Plan Ahead – make this year’s Xmas card

This is going to be a re-posting of one that I wrote last December.  The response was great, but several people commented that they wish they had gotten it earlier.  So, I decided to re-post it this year – but get it out earlier in the season.  So, here it is!  If you didn’t make your own Xmas card last year – give it a try this one! 

PS: I also updated this post with last year’s Xmas card.  I’d mentioned that it was going to be quite a bit different – see what you think.

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Each year I really enjoy creating our very own, personal  Xmas cards for our friends and clients.  It’s a way to share my “artsy” side and many have mentioned that they enjoy receiving a unique card with the personal touch.  I’ll bet that you also have some great pictures that would make wonderful Xmas cards.

So, what to use for a subject – nature – animals – religious theme?  The best answer I have is to have fun and make it anything you like.  Now is the chance to really show off your creativity!  I’ve included some examples in this post that I’ve used over the years.

This outdoor image I used one year – while it looks like it’s somewhere “in the wild” – was taken at the local golf course that’s a three minute walk from my front door.  The point being is that you don’t have to look very far to find a nice image – even in your own backyard.

Another subject that works very well [though you may not readily think of it]  is architecture.  Of all the Xmas cards we’ve put out over the last ten years, the card with the picture of the orthodox church that I took in Russia has gotten the most comments.  So, if you have all those pictures of churches you’ve taken when you traveled abroad – now is the time [probably the only time] that you’ll be able to make any use of them.

I’m sure that you’ve probably noticed that both of these first examples are black & white.  Folks really like the “artsy” feel of black and white prints.  Also, these are “hand-built” cards.  By that I mean we took some blank card stock – sized our images to fit how we wanted them – made photo prints on our printer – cut them out – then used a glue-stick to attach them to the card.  The final touch is to take a pencil and write the title of your image and your signature on the bottom.  By the way, take the time to give some real thought to the title. The title – in relation to the image – along with the signature add a very “artsy”, custom touch to the card.

This last example is for all you folks who like to use your smart phones as your cameras.  I used to download my favorite iPhone pics to my computer – now I use iCloud and everything I shoot on my iPhone automatically appears in a “Photo Stream” folder on my computer!  How cool is that! From there I open them up and edit them like any other picture in Photoshop.  The point is that even a 2 megapixel smart phone camera can produce a pretty good card-sized image.  You never know where the image will come from or what it might be – but this one was taken at Griffith Park last Xmas when we were visiting our daughter in LA.  Just two dogs bundled up on a bench behind a snack stand – but I think it makes for a great Xmas image.

Whatever you do, be creative.  As for me, this year’s card isn’t going to look like any of these. It’s going to be something really different –  think “bars” [the drinking kind] – “Xmas lights” – “reflections” – and “funky”. Here’s where I do a little updating.  Like I said, this card was different. What do you think?  Responses were all across the board.  Some thought it was cool and others seemed to feel that it was just a bit too . . . too. . .  whatever.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed creating it

So,  if you really want to give Xmas cards that people will appreciate, comment on and – yes – even keep and collect from year to year, this is the way to go.  The costs aren’t much more than buying cards – it just requires some time in selecting and editing the image you want to use and putting the cards together.  This year Give it a try.  I think you’ll find out that your Xmas cards are going to be “keepers”.  Best – Bill

iPhone Photo Editing Apps – my favorite one

I was going to write a post comparing the various photo editing apps for iPhones. Then I discovered just how many of them are out there!  Way too many!

However, I did quite a bit of looking around and decided to download several that came with a lot of positive recommendations and seemed to be the most versatile or interesting.  So far I’ve downloaded and used Photoshop Express [PS Express], Photoshop Touch [PS Touch], Instagram, Photogene2, Luminance, VSCO Cam, FotoRus and Snapseed.  Almost all are free, though one or two might have been $.99. The glaring exception was PS Touch which, if I remember right, was $4.99.

Being a Photoshop nerd, at first I looked for an app that offered the closest thing to a Photoshop editing experience.  I quickly found out that PS Express wasn’t it.  It was just too limited.  On the other hand, the more expensive PS Touch was just too involved and hard to use – especially on a small screen like my iPhone.  Another drawback to PS Touch was that it’s like “big” Photoshop, in that there are no directions on how to use it.  You learn by trial and error.  Quite frankly, for me, it took all the fun out of it and took more time and energy that it was worth.

All the others – with the exception of one – shared some fairly rudimentary editing capabilities and applied generic, out-of-the-box applications that made each one look like every other one.  They just didn’t give me the option to get as creative as I’d like.  The one that really stood out – and is now my very favorite photo editing app – is Snapseed

Before we get started on Snapseed I’ll let you know that all the images in this post were taken and edited on my iPhone4S.  My model was our lovely “Doodle”, Izzy.  Here’s one of the originals to the lower right – all the others to follow were edited with Snapseed.

One thing I especially like about Snapseed is that the first time you use it there is a visual tutorial that overlays each action you take before you do it.  Its quite simple.  Within each “folder” of actions, just swipe your finger up and down to select an action and then swipe your finger right to left to increase/decrease the amount of each. It really offers a lot of creative variability.

Of course, there are some easy, automatic fixes you can apply in the “Automatic” folder – though I don’t use it. It’s more fun to use the other more flexible options I’ll mention in just a moment.

The “Crop” folder offers 7 preset crops [both vertically and horizontally] – as well as a totally adjustable “free” option. Everything you need to crop a photo anyway you’d like it.

Now, let’s talk about using this app creatively! Within the group folder called “Tune Image” you can adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, ambience and white balance – each individually from a value of 1-100!

In the “Details” folder you can adjust sharpening – but, even more importantly you have “structure” that allows you to adjust only the mid-tones to bring out really great textures.

