The Photographers Group

The Photographers Group Blog

2011-02-27T13:28:00.000-08:00

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

KAUAI NEWS
Entangled whale went missing overnight
35 to 40 foot waves on Kaua'i North Shore
Entangled whale spotted off Na Pali coast

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO TIP VIDEOS
Composition

NEW WEDDING IMAGES

The Photographers Group Blog

2011-01-20T15:01:00.000-08:00

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

FAST KAUAI NEWS
Entangled whale went missing overnight
35 to 40 foot waves on Kaua'i North Shore
Entangled whale spotted off Na Pali coast

KODAK PHOTO TIP
Don’t be afraid of the shadows!

Shadows and dark areas lend drama and excitement to a scene, and retain a sense of mystery in your subject matter. One of the most important lessons ever taught to me by the picture editor of LIFE magazine was, “If you want something to look interesting, don’t light all of it.” Very true. Look for light in the back of a scene that has color and direction, and use it to define the shape of your primary or foreground subjects. - Joe McNally

NEW WEDDING IMAGES

The Photographers Group Blog

2011-01-19T10:28:00.001-08:00

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

FAST KAUAI NEWS
Entangled whale spotted off Na Pali coast

KODAK PHOTO TIP
Don’t be afraid of the shadows!

January 19, 2011

2011-01-16T11:57:00.000-08:00

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

FAST KAUAI NEWS
Entangled whale spotted off Na Pali coast

KODAK PHOTO TIP
Don’t be afraid of the shadows!

Daily Blog

2010-07-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

PHOTO OF THE DAY

FAST KAUAI NEWS
No more plastic bags!
No more cussin'
Hawaiian Legends Concert

KODAK PHOTO TIP OF THE DAY
Don’t be afraid of the shadows!

July 2010 - The Photographers Group

2010-07-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

WRITTEN BY KEN POSNEY
(CEO/FOUNDER OF THE PHOTOGRAPHERS GROUP)

New Images

This was a family portrait at a secluded area on the south shore of Kaua'i, Maha'ulepu. The weather here is always dramatic and windy. The family and I took a short hike to a point where we could see Ha'upu Mountain in the distance. As we got to our first shoot location, the rain started to come down. Hair and clothes got wet. Everyone had great attitudes as we took partial cover under some large bushes.

The weather cleared for a few minutes as we climbed down into a small bay area where the waves were thundering nearby. We again took shelter under a slight overhang, again, all had fun attitudes with the rain.

The rain cleared, the sun appeared as we were setting up the shot...

http://www.thephotographersgroup.com/

MAY 2010 BLOG

2010-05-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

WRITTEN BY KEN POSNEY
(CEO/FOUNDER OF THE PHOTOGRAPHERS GROUP):

We're giving money away!

1. We now offer up to 75% income for our photographer's events. Our photographers can now make $644 to $1,324 more than they did before!

2. We now pay the total referall fee for wedding coordinators/planners.

3. We've simplified our process. No longer do our photographers have to submit their headshot and bio through email, their portfolio images through SmugMug and their event images through ShootDotEdit. Everything is now simplified to YouSendIt. We do the uploading for you!

We're changing the way photographers live and work by getting their freedom back!

SHOOT. UPLOAD. DONE!
We're all looking forward to this exciting period in professional photography. Change is happening faster than ever before. It's our job to keep up with it and respond to it.

http://www.thephotographersgroup.com/

CURRENT NEWS

ESPN

CNN

BBC

NEW YORK TIMES

MSNBC

The Photographers Group

2010-05-10T00:50:00.000-07:00

KEN POSNEY: WEEKLY POST
It's official...we have two photographers in England...Yorkshire, England. Please welcome Sharon Malone and Andy Hopkinson!

We now have a growing list of 32professional, hand-picked photographers in our group. We're honored to have every one of them with us.

We're changing the way photographers live and work by getting their freedom back!

SHOOT. UPLOAD. DONE!
We're all looking forward to this exciting period in professional photography. Change is happening faster than ever before. It's our job to keep up with it and respond to it.

http://www.thephotographersgroup.com/

CURRENT NEWS

ESPN

CNN

BBC

NEW YORK TIMES

MSNBC

The Photographers Group Blog

2010-04-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

KEN POSNEY: WEEKLY POST
It's official...we have our first photographer in another country. Frank Beer has joined us from Germany!

We now have a growing list of 28 professional, hand-picked photographers in our group. We're honored to have every one of them with us.

Our first two assignments, one on Kaua'i and one on Maui went extremely well. The clients were very happy with their photographers, the photos they made and the photographers were happy to make some additional income for an hour's worth of "work".

We're changing the way photographers live and work by getting their freedom back!

SHOOT. UPLOAD. DONE!
We're all looking forward to this exciting period in professional photography. Change is happening faster than ever before. It's our job to keep up with it and respond to it.

http://www.thephotographersgroup.com/

PHOTO IDEAS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

You weren't an accident. You weren't mass produced.

You aren't an assembly-line product. You were

deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly

positioned on the Earth by the Master Craftsman.

- MAX LUCADO (Best-selling author)

KODAK TIP OF THE WEEK

Photo checklist for a trip

Camera bag to protect camera from bumps and drops
Picture cards for about 100 pictures a week (about 128 MB and maybe a backup 64 MB card)
Fresh Ni-MH or Li-Ion batteries and a set of backups
Battery charger (if you use rechargeable batteries)
Telephoto and wide-angle lenses for zooming in and out (if your camera accepts accessory lenses)
Lens cleaning solution and photographic lens tissue
Camera manual for reference
A one-time-use camera or two for panoramic shots, beach use, or emergency backup
Tripod (optional)

GAMES AT BOTTOM OF BLOG

CURRENT NEWS

ESPN

CNN

BBC

NEW YORK TIMES

MSNBC

The Photographers Group Blog

2010-02-25T18:29:00.001-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST
We're all getting excited about our formal launch of The Photographers Group on March 15, 2010. Lots of details to wrap up and questions to answer.

This group was created to educate the consumer about the benefits of a professional and experienced photographer. The digital camera has saturated the market with product (the photographer). In turn, this has created a distortion and decrease in the value of "professional" photography. Many photographers have felt pressured to lower their pricing to the levels of part-time amateur photographers.

The business of professional photography suffered. Phone calls went unreturned, images were never presented to the customer, lawsuits have been filed and images have been lost or damaged. In the end, consumers felt the price of a "professional" photographer is not worth the effort.

This group, and others like it, will change the way photographers run their business and will help get their freedom back. It will educate the consumer on the benefits of a true professional photographer.

We're all looking forward to this exciting period in professional photography. Change is happening faster than ever before. It's our job to keep up with it and respond to it.

http://www.thephotographersgroup.com/

PHOTO IDEAS

KODAK QUOTE OF THE WEEK

You don't take a photograph, you make it.

KODAK TIP OF THE WEEK

Look your subject in the eye: Direct eye contact can be as engaging in a picture as it is in real life. When taking a picture of someone, hold the camera at the person's eye level to unleash the power of those magnetic gazes and mesmerizing smiles. For children, that means stooping to their level. And your subject need not always stare at the camera. All by itself that eye level angle will create a personal and inviting feeling that pulls you into the picture.

GAMES AT BOTTOM OF BLOG

CURRENT NEWS

ESPN

CNN

BBC

NEW YORK TIMES

MSNBC

The Photographers Group Blog

2010-01-15T23:28:00.000-08:00

KODAK QUOTE OF THE WEEK

You don't take a photograph, you make it.

KODAK TIP OF THE WEEK

CNN

BBC

NEW YORK TIMES

MSNBC

2010-01-13T17:52:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

March 15, 2010 is our launch date for The Photographers Group.
We're all super excited at how this can change the way photographers work...and play. We're outsourcing the painful but fun tasks to better qualified professionals so we can play and see our families again.

We're setting up business relationships with:

ShootQ (Event Organization and Management)
ShootDotEdit (the leader in post-production)
PhotoBiz (photography-specific template web sites)
ShowItFast (easy-to-use flash photography sites)
SmugMug (client viewing and photography products)

So with that said, we've been busier than a one-legged cowboy in a...let's just say, we've been really busy adding photographers.

For now, we have photographers throughout the major Hawaiian Islands, California, Oregon and Iowa...yes, Iowa!

Watch us grow! TPG Signup

DANE SANDERS

FOTOTV

FotoTV was founded on a simple mission – to provide an online learning resource for photographers based on the principle of ‘learn by watching the experts’. Photography is a visual medium and so it made sense to combine the reach of the internet with the visual impact of videos.

KEN ROCKWELL

MIKE LARSON

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TIPS

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

PHOTOFOCUS

PHOTOJOJO

STYLE ME PRETTY

TIM GREY

Tim Grey is regarded as one of the top educators in digital photography and imaging, offering clear guidance on complex subjects through his writing and speaking. He loves learning as much as he possibly can about digital imaging, and he loves sharing that information even more.

BLACK STAR RISING

2009-12-31T18:49:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

Nate and Emily Sutterer
Maha'ulepu, Kaua'i

DANE SANDERS

FOTOTV

KEN ROCKWELL

MIKE LARSON

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TIPS

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

PHOTOFOCUS

PHOTOJOJO

STYLE ME PRETTY

TIM GREY

BLACK STAR RISING

2009-12-24T17:04:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

Hike to a secret swimming hole and a beautiful Kaua'i sunset overlooking the west side of the island.

DANE SANDERS

FOTOTV

KEN ROCKWELL

MIKE LARSON

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TIPS

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

PHOTOFOCUS

PHOTOJOJO

STYLE ME PRETTY

TIM GREY

BLACK STAR RISING

Blog Blog

2009-12-06T00:35:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

Got married today!

December 5, 2009
I married my best friend today,
Haunani Kapuuwainui Kaiminaauao

DANE SANDERS

FOTOTV

KEN ROCKWELL

MIKE LARSON

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TIPS

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

PHOTOFOCUS

PHOTOJOJO

STYLE ME PRETTY

TIM GREY

BLACK STAR RISING

Blog Blog

2009-11-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

We would love to hear from you!

BLACK STAR RISING

DANE SANDERS

FOTOTV

KEN ROCKWELL

MIKE LARSON

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TIPS

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

PHOTOFOCUS

PHOTOJOJO

STYLE ME PRETTY

TIM GREY

Blog Blog

2009-11-20T16:50:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

We would love to hear from you!

BLACK STAR RISING

Six Good Reasons for Photographers to Lug Around Lights

Eye on Image-Making: Financial Planning, Part 1

Photography’s Old Boys Club Is Gone Forever — Now Success Is Up to You

DANE SANDERS

Becca and Ben’s wedding at the Air Force Academy and reception at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs was epic!

FOTOTV

KEN ROCKWELL
DxO Optics Pro 6
Indian Country Tour
Go Shoot!

