one subject? thats dumb imo.

over the years as i’ve gotten into the photography thing, i’ve been told by numerous people to single out one section of photography and focus on that subject alone.

the problem that i seem to have is that i’m fascinated by all scopes of photography and i’m interested in trying everything. if i focused specifically on modeling, then i would have never made time to learn macro photography.

i love macro work. it’s challenging and can prove difficult. but when you get it just right – you get the rewarding satisfaction of a photo you can be proud of. i think that’s what i love most about photography. trying to get that perfect image – even if it has flaws. i don’t really care about what it is i’m photographing. whether its food, a model, candids, skateboarding, cars, a flower, or my cat – getting a great photo in any situation is the challenge i enjoy. the diversity of different environments. available lighting conditions, accommodating to the current environment.

i think it would be silly to be GREAT at taking photos of a single subject/category only but have no skills in other aspects. the diversity is what improves us overall – at least i think so. each scenario provides another experience for us to learn from.

i’m a fan of natural lighting, i’ll be the first to admit that my studio lighting skills suck. but i purchased lights and i’m forcing myself to learn to use them. that way i’m not restricting my experience to just available light. everything has its place and uses. it seems a waste to not try to learn all the aspects of it.

i guess what i’m trying to sum up is i think focusing on a single theme is too limiting. why set a limit when everything at one point or another ties together? different situations call for different settings and inevitably lead to gaining more experience. the more experience you gain, the better understanding you have and can implement in the future.

art gallery stuff (pt 4) – extra stuff you might not know about

still under construction.  the official opening was last week, but as part of the photography group – this section isn’t scheduled to be completed for about another 3 weeks.

i decided to notate a few things that i was caught off guard with in joining this facility.

* more money - this was my biggest thing that put me on the fence about joining. on top of the 30% rake the gallery takes, they also require monthly dues of $120 a month.  keep this in mind when pricing your work.  there’s no guarantees that you’ll sell even one piece a month..
* contracts - i received an email from the gallery requiring i sign a contract for 3 years.  that was then changed to 1 year with a optional 2 year renewal. so this means i have to fork out this monthly due for a minimum of 1 year = $1440 per year.  not exactly cheap for the starving artist.
* hours dedicated - this part i was not surprised about since it was explained to me in advance.  i had joined a co-op meaning that i will have to sacrafice some hours at the gallery.  this is fine, i enjoy being in the environment and being surrounded by people that enjoy the same interests.

at first i was turned off by the whole “money and contracts” aspect.

flickr-tube, video on flickr. yeckk.

uh huh.  flickr now introduces an option to post video among the great and not so great photographs of the world.

faq’s here.

i’m not too sure how i feel about it.  i’m a pro member and love flickr.  its a clean and simple interface that allows me to do a multitude of things easily.

do i want to see it become littered with useless and stupid videos?

before i could make a decision, i had to look into it a little more.

• only PRO USERS get to post video – so if you were looking to post video for free, forget it.
• videos cannot exceed 90 seconds of play – for now anyways.  no extended videos of the uncle larry’s 70th bday party, sorry.

i wondered, why would flickr do this?  after seeing the following video footage, i understood why  –>

 

watching the clip of ‘playing in the grass at sundown in wyoming’  inspires and shows great creativity.  i see what the flickr folks were trying to do.  if all the videos uploaded carried this attempt at creativity, i would see no problems with it. 

where am i – the ego surf

where am i? (ie. the interwebs)

looking yourself up on the net.  i saw it noted as the ‘ego surf’.

maybe. but being a photographer who puts my stuff on the web – i think i’m entitled to know who is using or posting my images without sounding arrogant.

so i searched.