If you like to do black & white conversions, the folder named [surprisingly?] “Black & White”  has every thing you need with six presets.  In addition, each can be adjusted for brightness, contrast and grain as well as apply a red, orange,yellow or green filter to bring out really great values

 In the “Center Focus” and “Tilt Shift” folders you have quite a few options for using vignetting and blur in your images.  Very “artsy”! I also like to use the folders “Vintage”, “Drama” & “Grunge”.  Each has several preset options – which, like all the other actions, can be easily modified for some really great creative freedom.

I don’t use the last two folders “Retrolux” and “Frames” that much – but they do offer you more creative opportunities.

So, net-net, while there are an awful lot of photo editing apps out there, I think Snapseed is far and away the best thing available.  The even better news is the price.  It’s been a while since I downloaded it, but it’s either free or only $.99 – can’t remember which.  No matter, it’s a whole bunch of fun to use and it offers you the opportunity for a tremendous amount of creative freedom!

Give Snapseed a try and let me know what you think of it.  Also let us all know if you’ve found one you like better.  Best – Bill

Facebook Now Owns Your Face – and all your other information

Just about everybody I know – including myself – uses Facebook.  We upload pictures, share ideas and, in general, put more information about ourselves out there than we realize.   While we “sort of know” that it’s hard to protect our information when we do this, we prefer to overlook the reality of it all.

We want to believe that there must be some limits on what and how our information can be used by others.  Believe it or not, even with all the recent news about government snooping, the Federal Government has more restrictions placed on it than does private enterprise in this country.  Now, because we’ve become so complacent about all this, Facebook has decided to take things further than you could ever imagine.

Effective September 5th, 2013, Facebook has initiated several changes to their Terms of Service that have taken away virtually all of your rights and made you a commodity that they can sell without your knowledge or you receiving any compensation.  How far does this go?  Well, for starters, how about your face?  Here is an excerpt from the new, modified Terms of Service.  “You give us permission to use your name, and profile picture, content and information in connection with commercial, sponsored or related content (such as a brand you like) served or enhanced by us.  This means, for example,  that you permit a business or other entity to pay us to display your name and/or profile picture with your content or information without any compensation to you.” By the way, the interpretation of “content” includes just about anything you’ve ever posted and any images that you’ve uploaded to Facebook.

It gets worse – even if you don’t share a lot of private information of Facebook.  I’m going to quote from an email I received today from the ASMP [American Society of Media Photographers]. They interpret another statement ” “…when you are using Facebook, or when Facebook is running” – allows Facebook to monitor your web browsing, as well as to gather information from your mobile phone while the Facebook mobile app is running such as your location, recent calls, and other mobile activities“. I don’t know about you, but this is scary to me.  Is it technically possible to do this? Absolutely, and quite easy.

You can’t even protect yourself by making your profile private.  To quote ASMP “Facebook has specifically removed the language from their TOS [Terms of Service] that allows you to limit how your likeness, information and content are associated with brands, commercial uses of sponsored posts.  They have also removed the clause that makes them subject to the privacy limits set in place by you on your profile”.

Interestingly enough, Facebook invites us to go to their website at https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-site-governance/10153167395945301  so that we can better understand the changes.  After having gone there myself, I found that their bland, general terms and language totally gloss over the impact of these changes, You won’t know any more after your visit than before.

So, what can we do?  The best way is to do your own homework, ask questions and determine for yourself what’s going on.  If you agree with me, spread the word.  Let others know about it and work with other professisonal organizations you belong to, to ensure that these kinds of actions are addressed and reversed.

Remember, this is only the tip of the iceberg.  If left unchallenged this misuse will grow – only to our detriment.

The Ugly [but fun] Truth

Over the last year I’ve been playing a lot with my smart phone camera.  I have to confess that I’ve actually taken photographs with it that I’ve later used as part of  my client projects.  Of course, I would never tell the client that. Given what they’re paying for the end product, it’s probably best that they believe that all the final images were originally taken with some high-tech, expensive piece of equipment.

So why would I choose a smart phone camera over all my other equipment? The simple answer is “because it’s there” – I always have it with me – AND there are times that it’s the only camera I have with me when I need one. 

Given this ugly little truth, what smart phone camera do I use? Well, first, I have an iPhone, so you’d think that I’d use the built-in camera – and I do . . . . . sort of.  However, I’ve found an “improved model” so to speak – by using one of the newer camera apps that works through my phone camera. The app is called “Camera +” and, if I remember correctly, it was either a free app or cost only ninety-nine cents. It’s available for iPhones – not sure about “droids”.

So, what makes this cheap app so worthwhile?  Let’s start with one of the most important features that you see when you first open it up.  When you touch the screen you’ll have your “auto focus: square [just like on the iPhone camera] but notice that there is a small “+” sign at the top right corner.  touch this and you have an “exposure” measurement that you can drag anywhere within the image.  What this does is to allow you to sample the light separately from the focus point.  It allows you to easily brighten or darken your image to its most effective level.  Simple – but it’s a big deal to get better photographs.

The next thing you’ll notice is the wheel just to the right of the center “camera” icon that you touch to take the photograph.  Touch the wheel and you’ll see that you have a built-in “stabilizer”, timer and “burst” feature.

• I’ve found that the stabilizer is really effective for doing close-up photography.  It allows me to get much sharper images when I’m trying to get up close and personal with a small object.
• The timer lets me preset the camera to a 5, 15 or 30 second delay in taking the picture. Haven’t used this feature yet – but it’s there.
• The “burst” feature is really cool – in that it allows you to take pictures at somewhere around 5-6 frames per second. Really incredible for those action shots!

While all these are great features – there’s even more! After you’ve taken a photograph you can go to the “edit” feature and apply 15 different picture styles – what they call “scenes” – including flash, backlight, cloudy, fluorescent, night, portrait, landscape and others.  There’s also a great “clarity” feature that opens up and sharpens the mid-tones and shadows without affecting the highlights [shades of Camera RAW!].

