Don't Worry, Stay Happy Taking Photographs

 Go figure I'm a keen photographer, but not really into Stories or Reels, bit over all the ads popping up on YouTube and definitely not in into Facebook or Tik Tok. I set up this blog primarily to share what I was discovering about digital photography. So, what happened?

My suspicion is the rise of social media has gobbled up original content, and used it to keep you watching so they can charge advertisers (and they make squillions). The actual creatives get lost in the millions of copycat wanna-bees and if they receive anything it's a pittance. See my post about Danny Gregory's recent essay.

Really unfortunately we the viewers of social media gets suck into the black hole of the death scroll, picking up the photo to look at social media way too often, swiping and swipe again without really paying attention, not properly looking, swiping and swiping some more. At the end you don't feel refresh, you are more likely to feel frustrated or depressed. As Adam of Firstman Photography points out you are much better off spending the time actually out photographing, getting the benefit of exercise and being out in the real world, perhaps even nature.

It worth watching to the end because Adam gives some very heart-felt encouragement for those of us with a deep passion for and care about photography to stick in there

Well am I doing anything about it! YES

You can make the change too. It's easy to put down your phone and pick up your camera (or click on a different icon/app on your smartphone, phones can be good cameras too).

Ok what about sharing your photos? That will be an upcoming post (soon but not exactly sure when),

Revisiting & Extending my Photographic Punctuation Marks

Its been a while since I wrote about the idea of including pictorial punctuation marks in my camera’s photostream. It much handier (pun intended) than taking notes or trusting memory. As I’m taking more and more group image sets this is a very easy way to find and group like images just in the thumbnail view (eg PhotoMechanic as I load the photos where I can colour code them accordingly or in OnOne Photo RAW where I like to group Stitched Panoramas, HDR and Focus Stacked sets in their own sub–directories). This avoids a lot of wasted time churning thorough a mountain of similar images, and keeps things a little better organised.

Think of these first the hand signals as visual brackets

Panoramic Sequence, and direction of shooting. I still don’t use this all the time, because a panoramic series is usually pretty self explanatory. When I have used this I will add this marker photo before the panoramic sequence is shot. I further identify the stitched panorama series with a Green Colour Class

 HDR Bracketed Sequence, I use this to indicate I am taking 3 or 5 a photo sequence. This is another punctuation marker that I normally use to precede a sequence. I usually don’t bother put this in front of every HDR set in a continuous series (such as combined HDR and Stitch Panorama because it is relatively easy to find the groupings). I then use the Yellow Colour Class to easily identify the HDR sequences.

Focus Staking. or other multi-bracket techniques. This is a new marker because it can be very difficult to discern the beginning and/or end of focus bracketed sequences when more that two or three shots are involved. I have therefore adopted the approach of adding this at the end of each sequence. I use the Blue Colour Class to identify this type of bracketing.

I like to think of the next hand sigalns as simple punctuation marks  ; (=battery) . (=end)  ? (=cut)  ! (=good)

Battery Change, still my way of recording when I changes my battery, looking back through your photos and finding the previous battery change photo, then just subtracting the new photo number from the previous gives you the battery life in terms of number of shot per battery charge. On the Pentax DSLRs this can be weeks to months worth of shooting but on the mirrorless Olympus this is generally days to a week. Doing this let me work out I get around 750 photos from a single battery charge from my new Olympus OMD EM10iii, which is about double the claimed 330 shots.

Full Stop, End is a marker to end one series or starts another. I used this often for a variety of breaks or just simple visual markers to aid looking through a large collection.

Cut, not something I use much, but I have used this simple bit of sign language to remind myself that the previous photos should be deleted. I never just flag photos to be deleted I immediately delete them as soon as they are loaded onto my computer, I also delete this marker.

Good, another new punctuation mark just to remind me that close to this marker is a photo I liked at the time, maybe good light, composition or just that perfect moment.

Whilst I normally take both Jpeg & RAW, I usually delete the larger RAW version of any punctuation photos, as I never intend to post process them.

Great Weather for a Photo Walk

Photographing the Photographers

Looking Forward, before looking Back

This time of year most folk on the social nets are looking back over the year that was, which is fine but I am focused on looking forward I am already well into the planning of new projects for next year.

