We're starting the summer for the MPA - where summer is defined as when we can finally go outside with our cameras and not freeze our bums off! The new season has several educational sessions lined up (studio lighting, posing for photographers) and maybe a few outdoor model shoots.
Feel free to join up. It's $25 for the summer, or $35 will take you all the way to August 2014! Join here: www.meetup.com/meadowvale-photography/join
Look forward to seeing the new members!
Happy shooting!
Joel
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Monday, August 13, 2012
Inspiring Bloggerific Reading
I read a rather brutally honest blog the other day:
http://thecandidframe.blogspot.ca/2012/08/this-is-why-your-picture-suck.html?m=1
And then Zack Zarias pulls out something similar and explains why this guy isn't awesome:
http://zarias.tumblr.com/post/29345128234/hey-zack-i-love-what-your-doing-here-i-have-been
I'd say the themes are similar. There's nothing worse than photos that are ordinary. Blah. Properly exposed, busy, featureless, inexpressive meh. It's probably 99% of the photos that most people take most of the time. Every once in a while, a photographer will nail it, by luck or inspiration or alignment of the moon and the stars.
But instead you can drive the bus. The bus that takes you where you're going. You might get where you want to go if you're a passenger on the bus, but most likely you'll spend a lot of time being driven around and end up in the middle of nowhere. Drive or get off the bus.
The first post nailed me against the wall. I'll post photos after a wedding or some other event. I'll get a few likes and maybe the bride will make my pics their profile pic - but make no mistake. The professional wedding photographer wasn't beat. I might be first but that doesn't make my photos the best. He just hasn't shown up to the competition yet.
I regularly post portraits of my daughters, who in my humble yet biased opinion, are the cutest children this world has ever known. So its not hard to get likes, especially from family, and this doesn't really indicate my photos are good. They more or less indicate kids (most kids) are cute.
Another blog post here nailed another point.
http://strobist.blogspot.ca/2012/08/on-photographing-people-pt-2.html
If you hire models, they're pretty. And you can be lulled into thinking your photos are great because the models are photogenic. They model well (that's what they do after all) so they give you good looks/expressions without your direction. In the end you learn nothing (and pay lots). Learning to get great portraits from normal people is my aim. I'm tempted to get Peter Hurley's headshots for this reason.
http://peterhurley.com/dvd/
I realize that's what I want to photograph. People. Possibly ugly people - but I'll make them look good. This is where I want to go. This is where I want to drive.
That's it.
http://thecandidframe.blogspot.ca/2012/08/this-is-why-your-picture-suck.html?m=1
And then Zack Zarias pulls out something similar and explains why this guy isn't awesome:
http://zarias.tumblr.com/post/29345128234/hey-zack-i-love-what-your-doing-here-i-have-been
I'd say the themes are similar. There's nothing worse than photos that are ordinary. Blah. Properly exposed, busy, featureless, inexpressive meh. It's probably 99% of the photos that most people take most of the time. Every once in a while, a photographer will nail it, by luck or inspiration or alignment of the moon and the stars.
But instead you can drive the bus. The bus that takes you where you're going. You might get where you want to go if you're a passenger on the bus, but most likely you'll spend a lot of time being driven around and end up in the middle of nowhere. Drive or get off the bus.
The first post nailed me against the wall. I'll post photos after a wedding or some other event. I'll get a few likes and maybe the bride will make my pics their profile pic - but make no mistake. The professional wedding photographer wasn't beat. I might be first but that doesn't make my photos the best. He just hasn't shown up to the competition yet.
I regularly post portraits of my daughters, who in my humble yet biased opinion, are the cutest children this world has ever known. So its not hard to get likes, especially from family, and this doesn't really indicate my photos are good. They more or less indicate kids (most kids) are cute.