In addition to all this, you’ll also have the ability to crop and tilt the image as well as 27 artsy “effects” and 18 different “borders”.  While these are neat – they really aren’t the reason to get this app – though they do offer added fun.

While I’ve touched on many of the great features of this app there’s even more to discover as you go through “menu” feature.  I won’t go into all of it here – but take a look and see what it has to offer.

So, if you have an iPhone, I’d recommend that you get this app.  If you’re like me, once you try it, it will become your “go-to” smart phone camera.

“Talking” With Other Photographers – always a big help

You might have noticed that the word “Talking” in the title is in quotes. That’s because I’m “talking” figuratively here.  So what’s the point?

Well, it seems that unless you belong to a photography club or have the opportunity to spend a bit of time with fellow enthusiasts, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to just talk about photography, ask questions or share ideas.  Even my dear wife – who is always supportive of my work – has a limited capacity to talk photography before her eyes glaze over.  You’ve also probably noticed that an in-depth discussion of camera specifics or Layer Masks in Photoshop with a non-photographer usually ends well before you’ve lost interest in it.

However, in the last few months I’ve discovered some great photographers – amateur and professional – on the internet who like to share ideas and talk about photography issues. I don’t mean photography blogs. They’re great for sharing information and ideas, and can be very helpful, but it’s hard to have a dialogue. I’m talking about a real give-and-take of ideas.

So where does one find this fountain of interest and information.  While I’m sure there are several areas where you can go, I discovered it through my participation in LinkedIn [www.linkedin.com].  For those of you who aren’t familiar with LinkedIn, it’s a business/networking site for business folks.  This might sound a bit dry – but there’s more to it than just networking to look for jobs or to increase your business.  When it comes to photography, there are several discussion groups who talk about almost anything and everything under the sun related to photography, editing and more!  Here are a few of the groups that I’ve seen – and I’m sure there are many more.  The first two are ones that I’ve joined:

• Photography Group – subjects are more often business based  like  equipment, copyright issues, studio rentals, and websites, but can be a far ranging as recent discussions about editing apps for smart phone photography.
• Adobe Photoshop Group – discusses just about anything related to photo editing, including software, color profiles, watermarks, tablet vs mouse and a whole bunch of other stuff.
• Photographers and Photoshop Users
• Traditional Film Photographers
• Editorial Photographers
• London Photographic Association

The six listed above are only a small sampling of discussion groups available through LinkedIn.  You probably noticed that they also include international groups as well.

So there you have it – literally, at your fingertips.  The key is to first go online and join LinkedIn.  It’s easy to do and costs nothing.  You ought to look it over and see if this works for you.  I think you’ll find, as I have, that they can be interesting, useful and fun!  Best – Bill

Photograph – Picture – Image: some personal definitions

This post is probably going to get me in trouble with somebody.  When you see the three words in the title – Photograph, Picture, Image – you might think that I’m referring to the same thing.  Actually, I’m not.

This subject came up  in one of my earlier posts:  “Photography – Are You a Recorder or an Interpreter?” – 02/14/10.  Since then I’ve written quite a few posts and used these words hundreds of times.  While I try to use each word in a specific way, from time to time, I’m guilty of mixing them up.  Let me explain.

To understand why I view these three words as being different, you have to understand my philosophy as a photographer.  I tell all my editing classes that I believe taking the Photograph is only the beginning of the process.  I know that there are those folks out there who believe that taking the photograph is the beginning and the end to the process – no changes – no editing – no nothing!  While I do believe that you should do everything you can to capture the best photograph, I also believe that there is a lot more of YOU that you can put into the final product by editing.

This brings us to the second word – Picture.  I try to use this word purposely to indicate that it is something different from the original Photograph.  A painter or a writer make many changes while they are creating the final work.  I use the term Picture to define that same process.  Here though, I’m talking about the unfinished editing process – a work in progress, so to speak.

That brings us to the final word – Image.  I feel very strongly that when all the editing is done – when the photographer has finished putting their mark on the original Photograph – there is no other word that can be used other than Image.  By editing, this final Image has transcended the original Photograph into something new and different – a product of the photographers minds-eye.  As you can see in the images that I’ve used in this post, the Photograph and the final Image are significantly different. I wanted to say something more about the subject than to just capture the Photograph.  Editing gives me the ability to put myself into the work – to use my creativity – to produce a unique Image, all its own.

Some might say that this a small thing – merely a play on words.  I don’t think so.  For me it’s a reminder that photography is truly an art form.  By taking a Photograph, editing the Picture, and creating a final unique Image, each of us becomes a photographer/artist.  What do all of you think?  Best – Bill

Winter Outdoor Photography – rethink what & how you shoot & edit

There are certain words and phrases that are used frequently by those who really like outdoor photography.  They talk about the “great light”, the “beautiful colors”, the “beauty of nature”.  Unfortunately, we’re now in “winter-mode” for the next 3+ months – depending on where you live.  In Western Oregon, where I live, most of those superlatives disappear with the season.  While we do have some nice days, in general think rain, gloom, gray skies.

However, not to despair! Winter is a great time to get your creative juices going and rethink what and how you’re going to shoot outdoors.  One of the keys here is to keep your eyes open for different and interesting subjects.  Often the same subject, in another season, might be something you wouldn’t think of shooting – but in winter it can take on a whole new feel.  As an example, this image of a wetlands in winter is stark, but can be just as beautiful in the absence of what you’re usually looking to shoot.  Also, don’t be afraid to use silhouettes in you images, like these trees.  They add a very dramatic feel.