First and most significant is my endless summer in 2017 which is a private Art and Photography project visiting and recording some icon parts of the landscape in the sunshine. This brings about some technical issues which many artists and photographers struggle with. How to capture and photography the beauty of the harsh Australia Light. You can follow on my travels and work process at a few social media places including @oz_endless_summer on instagram, @ozendlesssummer on Twiter and  An Endless Summer group on flickr

The second project is a Photographers Sketch Book, with is following Ted Forbe’s assignments on his You Tube channel “The art of Photograpy” Whilst the sketchbook is something very physical, you can follow along both its content and ideas behind the images on my tumblr sub-blog mapopaj

Also there are likely to be plenty of posts relevant to these projects in this blog and my normal instagram profile @apimageo

The Human Camera - Stephen Wiltshire

Stephen Wiltshire has an amazing talent, he can sketch incredibly detailed images from memory.

Photocentric Stocking Stuffers

The past few years I have had a look around at the paraphernalia and small gadgets photographers (and aspiring photographers) may like. I try to keep the price down so they are good stocking fillers or perhaps a gift into a Kris Kringle or for a relative. Well the things at the cheaper end are pretty much the same as previous years,sorry but that’s life. So I have added a couple of more expensive things you could consider

True Stocking fillers for photographers

Well outside the usual suspects, mugs that look like lenses, lens cleaning kits and lens pens , or USB Memory Card Readers I can’t see much in the under $20 range that might excite a photographer anymore.
The one possible exception is memory, SD cards are getting larger capacity (but not all cameras can use the high capacity SDHC cards (so check camera make model, most older cameras will be able to handle the Straight Sd models with come in 1 & 2GB capacities). In simple terms an 8 GB (gigabyte) card will be large enough for any photographer, perhaps except for those taking high Definition movies. After capacity, the faster the card the better (its show as the the number inside the @ symbol or called class, larger numbers are faster, again make sure the camera can read these newer cards). Well known brands like Scandisk and Lexar are a little more expensive but likely to be more reliable. (~AUD$9.99+)
If you are considering giving SD cards perhaps include an SD card Wallet as well.

Slightly More Expensive and Just for Fun

Selfie Poles, (and monopods) seem to me the big new toy this year. Frankly I’m not so sure they are necessary but there are a lot of damn selfies these days all disturbing close up and distorted, and all so similar. So anything to change the view (ie get a bit further away and thus less distorted) could be an advantage (ie give you more views on Social media). The extender pole shown here with the butterfly bracket caught my eye. Importantly it has a remote trigger in the handle (you do need to plug in a cable to your earphone jack) and no (expensive) app to have to download. (~$30 to AUD$100)
The Photoshop Fridge Magnet set is a bit pricy and I can not find any Australia Distributors, but it is available from Photojojo (who have a good reptuation delivering here but you’ll need to add priority UPS delivery to get things by Christmas). It looks like fun, you get magnets that are Abode PS menus, toolbars and Pop-up Dialgue box. Stick your photos to the fridge door (or a magnetic noticeboard and create the illusion that your are a mater photoshopper! (~USD$25 plus frieght)

More expensive but likely to be useful/appreciated

Vouchers are often seen as a cop-out but giving the voucher for a photo book can be the right trigger for the lucky person receiving the gift to produce something they will be proud off. If you know someone that takes hundred of photos but they all just sit on their computer or cloud account consider giving them a photo book voucher (starting in the range AUD $50 to $100 should get you a decent 20 page book). You may find cheaper offers around but you probably want to make sure that doesn’t come with an extra and expensive deliver and or too few pages
Stylus pen for Ipad (or Android Tablet), most of the hype for these is around Paper for IPads app and I gather its been a bit of a hit and miss affair. What I have heard first hand is that wacom’s bambo or intuos stylus have better drivers/compatibility for a whole range of applications including many photo editors, making tasks that are difficulty for fat fingers a breeze. (~AUD$30+)
A simplie fun drawing app (free or low cost) or itunes voucher to get such an app might be a nice addition so the pen can be used straight away.
Speaking of tablets and pens, I can strongly recommend having a pen tablet input for most photo processing software. These can be expensive but a simple system to start with is the bamboo fun pen & touch. Which comes bundled with both Adobe Photo Shop Elements (Mac or Windows) & Corel Painter Essential (windows only) and by looking around you will probably get this at a good price (~AUD$ 220+).
Finally a word of warning. if you intend  buying camera gear, like new cameras, lens, or even tripods for an existing photographer. It is important you check with them that it is firstly suitable/compatible and that they would actually use it. To avoid a very expensive present that sits on the shelf.

