Gift Shopping For Your Photographer

Thanksgiving Day is upon us, followed immediately by the Christmas shopping season. My wife works in retail, so the term Black Friday takes on more ominous overtones. Personally I love Christmas, but I hate the whole shopping thing. In my opinion people who camp out in front of stores to be the first in line to buy something need professional help. That being said, if you are in the shopping mood and looking for a gift or two for a photographer this list of suggestions may help.

Wedding Photography Blues ... continued

Can you imagine being a wedding photographer and finding out that one of your clients is suing you... over a wedding in 2003 ! And the man bringing the lawsuit is no longer married to the woman he wed that day. Totally nutty!

Here is a link for more on the frivolous lawsuit.

The Haunted Edifice

The world famous haunted attraction Erebus in downtown Pontiac, photographed just before haunting season had begun. Shot in color, I converted the images to black and white because they reminded me of scenes out of an old 1950's horror flick. In particular the image below, with the two old cars passing by, evokes a spirit (no pun intended) of a "B" movie visual. As Sir Graves Ghastly used to say "Happy Hauntings!"

Amazing World Of MicroPhotography

Check out Nikon's "best of" gallery of micro photography. This is a side of the photographic world few of us will ever be able to indulge in. These are truly awesome images of the unseen micro world!

Wild Photo Adventures

If you watch TV via direct digital signal as opposed to cable or satellite feed, you may have noticed the extra channels that some of the stations offer. One such extra is the PBS Channel 56-3 aka "Create TV". One of their featured series is Wild Photo Adventures. Each week host Doug Gardner travels out to a variety of natural environments to photograph landscapes and wildlife. Good tips are offered as the series gives you a real feel for what it takes to be a wild life photographer. It reminds me of the old Michigan Outdoors series but instead of fishing rods or rifles, these outdoors-men are utilizing cameras.

Wild Photo Adventures

Check out their site for additional details.

Here Comes The Sun Chief

I thought this hood ornament had a rather majestic look to it. With back lighting and the low angle helping to add to the monumental feel of the chief's bust. Still, I wanted to emphasize the power of the iconic image even more so I added the spotlighting in Photoshop to take it up another notch as our old friend Emeril would say.

Fakin' It

Here's an interesting little article about an award winning nature photographer who, unbeknownst to anyone, was creating his images on a computer, not shooting them Au-naturel as advertised.
Wildlife Photographer Admit Faking Shots.

Nothing wrong with using the latest technology to create images, but don't try and sell it as straight up photography.

Steel and Chrome Still Lifes

The beauty of the American automobile in close up for your viewing pleasure.

More Dream Cruisin'

Friday and Saturday - the Woodward Dream Cruise hits it's peak! 12 Mile in Berkley - the Classic Car Parade.


A Chevy parade makes the loop in Pontiac.



Betty Boop makes the scene at the Car Show at the Phoenix Center.


One of the oldest and still rolling!

Cruise-mas Eve

The Woodward Dream Cruise officially happened Saturday August 20, but car geeks were up and down Woodward and environs cruising and showing off their vehicles for at least a week prior.

Friday's Berkley Classic Car Parade helps kick off the Dream Cruise. An hour long rolling exhibit of American sheet metal.

Then back to Woodward -


More cruising photos to come!

Pre-Dream Cruise Cruisin'

The former one day event known as the Woodward Dream Cruise now lasts a week or more as evidenced by the hundreds of classic cars parking and driving up and down Woodward on Tuesday night.

Urban Still Lifes

Mention the words "still life" and I immediately think of painting classes I have taken where the instructor set up bowls of fruit or vases of flowers on a table with a drapery background. But it doesn't always have to be that way. I decided to pursue a series of urban still lifes - a bit grittier than the typical bowl of fruit.

McCartney Photo Op

Reading all the articles about Paul McCartney's recent visit to Detroit evoked memories of the 2005 McCartney concert I attended at the Palace of Auburn Hills. I may be biased, having been a Beatles fan since age 12, but for my money it was the finest concert experience I have ever had.

One photographer had the opportunity to go one step beyond - not just attending the McCartney concert at Yankee Stadium but being able to take photos. One big drawback - the photographers were brought in to shoot the first three songs, and only the first three. The third song of the set had hardly begun and the photographers were already being escorted out the door.