This same change of thinking also applies to how you might think about color.  Don’t worry about those beautiful, bright colors – how about muted colors or even black and white or sepia.  This image of a small pond and grass – emphasizing the busy, heavy texture – helps to give a “wilderness” feeling to the image.  Interestingly enough, this is no where near the wilderness – only a 5 minute walk from my front door.  I first finished this in black & white and wasn’t satisfied with how it felt – too harsh a feeling.  Only when I converted it to sepia did it feel right to me.  Sepia will often open up the mid-tones better, for a little softer feel.

In addition to all the foregoing, I always keep the emphasis on texture.  Texture, with a proper use of light and shadow can add a very emotive quality to your imagery. Now, I don’t mean taking a close-up of  tree bark or the texture of a rock – BORING!!  Use texture as an integral part of the overall image.  You see a lot of that today in all kinds of photography – with the use of HD, gritty, high texture images.  Even if you don’t normally like that for your own style – winter is the time to give it a try!  I’m sure you’ve noticed that texture has played a big part of all the images in this post.

Of course, for those who do a lot of  close-up or “macro” photography, winter still offers tremendous potential.  You won’t shoot a lot of insects or flower stamen close-ups, but there are still those plants that thrive in the winter.  This next image is of a plant that we have in Oregon all year – moss.  Actually, I took this one of the moss on my mailbox the other morning.  Goes to show, if you keep your creative eye open, even when you’re doing mundane things like getting the mail, you never know what you’ll find.

I also mentioned winter “macro” photography – and of course, ice crystals always offer the potential for interesting pictures.  However, I have to admit that there is a particular reason why in included this last image in this post.  I’ll explain in the next paragraph.

By the way – did I mention that all the images in this post were taken with my iPhone!  This includes the image of the ice crystals as well – using the macro lens of the “olloclip” attachment that I reviewed in my last post!  Just couldn’t pass up a chance to talk about it again! All of these images also had additional editing in Photoshop – but all the data to work with came from a relatively small, smart-phone image file.  it seems that there may be some truth in the old saying “It isn’t the camera – it’s the photographer” [and maybe the software too].  Sometime soon I plan to do a post on smart-phone photography and some of the “apps” for editing with the phone.  If you have any smart-phone editing “apps” that you like, let me know – I’d like to try them out.

You’ll notice that I didn’t talk about softer images of snow.  Talking about getting good snow shots can be another post in itself.  What I hope you’ll take away from this post is to open up your creative eye to look at things differently.  Winter images are often simpler, in that nature has stripped itself down to the bare, beautiful essentials.  As for color, don’t worry about how you’re going to render the final image.  It might be black & white, maybe sepia, or in more muted colors – or maybe all three.  Any of these can be equally as beautiful as those bright, colorful summer pictures you like.  The final, and very important, part of all this is to emphasize texture in your images.  Used effectively, it can bring significant interest to your imagery and really add an emotive quality to your work.  Give these a try – I think you’ll like what you create.  Best – Bill

The Best Xmas Gift – Ever!

OK – this may not be the “Best Xmas Gift Ever!!” – but, as a photographer, it’s one of the most fun gifts that I’ve received in quite a few years!

So, what gift could be this much fun?  It’s called the olloclip – and it’s an add-on to your iPhone 4, 4s or 5.  By “add-on” I don’t mean an “app” – I mean, literally, something that you physically “add-on”/attach to your iPhone!

Basically, the olloclip is a slip-on lens or – to be more specific – three lenses in one that gives your iPhone the ability to take a wider variety of pictures.  While the iPhone has significantly improved its camera – it’s still offers only a one-size-fits-all lens.  The olloclip allows you to add a macro, wide-angle, and fish-eye lens to your iPhone.  The end result is not only more interesting pictures – but you’ll have a whole lot more fun taking them!

Are the results really that good?  Take a look for yourself.  The first image is of a leaf taken with the phones regular lens. Then, using the macro lens, look at the close-up you get with the olloclip – details, right down to the hair-like filaments near the stem of the leaf.  But why stop there?  The optics are so good that the macro images can be blown up larger for an even closer look – with great clarity.  The sweet-spot for focusing is less than an inch from the surface and the depth of field is very shallow.  This results in an out-of-focus effect at the edges of the image – gives it that “artsy” look.

I have to admit that, while I enjoy all the lenses, the macro lens really offers some great opportunities for unique and very “artsy” images.  Check out the ones below.  the first is a closeup of an old pocket watch.  The next two give you an idea of what you can create with something as simple as a gear.

This next set of images shows what the wide-angle option can deliver.  At first I didn’t think a lot of this lens until I compared it to what my iPhone did without it – what a difference!  The first image you see here is with the regular phone lens.  The second is with the wide-angle lens.  I didn’t realize how narrow my field of view was with the regular lens until I compared these two.  I’ve also included a third picture of the same scene using the fish-eye lens.  It’s really quite surprising how much is pulled into the image.  It blurs a bit at the edges – but that’s to be expected.

I don’t think I’d use the fish-eye as much as the other lenses – but the next picture shows the fun you can have with it in other ways.  It does a great job of distortion – giving you a whole new way to capture a subject – though I don’t think our “doodle” Izzy appreciates this very much.  What I really like about all three of these lenses is that they all deliver high quality optics.

So far all I’ve talked about is how great this product is – are there any negatives?  The answer is YES.  The first negative is the cost.  The olloclip doesn’t come cheap – it costs $69.99, and there will probably be additional shipping costs if you buy it on line.  However, if quality = price then this is product is worth it.  The second negative is if you have a protective case on your iPhone the olloclip won’t fit over it.  You have to take off the case to slip the lens on your phone.  The third negative is the fact that if you have a protective film over the face of your iPhone, taking the lens on and off can peal it off your phone.  Unfortunately, this last negative happened to me as I was taking the “example” pictures for this post.  Given these drawbacks, is the olloclip still worth having?  My answer is YES!  With the fun I’ve had using it and creating some very interesting images, I’d have to say that it was money well spent!