PS If you are in Melbourne the mga gallery has a great range of photographically oriented gifts 

Where do Photographers go in Autumn?

I now know where Melbourne's photographers all go on a sunny day in autumn. They go en mass to the Alfred Nicholas Memorial Gardens, just on the edge of Sherbrooke forest, in the Dandenong ranges. I have never seen so much high end gear and tripods.

What puzzled me a little was the number of very long lenses, when most of the scenery cried out for wide angel approach. Even with my 18-50 zoom (~ 30-75mm in 35mm talk) I was not able to get the right perspective of the lake. So I ended up taking a series of 32 photos from the boat house end of lake, which I was able to run through autostitch and produce a 9,400 wide panorama (unfortunately its a bit pointless trying to upload any image this size). Even so it may be worth zooming in and seeing how many photographers you can count. The wonderful yellow tree on the island is a ginkgo biloba (the maiden-hair tree), not shown at its best here. The reflections in the lake alone a worth a special trip, and the walk back up the hill.

Selling those pixels

I have always been on the look out for simpler ways to sell my work.Using the net to do it is appealing but and its a really big BUT …its a lot of work, unless you sign that over to a middleman who takes takes all the profit. (for example selling a photo ebook on the apple store that cost more than $10, sees apple taking a commission of 70%+, I have “sold” a few large prints of redbubble but haven’t yet reached the point where I have earned enough to get a cheque mailed to me, the actual amount you get from many stock photograph services is tiny and shrinking! The 25-30% commissions most galleries charge is starting to look ok. It is possible that Pixel.com, which is an offshoot of Fine Art America, is positioning itself in this “we do everything for you” market but they do seem to be making a few sensible noises to appeal to “real”* artists and photographers. If nothing else I like their video on YouTube (above).
I’m not really sure it will succeed, specifically can they attract the serious art buyers, but I’m willing to give it a try. Watch this blog space for details of my work on pixel.com

* by “real” I just mean those creatives that need to make money from their work to live and keep creating, rather than hobbyists or those with the luxury of another income stream.

Punctuation for Photographers

There are times when as a photographer, particularly if you are taking a lot of photos at one time, when you want to take a note. Perhaps you can read the photo number (although most DSLRs actual have countdown counters, which give you and approximate idea of space left for new photos). A simple approach is to have a simple code for just photographing hand signs or things in you hand like the lens cap. Here is my photographic version of such punctuation.

Full Stop, a marker that perhaps end one series or starts another, or just a reminder to take a good look at the previous photo(s). This can be used for a variety of breaks or just simple visual markers when looking through a large collection.

 

Panoramic Sequence, and direction of shooting. I must admit i don’t use this all the time, because a panoramic series is usually pretty self explanatory. When I have used this I will add this marker photo before the panoramic sequence is shot.

 

HDR Bracketed Sequence, in this case I am taking 5 a photo sequence. Alternatively you can just use 3 fingers for a simple set. This is another punctuation marker that I normally use to precede a sequence.

 

Cut, not something I hope to have to use much, but I have used this simple bit of sign language to remind myself that the previous photos should be deleted.

 

 

Battery Change, this is just my way of recording when I changes my battery, looking back through your photos and finding the previous battery change photo, then just subtracting the new photo number from the previous gives you the battery life in terms of number of shot per battery charge.

Whilst I normally take both Jpeg & RAW, I usually delete the RAW version (which can be large) of any punctuation photos.

How many is too many?

This post on “Are There too Many Visual Artists Online?” by artpromotivate, touches on a few key issues that has been bugging me.  Flickr, Instagram & google+ are pumping out masses of imagery, …but

• How much of it is really art?
• Are there even enough collectors and collections to sustain the apparent explosion in artists and photographers?

The first key issues is that an image on the net is usually not the art work. So many think that once they see a small image on their screen they have seen the art. However this is not true the original art work has a physicality, that relates the scale it is produces and how its surface reacts in different lighting and position. A blown up photo hanging on a gallery wall will look quiet different to its reproduction on the net, no matter how much colour calibration has been done. I expect the true art and photography collectors and curators know this already and they are carefully about purchasing off the net. In other words physical art and brick and mortar galleries still have a place.