Another blog post here nailed another point.
http://strobist.blogspot.ca/2012/08/on-photographing-people-pt-2.html
If you hire models, they're pretty. And you can be lulled into thinking your photos are great because the models are photogenic. They model well (that's what they do after all) so they give you good looks/expressions without your direction. In the end you learn nothing (and pay lots). Learning to get great portraits from normal people is my aim. I'm tempted to get Peter Hurley's headshots for this reason.
http://peterhurley.com/dvd/
I realize that's what I want to photograph. People. Possibly ugly people - but I'll make them look good. This is where I want to go. This is where I want to drive.
That's it.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
El Presidente
Through no fault of my own, the Meadowvale Photography Association disbanded. The equipment was sold off (to the last president) and the money donated to the cancer society. But for a guy coming off baby duty (my wife was on mat leave - but the evenings were my baby time) I was looking to rejoin the club I helped "start".
Well... if nobody wanted to do it, then I had to. Leadership by acclamation.
I've given myself the title of Supreme Chancellor. I plan on providing titles to all new members, regardless of whether they agree with them or even like them. My club, my rules. I also plan on making everyone an organizer, to take off the pressure of having to do everything - which I believe was the doom of the last president's enthusiasm.
Dues are $35. The money goes to paying the fees I have to pay Meetup.com and any hall bookings and whatever equipment I need to recoup from the old president. Clearly he doesn't want to be burdened with it - and I'm not sure I'm a fan of it either. They're big, bulky, heavy, require solid light stands and they can't be ported around. I love portable lights.
But if I want to open that photography studio to take pictures of screaming kids - I've got all I need.
Peace.
Well... if nobody wanted to do it, then I had to. Leadership by acclamation.
I've given myself the title of Supreme Chancellor. I plan on providing titles to all new members, regardless of whether they agree with them or even like them. My club, my rules. I also plan on making everyone an organizer, to take off the pressure of having to do everything - which I believe was the doom of the last president's enthusiasm.
Dues are $35. The money goes to paying the fees I have to pay Meetup.com and any hall bookings and whatever equipment I need to recoup from the old president. Clearly he doesn't want to be burdened with it - and I'm not sure I'm a fan of it either. They're big, bulky, heavy, require solid light stands and they can't be ported around. I love portable lights.
But if I want to open that photography studio to take pictures of screaming kids - I've got all I need.
Peace.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
MasterCard World Fashion Show
My first fashion show. My core belief is that everyone is weird. But you need to get to know someone to find out how. With fashion shows, their weirdness is right there on their sleeve.
Looking around, I realize this is "a scene" just like when I was salsa dancing, or swing dancing in Toronto. People do this as their life hobby. And some of them do their life hobby as their work. You can tell who they are. Even the girls handing out discounts and show guides have this look. They're living their dream in the modelling world. Even if they aren't a model or designer, they're a part of something, and industry they love.
I'm there as a spectator. I don't know or care about fashion. I'm participating like I would as a photographer at a cycling race or a Hindu colour festival. I'm a tourist. I stick out because I'm not unique. My clothes, standard uniform for a business casual bank, have no fashion sense or creativity attached.
Ignore me. I am normal.
I scan through my photos in Lightroom. They're not really pretty, my wife says. No, these are the people who were made fun of in high school. There are no cheerleaders or beauty pageant winners. But every model has a "look", that looks great from the front. From the side, not so much. Reality ruins perfection.
The fashion Show rages into the night. Me, I go home easily catching the 610 train. The universe of fashion is not mine, the vacation is over.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
No Stars
Sometimes you gotta try something different. I've been taking lots of.portraits lately but tonight I took a car ride North to photograph star trails. Stupid clouds. I had a.few but before I could even get the exposure right they disappeared.
Oh well.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Test
This blog isn't appearing in my settings - so I was dead scared it was gone. All that beautiful prose wasted!
But I found it (using Google). And I can post... I just can't change any of the settings.
Irritating.
But I found it (using Google). And I can post... I just can't change any of the settings.