MIKE LARSON
Amsterdam Workshop, Flash bouncing Demo

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS
Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
Stop Wasting Time
Primer for Still to Video Shooters Part 2
Marketing Strategy for Photographers – Understand Your Potential Customers
Picture Taker or Image Maker?
Five Inexpensive Gifts Every Serious Photographer Will Love
Emerging Photographer of the Year Finalist – Chitra Aiyer

PHOTOJOJO
Your Own Page-a-Day Photo Calendars Make Your Photo-a-Day Even More Gorgeous

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

TIM GREY

Blog Blog

2009-11-16T12:25:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

We would love to hear from you!

What do you think of our Blog Blog?
Would you like to see any other blogs?
Do you read this Blog Blog every day?

Kristy Hashimoto / Antonio Aguiar

BLACK STAR RISING

NGOs Do Good — But Make Sure They Do Right By You, Too

DANE SANDERS

Custom Tasty Treats Sweet and Saucy Shop

FOTOTV

KEN ROCKWELL
Arizona and Utah!

MIKE LARSON
Zurich & Rotterdam

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS
Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
Top Posts at Photofocus.com

PHOTOJOJO
Your Own Page-a-Day Photo Calendars Make Your Photo-a-Day Even More Gorgeous

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

TIM GREY

Blog Blog

2009-11-13T10:02:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

We would love to hear from you!

What do you think of our Blog Blog?
Would you like to see any other blogs?
Do you read this Blog Blog every day?

Kristy Hashimoto / Antonio Aguiar

BLACK STAR RISING

The Art of Visual Storytelling

DANE SANDERS

Custom Tasty Treats Sweet and Saucy Shop

FOTOTV

KEN ROCKWELL
Canon S90 and G11 Update

MIKE LARSON
Dusseldorf, Germany workshop

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS
Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
Mini Review of the Spyder3 Express

PHOTOJOJO
Your Own Page-a-Day Photo Calendars Make Your Photo-a-Day Even More Gorgeous

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

TIM GREY

Blog Blog

2009-11-12T18:24:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

We would love to hear from you!

What do you think of our Blog Blog?
Would you like to see any other blogs?
Do you read this Blog Blog every day?

Kristy Hashimoto / Antonio Aguiar

BLACK STAR RISING

In Photography, It’s the Archer, Not the Arrow

DANE SANDERS

Custom Tasty Treats Sweet and Saucy Shop

FOTOTV

KEN ROCKWELL
Canon S90 and G11 Update

MIKE LARSON
Europe Wedding Workshop Tour III- Day

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS
Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
Using Workspaces in Photoshop
Three Tips For Finding Compelling Photographic Subjects

PHOTOJOJO
Your Own Page-a-Day Photo Calendars Make Your Photo-a-Day Even More Gorgeous

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

TIM GREY

Blog Blog

2009-11-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

We would love to hear from you!

What do you think of our Blog Blog?
Would you like to see any other blogs?
Do you read this Blog Blog every day?

Lindsey and Peter Mason Wedding
Ha'ena, Kaua'i

BLACK STAR RISING

Want an Accurate Portrait of Africa? Hire Local Photographers

Hiring locals to participate in the coverage — either independently or in tandem with foreign photographers and journalists — would help. No one, after all, knows a country like a local. (more…)

DANE SANDERS

Custom Tasty Treats Sweet and Saucy Shop

KEN ROCKWELL
Canon S90 and G11 Update

I've been having a blast shooting with these two cameras the past few days. What is striking about each of them is how much better they work at high ISOs than any other camera their size..

MIKE LARSON

Europe Workshop Tour Images!

The European "Wedding's California Style" Workshop Tour, is going so well, after day 3, we've hit up Budapest, Vienna, Munich and now we are off to Zurich. Here are some highlights. Everyone is signing up on facebook and making comments, check out the details, tesimonials and participant images at http://www.facebook.com/mikelarsoninc many workshops have filled up, but there are a few spots left in a few cities, so check out the link to sign up for those of you photographers in Europe!

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
Show Your Best Work

Every photographer takes bad photos. Even the big-time pros don’t get every shot perfectly composed, lit, and in-focus; it usually takes a few bad shots to get one good photo. The thing to understand is that part of becoming a great photographer means learning how to pick out your best images and knowing what to show and display for others to see.

When I choose which images of mine I want to share online I am very selective, and only show photos I am proud of and truly love. I want to focus my viewers’ attention on the photographs that I think are the best, and show them what I am fully capable of. It’s very possible to have several “great” images from any given shoot, but even out of 10 or twenty images there are still going be some that stand out and are favored over the others.

This doesn’t just apply to sharing your photographs online. If you are a portrait or wedding photographer and go through your images, pick only the very best images to show your client, even if it means trimming your “keepers” down to 50% (or more) of what you would like to have. Trust me – if you like them, then they will love them. If you were to show them every photo you take and their “favorite” happens to be one that you know is not great, would you want that photo out there to represent your work?

As photographers we are also artists, and being an artist means that we should know what looks good. So be selective and very picky about what you share – hand-pick your images and only show your best work.

PHOTOJOJO

Wedding Photos You’ll Love (Even if You Hate Wedding Photos)

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

TIM GREY (Digital Darkroom Questions)
Today's Question:

I have been doing a bit of reading on CS4. Adobe is enabling the user to do more and more in Camera Raw. What is your opinion of doing so many adjustments in Camera Raw that once were done in Photoshop? My concern is that adjustments done in Camera Raw can not be fine tuned later. When I do my adjustments in PS using layers and adjustment layers, I essentially have a record of what I have previously done and, if need be, I can go back and turn layers on or off or make adjustments to them. If I have done all this in Camera Raw, then, so far as I know, I do not have this flexibility and if I want to change something, I must go back to the RAW file and start from the beginning. Am I missing something?

Tim's Answer:

I don't think you're missing anything at all. My personal preference is to use Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) as a tool for extracting the maximum amount of information from a RAW digital capture as possible, not to attempt to get the image looking perfect and ready to print (or otherwise share). I draw a parallel between RAW conversion and film scanning. When you scan a negative or transparency, the focus is on extracting as much information from that original as you possible can.

As a result of this approach, I don't make use of most of the features in ACR. While it is possible to return to your original RAW capture in ACR and adjust your settings (they are all nondestructive in the context of not altering your original RAW capture). You could also convert the RAW capture as a Smart Object and then access ACR to refine the settings at any time by double-clicking the Smart Object layer. However, I don't like this approach because it causes problems when, for example, you use the Clone Stamp or Healing Brush on a separate layer (which I highly recommend doing).

With most images I only adjust the Temperature, Tint, Exposure, and Blacks sliders. If an image exhibits chromatic aberration I'll fix this in ACR (even though you can also fix it later with the Lens Correction filter). If there is minor noise I might compensate for this in ACR as well (though more often I'll use Noise Ninja after converting the RAW capture).

When adjusting settings in ACR I'll focus on maximizing the amount of information in the final image, which generally translates into setting the black and white points to the point just before clipping occurs (if clipping can be avoided), holding the Alt/Option key while adjusting Exposure and Blacks to see where the clipping occurs and refining the adjustments as needed.

Blog Blog

2009-11-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

We would love to hear from you!

What do you think of our Blog Blog?
Would you like to see any other blogs?
Do you read this Blog Blog every day?

Lindsey and Peter Mason Wedding
Ha'ena, Kaua'i

BLACK STAR RISING

Five Ways to Make Money in a Popular Photography Niche

I’ve read articles by a number of photography business gurus arguing that if you want to make decent money from stock photos or prints, you need to find a niche that isn’t already saturated with images. They advise photographers to shoot model-released lifestyle photos or still lifes, for example, and to stay away from travel and nature — because everyone shoots travel and nature. (more…)

DANE SANDERS

Custom Tasty Treats Sweet and Saucy Shop

KEN ROCKWELL
Canon S90 and G11 Update

I've been having a blast shooting with these two cameras the past few days. What is striking about each of them is how much better they work at high ISOs than any other camera their size..

MIKE LARSON

Europe Workshop Tour Images!

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
Philip Bloom Gives Photographers A Basic Video Shooting Tip
Three Things You Should Know About Creativity
Now’s The Time To Follow Your Passion

PHOTOJOJO
Wedding Photos You’ll Love (Even if You Hate Wedding Photos)

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

TIM GREY (Digital Darkroom Questions)
Today's Question:

I have Photoshop CS3 and I would be interested to learn how to change backgrounds on a photo. I have tried a number of different ways all with no success. I would like to try and put a baby on a cloud background, or moving a person from one photo to another.

Tim's Answer:

The first step is to bring the two images together into a single composite image. To do so, you can open both images, and then use the Move tool to drag one image to the other (for example, dragging the baby image onto an image of clouds).

In most cases you can create a selection as the basis of the layer mask that will define where the upper image is actually visible (revealing the underlying image in areas where the upper isn't visible). So, for example, you could create a selection of the baby using any of the selection tools. With a selection active, click the Add Layer Mask button (the circle inside a square icon) at the bottom of the Layers panel. The "non-baby" area of the baby image will now be hidden, allowing the underlying cloud image to show through, and creating the appearance of a baby among the clouds.

Click on the layer mask thumbnail (the black and white thumbnail to the right of the upper image layer) to make sure it is active, and then choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur to slightly blur the layer mask so the composite doesn't show up with a "cutout" appearance.

At this point you should have a good basic composite image, but you may need to further refine things. Select the Brush tool, and press "D" to ensure the colors are set to their defaults of black and white. You can also adjust the size of the brush using the left and right square bracket keys ("[" and "]"). You can also adjust the Hardness setting using the Brush popup on the Options bar as needed to adjust the degree of blending where you'll work on your layer mask. Then paint with black in any areas where you need to block the original baby image (for example, hiding portions of the baby so it will better blend in with the clouds), and paint with white to reveal portions of the baby image. You can press "X" to swap foreground and background colors to switch between black and white.

Blog Blog

2009-11-09T10:43:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

Lindsey and Peter Mason Wedding
Ha'ena, Kaua'i

BLACK STAR RISING
Ask the Photo Business Coach: Beate Chelette

Editor’s note: Black Star Rising is pleased to introduce a new series of video blog posts, “Ask the Photo Business Coach,” featuring Beate Chelette. The high-energy entrepreneur and former Corbis executive has been profiled twice on this blog, once while with Corbis and again after leaving the company. Today, she is a successful consultant and author. (more…)

DANE SANDERS

Custom Tasty Treats Sweet and Saucy Shop

KEN ROCKWELL
NEW: Contax G2 Review. Better than the LEICA M9, for a lot less money! The M9 is the world's best digital camera, but the Contax G2 is about 40 years more advanced.

NEW: Contax G2 Users' Guide. How to use every feature of the G2, which is a lot simpler than I make it seem.

MIKE LARSON
Ireland... The story begins...

After flying out of New Orleans, through ORD to LHR, I Just arrived in Ireland, its 45 degrees out & rainy, I rented (hired, as they say here) a car and was traveling and exploring down Irish roads that reminded me of the chronicles of Narnia, as when they were in the forests along winding narrow roads with walls of green trees at dusk as the wind blew. Outside I could smell fires as the houses looked so warm inside! The farther I got away from Dublin, the more country-esq the landscape looked. As the sun faded the green grass turned to grey and after praying to find the house, no number address out here, just a ranch name on a street in a town. If found it!