The second key issue is the decline of originality, this is really a personal view. The social web and the “look at me” celebrity obsessions are actually producing and facilitating an explosion of imitators, ok copy cats, and a lot of plagiarist (they just steal and  repost your work as their own). What was once original suddenly floods the bandwidth with lesser but superficially much the same works and boredom takes over. The general lack of attributions means that it is pretty much impossible to find the creative individual behind the avalanche of imitators. For a collector this is a real buyer beware situation. If you are a creative and have something really unique, but easily cloned, it might not be a place you want to set your work free within.

The final issue is simple exposure. Yes posting your art on the net can potentially get it seen by a much wider audience, even an international one. So go and join the online throng but remember the real buyers might be wary, and still prefer physical exhibitions and galleries. There is a real potential to have your creations copied into oblivion. Staying original and creative may be easier if you don’t join the crowd and support your local gallery.

Last Minute Christmas Gifts for Your Photo Tragic

Some folk are hard to buy gifts for, none more so than the keen photographer. So here are a few suggestions for gifts, ranging from stocking fillers up to something special. The links here are generally to Australian sites, but a google search should give you the equivalent suppliers/websites in your area.

Stocking fillers

Most photographer could do with more Memory Cards, most cameras used SD cards, and 4 GigaBytes is a popular size and can probably be picked up for just under $10. It is worthwhile checking on which cards your photographer uses, some older cameras won’t be able to use the HC (higher capacity) cards and a lot of high end camera still use compact flash cards. If your special photographer already a few cards they might appreciate a card wallet.

USB Flash Memory Keys, whilst they probably won’t connect to any camera they are very handy in any camera bag. They can act as temporary photo backup storage, or a more universal way to share photos around. I have found carrying a few photographically oriented portable app around on a USB key in my camera bag has been a great travel resource. The PortableApps.com Platform is a free download that lets your photographer carry all their favorite apps on a portable device or cloud drive and use them on any PC.

Not all computers have SD or compact flash slots so a Multi-card reader can be very handy in any camera bag. Alternatively most cameras can be uploaded via a cable (normally an USB cable), probably an appropriate cable will be supplied with the camera, but self retracting or a colorful versions of these cables can make a harder to loose addition to your photographer’s kit (but be careful to check the type of cable required).

Smartphone lens attachments, have till now largely focused on iPhone compatibility but the cute suction cup Jelly lenses will fit most smartphones and come in a variety of “fun” effect like kaleidoscope, star bust and even wide angle. Creative types are most likely to have fun with the special effect lenses, while the more serious types might prefer a wide angle or macro lens, but don’t expect them to produce “high spec” photos, they are for fun.

VIP and member Club Cards, that offer ongoing discounts, are often good value. For example PhotoXpert now trade out of the old rabbit stores in most locations, and your photographer will have the opportunity to post on-line of via an in-store kiosk. waiting a day or so for processing also help lower the price of prints even more

You can also see my stocking filler list from last year for a couple of extra ideas. The gifts get more expensive from here on.

May Seem Boring but Good Gifts

If your camera tragic has a fancy camera, ask if they have a spare battery (they are not often supplied). This may not sound an exciting gift but once given there will be undoubted be many times when your gift is fondly remembered. Dead batteries and filling the memory card are the two most common reasons for missing that great photo opportunity. Digital cameras can be very hard on batteries (its mainly the LCD screen that draw a lot of power) and thus they usually have special Ni-Lithium batteries and worse they are usually all different for different model camera so get all the details (best to make note of what on the back of the existing battery, don’t just trust the camera shops catalogue)

Lens caps are easy to loose, and there are a lot of replacement caps around but the snap-on type that can be taken off by pinching in the middle (Nikon style) or outside are definitely the easiest access and use. Unfortunately they only seem to come in black and are just as easy to loose. There are also some very colorful version that may be easier to find.

Something different

USB Pocket Projector, there are some amazing tiny projectors around that plug into a USB port and they generally only have a 640n by 480 pixel resolution but this is fine for a good YouTube video and simple presentation of “family” or small group slide shows and wont take up much room in your laptop bag or backpack.If you are unsure about their capability ask for a demo

 

Stylus and pen tablets are not as popular as they should be. Editing images on an iphone, or ipad mini is a bit tedious if you have normal sized fingers and a simple stylus can make all the difference. For work on a PC I have a wacom bamboo tablet that operate in both a touch and pen mode and it is unbelievable good when you start working with an adjustment brush, localized corrections and touch ups,  A word of warning, I may already be inclined to work that way as I sketch a lot. but some folk that have only every used the mouse can find using a pen tablet to interact with a computer very daunting. All you need to do is hide their mouse for a day or two and they will soon convert.