Check out the full article and a few of the night's images here - McCartney in NY

A Little Winter To Cool Things Down

With our recent run of days with temps topping 90 degrees and a heat index over 100, I thought it appropriate to offer a few images to help cool you out. Understandably, we all like to complain when the weather is too hot or too cold. Fortunately here in Michigan we receive a pretty even dose of both and more than a few days somewhere in between that we can truly enjoy.

Do You See a Pattern Here?

Here is a link to a gallery of 7 images taken from patterns in nature. Patterns are everywhere, it is simply a matter of focusing your attention on the world around you in order to pick them out. Once you have trained your eye, you will see patterns everywhere.

Patterns gallery

I particularly like the second image of a pond in Acadia National Park, that on first view has a truly bizarre appearance, like hieroglyphics scratched out by aliens on a shimmering surface not of this earth.

A Fabulous Fury

I really liked the look of the front fender and logo on this Fifties Plymouth Fury, photographed at the 2010 Autorama, but the background and numerous reflections from the hall lights were too distracting for my taste. Photoshop to the rescue! I retouched out some of the reflections, de-saturated and blurred the background while adding saturation to the car itself. The final step was to crop in tight to further emphasize the golden logo. I had to sacrifice those great "dog dish" wheel covers but you can't have everything.

Best Places on Earth

The link below features a series of 25 photos of "The best places on Earth to photograph". When you talk about "the best" of anything it is certainly subjective, but these are some awesome sights. The article tells you where they are and what to look for in case you happen to be doing a bit of globe trekking.

Best Places on Earth

It is certainly worth checking out the locations - some may be familiar while others are relatively obscure.

Our Fine Feathered Friends

If a survey is ever done on which profession has the most patient practitioners, nature photographers would have to rank at or near the top of the list. Numerous times I have read about nature photographers laying for hours on end out in the woods or jungle land waiting for a wild animal to enter their frame of view for the shot that viewers will marvel over. Or the people that produce those awesome nature shows on TV who shoot for weeks or even months to have just one hour of usable material.

Me, I'm not quite that patient a person, but I did make an effort to capture a few shots of our fine, feathered friends as they visited our backyard. Keeping my camera with long lens at hand and ready to go for just the right moment, only to have the bird fly away before I could snap the shutter. End result - lots of empty frames, lots of blurry images and a few pictures that are keepers.

Beware!

Just added this image to my "Cruising" store on Zazzle . Originally photographed at a car show during the Dream Cruise in 2009, I did some heavy Photoshop work to create a custom car in the spirit of 1960's show cars from the likes of George Barris, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and others. I may never have the chance to fabricate a custom car of my own out of sheet metal, but it is possible to create a virtual one with a bit of digital magic.

Publish A Book Of Your Own

Viewing your images on paper or computer screen are fine, but have you ever had the desire to see your photos in the pages of a book? Nikon offers up a few suggestions for publishing a photo-book of your own on this link -
Self Publishing

The beauty of the internet and digital technology is that an individual is now able to produce a one of kind, personalized publication of this sort which would have been nearly impossible - to say nothing of being extremely expensive - just a few years ago.

Turn Ordinary Household Items Into Photo Gear

Here is a handy link to an article explaining how to use 11 items found around the house as camera accessories.

everyday items for your camera bag

If you have been shooting for awhile you probably already carry some of these items such as zip close bags and electrical tape. But there are a couple of surprises as well. I think my favorite is the paper plate flash reflector. Anything to help take better pictures without having to spend money.

Flying Photographer

Check out this very cool article on veteran aviation photographer Bob Bowen.

http://www.popphoto.com/Bowen

Imagine hanging out of a plane traveling 200 mph to take a picture. I have enough problems getting sharp images standing still with both feet on the ground.

Make sure you browse through his image gallery for some truly stunning images taken from a vantage point few of us will ever see.