Now we sit by the fireplace warming up over some tea as I get to know the family and we chat about the wedding tomorrow. Its amazing to hear the culture of the Irish, how they do things and what they talk about. I'm excited for tomorrow! Castles churches and green countryside's!
I know some of these people, they know me from a Wedding I shot in Italy last year, Martina, the beautiful bride had some friends who wanted the images for their wedding, just what she had. It makes such a difference to have my couples already know they are in for a big treat, and a great experience. There's no icebreaker needed! Just fun, and an amazingly beautiful day. I'll totally be posting amazing shots tomorrow!...

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS

Canon 7D Video Example

I spent some time with my friend Dane Sanders helping him with a workshop down in Newport Beach, CA a few weeks ago. On a totally spur of the moment basis, with no planning, not much gear and no idea what I was doing, I decided to make a little video of the experience so that others might get just a taste of what it was like to hang out with Dane. The result is this video. I shot it on a Canon EOS 7D with a Canon EF 50mm f1.4 lens mounted on a Red Rock Micro Event. I also used a Zacuto Z-Finder and a Lightpanels MicroPro LED light. I forgot my mic so there’s little audio here.

Photo Book Review – Practical HDR: A complete guide to creating High Dynamic Range images with your Digital SLR

PHOTOJOJO

Wedding Photos You’ll Love (Even if You Hate Wedding Photos)

STYLE ME PRETTY

Inspiration Board for Brides

TIM GREY (Digital Darkroom Questions)

Today's Question:

When saving Photoshop images what is the best way to save the images--PSD or TIFF--and why?

Tim's Answer:

For most photographers under most circumstances, on the assumption we're talking about a "master" image file that has a variety of layers, it frankly doesn't really matter. Both PSD and TIFF files support all the features you need within Photoshop, so you can save multiple layers, adjustment layers, layer masks, alpha channels, and much more as part of either image file type. In both cases there are compatibility issues since most applications can't understand the PSD file format, and most imaging software can't interpret layered TIFF images saved from Photoshop. That means you should really think of both as being Photoshop-only file formats in terms of compatibility.

The only really significant reason you might want to choose one of these two file formats over the other is file size, but there's actually not necessarily a lot of clarity there either. In most cases if you save a PSD with Maximize Compatibility mode turned off, the resulting file will be smaller than a TIFF image with layers, even if you use LZW compression. But not always. To give you a somewhat typical example, I have an image saved with a variety of settings. The PSD without Maximize Compatibility mode turned on is about 65MB, the PSD with Maximize Compatibility mode turned on is about 85MB, the TIFF with no compression is about 73MB and the TIFF with LZW compression is about 88MB. Do keep in mind, however, that PSD files with Maximize Compatibility mode turned off can't be imported into Lightroom. Since you have to choose, I'll give you a definitive suggestion. I think you should use the PSD file format. One reason is that by design it is a Photoshop file format, and since you've (presumably) created a layer-based master image you'll only be using Photoshop to apply modifications. So there's no need to try to achieve compatibility (and again, when a TIFF is saved with layers intact there are going to be compatibility issues anyway).

I also have a "historical" reason for using PSD as my master image file format. It used to be that you could only save layered image files as PSD. Photoshop didn't support layered TIFF files. So all files with layers were PSDs, and in general TIFFs were used for the final flattened output file you would send to a lab for printing, for example. So many of us got to think of PSD files as the master image, and TIFF files as the flattened derivatives. So you could look at a list of files and easily know which was which. Part of the reason I still use PSD files for my master image files is this habit, but as mentioned above, there are other reasons as well.

Blog Blog

2009-11-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

10 QUICK and EASY Ways to Improve Your Photography
RIGHT NOW!

View this 14 page document packed with career-saving information. Just sign-up now as a TPG Member.
What's Inside:

Read “Fast Track Photographer” by Dane Sanders: A summary of Dane's book is on our Training Site
Promote and Network
Constantly improve your portfolio
Biography
Survey, Listen and ask for Referrals
Professional Web Site
Attend Workshops
Facebook Tips
Be a Professional and Set the Standard
Promoting YOU and Customer Service

Lindsey and Peter Mason Wedding
Ha'ena, Kaua'i

BLACK STAR RISING
Ask the Photo Business Coach: Beate Chelette

Custom Tasty Treats Sweet and Saucy Shop

KEN ROCKWELL
NEW: Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AF-D Review

MIKE LARSON
Ireland... The story begins...

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS

Fix My Photo – Fixing Color

PHOTOJOJO

Funny Face Photo Invites: Two-Faced, In a Good Way

STYLE ME PRETTY

Inspiration Board for Brides

TIM GREY (Digital Darkroom Questions)

Today's Question:

Do you have a preference between Unsharp Mask and Smart Sharpen when it comes to sharpening images for print?

Tim's Answer:

I do have a preference, and that preference has actually changed in the not-too-distant past. When the Smart Sharpen filter was first added to Photoshop CS2, I didn't warm up to it immediately. There's no question it had some great new features (specifically, the ability to mitigate sharpening individually for the highlight or shadow areas of the image), but it lacked a Threshold setting, and that was a major issue for me. You see, Threshold is key in terms of being able to "hold back" the sharpening from relatively smooth areas of the image, to ensure those areas remain smooth (a clear sky is a good example of such a situation).

I knew from the information Adobe provided that Smart Sharpen really was "smart" in this regard, but I had misgivings. But after much more testing with a wide variety of images, I've become convinced that the algorithms behind Smart Sharpen really are smarter than Unsharp Mask (I suppose this shouldn't have been any great surprise considering the name of the new filter). So, to answer your question, there's no question in my mind now that Smart Sharpen is the better filter for sharpening your images, and is the one I recommend most highly. I'm quite impressed with just how smart it can be, demonstrating a certain degree of self-control that in most cases will protect the image from the halos that are common with excessive sharpening.

Blog Blog

2009-11-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

10 QUICK and EASY Ways to Improve Your Photography
RIGHT NOW!

To view this 14 page document, sign-up as a TPG Member or TPG Photographer.

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“Shadow Ops”: Join an experienced photographer on a shoot

10 QUICK and EASY Ways to Improve Your Photography
RIGHT NOW!

What's Inside:

Read “Fast Track Photographer” by Dane Sanders: A summary of Dane's book is on our Training Site
Promote and Network
Constantly improve your portfolio
Biography
Survey, Listen and ask for Referrals
Attend Workshops
Professional Web Site
Network and Promote your sites on Facebook
Be a Professional and Set the Standard
Promoting YOU and Customer Service

BLACK STAR RISING
A Photo Credit Doesn’t Pay the Rent

In the belt-tightening world of editorial photography, many media outlets now offer a photo credit, rather than monetary compensation, for the use of your photo. “It will be great advertising for your work,” they tell you, “and getting published by us will help you professionally.” (more…)

DANE SANDERS
Custom Tasty Treats Sweet and Saucy Shop

KEN ROCKWELL
NEW: Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AF-D Review

MIKE LARSON
Ireland... The story begins...

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
Podcast: Special guest host – David DuChemin, author of Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision.

PHOTOJOJO

Funny Face Photo Invites: Two-Faced, In a Good Way

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

TIM GREY (Digital Darkroom Questions)

Today's Question:

I’ve run into a problem recently when changing image profiles from Adobe RGB (1998) to sRGB for Web site or book (Blurb) publication. In the past when I would assign (and, yes, I use Assign Profile, not Convert to Profile) the sRGB profile in Photoshop CS4 there would be little discernible change in the display. But within the past few weeks the images seem to get noticeably muddier looking when the profile changes. If I do the conversion when exporting from Lightroom 2.0 I don’t seem to get this shift. I’m using a 24-inch iMac that’s profiled by Monaco Optix. I just re-profiled the monitor (today) to see if that made any difference, and it didn’t. My color settings in Photoshop are for Adobe RGB (1998) to be the working space.

Tim's Answer:

The problem you're experiencing has everything to do with the fact that you're using the Assign Profile command rather than the Convert to Profile command (both of which are found on the Edit menu in Photoshop). The difference between Assign Profile and Convert to Profile may seem trivial, but the difference can actually be huge. Depending on the specific circumstances the final result may not be particularly significant, but in many cases the differences can be extreme.

The Assign to Profile command actually changes the meaning of the color values in the image (without changing the actual RGB numbers), which will change the color appearance of the image. For example, assigning a given profile might cause any pixels that are "red-orange" in color to be translated into "red-magenta" pixels. I realize this might sound like a silly thing to do. The reason it sounds like a silly thing to do is that in the context of an image that already looks good, it is a silly thing to do. But the Assign Profile command is actually very important. It is used when you need to correct the colors in an image based on an "input" profile. A common example would be a scanner profile. If you create a custom profile of your scanner, that profile is really there to describe the behavior of the scanner. That way, if the scanner doesn't "see" colors accurately, you can correct the color to an accurate appearance by assigning the scanner profile (in other words, providing a new interpretation of the RGB values in the image file that resulted from the film scan). The same situation would exist for photographers using a custom profile for their digital camera (though most photographers really don't need custom profiles for their digital cameras).

The Convert to Profile will actually change the color values in your image, in an effort to preserve the appearance of the pixel values after the conversion. For example, in one color space particular values might result in a red-orange color, but in another color space those same numbers result in a red-magenta color. When you convert from one profile to another, the numbers associated with the color values for each pixel are changed so they translate to the same actual color. The key here is that the process, to the extent it is possible, retains the appearance of colors while using a different color space profile to describe the colors in the image. Of course, a different color space does mean that a different range of colors (color gamut) will be available, so there is the possibility that some colors can't be retained, and will instead be represented by the closest matching color. But overall Convert to Profile will retain the color appearance of your image quite accurately.

The reason you're not experiencing the problem in Lightroom, by the way, is that Lightroom is converting to the destination profile, not assigning the profile.

Blog Blog

2009-11-03T13:03:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

Summary on "10 QUICK and EASY Ways to Improve Your Photography". The rest of this information will be posted on our Training Site.

1. Read Dane Sanders book, "Fast Track Photographer". It's $25 and can literally save your photography career from going down the wrong path.

2. Promote and Network! Tag, you're it. It's up to you to promote your photography. Shout it from the top of the world and let everyone else decide if they like your work. Share Facebook pages and "Suggest to Friends". Comment on blogs. Post your images. Tell your friends and family.

3. Constantly improve your portfolio
a. Consider your potential customer asking this question when looking at your portfolio: “Why should we hire you to capture our most important day?” Put yourself in the client’s shoes.
b. Are you jumping at the chance to improve your portfolio? Are you taking every opportunity to shoot and improve upon your work?
c. Have you submitted/uploaded your best work?
d. Use Lightscribe and pochettes (or similar) in your packaging. Impress your customers from the time they meet you to the moment they receive their long-awaited images.
e. Have friends, family and acquaintances review and edit your work. Ask them to take out five images from your portfolio.