Unfortunately, Xmas is over :>(    Now what you need to do is find and excuse to buy the olloclip for yourself.  Believe me, you’ll not only have a whole bunch of fun taking pictures that were impossible before – but also creating interesting images that you’ll enjoy sharing with others.  Best – Bill

Make This Year’s Xmas Card

Each year I really enjoy creating our very own, personal  Xmas cards for our friends and clients.  It’s a way to share my “artsy” side and many have mentioned that they enjoy receiving a unique card with the personal touch.  I’ll bet that you also have some great pictures that would make wonderful Xmas cards.

So, what to use for a subject – nature – animals – religious theme?  The best answer I have is to have fun and make it anything you like.  Now is the chance to really show off your creativity!  I’ve included some examples in this post that I’ve used over the years.

This outdoor image I used one year – while it looks like it’s somewhere “in the wild” – was taken at the local golf course that’s a three minute walk from my front door.  The point being is that you don’t have to look very far to find a nice image – even in your own backyard.

Another subject that works very well [though you may not readily think of it]  is architecture.  Of all the Xmas cards we’ve put out over the last ten years, the card with the picture of the orthodox church that I took in Russia has gotten the most comments.  So, if you have all those pictures of churches you’ve taken when you traveled abroad – now is the time [probably the only time] that you’ll be able to make any use of them.

I’m sure that you’ve probably noticed that both of these first examples are black & white.  Folks really like the “artsy” feel of black and white prints.  Also, these are “hand-built” cards.  By that I mean we took some blank card stock – sized our images to fit how we wanted them – made photo prints on our printer – cut them out – then used a glue-stick to attach them to the card.  The final touch is to take a pencil and write the title of your image and your signature on the bottom.  By the way, take the time to give some real thought to the title. The title – in relation to the image – along with the signature add a very “artsy”, custom touch to the card.

This last example is for all you folks who like to use your smart phones as your cameras.  I used to download my favorite iPhone pics to my computer – now I use iCloud and everything I shoot on my iPhone automatically appears in a “Photo Stream” folder on my computer!  How cool is that! From there I open them up and edit them like any other picture in Photoshop.  The point is that even a 2 megapixel smart phone camera can produce a pretty good card-sized image.  You never know where the image will come from or what it might be – but this one was taken at Griffith Park last Xmas when we were visiting our daughter in LA.  Just two dogs bundled up on a bench behind a snack stand – but I think it makes for a great Xmas image.

Whatever you do, be creative.  As for me, this year’s card isn’t going to look like any of these. It’s going to be something really different –  think “bars” [the drinking kind] – “Xmas lights” – “reflections” – and “funky”.

So,  if you really want to give Xmas cards that people will appreciate, comment on and – yes – even keep and collect from year to year, this is the way to go.  The costs aren’t much more than buying cards – it just requires some time in selecting and editing the image you want to use and putting the cards together.  Give it a try.  I think you’ll find out that your Xmas cards are going to be “keepers”.  Best – Bill

Photo Essays – a creative tool to help your business

So what is a Photo Essay?  In my mind it’s using photography to tell a story, but it’s not as simple as that may sound. Visually, it might involve the display of a group of images that – by their subject-matter – highlight a specific something you want to share.  It might be some aspect of our environment, our society, or just something that you find different or interesting.

When the subject is very narrow and focused the viewers have an easier time in understanding what the photogapher/story teller wants to say.  What I often hear however from viewers, and have experienced myself, is that questioning feeling as to what did the photographer actually have in mind?  While the images may be well done, and each has a strong emotional component, the story context is often lost.  That is why my preference is for an expanded Photo Essay – one that includes text to compliment the images and help tell the story.  Another reason why I like the expanded format is that I    enjoy writing, and by adding text I can create a more complex, multi-layered experience.  I’ve also found that the viewer walks away with a much deeper understanding of the subject.

While all of this sounds great, you have to remember that it takes a tremendous amount of time and work.  First you need a good idea – and believe me, that is no easy thing.  Then you have to shoot, edit, organize and write the Photo Essay – then find someone who will stage it.  Oh, did I mention, you also have to make it interesting for a large number of people.  When you think about all this, the whole idea may be more than you want to start Even given all that, I believe that creating a Photo Essay is still worth it. First, I have to state that I would never disagree with those who create Photo Essays for the sake of art or for a compelling social reason. That has always played a part in why I’ve done them.  However, I’m a businessman and, just as importantly, Photo Essay’s are a very effective marketing tool.  To put it simply – Photo Essay’s are good for your business.  Now, assuming that you’ve done your job well and created an interesting Photo Essay, you then have to take is several steps further and apply good business practices.

• Start with press releases.  You have to let the community at large know about the event – so get the word out.  A press release can often be up to 300 words and if you supply a picture with it, you’re more likely to get it published.  Make sure you have a “theme” picture that you use for this as well as any other local advertising that you do.
• Here is where having text as part of your Photo Essay can be a big help.  Use parts of that text to help tell the story in the press release.  This not only makes for a more interesting news release, but may also entice the newspaper to take an interest and write a more detailed piece.
• The text can also be used should the newspaper want to follow-up with an article on the Photo Essay.  Remember, they’re reporters – by having the text they don’t have to interpret the Photo Essay to their readers, just share the story with them.
• This has a two-fold benefit.  They have a better understanding of what you’re trying to impart in the Photo Essay, and they can tell a more complete – and hopefully longer – story to the readers.

Now, after the news releases are out, comes the show itself.  What better way to get your name, your business and your work exposed to a much larger audience – many of whom may never have heard of you before.  Of course you want to let all your clients know about it as well as be there yourself for the opening.  Now, I know that some folks may have a hard time with the “dealing with the public” aspect of this – but I can assure you that being there offers you a wonderful opportunity.  People will ask questions [I guarantee it] and this will allow you to share even more insights into the “how and why” you created the Photo Essay. What a great way to connect with a whole new group of people!