Confessions of a Former Wedding Photographer Pt 2

My foray into the wedding photography biz began when a friend and former co-worker, who had been freelancing as a wedding shooter for several years, decided to go full time with his own studio. This was a big undertaking and he needed to book as many wedding dates as possible, which meant occasional double bookings on a single day. Knowing my background in photography, he asked me to be his back up photographer. I already had a working knowledge of cameras, and more importantly lighting, and my friend would teach me what I needed to know about shooting weddings. My photographic aspirations were in a different direction, but with a newborn baby at home we needed the money, and thus began my career as a wedding photographer.

After a few years as the photographic equivalent of a relief pitcher, I made the big leap to my own freelance wedding business. Working 40 to 50 hours a week on my regular job and then spending up to 10 hours on my feet on a Saturday shooting weddings was not much fun. Add in time spent meeting with clients, sorting proofs and assembling wedding albums - my wedding business was not going to be long lived.

Photo Magazines Galore

Strolling through the local Barnes and Noble I made my way over to the magazine section and was struck by the sheer number of photo related magazines on the shelf. An entire four tier rack covered in photo periodicals. There are publications specializing in black and white photography, while others are devoted to Photoshop, some focus on hardware and some concentrate on technique, and there are lots and lots of general interest titles that cover a little bit of everything related to the photo world. One reason for the over flowing shelf is because they carry not only American but British magazines. If you don't see what you like among the US fare you can always check things out from the UK perspective. Staring at all those shiny covers I was left to wonder - how many copies do they actually sell of all these?

Photography From A Nat Geo Man

If you are looking for inspiration or direction for your travel photography take a peek at Jim Richardson's site.

http://www.jimrichardsonphotography.com/

Richardson, a photographer for National Geographic, offers up not only several galleries worth of eye catching photos from his work around the world but also answers frequently asked questions on shooting for the magazine. Lots of fun stuff to check out and worth a look even if your travels never extend beyond the local borders.

iPhone the most popular camera?

Check out the chart on the link below showing how pictures taken by users with iPhones are coming to dominate submissions on the Flickr photo sharing site.

http://www.popphoto.com/news/2011/04/iphone-4-set-to-become-most-popular-camera-flickr

The other four picture taking devices listed among Flickr's top 5 are "real" cameras. The iPhone certainly has the edge in convenience but I still believe people interested in quality picture taking rather than just snapshots are going to stick with DSLR cameras.

To me what is most mind boggling is the sheer quantity of submissions made to Flickr on a daily basis.

Auction of famous photos

Have a wall that you want to decorate with a few photos? If you do, and if you happen to have an extra twenty or thirty thousand dollars in your pocket, you may want to bid on one of the well known images currently up for bid by Heritage Auctions. Work by such well known photographers as Irving Penn, Ansel Adams and Edward Weston are represented, along with many others. Click on the link to the Scoop collectors site for more details.

http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=34&s=262&ai=107748

There are some very cool images being auctioned, but if you are like me you will have to stick with your own artistic output for your wall decor. And you should be able to do it for well under twenty grand.

Wedding Bell Blues (Confessions of a former wedding photographer)

Springtime and a young mans fancy turns to ... well you know. Warm weather and love can only mean wedding season is near. I know because I once dabbled in wedding photography and from April through October there were a lot of weddings taking place.

Originally I planned on making a single entry on the subject, but as I pondered my brief career in wedding photography I realized there is more than one tale to tell. It takes a certain type of personality to succeed in the wedding biz, and to be frank, I ain't that kind of guy. I first became interested in photography as a form of artistic expression and although there are many excellent photographers who are capable of producing art-like results when doing a wedding, I just didn't have the touch. Hours before beginning an assignment I'd have a knot in my stomach anticipating a long day of chasing bride, groom and various friends and family members in an effort to produce worthwhile pictures of their once in a lifetime (hopefully) event.

Overall, I believe I delivered on the promise of a pictorial album for the couple to cherish always, but I really didn't enjoy doing it. And I never experienced the thrill of a great shot, like I do when photographing for my personal work. It was a job, and at times the job was a chore. Not good, when you need to be up and smiling for 10 hours while recording the big event. Still, there were a number of memorable experiences that I plan on sharing in future entrys - stay tuned!

Architectural Abstracts

If you have an interest in architecture or photography or abstract art or just like looking at cool pictures check out this link from the Popular Photography site.

http://www.popphoto.com/gallery/powerful-towers

The photographer, utilizing a wide angle lens and focusing on architectural details has created a series of very striking images. The subject matter is enhanced even further by being in black and white. This is the kind of stuff that helps to motivate me to get out and take pictures.