4. Biography
a. Biographies and blogs help to break the ice. Potential clients like to feel connected to the person who will document one of the most important days of their life. They need to trust in the person who will give them their finest artistic representations of themselves.
b. Have you provided a bio; one that tells a story about who you are, what you believe in, what your photography style is and what’s important to you.
c. Give your potential customer the opportunity they’re looking for. They’re looking for a reason to connect with you. They want to feel safe and taken care of. Put yourself in the client’s shoes.

5. Survey, Listen and ask for Referrals
a. Don’t tell the customer what they need. Ask them what they need and simply listen.
b. It’s not about you. It’s all about them. You’re awesome…but they’re awesomer.
c. Referrals: This is the lifeblood of your business. Ask for it.

6. Attend Workshops
a. Learn from the pros, like Dane Sanders and Mike Larson!
b. These are FREE to TPG Photographers!

7. Professional Web Site
Simple, consistent, fresh, professional, easy to navigate, images come up quickly. Your web site will change many times over the course of your career. You will look back on your old web sites with disgust. You will ask yourself, “What was I thinking?”. Do not blaze your own path on this…too much. Do not get fancy. People just want to see your work, with a small amount of effort, in a short period of time. Review what the top photographers are putting up. There is a method to their madness. It’s simple, they load quickly, it’s easy to understand, it’s good for search engines, it’s clean, it’s not confusing in many aspects. There are some terrible sites from some of the top photographers. Use what you like, throw out what you don’t find necessary.

If you were to have the opportunity to shoot for a big time celebrity, for the President of the United States, for National Geographic, or a client who can appreciate your photography, would you be proud to show them your site…are you ready? If the answer is “no”, this web site is keeping you from getting the business you need. Same goes for the images you are displaying. Do not cling to images because of a personal attachment (i.e., we hiked for seven miles in the snow to get this shot).

You are showing your potential customers, in a few seconds, who you are and how much they should value your work. Where are you intending to get your business from? Your web site is your FIRST IMPRESSION.

8. Network and Promote your sites on Facebook. Don’t keep it a secret! SHARE ALL SITES YOU ARE ON WITH EVERYONE

From www.Photobiz.com

a. Create a vanity URL: Any Fan page with more than 25 Fans can create a shortened URL for their page similar to PhotoBiz (i.e. http://facebook.com/photobiz)

b. Remember that anytime you leave a link to your Facebook Fan Page (Or your Website for that matter) include the http:// of your domain so that it appears as a live “clickable” link rather that just text that you would have to copy and paste in the address bar. (i.e. photobiz.com OR http://photobiz.com)

c. Be sure to spend a majority of your time on Facebook engaging on your BUSINESS PAGE, not your personal page.

d. Treat the Inbox at the top like it’s the inbox to your business email; respond appropriately and promptly.

e. Accept and deny causes, groups, pages, etc… as you want your customer’s to perceive you and your business (Religious, Political, and Controversial)

f. You can create a vanity URL by going to http://facebook.com/username. *NOTE*-You must have at least 25 fans. You will need to be logged in to Facebook and look toward the bottom. Once you have chosen your name, it CANNOT be changed!

g. Don’t Waste Your Time! – Efficiency

h. If you’re a mobile “data” user, download the Facebook App on your iPhone or Blackberry to help manage it.

i. Don’t get caught up in spending too much time on here as it’ easy to do and can be more “Fun” than Effective…

j. If you have a blog, use Social RSS to have your blog content automatically transferred to Facebook.

k. If you are a Twitter user, there are a number of applications that allow you to automatically update both with the same message. We choose “Selective Twitter Status”.

l. Be Human! Don’t be so business and promote your own products ALL of the time. This will get annoying and spammy to your fans. Mix it up a bit and throw some fun into it.

m. Utilize your ability to “Send an Update to Fans” wisely. DO NOT do this all the time or you will lose fans rather than gain. Include incentives and a lot of resourceful information.

n. Are you a part of Forums, groups, blogs, other Facebook pages, etc…? Tell people to become a fan of your page and you will return the Favor. There was a recent post on I Love Photography Forum with well over 100 posts and each person was cooperative in this.

o. Use the “FBML Application” if you are familiar with HTML to build custom tabs to your site at the top. You can designate a particular tab to be the landing page like Coca Cola (http://www.facebook.com/cocacola)

p. Did you know that each Tab at the top of your Facebook Fan page has a unique URL that you can send people to? 1) Go to “Edit” your page, 2) Click on the Modify Button (Pencil), 3) Click “Link to this Tab”

q. Use the “TAG” feature. When creating a wall post, if you are mentioning someone, add @ before their name. This will allow for anyone to click on that “tagged” name and visit their profile or page (whichever you tagged) Viral Marketing!

9. Be a Professional and Set the Standard
There are specific things we all need to do to continue to receive referrals and recommendations from our clients and vendors, above and beyond just making stunning photographs. There are things like our relationship with them, our attitude, our appearance, our ethics and communication.

SHOW UP EARLY

Some wedding coordinators will ask you to show up a half hour early, just in case you have trouble finding the place, or traffic or just so you can get the feel of the location and potential spots for your shoot. Even if they don’t ask, or if it’s just you and the couple, show up early. From the coordinators point of view, they are concerned that everything is in place and ready to go. If you or the musician shows up at 4:00pm for a 4:00pm wedding, this causes stress. If you show up a half hour early, this creates happiness.

DEADLINE
If you’re running late with the photographs or have any complications, let the coordinator or clients know immediately. Communication is super important. Most of my clients are okay waiting eight weeks, if they know I’m going to provide them with exceptional images. Most clients are okay when you tell them, their images are taking a little longer to edit. They like the TLC (Tender Loving Care) you provide to them.

RELATIONSHIPS

There is a definite relationship between us and the coordinators. We need each other. We all need to appreciate the opportunities we have and nurture them everyday. It won’t be long before people start noticing you…good or bad. Remember, your work, attitude and professionalism is a direct reflection on you.

RETHINK

Consider that in order for you to improve your photography and increase your income, you may have to completely rethink your way of doing business. If it hasn’t worked in the past, by all means, change it. Having a business means being super, super…super flexible…and of course, able to leap tall business. The business side of photography is the part that’s forgotten about, or ignored by most photographers. I know, most times it’s not fun, but if you ignore it, it’ll be like the blob…it won’t go away.

...come back tomorrow for more!

BLACK STAR RISING
How to Make Winning Wildlife Portraits

Getting your first close-up photograph of a wild animal is kind of like getting your first kiss; you’re often so flustered (not to mention grateful) at the opportunity and so satisfied by the conquest that you lose all critical perspective. (more…)

DANE SANDERS
Dane's Speaking Calendar

KEN ROCKWELL
NEW: Photos from Arizona and New Mexico, November 2008

MIKE LARSON
Brandon and Kaleena {Rancho Las Palmas}

Located in the Palm Springs area, Rancho Las Palmas was a beautiful setting for this amazing wedding....

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
Emerging Photographer of the Year Finalist – Tia M. Bailey

PHOTOJOJO

The Pushpin Masterpiece Frame

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

TIM GREY (Digital Darkroom Questions)

Today's Question:

Is there any simple and effective method to remove flare from a digital image? I have a number of images , typically from shooting into the light, where there are small flare spots that are not in a uniform parts of the image such as blue sky so making removal more difficult.

Tim's Answer:

There certainly isn't a magical formula for removing lens flare from an image. Obviously the best solution is to avoid the lens flare in the first place. In general, that means using a lens shade if available for the lens you're using, or shading the lens with something else (such as a piece of cardboard or your hand) when the situation allows. Of course, in some cases you are including the sun in the frame, or there are other circumstances that make avoidance impossible (or not practical), so you're going to have to deal with the lens flare after the capture (or simply accept it as part of the image).

One approach I often take with lens flare when I'm comfortable with the flare actually appearing in the image but prefer not to see the color shift of the lens flare is to change the color without changing the luminosity of the area affected by the flare. In other words, there will still be a bright spot in the image in the shape of the lens aperture, but it won't have a strong color element. To accomplish this I would create a new empty image layer directly above the Background image layer by first clicking on the thumbnail for the Background image layer and then clicking on the Create a New Layer button (the blank sheet of paper icon) at the bottom of the Layers panel. Change the blend mode for this layer to Color using the popup at the top-left of the Layers panel. It is also a good idea to rename this new layer so you'll know why it is there, so double-click on the name of the layer on the Layers panel, type a new name (such as "Color Fix") and press Enter/Return. Then choose the Brush tool from the toolbox and hold the Alt/Option key and click on an appropriate color within the image to set that color as the foreground color. Set the Hardness to 0% using the Brush popup on the Options bar, and make sure the Blend Mode for the Brush (on the Options bar) is set to Normal and the Opacity is at 100%. Then simply paint in the image to change the color of the lens flare, without affecting the luminosity (and therefore texture) of the image. You can choose a new color as needed at any time by holding the Alt/Option key and clicking within the image to sample a new color.

The other option is to completely remove the lens flare, which as you've realized can be considerably more challenging. If this is your goal, you need to stop thinking of the lens flare as a brighter area within the image that might have a color cast, and instead think of it as a solid object that is completely blocking an area of the image. The reason for this is that it is very difficult to adjust an area of lens flare to eliminate the tonal and color variations, and much easier (even in challenging circumstances) to simply replace the area altogether. In this case I would click on the thumbnail for the Background image layer to make it active, and then click the Create a New Layer button (blank sheet of paper icon) at the bottom of the Layers panel to create a new empty image layer. Choose the Clone Stamp tool from the toolbox, and on the Options bar click the Brush popup and set the Hardness to about 50%. Set the Sample popup to All Layers and click the button to the right of the popup (it has a half-black and half-white circle with a line through it) to disable the effect of adjustment layers. Adjust the brush size as needed by pressing the left square bracket key ([) to reduce the brush size and right square bracket key (]) to increase the brush size. Then hold the Alt/Option key and click on an area of the image that represents a good replacement for the area you want to fix (in this case the lens flare). Then click and drag on the lens flare to paint it away, replacing it with the source you defined. You may need to select a new source several times while working in a small area as you work to blend replacement pixels into the new area. Ultimately, removing lens flare is far more difficult than avoiding it in the first place. But if you have lens flare you need to correct, you can either remove the color or replace the lens flare with another area of the image in order to minimize the impact of the flare in the final image.

Blog Blog

2009-11-02T12:51:00.000-08:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

Summary on "10 QUICK and EASY Ways to Improve Your Photography". The rest of this information will be posted on our Training Site.

1. Read Dane Sanders book, "Fast Track Photographer". It's $25 and can literally save your photography career from going down the wrong path.

2. Promote and Network! Tag, you're it. It's up to you to promote your photography. Shout it from the top of the world and let everyone else decide if they like your work. Share Facebook pages and "Suggest to Friends". Comment on blogs. Post your images. Tell your friends and family.