Irritating.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
You're now my pet project
This used to be a phrase used by an old roommate for whenever we had done something to slight him which might warrant revenge. Nothing to do with photography at all.
My normal MO is to find a photography project that interests me, try it briefly, post a few shots and then never repeat that kind of project again. This list would include
- macro shoots of hotwheels toy cars
- star trails (too much light pollution in the city)
- sunsets (too early to wake up)
- model shoots that had little purpose or aim (I expected her to flake)
Being an artist of any kind, whether it be a painter, musician or photographer, requires a level skill and perfection for one subject before moving onto the next. There are varying degrees of effort required to move up a level. For instance, in photography with a little practice, a practitioner can move from "You really suck!" to "You got lucky a few times with these shots" and even to "spouse makes a photo you took as her Facebook profile picture." Buying more expensive equipment rarely affects your level of skill.
Taking it to the next level however also requires additional persistence, practice and patience. That's the level where people you know tell others you don't about your work. That's where unknown people follow you on Twitter or Flickr to see the latest photo you've created. After tens of thousands follow you, even if they are just a niche (like other photographers), you've taken it to the next step. You have moved beyond peer respect but into the realm of Artistic Authority. Media start to ask your opinions on trends in your field. You are asked to speak at conferences or sit in on panels or write brief comments in books written by others.
Moving into the final stage of mastery, your work has become so well known that you become a household name where you do something so well that normal, everyday folk can not only recognize your name when it comes up - but they can even recall your name when presented with your work. If someone were to ask for a list of famous photographers and your name falls into a list that includes Ansel Adams, Annie Leibovitz and Henri Cartier-Brosson, chances are you've moved into a realm of skill that few will ever surpass.
There are perfectly good reasons why I should never achieve that kind of fame or skill. But focusing on the ones that sound like cop-outs (X keeps me from pursuing better photography, where X could be my job, family, house, hobbies, friends or equipment) won't actually help me improve. And I certainly don't want paparazzi hanging outside my home hoping for a photograph (ah irony).
But striving to take it up a notch, to move to the next level, where random strangers retweet or comment on my photos - maybe I could get there. Like Steve Martin said to a question of his success: "Be undeniably good... I always say, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” If somebody’s thinking, “How can I be really good?”, people are going to come to you."
My normal MO is to find a photography project that interests me, try it briefly, post a few shots and then never repeat that kind of project again. This list would include
- macro shoots of hotwheels toy cars
- star trails (too much light pollution in the city)
- sunsets (too early to wake up)
- model shoots that had little purpose or aim (I expected her to flake)
Being an artist of any kind, whether it be a painter, musician or photographer, requires a level skill and perfection for one subject before moving onto the next. There are varying degrees of effort required to move up a level. For instance, in photography with a little practice, a practitioner can move from "You really suck!" to "You got lucky a few times with these shots" and even to "spouse makes a photo you took as her Facebook profile picture." Buying more expensive equipment rarely affects your level of skill.
Taking it to the next level however also requires additional persistence, practice and patience. That's the level where people you know tell others you don't about your work. That's where unknown people follow you on Twitter or Flickr to see the latest photo you've created. After tens of thousands follow you, even if they are just a niche (like other photographers), you've taken it to the next step. You have moved beyond peer respect but into the realm of Artistic Authority. Media start to ask your opinions on trends in your field. You are asked to speak at conferences or sit in on panels or write brief comments in books written by others.
Moving into the final stage of mastery, your work has become so well known that you become a household name where you do something so well that normal, everyday folk can not only recognize your name when it comes up - but they can even recall your name when presented with your work. If someone were to ask for a list of famous photographers and your name falls into a list that includes Ansel Adams, Annie Leibovitz and Henri Cartier-Brosson, chances are you've moved into a realm of skill that few will ever surpass.
There are perfectly good reasons why I should never achieve that kind of fame or skill. But focusing on the ones that sound like cop-outs (X keeps me from pursuing better photography, where X could be my job, family, house, hobbies, friends or equipment) won't actually help me improve. And I certainly don't want paparazzi hanging outside my home hoping for a photograph (ah irony).