A Decisive Moment in Ireland

It is a wee bit late for St. Patrick's Day, but for an Irishman every day is St.Patrick's Day, so I offer up this photo taken during my Ireland trip of 2009. While our fellow travelers spent their time wandering around yet another souvenir shop, my wife and I stepped outside to take in the morning air as well as the local scenery. One thing I do not understand is wasting precious vacation time in a foreign land looking at gee gaws.

Suddenly, while wandering about near the roads edge, a horse drawn carriage wheeled past us at high speed. The carriage was followed by the fellow you see in the photo, who was moving faster yet. If you look closely this expert horseman is controlling three horses - riding one while holding the reins of the other two in each of his hands. An amazing sight! And the rest of our group missed it because they were inside rummaging about for souvenirs.

Rat Rods

I didn't fully appreciate the concept of rat rods until I wandered through the dozens of vehicles on display at Autorama's lower level, low brow exhibit. I had read articles and watched TV shows about the rat rod movement but it took seeing a group of these rusty relics in person for the light bulb to go on. The cars that fit the rat rod bill are backyard garage creations brought to life by guys in tee shirts and jeans, not some high priced custom shop.

I recently added a piece to my Imagekind gallery that I feel captures the rat rod spirit. http://www.imagekind.com/Ford-F-Rat-art?IMID=1c525fa9-0823-406a-acfa-3cba941dc779
A detail shot of the hood from a decades old Ford F100 pick up truck. The rust, pockmarks and patina are good visual indicators of a true rat rod.

Georgia O'Keeffe

It seems as if winter is finally winding down with hints of spring in the air - melting snow, chirping birds and the sun came out from behind the clouds for a few hours on Saturday morning. To encourage the warmer weather I am posting an image of a day lily taken in my wife's garden last summer. I refer to this as my Georgia O'Keeffe tribute as she often painted flowers in close up, creating an image that was more abstract than realistic. Even though she was a painter, when I hear her name O'Keeffe makes me think of photography since she was married to Alfred Stieglitz.

Stieglitz operated An American Place gallery in New York where he mounted photo exhibits and also acted as an agent for many great photographers of the day. Stieglitz was in the fore front of promoting photography as art at a time when many did not consider it a legitimate art form. Today most people accept photography as art - now the debate is whether digital imaging is a legitimate form of photography - seems we can always find something to argue about.

For more on Stieglitz http://www.masters-of-photography.com/S/stieglitz/stieglitz.html

Reflection Of A Sunset

One evening this past winter as I pulled into the driveway of my home I noticed a beautiful sunset scene - - reflected in the glass of my front door. Even though our natural inclination is to look through a window there may be times when you can see much more looking at the window. You never know when you will see more than first meets the eye.

Camera Lens Guide

Found a very informative article at the Popular Photography site on camera lenses -

10 Things You Should Know About Lenses | Photography - PopPhoto.com Offers Camera Reviews and
Exclusive Photo Tips

The description of the various lenses, how they work and where to best use each one is straightforward and easy to understand. I appreciate the inclusion of photos showing examples where each lens type was used. For more visually oriented people, pictures always mean more than endless facts and figures. If you are thinking of adding a lens to your bag, this article may be helpful in the decision as to which lens will work best for you.

A stroll around Autorama

There are an awful lot of light fixtures in the ceiling of the Cobo exhibit hall. The reason I know this is because most of them seemed to be reflected in the cars I was trying to photograph at the Autorama this past weekend. Those obnoxious light reflections are all over the shiny sheet metal which doesn't make for the best looking car images. Dodging crowds of people streaming by the cars made things difficult as well as I tried squeaking out a shot or two. However the lower level of the hall, set up for the low-brow crowd saved the day. No shiny surfaces were in evidence on the rat rods in the Cobo basement. Coated in primer or worn original paint, or in some cases no paint at all just bare sheet metal, the low-budget, low-brow rat rods hearken back to a simpler time of hot rodding when a lot of enthusiasm and a bit of automotive know-how could put you into your own personalized one of a kind ride.