3. Constantly improve your portfolio

a. Consider your potential customer asking this question when looking at your portfolio: “Why should we hire you to capture our most important day?” Put yourself in the client’s shoes.

b. Are you jumping at the chance to improve your portfolio? Are you taking every opportunity to shoot and improve upon your work?

c. Have you submitted/uploaded your best work?

d. Use Lightscribe and pochettes (or similar) in your packaging. Impress your customers from the time they meet you to the moment they receive their long-awaited images.

e. Have friends, family and acquaintances review and edit your work. Ask them to take out five images from your portfolio.

4. Biography

a. Biographies and blogs help to break the ice. Potential clients like to feel connected to the person who will document one of the most important days of their life. They need to trust in the person who will give them their finest artistic representations of themselves.

b. Have you provided a bio; one that tells a story about who you are, what you believe in, what your photography style is and what’s important to you?

c. Give your potential customer the opportunity they’re looking for. They’re looking for a reason to connect with you. They want to feel safe and taken care of. Put yourself in the client’s shoes.

5. Survey, Listen and ask for Referrals

a. Don’t tell the customer what they need. Ask them what they need and simply listen.
b. It’s not about you. It’s all about them. You’re awesome…but they’re awesomer.
c. Referrals: This is the lifeblood of your business. Ask for it.

6. Attend Workshops

a. Learn from the pros, like Dane Sanders and Mike Larson!
b. These are FREE to TPG Photographers!

7. Professional Web Site
Simple, consistent, fresh, professional, easy to navigate, images come up quickly. Your web site will change many times over the course of your career. You will look back on your old web sites with disgust. You will ask yourself, “What was I thinking?”. Do not blaze your own path on this…too much. Do not get fancy. People just want to see your work, with a small amount of effort, in a short period of time. Review what the top photographers are putting up. There is a method to their madness. It’s simple, they load quickly, it’s easy to understand, it’s good for search engines, it’s clean, it’s not confusing in many aspects. There are some terrible sites from some of the top photographers. Use what you like, throw out what you don’t find necessary.

If you were to have the opportunity to shoot for a big time celebrity, for the President of the United States, for National Geographic, or a client who can appreciate your photography, would you be proud to show them your site…are you ready? If the answer is “no”, this web site is keeping you from getting the business you need. Same goes for the images you are displaying. Do not cling to images because of a personal attachment (i.e., we hiked for seven miles in the snow to get this shot).

You are showing your potential customers, in a few seconds, who you are and how much they should value your work. Where are you intending to get your business from? Your web site is your FIRST IMPRESSION.

8. Network and Promote your sites on Facebook. Don’t keep it a secret! SHARE ALL SITES YOU ARE ON WITH EVERYONE

From www.Photobiz.com

a. Create a vanity URL: Any Fan page with more than 25 Fans can create a shortened URL for their page similar to PhotoBiz (i.e. http://facebook.com/photobiz)

c. Be sure to spend a majority of your time on Facebook engaging on your BUSINESS PAGE, not your personal page.

d. Treat the Inbox at the top like it’s the inbox to your business email; respond appropriately and promptly.

e. Accept and deny causes, groups, pages, etc… as you want your customer’s to perceive you and your business (Religious, Political, and Controversial)

g. Don’t Waste Your Time! – Efficiency

h. If you’re a mobile “data” user, download the Facebook App on your iPhone or Blackberry to help manage it.

i. Don’t get caught up in spending too much time on here as it’ easy to do and can be more “Fun” than Effective…

j. If you have a blog, use Social RSS to have your blog content automatically transferred to Facebook.

k. If you are a Twitter user, there are a number of applications that allow you to automatically update both with the same message. We choose “Selective Twitter Status”.

l. Be Human! Don’t be so business and promote your own products ALL of the time. This will get annoying and spammy to your fans. Mix it up a bit and throw some fun into it.

m. Utilize your ability to “Send an Update to Fans” wisely. DO NOT do this all the time or you will lose fans rather than gain. Include incentives and a lot of resourceful information.

...come back tomorrow for more!

BLACK STAR RISING
Direct Mail from Photographers Is Making a Comeback — at Least on My Desk

Not long ago, e-mail marketing in the form of e-bulletins and HTML-based solicitations appeared to be a better choice for photographers than printed direct mail. After all, they were comparatively inexpensive to send, and they arrived right where your prospects would be sure to see them: on their computer screens. (more…)

DANE SANDERS
Dane's Speaking Calendar

KEN ROCKWELL
NEW: Photos from Yosemite and California's Eastern Sierra

I was away all last week shooting, and busy all this week processing the digital dross to present these photos. I've presented many of the original JPGs, DNGs, and JPGs derived from DNGs, which means that these are also the highest-resolution complete images ever published on the Internet. Previous science experiments may have allowed people to browse or scroll around larger stitched images, however this is the first time anyone has published complete files from anything with higher-than-DSLR quality.

MIKE LARSON
Brandon & Kaleena {Rancho Las Palmas}

Located in the Palm Springs area, Rancho Las Palmas was a beautiful setting for this amazing wedding....

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
Things You Can Do With A Polarizer Other Than Darkening The Sky

Lots of amateurs tell me that a polarizer is to be used to darken the sky. They often don’t know that a polarizer’s primary duty is to cut reflections – which is why it darkens the sky. You can use a polarizer to show the true color of a leaf by cutting through the atmospheric haze that washes out the color in a fall foliage scene. You can reveal what’s hidden behind a window by cutting through its reflection. You can capture items below the surface of a lake, river or ocean. Polarizers can also do double duty as neutral density filters when you need to reduce the amount of light hitting your sensor. Just remember that polarizers have limited usefulness when reducing reflections caused by spectral highlights, such as those found on metal objects.

PHOTOJOJO

The Pushpin Masterpiece Frame

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

TIM GREY (Digital Darkroom Questions)

Tim has written more than a dozen books on digital imaging for photographers, including the best-selling Photoshop CS4 Workflow
and Take Your Best Shot
. He has also had hundreds of articles published in magazines such as Digital Photo Pro, Outdoor Photographer, and PC Photo, among others. He publishes the Digital Darkroom Questions email newsletter, as well as the Digital Darkroom Quarterly print newsletter. Tim teaches through workshops, seminars, and appearances at major events. He is a member of the Photoshop World Dream Team of Instructors.

Today's Question:

I've been using Smart Sharpen recently, based on your recommendation in a recent DDQ email. Can you explain though what the "More Accurate" checkbox does? Whatever it is, more accurate certainly sounds like a good thing, but I'd like to understand what it does and why I should turn it on.

Tim's Answer:

As you may have noticed if you have Tool Tips turned on in Photoshop, this checkbox claims to "produce a more accurate sharpening effect". But there is some ambiguity in that description in terms of whether it will affect only the preview or also the final sharpening effect. As it turns out, this checkbox does indeed affect the final sharpening effect applied to the image, not just the preview.

The effect of "More Accurate" is not what you would probably expect based on the name of this checkbox. Rather than affecting the accuracy of the sharpening effect in the image, it actually affects how aggressively the image will be sharpened. More specifically, it determines whether all edges (areas of contrast) in the image will be sharpened (if the checkbox is turned on) or only the most prominent edges in the image (with the checkbox turned off). You can think of it as being somewhat similar to being able to toggle the effect of the Threshold setting found in the Unsharp Mask filter, though there are differences in how it is implemented (for example, with Threshold you can actually adjust the effect with a slider, while with More Accurate all the math is being done behind the scenes and there's no way to adjust the effect other than to turn it on or off).

There are obviously a variety of situations that might lead you to choose one setting or another for More Accurate. If you are sharpening an image that contains a considerable amount of fine detail, for example, I recommend leaving the More Accurate checkbox turned on. For images where you're concerned about having sharpening affect areas you'd rather not emphasize (such as noise, smooth areas with a small amount of texture, and similar areas), you might want to turn More Accurate off. The key is to understand the effect of this setting so you can determine for a specific image whether you should have it turned on or off.

I cover sharpening (including the Smart Sharpen filter) in extensive detail in an article titled "Optimal Sharpening" in the upcoming issue (Autumn 2009, which will go out in the mail the first week of October) of Digital Darkroom Quarterly. If you're not already a subscriber to this print publication, you can get more details at www.timgrey.com/ddqp/, or if you're ready to order simply go to www.timgrey.com/order/.

Blog Blog

2009-10-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

Summary on "10 QUICK and EASY Ways to Improve Your Photography". The rest of this information will be posted on our Training Site.

1. Read Dane Sanders book, "Fast Track Photographer". It's $25 and can literally save your photography career from going down the wrong path.

2. Promote and Network! Tag, you're it. It's up to you to promote your photography. Shout it from the top of the world and let everyone else decide if they like your work. Share Facebook pages and "Suggest to Friends". Comment on blogs. Post your images. Tell your friends and family.

3. Constantly improve your portfolio

a. Consider your potential customer asking this question when looking at your portfolio: “Why should we hire you to capture our most important day?” Put yourself in the client’s shoes.

b. Are you jumping at the chance to improve your portfolio? Are you taking every opportunity to shoot and improve upon your work?

c. Have you submitted/uploaded your best work?

d. Use Lightscribe and pochettes (or similar) in your packaging. Impress your customers from the time they meet you to the moment they receive their long-awaited images.

e. Have friends, family and acquaintances review and edit your work. Ask them to take out five images from your portfolio.

4. Biography

a. Biographies and blogs help to break the ice. Potential clients like to feel connected to the person who will document one of the most important days of their life. They need to trust in the person who will give them their finest artistic representations of themselves.

b. Have you provided a bio; one that tells a story about who you are, what you believe in, what your photography style is and what’s important to you?

c. Give your potential customer the opportunity they’re looking for. They’re looking for a reason to connect with you. They want to feel safe and taken care of. Put yourself in the client’s shoes.

5. Survey, Listen and ask for Referrals

a. Don’t tell the customer what they need. Ask them what they need and simply listen.

b. It’s not about you. It’s all about them. You’re awesome…but they’re awesomer.

c. Referrals: This is the lifeblood of your business. Ask for it.

6. Attend Workshops

a. Learn from the pros, like Dane Sanders and Mike Larson!

b. These are FREE to TPG Photographers!

7. Professional Web Site
Simple, consistent, fresh, professional, easy to navigate, images come up quickly. Your web site will change many times over the course of your career. You will look back on your old web sites with disgust. You will ask yourself, “What was I thinking?”. Do not blaze your own path on this…too much. Do not get fancy. People just want to see your work, with a small amount of effort, in a short period of time. Review what the top photographers are putting up. There is a method to their madness. It’s simple, they load quickly, it’s easy to understand, it’s good for search engines, it’s clean, it’s not confusing in many aspects. There are some terrible sites from some of the top photographers. Use what you like, throw out what you don’t find necessary.

If you were to have the opportunity to shoot for a big time celebrity, for the President of the United States, for National Geographic, or a client who can appreciate your photography, would you be proud to show them your site…are you ready? If the answer is “no”, this web site is keeping you from getting the business you need. Same goes for the images you are displaying. Do not cling to images because of a personal attachment (i.e., we hiked for seven miles in the snow to get this shot).