But striving to take it up a notch, to move to the next level, where random strangers retweet or comment on my photos - maybe I could get there. Like Steve Martin said to a question of his success: "Be undeniably good... I always say, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” If somebody’s thinking, “How can I be really good?”, people are going to come to you."
Friday, April 29, 2011
Modeling Shoots Lessons Learned
I finally managed to schedule in a photo shoot with a local model/actress from Toronto. I was aiming to enhance my portfolio with something edgy, and figured the local "grafitti art" near a school would be a little more interesting than the white or black backdrops I usually used.
Jasmine arrived on time, and we headed to our shoot location, not far from the Go Station. We were on location and setting up within 15 minutes of meeting her. Smooth.
=> Lesson learned: use professionals and they show up. Using models from Craigslist or teenagers from Model Mayhem have highly variable (negative?) results.
We ignored the dark clouds on the horizon, knowing the forecast told us no rain was coming.
=> Lesson learned: weather forecasting is an inexact science, even when the predictive timeframe is < 1 hr
I quickly set up using my two lights, stands and an umbrella. Within taking my first few shots, the flash, transmitter and stand hit the mud.
=> Lesson learned: even in sheltered outdoor environments, wind will find an umbrella. Luckily, everything continued to work. Maybe use light modifiers that don't catch the wind.
I switched from soft to hard light for both flashes (the plan was one of each). It was necessary to be a little more careful with the direction and power of the lights to avoid hot spots on the grafitti and avoid any harsh, horrible shadows on Jasmine's face.
=> Lesson learned: whatever you planned, expect you'll need to change it up on the fly to play nice with the environment.
I dropped to ISO 200 to darken the available ambient light, and used the harsher direct flashes to make the pictures "edgy". In hindsight, the grafitti was a little hot, so the eye is drawn to the grafitti first and not the model.
=> Lesson learned: take time to review shots on something bigger than a camera LCD screen.
About 75% the way into my shoot, I realized I was still shooting JPG so I switched to RAW. Later, after reviewing the photos on my netbook however, the exposure and white balance were where I wanted them, so RAW wouldn't have added any value.
=> Lesson learned: shooting RAW helps to contain WB and exposure mistakes. Next time, I'll leave myself some wiggle room.
Recycle times were a bit of a problem (I learned later) where 2-3 of the 100 shots didn't flash correctly. Could have been the transmitters, but probably likely the batteries in one of the flashes didn't recycle fast enough.
=> Charge batteries the day of, not the night before.
By 7:30pm, I was starting to be pelted by raindrops. Jasmine was in a better spot and stayed pretty dry. Eventually I called it, we packed up quickly and within minutes we were heading back to the Go Station.
Jasmine arrived on time, and we headed to our shoot location, not far from the Go Station. We were on location and setting up within 15 minutes of meeting her. Smooth.
=> Lesson learned: use professionals and they show up. Using models from Craigslist or teenagers from Model Mayhem have highly variable (negative?) results.
We ignored the dark clouds on the horizon, knowing the forecast told us no rain was coming.
=> Lesson learned: weather forecasting is an inexact science, even when the predictive timeframe is < 1 hr
I quickly set up using my two lights, stands and an umbrella. Within taking my first few shots, the flash, transmitter and stand hit the mud.
=> Lesson learned: even in sheltered outdoor environments, wind will find an umbrella. Luckily, everything continued to work. Maybe use light modifiers that don't catch the wind.
I switched from soft to hard light for both flashes (the plan was one of each). It was necessary to be a little more careful with the direction and power of the lights to avoid hot spots on the grafitti and avoid any harsh, horrible shadows on Jasmine's face.
=> Lesson learned: whatever you planned, expect you'll need to change it up on the fly to play nice with the environment.