There’s even more potential built into all this.  Every time I’ve done a photo essay I’ve followed up by also creating a Powerpoint presentation and talk to go with it.  Then I go on the local “speaking circuit”.  This can include local TV stations, civic and church groups and service clubs like Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis and others.  It’s this last group of service clubs that often have the city’s movers and shakers as members – so you’re getting your name and face out to an awful lot of people who have the potential to do you and your business some good.  It’s also not uncommon to get paid!  Not a bad extra.

So there you have it.  Yes – all of this is a tremendous amount of work.  Not only that, it’s also going to take a lot of time and planning to maximize the potential this tool has to offer.  The bottom line is – it will bring a whole lot of positive returns to you and your business.

There’s one more thing that I didn’t mention – that is the satisfaction  you’re going to have by having created a Photo Essay that can have an impact on other people – maybe your entire community.  As a creative person, what could be more fulfilling than to have affected, educated, maybe changed the thinking of another human being just because of your Photo Essay.  Best – Bill

Film vs Digital – is there really a question?

This post is aimed at those final holdouts for “the good old days” of photography.  When I first got involved with digital photography twelve years ago there was a rousing debate over the question of what was better – film or digital?  While digital cameras were invented many years before, digital photography itself was still very much in its infancy.  Truth be told, at that point in time, film was superior.

By the way, did you know that the first digital camera was built by Kodak 36 years ago – in 1975!  It had a 0.01 megapixel resolution and took 23 seconds to record the image – to tape.  From that point in time it took another 24 years before the first true consumer digital cameras were available that you could use to create prints!

But . . back to the subject.  There were a lot of reasons why film was better back then.  The type, size and quality of digital sensors was nothing like we have today.  Likewise, converters, memory cards and the software to make the whole thing happen either didn’t exist or were incredibly crude compared to anything in today’s cameras.  Digital photography just didn’t capture the image as well as film.

However, regardless of which you chose – film or digital – they both shared a common problem.  If you’ve done much shootiong with film you’ll be familiar with the “graniness” that can occur when shooting in low light conditions and at high ISO’s.  Digital cameras had – and to some degree today still have – a similar problem in low light conditions.  It’s called “noise” and it was a major drawback to digital photography.  You may not know what noise is – but if you’ve ever looked into the dark areas of your digital images [especially if you enlarge it] you may see little colored pixels of red, blue or green.  That’s where the camera couldn’t properly process the light data and improperly assigned colored pixels to it instead of a darkening shade of a color or gray or black.  When you enlarge the image it looks terrible.  While this is still a problem for the smaller, cheaper and older cameras out there today, most of the new digital cameras now significantly reduce noise.  The even better news is that the newer, professional quality cameras out there today eliminate it.

Of course, the debate wasn’t just about capturing the picture.  Equally important was the processing.  As far as film afficionados were concerned – who wouldn’t want to be in a small dark room, breathing smelly, toxic chemicals with permanently stained hands?  While I say this rather “tongue in cheek” it was the darkroom that was held up as the “sanctus sanctorum”, the temple of creative art.  It was all about making the final print.  Unfortunately, for us digital buffs – back then digital cameras not only didn’t capture as good an image – but the editing software, not to mention the quality of photographic printer paper, was nowhere as good as what film had to offer.

However –  just as with the advances in digital cameras and digital capture – both digital editing software and high quality digital print paper have now come into their own.  My first digital editing software was Photoshop 5.  As good as I thought it was then – it offered, at best, rudimentary editing capabilities.  It would take several more years before we had editing software that would give us the ability to create images more easily and effectively than what we could do in the darkroom – but it happened!  Today, I can create everything that can be done in the darkroom and more in a matter of minutes, not hours.  If I don’t like it I can throw it out and start fresh all over again – or better yet, take the same image and make multiple, different variations in a matter of minutes.  Here is an area that digital is not only got as good as film – but surpassed it in every way!

The same is true for paper.  It used to be that photo-printer paper was very limited – shiny or matte.  Really not much to choose from.  Now, the choices are incredibly varied with literally dozens of types and styles of paper.  If you don’t want paper, you can even print on canvas – or even metal.

As I started with in this post, there are those out there who still long for the “good old days” .  They still shoot and process their film – though they probably use software to edit and/or make the final prints.  If you’re one of them . . . God bless ya . . . but I think it’s time to finally make that change to total digital.  There is no longer any question to debate.  Digital isn’t only just as good as film – it’s better!  Best – Bill.

Gray Scale vs Black and White Images – or why you should always shoot in color.

I know the title of this post must sound a little odd, but I promise that it will all make sense in the end.  First, let’s talk about gray scale vs black & white images.  If you talk to any photographer they will always use the term “black and white”.  If you talk to a designer, they will usually refer to these same images as “gray scale” [or if you’re British, “grey scale”] images.  So what’s the difference between the two?  Actually, there is no difference.  OK, so far I haven’t really helped to clear anything up – BUT – what I want to accomplish here is to have you think in terms of “gray scale” whenever you want to end up with a black and white image.  

Before I go on any more about “gray scale” let’s talk about the options you have available for creating black & white images. First, a lot of digital cameras these days have presets that allow you to capture any picture as a black & white image.  While it seems an easy way to go if you want black & white images – there are some significant problems with doing this.   The first, and most obvious, is if you shoot in “black & white mode” you lose all the original color informtion.  It’s discarded and there’s no way to get it back.  That’s a big loss if you’re thinking in “gray scale” for doing your color conversions.  It’s also important to keep the color information since I often render an image in both color and black & white. The other problem inherent with this is that the camera does all the interpreting of what makes a good black & white image – not you! 