You are showing your potential customers, in a few seconds, who you are and how much they should value your work. Where are you intending to get your business from? Your web site is your FIRST IMPRESSION.

...come back tomorrow for more!

BLACK STAR RISING
Tread Carefully When Photographing Religious Events

When visiting a country where religion is a visible part of daily life, you’ll find that pictures of religious activities reveal cultural insights better than photographs of landmarks and landscapes. Rituals, festivals, and people dressed in religious garb personalize faiths otherwise unfamiliar to us. more…

DANE SANDERS
Dane's Speaking Calendar

KEN ROCKWELL
NEW: Photos from Yosemite and California's Eastern Sierra

MIKE LARSON
Brandon & Kaleena {Rancho Las Palmas}

Located in the Palm Springs area, Rancho Las Palmas was a beautiful setting for this amazing wedding....

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
Watermarking Your Images

When I post an image online to photo sharing site (like Flickr) I put a watermark on nearly every photo I upload. I do my best to make it so the watermark does not overpower the photo – the ones I use are usually small, and sometimes even blended into the background so it’s not the first thing you look at. (more...)

Five Things You Can Do Right Now To Grow Your Photography Business
If you are a pro or going pro, you have probably realized that the business side of photography is just like any other business. It’s hard work. I’ve been at it a while and I’ve compiled this list to help you grow RIGHT NOW.

1. Own Your Own Zip Code
Don’t spend another second worrying about becoming a nationally-known photo rock star. Don’t worry about breaking out onto the national photo speaking circuit. Don’t worry about trying to get on Oprah. Just worry about owning your own zip code. It doesn’t matter where you live, YOU should be the photographer that everyone knows and talks about in your own zip code. It’s feasible, even in large cities, to knock on every single door within one zip code. It’s possible to phone or meet everyone who lives near you. So do it. If you’re like most people, you shop and spend your time and money on basic entertainment and services in your own zip code. Make sure each of the places you patronize knows you’re a professional photographer. Get THAT business first. Then expand to the next zip code and the next and the next. Most famous rock bands didn’t start playing the coliseum. They started playing in the local bar.

2. Show What You Want to Sell
I cannot believe how many times I’ve been called into consult with a studio that wants to expand or solve a cash flow problem or to just generally become more successful, only to see that they aren’t showing the work they want to sell. One photographer came to me with his portfolio full of great looking nature shots. Problem…he ran a wedding studio. It may seem like common sense and you’d think that everyone knows this but they don’t. Show what you want to sell. If you want to sell baby portraits then have lots of baby pictures in your portfolio. But don’t stop there. Make sure that if you prefer a canvas look, only display canvas gallery wraps in your studio. People will buy what you show them. If you’re not selling the products you want, chances are, you’re not showing it to them.

3. Network Like Crazy
Are you a member of your local PRSA (Public Relations Society of America), Lions Club or Rotary Club? How about the Chamber of Commerce? Do you volunteer at the Local YWCA? Networking is the best way to grow your business. You will meet new people who don’t know you or your work. This gives you the opportunity to show your stuff and clients a chance to see what you’re made of. Volunteering to be the group’s newsletter photographer or website photo editor will give you a chance to really demonstrate what you can do. When people around you find out how great you are, the jobs will follow.

4. Avoid Time Stealers
Wasting time is one of the biggest mistakes emerging pros make. Don’t spend time doing things you don’t do well. If you’re not a trained accountant, don’t do your own accounting. Hire a part-time bookkeeper. It will take them less time than it will take you and they’ll do a better job. You take ALL that time you would have been doing the books, and spend it marketing your services. This applies to everything you do. If you’re not the expert, find the expert and hire him/her. Then spend that time doing the job you WANT to do, which is making photographs. This rule also applies to friends and family. Resist the urge to meet with pals for a coffee every morning. Meet them AFTER work. Spend your work time working and your play time playing. Don’t let anything steal your time. Once it’s gone, it’s gone and you can’t get it back. Think about what could have been accomplished during that half hour if you’d spent it on the phone contacting editors to discuss your latest photo expedition and the images you made.

5. Charge More Money
It’s a simple fact…most photographers undercharge for their services. In a down economy, it’s tempting to think that lowering prices is the way to attract or save new business. It’s not. In fact, it’s the worst thing you can do. In a down economy there are only two groups who survive, and only one of them really thrives. The folks at rock bottom survive. They typically price their work so low that they get lots of jobs, but they work so hard to make the money, you could hardly describe what they do as thriving. On the other end of the scale is the group that not only survives, but thrives. The high-end is where the money is and in any economy, there are always people who want the best. The photographers charging the most money get the best chance for this business. The real problem is that most people are stuck in the middle. And that’s the worst place to be. Particularly in a down economy, consumers flee the middle.
So be honest with yourself and decide whether you’re really being fairly compensated.

CONCLUSION
It’s not easy to run a business, let alone a photography business. But you can do it and do it well if it’s your destiny. I hope you’ll give these ideas a try. They worked for me and I think they can work for you.

PHOTOJOJO

How to Photograph a Ghost — A Spooky Photographic Trick

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

TIM GREY (Digital Darkroom Questions)

Today's Question:

I have the in camera option of saving my files in 12 or 14 bit images. In the real world, what difference does the increased file size make?

Tim's Answer:

The actual increase in file size doesn't make any real difference, since that increase in file size is not the result of additional pixels. Instead, it is the result of more decimal places of accuracy (in a manner of speaking) for each of the individual pixel values. So the real question is, is there an appreciable difference between 12-bit per channel and 14-bit per channel color?

In absolute terms, there is a considerable difference. An 8-bit per channel image contains only 256 tonal values per channel, and thus only 16,777,216 million total possible color values. That sounds like a lot (and it is), but it is a small enough number that significant adjustments can lead to posterization (loss of smooth gradations of tone and color within the image). At the top end of "normal" digital photographs is 16-bit per channel, which allows for 281,474,976,710,656 possible color values 65,536 tonal values per channel). With so many colors possible, posterization is highly unlikely even with very strong adjustments to your images.

So, where do 12-bit and 14-bit stack up? A 12-bit per channel image allows for up to 4,096 possible tonal values per channel, and thus a total of about 68.7 billion possible color values. A 14-bit per channel image offers up to 16,384 possible tonal values, for a total of almost 4.4 trillion possible color values. That's a pretty big difference, but frankly in the real world it doesn't amount to a particularly huge difference (at least not anywhere near as big a difference as the numbers presented here would imply).

When applying typical adjustment to an image, you're not going to do enough damage to cause posterization with either a 12-bit per channel or 14-bit per channel image. Because of the additional number of colors available with a 14-bit per channel image it is possible you'll retain greater fine detail within the image. Gradations may be more smooth, and some areas may actually contain more visible detail than if you worked with a 12-bit per channel image. In most cases you would have a very difficult time telling the difference between the two, although in some cases it can make a difference that is clearly visible when you zoom in closely to certain areas of an image.

Despite the fact that there is a very minor benefit in most cases, I do recommend capturing at the highest bit-depth available for your digital camera. Keep in mind that this bit-depth setting affects the accuracy of the analog to digital (A/D) conversion within the camera. The final image you create when you convert the RAW image to a "real" image file format will be either 8-bit per channel (which I don't recommend, as you would be throwing away all the "extra" information you gathered by capturing in RAW) or 16-bit per channel. Photoshop doesn't offer 12-bit or 14-bit per channel file formats, so the 12-bit or 14-bit data will be placed into a 16-bit per channel "package". You don't really have full 16-bit per channel data (though some cameras do offer this support), your data is just held by an image file capable of storing more data than you actually have.

Blog Blog

2009-10-29T12:34:00.000-07:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

Summary on "10 QUICK and EASY Ways to Improve Your Photography". The rest of this information will be posted on our Training Site.

1. Read Dane Sanders book, "Fast Track Photographer". It's $25 and can literally save your photography career from going down the wrong path.

...come back tomorrow for more!

BLACK STAR RISING
No Matter the Brand, Your Camera Is a Door into People’s Lives

Photographers often ask me which camera or lens I think is best. “Would past masters have used Photoshop and digital cameras?” they wonder. “Should ‘real’ photographers choose Leica, Canon or Nikon?” I’ve learned in my career that those aren’t the right questions to ask. It’s not about the brand of camera, or the method of making a print. It’s about the journey — the many doors into people’s lives that photography can open for you. more…

DANE SANDERS
Dane's Speaking Calendar

KEN ROCKWELL
Redwood Motel
2009 M9
, 1970 50mm f/2, ISO 1,600, hand-held at 1/6 second at f/2, Nik Dfine 2.0, 6:40AM, 25ºF (-5ºC). Whew! I snapped this on the run as we headed out to Twin Lakes before dawn on Sunday.

MIKE LARSON
Pictage Partner Con!

Next week! I'll be speaking & leading a shooting workshop at the Pictage Partner Conference in New Orleans! For those of you who are going who did not make it into the class, I'll be doing a another workshop in San Luis Obispo, CA from 12/1 - 12/3/2009. I'm super stoked for this workshop, its been almost 3 months since I've spoken, its been a busy shooting season!

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO & The Fourth Musketeer

We hear a great deal about shutter speed, aperture and ISO, but there’s another control we need to remember and often don’t. That’s the white balance. For those of you shooting video on a DSLR it’s particularly important. Video folks spend much more time worrying about color balance than still photographers. One of the reasons is that changing color in post is more complicated in video than in still photography. In my opinion, everyone should pay attention to white balance no matter what they shoot. It saves time in post and therefore is a good thing. You might know that we’re sponsored by ExpoImaging. I’ve never reviewed their Expodisc assuming that folks would just ignore my review since it features a sponsored product. But I have had some requests for more information on how and why it works, so I’ve decided to oblige.

PHOTOJOJO

How to Photograph a Ghost — A Spooky Photographic Trick

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

Blog Blog

2009-10-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

Summary on "10 QUICK and EASY Ways to Improve Your Photography Business". The rest of this information is posted on our Training Site.

1. Read Dane Sanders book, "Fast Track Photographer". It's $25 and can literally save your photography career from going down the wrong path.

...come back tomorrow for more!

BLACK STAR RISING
The Trouble with Online Photography Portfolios

I’ve spent some time over the past couple of weeks looking at photographers’ portfolios in search of new talent for upcoming projects. I started my search online; then, once I had a short list of photographers whose work I liked, I arranged individual meetings to discuss their work in more detail and review their print portfolios...

DANE SANDERS
Dane's Speaking Calendar

KEN ROCKWELL
Wyman goes iPhone!I'm too cheap to pay for iPhone service, and my iPod Touch has no camera. If it did, I'd probably give up on big cameras. For instance, Dave Wyman is also now posting his photos made with his iPhone. For examples of great photos made with the iPhone, see Chase Jarvis' book The Best Camera.

MIKE LARSON
Pictage Partner Con!

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
Five Tips For Overcoming a Creative Block

Do you ever find yourself in a creative rut? I know I do! It’s not always easy to get out of, so I thought I would share some of the methods I use to find my way back to photographic happiness.