I dropped to ISO 200 to darken the available ambient light, and used the harsher direct flashes to make the pictures "edgy". In hindsight, the grafitti was a little hot, so the eye is drawn to the grafitti first and not the model.
=> Lesson learned: take time to review shots on something bigger than a camera LCD screen.
About 75% the way into my shoot, I realized I was still shooting JPG so I switched to RAW. Later, after reviewing the photos on my netbook however, the exposure and white balance were where I wanted them, so RAW wouldn't have added any value.
=> Lesson learned: shooting RAW helps to contain WB and exposure mistakes. Next time, I'll leave myself some wiggle room.
Recycle times were a bit of a problem (I learned later) where 2-3 of the 100 shots didn't flash correctly. Could have been the transmitters, but probably likely the batteries in one of the flashes didn't recycle fast enough.
=> Charge batteries the day of, not the night before.
By 7:30pm, I was starting to be pelted by raindrops. Jasmine was in a better spot and stayed pretty dry. Eventually I called it, we packed up quickly and within minutes we were heading back to the Go Station.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Softboxes
I took some time out to tape together another softbox using a tin dish and a $2 shower curtain. I estimate it reduces.the.flash output by 1 stop. It also just hangs.off the.flash without any real rigging. Won't work outside probably, but it looks like it'll work indoors.
A little small, perhaps, but it smooths out the light a little bit. Might work as an accent light tho.
Now to catch Kaylah!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Touring on the Flashbus
No, its not a bus that goes.around baring parts of themselves to the public (maybe it does actually, have to check). But mostly its a seminar by two well known photogs that have made their living taking pictures with flash. Most everyone has a camera these days, be it in their purse or in their cell phone. Not all those cameras are ideal for off camera flash. But for those of us with a dslr, taking the flash off camera allows the photog to layer light throughout the picture, and create something that pops.
For $100, a bunch of us canucks went down to Buffalo to see Joe Mcnally and David Hobby speak. They informed and entertained. David went through the tasks.of.creating a shot he had done.with a local tech head. Joe actually brought up audience members to photograph using a wealth of expensive, and not so expensive gear.
Pure awesome. Leaders of the next revolution in photography and I got to be in the.first row.
Mind bending.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Sporty Spice and Everything Nice
One of the joys of being a dad is that I get to do sporty stuff with my daughter every Saturday (SportBall) and Sunday (Swimming). The Mississauga community centre system is well stocked full of fun things to do with kids while they grow up, and what’s more wonderful – it’s possible to sign up for the sports stuff – there’s enough supply for the demand.
Today we played basketball – Kaylah “pushed” the ball down from my hands to get the idea of dribbling. We threw the ball through a hula-hoop and “scored” several times. And we tried to get the kids to catch the ball by rolling it along the floor, then later bouncing it to her.
Last week was hockey, with actual hockey sticks, simulating scoring and passing and I can happily report, the NHL scouts ought to be checking her out. Not only does she have great stick-handling abilities, her upper body strength surpasses mine (by scale). Is it too early to provide her with sport-enhancing “vitamins”?
We still have golf, volleyball and tennis to look forward to. SportBall is definitely worth checking out if you’re anywhere in Mississauga… and you have kids.
Otherwise you’ll look a little out of place.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Galleries, Galleries
I’ve started to look a little into online galleries. I previously installed Gallery2 that had a huge number of features (most of which I did not know existed). And last night I installed ZenPhoto which does quite a bit less. The question is – what do I want?
Gallery2 has a lot of features. Users can “Add to Cart” photos they like, and buy prints immediately and easily off Shutterfly.com (which I’ve used for photobooks, but never for prints as it takes too long, compared with just going to Costco or Blacks). I don’t see any feature that kick-backs money to me for sending them to Shutterfly – but I guess it’s convenient for family members to just have it done.
ZenPhoto seems to have a lot less. My domain name web hosting site provides easy installation of apps where they handle all the maintenance (like upgrading and patches) and I just worry about the content. Call it free outsourcing. I tried it last night and I’m not convinced that Gallery2 should go away just yet.
