blessed on meeting a large number of great photographers. Some of us start to share bonds as we shoot more and more together. I wish I took more shots of the class as I went along. Jim Begley and Chuck Barnes are are couple of the finest photographers I know. They have becomes good friends and I look forward to shooting with them again. I can’t leave out Bill Fortney who put us together and is one of the finest all around men I know. Unfortunately I didn’t get a shot of Bill this trip.
Jim, Chuck and I went out for a little early morning shooting while the rest of the class was with Matt Kloskowski (bless his heart). Uh guys, the sun is over there!?!