Software

When it comes to software, the first thing people discuss is Adobe Photoshop. So I need to warn you the CS5 or CS6 version around now are very VERY expensive, have a VERY LONG learning curves and have lots of features that too few people use. In the hands of an expert they can do amazing things BUT photoshop seem to frustrate most folk. That is why there are so many books on learning photoshop, it a hard slog. So look at these alternative first

Photoshop elements is a cut down version of its bigger brother, with most of the basic features. a much shorter learning curves and an attractive price. It is the right place to start when you are new to photo post processing.

 

 

Most keen photographers may already have Lightroom. also from adobe and now included with the photoshop family, but if they don’t already have it Lightroom would be a great gift. It doesn’t have a long learning curve, of Photoshop CS6, the editing of RAW files is easy and quick and there is a lot else to like, especially that it is non-destructive (it always keeps the unaltered originals and just stores the post-processes you apply in its database) so it wont cause any grief.

 

AfterShot Pro is a lot like Lightroom, including the non-destructive style, maybe a little simpler to pick up, but has the powerful RAW processing tools, including noise ninja. I use Lightroom and am very happy with that but I was impressed with a demo of AfterShot and I like other corel products I use.. It’s a bit cheaper than Lightroom in Oz

 

 

The Knowledge

Perhaps the greatest gift to any photographer is the knowledge to take better photos, and this takes time to learn and practice to perfect. There are photobooks a plenty, but be warned a lot of them go tediously through Photoshop features and there is probably a new one for each version update (so I would avoid those) but some research into a local photo course, given by a well know photographer, through Tafe, a camera store or even on-line can make very memorable gifts.

What Not to Buy

Here are some things that it is better to let a photographer choose for him or herself, new cameras, tripods, cameras bags (yes camera bags can be a very personal thing) and lenses. First there is such a variety of gear and features, but more important your photographer probably has a particular preference/style and so camera shop gift cards are a better alternative to actual equipment here. Photo apps for smartphones are also probably best left to the photographers own personal choices (and both apple iTunes store and Google Play offer gift cards).

Photographers Stocking Fillers

I had hoped to get this finished last week, but here is a list of smaller items that a photographer might appreciate in his or her Christmas stocking (I have tried to keep below $20/item)

Memory cards

One of the beauties of digital photography is you can take lots of picture without spending a fortune getting them processed. The limit really to how many pictures is the capacity and number of memory cards. If your photographer use SD cards, get him or her a few more and perhaps a card wallet to hold them. Right at the moment 2GB & 4GB cards are the best value and hold decent number of photos (even RAW) However check that the camera can take SDHC cards (HC is for High Capacity)

USB Memory Card Reader

You don’t need to buy the expensive ones, a simple all in one card reader with a USB plug can be stored in you camera bag. Then when you are on holiday or you are out and forgot your cameras upload cable you will have a backup.

Baby Tripods

There is a multiplicity of these from tiny desktop legs, that only support small compact cameras (not larger DSLRs), to the unusually named gorillapod, that has flexible legs, that can even be wrapped around a stable object but only a 325g lifting capacity.
One nifty small tripod-ish support that is a fraction dearer than my under $20 limit is the manfrotto pocket support. Its strong enough to support most grownup DSLR but small enough to leave on your camera.

Dust Cleaners

Notice I haven’t used the term lens cleansers, that is because most lenses these days are coated with specially formulates but thin anti glare and flare coatings. these layers are very easily rubbed off with even the softest cloth. Also it is a good idea not to use and liquid lens cleaners on your lens or even the LCD screen on the back of the camera. A soft micro-fibre cloth, not a paper tissue which will leave troublesome fibres everywhere, is generally all that is required to keep your camera body clean. An old fashion brush and blower are also useful.
Dust on the cameras sensor is a different matter and the camera owner should consult his/her camera manual.

Gift Vouchers

Most good camera stores have gift vouchers covering a wide range of items, from actual photography demonstrations and lessons, book to discount prints and photobooks. It seems such voucher begin at around $15 and can run into the $100s (it could buy a camera) So don’t get carried away keep the vouchers simple when giving them as the stocking filler.

Hot Shoe Triple Axis Spirit Level.

This is a pretty specific bit of gear but very useful for anyone who is keen on multi-image stitched panorama. Haven’t found an Australian supplier yet, but included it in the list in case you spot it a a camera shop.