The reason I’m looking is because Picasa and Flickr all have content limits of 1GB or so unless you pay. I already pay for a website with a gallery – so it makes sense to figure out how to create something usable.
So my business requirements are:
- Free or an inexpensive one-time charge to install
- Allow part or all of the website to be hidden from the public
- Integration with online photo labs (preferably in Canada like Blacks, Costco, Walmart or Loblaws)
- Referral bonus from those online photolabs, since I’m sending business their way (gallery2 apparently pockets the money to go toward development and only has two willing photo labs)
- Able to present photos on dark grey or black for optimum viewing
- Able to upload lots of jpegs all at once (a difficulty for Gallery2 sometimes)
Nice to Haves
- Plugin to upload directly from Picasa and/or Photoshop
UPDATE:
With the most recent trial version of Photoshop Elements 9, I can upload directly to smugmug.com – which for a yearly fee allows me to sell photos commercially, or just give clients access to a professional photolab at Costco prices. It saves them the trouble of uploading the large files, they get a decent price, and I can update them at will, with no upload limits. Clients can also get non-public access to the website galleries. Cost is $160 or so for the pro fee. My recent reading indicates Gallery2 is still a contender – it now integrates with a Pro photolab that now sends photographers a check each month if users buy their photos. Cool.
Monday, August 16, 2010
A Contract More Binding Than Rogers’
Yeah I’m talking about a wedding. Yesterday, my cousin chose to get married on a Sunday, on the beach with her now ex-boyfriend Dave. Imagine looking out onto a beautiful Lake Huron beach, devoid of fat, pasty-white tourists (E-coli scare) and only the blue waves cresting gently while boats slowly sailed across the horizon.
It was a beautiful day to be sure. I loved the chardonnay which surprised me – I’ve never seen Tobi drink a drop in my life. Her sister Jenn had assistants scouring the wedding for photos. They had far more expensive cameras and lenses than I. Knowing Tobi’s memories were in good hands, I took shots of the camera-women themselves: specifically Jenn laying flat on the main street of Kincardine photographing the couple casually walking down the street. Those driving were quite polite to stop. Mississaugans would not have been so kind.
For those of you keeping track, this would be the third daughter of Joyce and John Farrell to be wed. THe last is Tania who remains in the single scene, without a doubt the least neurotic of the Farrell sisters.
Just kidding Teresa/Tobi/Jenn. Please don’t hurt me.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Model Mayhem
No seriously, that’s the site: www.modelmayhem.com And no, it’s Not Safe For Work (NSFW).
It’s a Facebook for Fotographers except with only one millionth the functionality. If Facebook ever introduces multiple ‘faces’ (for example a professional banking face, a friend face, a family face and a professional photographer face) I don’t see any reason for this site at all. But it has widespread acceptance amongst models, touch up artist (TUA), make up artists (MUA), photographers and hair stylists.
So as an upcoming awesome photographer, I wanted to get my name out there. Especially for models in Mississauga who might need a creative genius to take their portrait. A few people jumped to be my friend right away. I think the idea is, if you’re a stylist or photographer, you want as many connections as possible. It’s like when you’re single: date enough people and eventually you’ll hit if off with someone. And yeah, if I need a Touch Up Artist or Make-Up Artist, I’d probably start with my friends list before searching elsewhere (especially when a TUA can be anywhere in the world).
It’s just another step forward in learning to make great portraits.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Double Exposure – Reality TV Just for Me
Ever since Survivor took America by storm, reality TV remains consistently on our TV sets. Sure there were attempts before (notably Cops) but putting beautiful dumb people together vying for $1 mil was a recipe for success… which was repeated over and over and over. Big Brother, The Bachelor/ette, and Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire all have appeared with various levels of longevity. My wife and I watch So You Think You Can Dance religiously – and now I’ve found another.