1. Use a different camera. If you use an SLR most of the time, try heading out with a point-and-shoot with the intention of getting great photos. You will be limited if you are used to having several different lenses to work with, but that limitation will force you to find new ways to use what you have.

2. Shoot film! If you have a neglected film-camera collecting dust somewhere then dig it up and put to use. Having a limited amount of frames to work with on one roll of film really makes you be very decisive on each shot and puts those creative brain cells to good use.

3. Learn something new. There are so many great photography books and video tutorials out there, and sometimes learning a new way to photograph or edit an image can spark new ideas in your mind. I try to exercise my brain by watching and reading as much as possible, especially when I feel “stuck”.

4. Go on a photowalk. If you find that you are always photographing the same thing, or can’t think of anything to photograph, then try going on a photowalk. You are likely to see new subjects or find new locations that can help you out. If you are out with a group of people you may even find inspiration from just spending time with your fellow photographers.

5. Look at LOTS of other photos. Find photos online, in books, magazines, etc., and study them. Look at the light, the angles, try to see the images from the perspective of the photographer, and do this over and over and over. I really enjoy looking at the “Explore” page on Flickr – there are so many unique photos from around the world that are featured there, plus they change every day so you never know what you are going to find.

PHOTOJOJO

How to Make Picture-Perfect Pads of Paper

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

Blog Blog

2009-10-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

KEN POSNEY: DAILY POST

Summary on "10 QUICK and EASY Ways to Improve Your Photography Business". The rest of this information is posted on our Training Site.

1. Read Dane Sanders book, "Fast Track Photographer". It's $25 and can literally save your photography career from going down the wrong path.

...come back tomorrow for more!

POSE IDEAS (Fred Marcus)

BLACK STAR RISING
Four Steps to Determine Your Rate as a Contract Photographer

As media organizations continue to trim staff positions, they are hiring contractors to do more of their photography work. For laid-off staff photographers, this presents an opportunity — if you know how much to charge for your services.

DANE SANDERS
Dane's Speaking Calendar

KEN ROCKWELL
Update: I added a rollover example to How to Use Grad Filters. Of course I shot it on a rangefinder camera, which work great with grads and polarizers.

Canon S90
I got to play with a production Canon S90 a bit while in Yosemite last week. Goodness, it's high ISO noise seems the same as the full-frame LEICA M9
!

Rumor
Is the Nikon D800 the coming 24MP D700x that's due any day now?

Yosemite and the Eastern Sierra
Whoo hoo! I just got back from over a week of shooting.

MIKE LARSON
Pictage Partner Con!

NEW YORK TIMES - BEHIND THE LENS

Photo of the Day

PHOTOFOCUS
ReFrame Conference Wrap Up

I attended the ReFrame conference in San Francisco last week. I had some medical stuff that kept me from making the trip to New York for Photo East, so that freed up a few days to go to the Bay Area to learn more about convergence. It seems that I could have also done that in New York. Based on reports I got from friends at the show, this year’s Photo East was all abuzz over hybrid video/DSLR cameras. ReFrame was focused on the wedding video business.

Five Tips For Creating Long Lasting Relationships With Photo Buyers
If you’re selling your photography to brides, families, schools, editors or collectors, etc., you have to think about building relationships. Often, the photographer who gets the sale DOES NOT have the best picture, they have the best relationship with the photo buyer. Here are some tips for improving your relationships with clients. A great deal of this is common sense.

1. Listen. Your clients will give you a wealth of information, if you listen that is. Too many marketers approach selling situations with a script. They have a prepared pitch that overtakes the client’s needs. Sometimes the simplest product pitch is “What are you looking for?” Let the clients tell you what they need instead of trying to sell them what they might not want.

2. Be open, transparent, genuine, authentic, gracious and helpful. People will want to buy your photos over and over if you can do that.

3. Put the client first. That’s it. Just really, really try to put their needs above your own. This may cost you a short term sale, but will almost always lead to long-term business. This may mean saying something like, “I’m not the right photographer for that job, but let me put you in touch with the person who is.” It takes guts to do this and it pays off in spades when you can muster the courage to do it.

4. Do things that positively impact the people in the community where your buyers interact. Be seen as someone who is a helpful resource for people in that community. Be the person that your community turns to in time of need. The visibility this offers makes people want to trust you.

5. Follow through on every promise you make to your clients, no matter how small. This is critical to building relationships. If you say you’ll call them back with a price tomorrow before 4:00 PM, do it. Nothing is more important. In fact, follow through in a way that leaves no doubt you’re committed to the relationship. Under-promise and over-deliver. This leads to long-term business for any photographer.

PHOTOJOJO

How to Make Picture-Perfect Pads of Paper

STYLE ME PRETTY
Inspiration Board for Brides

Margaret and Jim Daily

2009-10-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

We drove out to Maha'ulepu with Jim and Margaret for their wedding. Maha'ulepu is a raw, untouched beach on the south shore of Kaua'i...one of the last undeveloped locations on the south shore. Maha'ulepu is always windy, the waves are dramatic and can change from bright sun to approaching storm in a matter of a couple hours. Shooting at Maha'ulepu is challenging with the wind and sea spray, but makes for some unique, dramatic images. Margaret and Jim were adventurous, with Margaret changing into her dress in some nearby bushes, as a light rain fell and a rainbow appeared at the cliffs before Kipu Kai. A day after the wedding, Haunani and I picked them up at the cruise ship, their last day on Kaua'i, to take them to a snorkeling spot, PK's (Prince Kuhio), then they took us to lunch at Brennecke Broiler, at Po'ipu. What a great time getting to know this couple. We'll seem them again with their whole family in December.

Blog Blog

2009-10-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Black Star Rising
Seven Strategies to Ensure Your Blog Is Worth the Effort

1. Write posts to encourage discussion.
2. Network on other photography blogs.
3. Integrate your blog with social networks.
4. Tie your online and offline marketing efforts.
5. Don’t shy away from posting video.
6. Apply your creativity to the medium.
7. Promote yourself (just not shamelessly).

Dane Sanders
Dane's Speaking Calendar

Ken Rockwell
Nikon 28mm f/1.4 AF-D

The world's finest, fastest 28mm SLR lens was Nikon's 28mm f/1.4 AF-D made from 1994 - 2008. Nikon has never made anything similar before or after; this lens' performance is beyond anything else from Nikon, and allows me to shoot hand-held in moonlight on a D3. Adorama has one in stock, used, at what looks like a good deal less than they sell for over eBay, where they used to run at around $4,000 last I looked into it.

Mike Larson
Catalina photo trip

New York Times - Behind the Lens

Photo of the Day

PhotoFo cus
Pre-Visualization Exercises

I’ve talked here before about pre-visualization. But for some of you, my discussion has been too ethereal. You want some concrete steps you can take to improve your pre-visualization skills. In order to effectively pre-visualize, there are some things you can do to prepare.

a. Go somewhere quiet.
b. Relax and get comfortable
c. Turn off the phone, TV, radio, iPod and your computer
d. Bring a pen and paper – yes – pen and paper – it works better than a laptop
e. Close your eyes and concentrate on creating a blank page

Now you are ready to start painting a picture in your mind’s eye. Here’s your first exercise…(more)

Photo Book Review – Nikon DSLR: The Ultimate Photographer’s Guide
Nikon DSLR: The Ultimate Photographer’s Guide presents a general overview of the current line of Nikon DSLRs. Chapters include basic information on exposure, digital feature selection, descriptions of the usual controls on a Nikon DSLR, descriptions of a few of the current models of camera bodies and lenses, discussion of flash photography, and an overview of Nikon’s proprietary image processing software, Nikon Capture NX 2. Profiles of some successful Nikon camera users are also included.

Photojojo Newsletter

How to Make Picture-Perfect Pads of Paper

Style Me Pretty
Inspiration Board for Brides

Blog Blog

2009-10-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

Black Star Rising
Seven Tips for Taking Photos in Public Places

Dane Sanders
Dane's Speaking Calendar

Ken Rockwell
Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park
I shot this earlier this week while I was in Yosemite National Park with a LEICA M9
, LEICA 21mm f/2.8
ELMARIT-M ASPH
, ISO 160, f/8 at 1/180 second, Kelvin WB.

Mike Larson
Catalina photo trip

New York Times - Behind the Lens

Photo of the Day

PhotoFo cus
Poll – What Should I Giveaway Next? D3s or 1D MK IV?
Creating a “Paper Border” Using Photoshop
Using Texture in Your Photography
Photography is a two-dimensional art, yet as photographers we are often-times trying to add depth and texture to our images. Texture is something you can integrate into a photo as you are shooting, or later in pos-processing. Lately I have been trying to photograph as many textures as possible, not with any specific use in mind, but to collect them so I can create different looks in my photography down the road...

Photojojo Newsletter
A Whole New Do, a Whole New You. Here’s how.

Style Me Pretty
Inspiration Board for Brides

Blog Blog

2009-10-22T12:27:00.000-07:00

Black Star Rising
Seven Tips for Taking Photos in Public Places

No one should expect privacy if they are out and about in a public place. That means that everyone is fair game to be photographed on a public street and in open areas like a public park. But defining “public” can sometimes be tricky. And even if you technically have the right to take someone’s photo, this doesn’t necessarily protect you from, say, a punch in the nose...

Dane Sanders
Dane's Speaking Calendar

Ken Rockwell
Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park
I shot this earlier this week while I was in Yosemite National Park with a LEICA M9, LEICA 21mm f/2.8 ELMARIT-M ASPH, ISO 160, f/8 at 1/180 second, Kelvin WB.

Mike Larson
Catalina photo trip

New York Times - Behind the Lens

Photo of the Day

PhotoFo cus
Zacuto Z-Finder Review

I got my hands on a V2 Zacuto Z-Finder this week. This is the revised, second version of the Z-Finder. The Z-Finder is Zacuto’s Optical Viewfinder
(made by Schneider) that offers digital camera owners 3x focusable magnification, a 40mm diameter lens, an eyecup preventing extraneous light leakage, and a field of view perfectly matched to LCD screens.

Photojojo Newsletter
A Whole New Do, a Whole New You. Here’s how.

Style Me Pretty
Inspiration Board for Brides

Blog Blog

2009-10-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

Black Star Rising
Please, No More Pictures of Dying Africans

I do not want to see another photo essay, multimedia presentation, or visual of any kind on the subject of dying Africans. Never, ever again. Enough. I understand that these images can be compelling. I understand that the photographers seem to care. But at this point, the harm done by such photos outweighs the good...

Dane Sanders
Dane's Speaking Calendar

Ken Rockwell
Image of the Milky Way
Wow, this stuff is easy with an M9
: ISO 2,500, 24 seconds at f/1.4. It did the same thing in Auto ISO and Auto: I simply pointed and shot on a tripod.