Now, some newer cameras offer a potential way around this dilema of shooting color or black & white.  They can create large, RAW color files and also a smaller black & white jpg file at the same time.  While this is handy, it takes up more space on your card, therefore less images. This can be a big drawback – especially if you’re traveling.   Also, just like I said earlier, we’re back to the old problem that the camera is creating the black & white file, not you.  It can give you an indication of what the file looks like in black & white – but so what?  It probably won’t look like the final image anyway.  You need to determine that when you’re doing your editing.

Everything I’ve said so far has been to, hopefully, convince you to do all your shooting in color.  Now comes the reason why you should be thinking in “gray scale” in lieu of “black & white”.  When you’re editing your images you need to keep in mind that every color has a value that can be interpreted as a shade of gray – hence “gray scale”.  Not only that, but any color can be interpreted in many shades of gray – from white to black!  Sounds crazy, but it’s true.  By using your editing software to interpret each color’s value into a specific shade of grey you can significantly alter the final image and make it look just like you want it – not the camera’s interpretation of what it thinks looks good. Let me show you a few examples.  Below are a series of gray scale images made from one color image.  While it looks as if I’ve changed the brightness or contrast in several – the only change has been to adjust the percent of a single, specific color – changing its value – or the shade of gray if you will.  If you have Photoshop CS 3, 4 or 5 or Photoshop Elements 7, 8 or 9, it’s as simple as moving a slider to the right or left to make the changes. In each of those software applications – after the black & white auto-conversion is made – they allow you to make adjustments by “tweaking” the value of each color by moving those sliders.

 So, let’s look at what a difference these “tweaks” make to the image.  The first gray scale image [under the color one] shows an automatic B&W conversion, letting the software do it for you.  It does an OK job – though you’ll note that it’s sort of flat, with not a lot of contrast.  The next converson shows where the color yellow has been adjusted.  Because the flowers are predominantly yellow – by increasing the percent of yellow it makes them brighter, almost white.  A similar effect is shown when the green percent is increased.  Note that the mans’ green sweatshirt becomes lighter – setting it apart from the background.

The next conversion shows what happens when just the red is adjusted.  The differences here are a little more subtle.  You’ll see the differences in two areas.  First, look at the mans face and hand.  Because there is a bit of red in his skin, it becomes brighter by moving the red color slider to the right and increasing the amount.  If you look closely, you’ll also notice that the red coat on the woman in the background has also become lighter.

The most significant change took place when the blue and cyan are both reduced in percentage [moving the slider to the left] which darkens them and creates a much more contrasty image.  Now the man and the flowers really stand out from the background.

The last image on the far right shows when all the changes are applied to the B&W auto conversion.  Is it better?  I think so.  The flowers have been emphasized.  The man stands out because his skin has a lighter value and his sweatshirt is now a more distinct value from the flowers.  Of course the dark background now makes the picture pop.

So there you have it.  All of the above was to show you why it’s so important to save your color data and use it to make your black and white – or if you prefer – gray scale images.  I hope you’ll give this a try and play around with the many options you’ll see as you move the various sliders.  Your final image will probably look different than the one I might create – but it will be all yours.  Best – Bill

 

 

 

 

Blog Burnout

Well . . . I guess the only thing I can say is – I’M BACK! 

It’s amazing how someone – me in this case – can be so caught up in something – be so enthusiastic – and then just burn out.  I’d heard about “writers block” and “burnout” but I never thought it would happen to me.  I was writing the blog every week for many, many months.  I was driven to make sure that I would post a new issue of the blog each and every Sunday.

Then one Sunday . . . it just happened. . . . or in this case, it didn’t happen  During the week before I found it hard to focus. It felt wierd, because I loved writing the blog –  sharing ideas and information – hopefully of being of help to someone else.  All of a sudden – out of the blue – it just didn’t hold that same feeling for me.  So there I was . . . I found that I was a victim of “Blog Burnout”!

So, what’s changed?  Why am I back?  I guess if boils down to a couple of things.  One is a refocusing of priorities this year.  By this I don’t mean a “New Year’s Resolution” – rather it’s a change of lifestyle to improve myself both physically and mentally – to put things in proper priority.  Another reason is the people that I’ve “met” through the blog.  Fellow photographers – both professional and amateur, teachers and others who have shared their their own ideas and experiences as well as their  love of photography through their responses. 

All of  this brings me back to where I am right now and where am I going?  I’m committed to picking up the blog and going forward.  It won’t be as frequent – maybe once or twice a month – but it will be an ongoing dialogue on what I hope will be subjects of interest to those who love photography as much as I do.  I’m working on the next installment right now.  The title alone should make it worth reading – “Gray Scale vs Black & White Images – or why you should always shoot in color”.   It should be posted within the next couple of weeks. 

For those of you have visited the blog in the past, I hope you will continue as well as to share your ideas and thoughts.  Best – Bill.

The “Seven Saving Graces” of Dealing With Digital Files

We’ve all of heard of the “Seven Deadly Sins” – those seven terrible things that we should never do.  Well, I started thinking about how this could be turned around to create “Seven Saving Graces” – especially as it applies to seven things we should do when it comes to digital files.  You may not agree with all of these – but I’ve found them to be very useful for me.