Ruth probably won’t watch this one though. Double Exposure is about two photographer business partners that arrange and take photos of celebrities and fashion models around the world aka every photographer’s dream. Mind bogglingly expensive equipment, interesting locations (the house where the Big Lebowski was filmed) and tonnes of assistants all come together in this reality TV show to create beauty. They make great images and I’m carefully watching each studio shoot to see what they do differently to make me that much better.
But like all reality TV shows, there is a bit of set up and overacting (the producer and female photographer have heart-to-heart conversation alone in a hotel room, with the documenting cameras filming everything straight on). The male photographer drove the business into bankruptcy with his purchases of mind bogglingly expensive equipment, location rentals and tonnes of assistants they need to pay.
They also yell at each other a lot. Sure it detracts from the photoshoots, but it’s still entertaining.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
You Ruined the Wedding, You Ruiner!
Last summer I was a volunteer photographer at Scotiabank’s Wheelchair Challenge. There were a few other photographers there and for the most of the day, we each busied ourselves trying to capture interesting things that happened during the event. We did talk to each other before the event got started, something photographers do to gauge the other guys’ equipment/experience/skill. One guy called himself a wedding photographer and had just finished a wedding the day before.
We both had Nikon D50 cameras and so we briefly discussed how great they are (making ourselves feel good in the process). He talked about how he did a wedding session for X. Then he complained about his lens not being sharp – that it was “soft”. I mentioned that he should always shoot at least a third of a stop (f6.3 for my 55-200mm f4-5.6 lens) than the lens’ fastest aperture . He agreed he always tried to keep it at f6.3. But his lens was slower than mine. It was a Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 and he was shooting wide-open at 200mm. A guarantee for soft, subpar photos.
First – the lens isn’t a sharp lens – it’s a do-all lens that you sacrifice everything to have a lens that can vary between landscape, everyday shooting and medium telephoto photographs. Second – it’s Sigma – a third party lens that is okay but not awesome. Like buying no-name ice-cream. The quality just isn’t there. And last – he didn’t know his equipment or what its limits were. He didn’t know that he ought to have better equipment for what he was doing or how to make it work to its optimal level.
Weddings happen once (for the lucky people). The best way to remember them positively is to have beautiful photos of the happy bride and groom and anyone else who made the day more pleasant. Videos in my opinion, are too real and cause the actual memories to come flooding back. But I digress…
Even if he was volunteering to be the wedding photographer, everything about him reeked of an incompetent amateur. I don’t do weddings because I’m not awesome yet. I think I’d like to – and be paid – but until I can guarantee someone that I’ll nail enough digital moments to last their lifetime, they should hire someone better.
Only call me if the only person willing to do it is that guy. Then maybe.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Google Picassa Issues with RAW
It should be noted that Google Picassa is quite upfront about its method to convert RAW files here. The problem is, whenever it encounters a RAW file, it automatically converts it to JPG using its own optimal settings. Unfortunately, your camera will almost always do a better job converting to JPG then the automatic JPG converter in Picassa. I’ve noticed this as well, and my recommendation is to tell Picassa to ignore RAW files completely.
Use something like Adobe Camera Raw (found in Photoshop Elements) or a software that’s similar to convert to JPG on your computer, then export. It’s a pain in the ass for sure, but you shot RAW for a reason. If you wanted an automatic JPG converter, your camera is far, far better at it then the auto-Picassa converter.
If you *really* want to see your shots in Picassa the way they should, shoot RAW+JPEG (basic). It won’t really add much space to your already fat RAW files, and you can tell the difference quickly by comparing the JPG your camera created and Picassa’s attempt to know how well the automatic converter succeeded.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Photoshopping in Picasa
Photoshop is $700. Picasa is free. You definitely get your moneys worth – but for most of us Picasa is “good enough”. Welcome to my primer on how I can use Picasa in a pinch to clean up portraits at my local camera club shoots.