Mike Larson
Cabo San Lucas, Mexio (Album shoot)

A few weeks ago I took my team down to Cabo and we shot Westley, who is one heck of a guitarist. His music immediately captured my attention and when they asked me to shoot their album art for his upcoming debut CD, I was honored. The disk is called "Wavedance". I'll blog it as soon as the mp3's become available online. Its not even in print yet! So we shot at sunrise and sunset for 2 days and got some amazing shots. In between the shoots, I was able to get some fishing, exploring, fish tacos and siestas! I think its been over a year since I've had a siesta. Needless to say, we had an amazing time and came away with a body of work I'm proud of. I want to thank the family for taking such good care of us and putting us up in their sweet pacific ocean view home.

New York Times - Behind the Lens

Behind the Scenes: Rewriting the Rules

After a flurry of e-mail messages and blog posts in recent days, the military command in the eastern region of Afghanistan backed down on Thursday from a new rule that would have prevented photographers from taking pictures of soldiers or marines killed in action.

PhotoFo cus
Does Your Attitude Impact Your Photography?

I’ve been doing a great deal of self-reflection lately. I’ve tried to analyze every aspect of my photography. While gear, technique and craft are all things I’m trying to improve, I also realize that my attitude is important.

Here are some steps I am taking to improve my attitude.

a. I am trying not to let my opinion of my circumstances guide my actions. If it’s raining outside, I can either decide the weather is crap or I can decide the weather offers great storm cloud photography options.

b. I am trying to look at my past mistakes to see how I can improve and learn from them rather than lamenting them.

c. I am trying to focus on what’s really important rather than what’s supposed to be urgent.

d. I am trying to challenge my own assumptions about my work and asking if there’s anything I should revisit or revise based on new information, tools or skills.

e. I am trying to ignore any and all echo chambers in the field of photography.

f. I am trying to open my mind and my heart to new ideas.

g. I am trying not to let my emotions get the better of me.

I make no claim at all that I am successful in this endeavor – I only claim that I am trying. Perhaps this sort of self-reflection will help you. I firmly believe that by considering all these things, I’m finding ways to improve my work and to remain excited about all things photographic.

Editing Tips for Microstock Photographers

1. Look at your image up close. It’s very important that you take a really close look at your photos during the editing process. Zoom in to 100%, and sometimes even 200% and scroll around the image to look for things like artifacting, chromatic aberration, noise, sensor spots, etc. Image inspectors will do this as they check your images, so it’s important to make sure that you clean up the photo as much as possible before uploading.

2. Check your focus. Proper focus is really important with commercial stock photography. If you are photographing people or animals then you want to be sure that the focus is on the eyes. You also want to make sure that you have a clear focus point in your image, regardless of the subject. If your focus is slightly off but is not extremely blurry, sometimes it’s acceptable to down-size the photo before submitting to the microstock site.

3. Don’t over-sharpen. If you need to do any sharpening, do it selectively to areas of the image that really matter. Adding too much sharpening to your image is a surefire way to get a rejection, since over-sharpening can cause unwanted artifacts and haloing in your image.

4. Watch out for chromatic aberration (CA). Chromatic aberration, also known as “purple fringing”, is usually going to show up in areas of the photo where there is a lot of contrast. You will want to scan the edges of items in your photos and look for discolorations. It’s not always going to be purple-colored; sometimes it is cyan, or even red. If you have a small amount in your image it is usually pretty easy to eliminate (here’s a link to a video tutorial to show you how).

5. Don’t over-process. It’s okay, and expected, that you will need to do some processing (like levels, curves, HSL) to your images, but don’t push the processing too much. There is no solid rule on how much to do (or not to do) you really just need to pay attention to the image as you are making changes to be sure that you aren’t taking away too much detail. With tonal adjustments you need to be sure you aren’t clipping your whites and blacks, and with color changes (especially with the saturation slider) watch the color to see if it starts getting “neon” looking or blocky; if it is then you need to tone it down a bit.

6. Cropping is okay … but don’t over-do it. It’s important to remember that a lot of the customers of microstock sites are designers, and oftentimes they like to have some copy-space surrounding the subject of an image. If you crop too tight then it can limit the image’s use, but it doesn’t hurt to crop a little bit. Ultimately you need to find the balance between cropping so that the image looks good, and leaving enough room for a prospective designer to use in many different ways.

7. Keep it simple. Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, along with many other software applications have a lot of great plug-ins and filters that really do amazing things to images. The thing is, when you are selling microstock you want to provide a nice, neat, clean image to your customers. There are some exceptions to this, but in general you don’t want to play around with wild filters and plugins for the images that you upload to be used as microstock.

8. Noise reduction. It’s okay to use noise-reduction software on your images, but, once again, don’t push it too far. Over-using noise reduction can make the image look “mushy”. It’s best if your images are already shot at a low ISO to begin with (like ISO 100 or 200), but if not and the image is worth saving then apply the noise reduction on a separate (duplicate) layer and reduce the opacity.

9. Clone out logos. Logos and trademarked shapes are a big “no-no” with microstock photography. It’s important that if they are in the image that they are removed. It’s best to try to limit and control the appearance of them as you are taking the photo, but sometimes it’s impossible to keep them out, or you don’t notice they are there in the first place. Just be sure to check over your image and clone out as much as possible.

10. Save your JPEGs at the highest quality setting. When you are editing your images, make sure that you try to only save the JPEG one time, and always save it at the highest quality possible (level “12″ in Photoshop). Re-opening and saving a JPEG over and over will compress the image and degrade the quality by introducing artifacts to the image, so do your best to only edit it one time and be done with it.

Photojojo Newsletter
The Dashing DIY Hand Strap

Style Me Pretty
Inspiration Board for Brides

Brewster and Nancy Cotton

2009-10-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

August 27, 2009

Brewster and Nancy were one of the nicest couples I've met. Very easy to work with and adventurous enough to venture down to Lumahai Beach, the cliffs and crashing waves. We had their intimate ceremony at Lumahai Beach, but I noticed a nice rugged cliff with crashing waves that would make a nice image, if they agreed to join me...they did! Mahalo Charity Vazquez for the perfect reflector work that was required to make these images.

Blog of Blogs

2009-10-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

Black Star Rising
Eye on Image-Making: Creating a Marketing Strategy and Resume

Your marketing strategy answers the following question, in the words of Seattle-based travel photographer Cliff Hollenbeck: how are you going to get your images, your ideas, and yourself in front of the people who buy the kind of work you do? Your resume provides concise documentation of your professional career to date.

Dane Sanders
Dane's Speaking Calendar

Ken Rockwell
Review: Canon 7D

Mike Larson
Cabo San Lucas, Mexio (Album shoot)

New York Times - Behind the Lens

Behind the Scenes: Rewriting the Rules

PhotoFo cus
Scott Bourne/Photofocus Giveaway Update – October Edition

Photojojo Newsletter
The Dashing DIY Hand Strap

Style Me Pretty
Inspiration Board for Brides

Blog of Blogs

2009-10-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

Black Star Rising
Understanding Five Types of Photo Contests

A contest is a contest is a contest, right? Well, yes and no. Yes, they are all about judging photographs based on creativity, technical merit, and relevance to the contest themes. But different types of contests have different technical standards and different submission methods. It’s important that you match your images to the type of contest you’re entering...click link for more.

Dane Sanders
Dane's Speaking Calendar

Ken Rockwell

NEW: Canon 7D

Mike Larson
Del Mar wedding weekend. I'm Shooting here at L'Auberge in Del Mar. This is going to be a warm beautiful weekend!

New York Times - Behind the Lens

Lens is the photojournalism blog of The New York Times, presenting the finest and most interesting visual and multimedia reporting — photographs, videos and slide shows. A showcase for Times photographers, it also seeks to highlight the best work of other newspapers, magazines and news and picture agencies; in print, in books, in galleries, in museums and on the Web.

PhotoFo cus
Learn 5D Mark II Canon
Cinematography with Philip Bloom – Mini Review
Five More Ways to Improve Your Photography Without Buying Gear

Photojojo Newsletter
The Dashing DIY Hand Strap

Style Me Pretty
Inspiration Board for Brides

Blog of Blogs

2009-10-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

Dane Sanders
Dane's Speaking Calendar

Mike Larson
Del Mar wedding weekend. I'm Shooting here at L'Auberge in Del Mar. This is going to be a warm beautiful weekend!

Ken Rockwell

NEW: Canon 7D

PhotoFo cus
Photo Book Review – Christopher Grey’s Studio Lighting Techniques for Photography. Quick Camera Update – Canon 7D
, G11
and Olympus E-P1
Round Up. Fix My Photo #2 – Clone Tool

Photojojo Newsletter
What Was Your Toughest Photo?

Black Star Rising
In the New Media World, Photographers Who Embrace Change Will Succeed

Style Me Pretty
Inspiration Board for Brides

New York Times - Behind the Lens

DeGrottole Wedding (Kaua'i)

2009-10-16T19:34:00.000-07:00

Michael and Yuzuko have become fast friends forever. They ended up joining us on a trip to the north shore, in the back of my pickup truck no less. We all went swimming in a wet cave at Ha'ena, hung out at Tahiti Nui, snorkeling at Hanalei Bay, did a waterfall shoot and dinner at Plantation Gardens.

I think it's important to try to become friends with your clients. It seems like such a waste to spend such intimate time with them and not become friends after one of the most important days of their life. It's nice to have the feeling, "I wish they could married again, that was FUN".

Blog of Blogs

2009-10-16T11:27:00.000-07:00

Dane Sanders
This episode of Make Your Day YOU! features wedding venue, Rancho Las Lomas in Silverado, California

Mike Larson
Nick and Heather photos

Ken Rockwell

DEAL: The Nikon DX 35mm f/1.8 is in-stock at B&H and in-stock at Ritz. They don't last. You know how much I love that lens; I was shooting photos of Katie with it just hours ago. NEW: Adobe Photoshop CS4
Review. Hardly a review of everything that Photoshop does; this is an analysis of why the upgrade to CS4 made sense for me several months ago. Observed: Ladies' Handmade Camera Straps. Nikon 85mm f/3.5. NEW: Nikon 85mm f/3.5 VR DX
. Nikon 18-200mm VR II. NEW: Nikon 18-200mm VR II
Review. No news is news: I tested this new version, and it really is identical except for the zoom lock. Even the coatings are the same.

PhotoFo cus
10 Things I Wish I Could Tell Every New Lightroom
User

Photojojo Newsletter
What Was Your Toughest Photo?

Black Star Rising
In the New Media World, Photographers Who Embrace Change Will Succeed

Style Me Pretty
Inspiration Board for Brides

New York Times - Behind the Lens

Blog of Blogs

2009-10-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

Dane Sanders
This episode of Make Your Day YOU! features wedding venue, Rancho Las Lomas in Silverado, California

Mike Larson
Nick and Heather photos

Ken Rockwell
DEAL: Adorama gave me a special coupon code to give you folks to get 50% off of any size of their photo books. I've seen these Adorama photo books: they are very nice because they are real photos on Fuji Crystal Archive laser-exposed, dark-chemically-processed photo paper. They use a...

PhotoFocus
Emerging Photographer of the Year Finalist: Joseph Linaschke

Photojojo Newsletter
What Was Your Toughest Photo?

Black Star Rising
Internet Models and Me: One Photographer’s Misadventures