OMG! Twinkies BAKE SET!

finally, one of the mysteries of the world unveiled – DIY Twinkie Bake Set!  thats right folks, DIY twinkies!  how awesome is that???  learn the Hostess secret of how they get that creamy goodness stuffed in that yellow cake!  comes with everything you need to start making your own awesome Twinkies!. 

buy it here…

 

art gallery stuff (pt 2) – the drop. prints delivered for jury.

today was part two of the art jury gig, and some more experience to share.

i had to select 4 pieces to be submitted for review. talk about butterflies in the stomach. i thought i was going to puke.

requirements was that the prints be separated by cardboard. me being a newbie at this interpreted it as – protect your stuff with cardboard. well it didnt occur to me that there are many ways to shield your stuff and do it in style.

i had to leave work early to get home and clean the glass on my choice photographs one last time. i had it in my head that i’d just build a stand up sleeve system using some free boxes i got from the usps. the boxes i had were too small, so i had to flatten them down to make sure the frames would fit. omg it was ugly. my vision of what it would look like and what i ended up with as a final product didnt match too good.

oh well. time was ticking and although the packaging was an eyesore, it did the job. no scratches or anything was going to happen to my stuff. so i toss it in the car and race over to the facility to drop off.

i get there, i grab my altered usps box masterpiece and waltz in thinkin, “yea! my stuff is super protected. i bet no one thought of this!”

50mm f1.8, how i’ve missed you…

i can’t believe how long it’s been since i really used my 50mm f1.8 – it seems like eons ago.

finally found the battery charger to my d70 and started playing with it again. i threw on the 50mm and wow.  i forgot just how great this lens was. shooting wide open and getting that razor thin focus range – too cool. this lens makes creativity almost too easy sometimes.

i only wish all nikon glass could be as affordable as this lens is.  for about a hundred bucks, you get one of the best pieces of glass you’ll ever own.  i’ve been saving up for the 105mm f2.8 and that booger is gonna put me back about $800+,  hardly the cost of the 50mm…

here’s a few i’ve taken recently with the 50mm

art gallery stuff (pt 1) – a few lessons learned.

ever had your stuff submitted to be in a art gallery? i haven’t and i’ll tell ya, for someone who’s never done it – it can be a stressful & scary process.

the past few days i had been getting my stuff together for a jury review to get into a new art facility. its a photographer co-op consisting of 30 photographers. at this time – they got 13 selected already. great – now i have to compete against everybody on earth for a chance to get in as one of the other 17.

i made the mistake by thinking this would be easy. i didnt take everything into account. there’s more than just taking pictures, sticking a price to it, and hanging them up on a wall for people to buy.

there’s the in between stuff. the stuff that just drove me crazy. *note – this may not apply to the not a newbies.*

so during this event, i’ve learned a few things and thought i’d share them…

1. don’t procrastinate to the last minute to get your jury packet together.

cause i did – and it sucked.

i %#$@’ing knew it…

i’ve always gotten a huge brash of shit when it came to my sailors mouth. usually at work i get harassed about it most. well NO MORE! finally they have studies that prove that “Swearing at work ‘boosts team spirit, morale’ “!

in Yahoo News, they have a story on how swearing at work actually helps.

YES! i was right… ha.

copyright infringments and violations of commonly photographed sites

as a photographer, the one thing that scares me is copyright infringements and violations.  while researching the topic i’ve found several useful links that help explain the copyright process.

i’ll start with a site that i found that provides a list of properties and objects that may present violation issues if photographed.  the site is Picture Archive Council of America.

here are a few examples that could be a problem:

• Hollywood Sign
• Williamsburg and it’s re-enactment actors/performers
• Rockefeller Center – all buildings and sculptures
• NASCAR images
• McDonald’s Arches
• Barbie – the dolls, name and any product
• San Diego Zoo
• Eiffel Tower at night (the lighting design is copyrighted)
• The New Orleans Superdome

 these are just a few examples, but i was rather surprised that some of these actually presented issues.

another site that i found useful was at www.efuse.com and here they had an article about

Copyrights and Wrongs; A basic, easy to understand guide to copyrights.

just about any question you can think of is answered here.  the article is broken down in 3 segments: 

1. introduction to copyrights in general
2. when copying is ok
3. protecting yourself (web content images)

and then of course the way of getting your copyrights squared away is by going to the US Copyright Office .  the US Copyright Office website is pretty to the point, at least i think so.  it will guide you  through each step of the process, tell you what forms to fill out, how much to pay, and where to mail the work off to.

so if you have any questions about the copyright process, hopefully these links will provide some answers for you.