This is Picasa:
This is some photographer during a test shot. My camera has a few dust spots (or hair) either on the lens or the sensor. The file was shot in JPG but RAW can be modified as well.
Crop using the first option in the “Basic Fixes”. Too much white space on either side of the subject.
Straighten if your photo needs it. Just push the slider left or right. Little explanation is needed:
Red-Eye Reduction: Picasa is pretty good at finding it – but portraits rarely need it when you’re not using on-camera flash.
Retouch: Use the Retouch command to get rid of any dust spots or wall blemishes that detract from the photo. It’s also a god-send for getting rid of acne, scars or even wrinkles. Don’t get carried away though or it’ll start to look like a cover of Cosmo. Click first where you want to get rid of the dust spot. Then click another part of the (clean) wall to clone/retouch. Don’t like freckles? Get rid of those as well. Zoom using the slider at the bottom.
After hitting Apply, you’re now looking at a photograph that can viewed by a client. A few other settings I can play with to give the photo a little more “pop”:
Add Highlights, Fill Light and shadows if you didn’t have the correct camera settings when you took the photo. Definitely something you should correct on-set when you have the lighting, but mistakes happen.
Also if your White-Balance is off, try finding something in the photo that should be white and setting that as your base. Select the Eye-dropper (under the Color Temperature slider) then select something that should be perfectly white. It should correct the colour balance. Otherwise just play with the “Colour Temperature” sliding it to the left or right if your photo looks to warm (orange) or cold (blue). On a portrait, the colour balance should be Flash and rarely am I fiddling with temperature.
Otherwise I don’t touch the Effects menu in Picasa. To each his own though.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Lightning Flashes
Last night at the Meadowvale Photography Club, we opened our collective new purchase – a lighting set consisting of two powerful flashes, two not so strong stands to hold them up plus some odds and ends to make them work.
Almost immediately it became apparent one flash wasn’t working. Carefully going through the manual (not helpful) and trying different ways to set the flash off (using the test button and various cameras which we confirmed worked, swapping out parts) we established the bulb must be shot. It was a great reminder about how even the simplest photo shoot can end in peril with just a minor equipment failure.
Now with even more members than ever, we can have multiple lighting stations and models to shoot. Next month we’ll have Ashley back and hopefully others. Our first studio model shoot of the year!
- Send Andrew ideas for external shoots
- Model shoot for Dec 9th, 2009 at old Meadowvale Townhall
- Send Arun your photos if you haven’t already done so
- Leslie St Spit shoot this Saturday
- Butterfly shoot – but it has to be 7am. Let Andrew know if there’s interest
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Accessory 101
No, this isn’t about clothes or fashion. I’m talking about the nifty Asus netbook that I’m using. Pretty much every digital camera has an LCD screen on the back to show the photo you took. The BIG screens these days are about 3”x3”. They’re limited by the camera size, expense and weight but the difference between last generation 2”x2” seems enormous. But what about a 10”x6” screen instead? Impossible? Not with my little netbook.
It’s just not the coolio factor. My netbook works really great. First, it’s light – a mere 2.4 lbs or 1.1kg. My camera and flash might outweigh it. Second – its SD card reader is about 10-17x faster than the one on my desktop. Taking a 5 minute break while on a photo shoot, I could copy them over and show them to the model before they went home… if I wanted to. Third – it runs Picasa or Adobe Elements (barely) should I want to analyze photos while waiting on a train.
Now don’t get me wrong. It’s not perfect. It’s rather small to use as your only computer. But it’s damn close. And at $290USD fit’s not even my most expensive accessory. It’s a $290 netbook with 1GB of ram and 160GB of hard drive space, and it’s a great way to backup your photos. Buying a devoted backup hdd-with-reader-plus-LCD screen seems quaint in comparison.
I still need to colour profile the LCD screen (or figure out any colour casts) to start fixing the white balance/exposure settings on any photos I take, but I’ll get the bugs worked out. I promise.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)