1. Always shoot as large a file [highest resolution] that you can – Whether it’s in JPG or RAW, go for the quality of the image, not the quantity. It will reduce the number of images on your memory card, but they will be much better images overall.  If you’re going to do serious editing, you want to maximize the available data for editing to wind up with a better final product.
2. Never shoot until the camera tells you that the “Card is Full” – Both your camera and memory cards are like mini-computers.  They work together each time you take an image to move files around on the card to maximize the number of images recorded.  If you have just taken a final image that fills [or exceeds the cards memory]  there is the potential for the memory card to become “confused” and cause the card to corrupt the final image – or possibly the entire card – causing the loss of everything you’ve just shot.  I know this can happen – because it happened to me just last week.  The best thing to do is to stop shooting when you have 4 or 5 images left on the card – then change to a new memory card.
3. Don’t use too big of a memory card – The salesman at the camera store would probably disagree with this one – but remember they’re there to sell you something.  There are two very practical reasons for this.  First, people tend to download images only when their cards are getting full.  With the new high capacity memory cards you can literally have hundreds and hundreds of images on a card – especially if you’re shooting JPG files.  Nothing can be more boring than downloading, looking at, and editing 400 or 500+ images at one time.  The second potential problem related to this is the potential for corruption.  Let’s say, you’ve just been on vacation for a week or two.  You’ve visited several places and have recorded some great shots at every place you’ve visitied.  Now, let’s say that the card corrupts, with every single image of your vacation gone!  The point here is to keep a little “insurance”.  Divide your images over two or more memory cars to ensure that if one card is lost or damaged or corrupted that you have’t lost the whole thing.
4. Download your images at the first opportunity – Believe me, I know from experience that memory cards can get lost or damaged.  Just ask my high-energy golden retreiver.  I left one of my memory cards right on the edge of my workstation in my studio for several days.  I had “better” things to do and didn’t get around to downloading it.  Baylee – my golden retreiver – has a tail that can clean off any surface that’s nearby.  The best I can come up with is that her tail swept the card off the edge of the work station and – unfortunately, then to her mouth.  By the time I got to it – as you can imagine – there was nothing that could be saved.  Had I saved the data to my hard drive when I had the opportunity this wouldn’t have happened.  A second reason to download in a timely manner is that [if you’re like me] your memory cards start to stack up.  Just like above, it gets really boring to be dealing wifh hundreds of images to edit and catalogue.
5. When downloading images from your camera, memory card, or other storage device – copy – don’t move them – Remember, your camera, memory card and other storage devices are little mini-computers themselves.  All of the images were stored using certain algorithms in software particular to that device.  There is less chance of corrupting these devices – and your files – if you copy them in lieu of moving them which will, in effect, erase them from the original device.
6. When finished downloading, don’t let the computer do the work of erasing your memory card – put the memory card back in the camera and let the camera do the work – Just like the admonition “copy – don’t move” above you should use the same softward that created the files to delete them.  Doing otherwise has the small – but very real potential – to corrupt the original file or device.  This “saving grace” is tied to the last one below.
7. When you clean off your memory cards – don’t erase – format the card – Every digital images is made up of millions of individual pixels – each with a little bit of information about that particular image.  Erasing – while doing an OK job of removing the image – has the potential to leave stray pixels on the memory card.  They in turn have the potential of creating corruption problems when you re-record new images on the card.  To eliminate this problem – format the card every time you’re done downloading – don’t just erase the images.  This will give you an absolutely clean memory card, with no potential for corruption due to random, “leftover” pixels.

Unlike the “Seven Deadly Sins”, these “Seven Saving Graces” have nothing to do with saving your soul – but I can guarantee you they may well “save your bacon” some day.  Best – Bill

Skies “R” Us – pretty-up your pictures with blue skies & clouds

Living in Oregon means one thing you can always count on – plenty of rain.  Of course, you can’t have rain without clouds – so, many times, even if it’s not raining, you’re going to have overcast skies.  However, if you’re like most people, you’d like to see pictures with some blue sky and pretty clouds in them.  Now, let me state for the record – we do have beautiful blue skies with puffy white clouds in Oregon – just not as often as we’d like, especially outside of Summer.

However, all is not lost!  There’s actually a couple of easy ways to go about fixing your sky.  The first way, is to use Photoshop’s Filter>Render>Clouds function.  Here’s what you do:

• First add a blank layer above your background layer. 
• Make sure that your color picker is set to a shade of sky blue on the top and white on the bottom. 
• Take your lasso tool and [with the blank layer activated] draw areas in the sky where you would like to see some blue sky and clouds.
• Then go to Select>Feather>and set a very soft edge – around 70.
• Next, go to Filter>Render>Clouds>and click OK 
• It will probably look too bright – so,while the cloud layer is active, lower the opacity of the layer until you like what you see.
• If you want to you can also take your brush tool and add a little more sky or clouds and/or blur the cloud layer a little

Overall this gives a pretty good sky feeling.  Give it a try and see what you think.

There’s also another way that takes a little more work to blend in – but I guarantee you that if you didn’t think the first approach looked good enough, you’ll love this one.  Over the years I’ve taken some odd pictures.  My wife will attest to the fact that I will often just point my camera up and take a picture of the sky.  I then mutter something like “nice clouds” and then she never sees the picture again – she thinks.  I actually keep a folder of “sky/cloud” images that I use to add to other pictures.  Here’s how I go about it:

• After I’ve opened up the background image [the one that I’m going to add the sky to] I open up one of my sky images.
• I then click and drag the sky image over the background image and lower its opacity so I can see the background image under it.
• The next thing is to blend in the top image over the background image. 
• You can use a soft-edged eraser on the edges to blend your sky in with what’s underneath.
• Another way is to add a Layer Mask to the sky layer.  You then set your colors to default [black & white] and using a soft brush, paint the sky in or out.  This way is actually easier – since by creating a layer mask, you can correct mistakes by going back and forth.
• I also usually try to overlap the sky layer over a hard edge like a roofline or building – then take my Polygonal Lasso Tool and make a hard edge, then hit Erase to delete the sky.  This makes for a nice clean, realistic edge and the sky looks as if it’s really behind the building.

So, there you have two ways to add blue sky and clouds to your images.  Give each a try and see what works best for you.  Best – Bill