one very twisted eye

Busy reading, busy living .... not busy shooting.

However, I have a Lensbaby class for the next 4 weeks, so I'm rather intrigued to see what this can get from me -- and what I can get from that pesky little thing. The two teachers (online class) are fairly impressive in their Lensbaby work, so I only hope their teaching lives up to what they can accomplish themselves.

Kathleen Clemons and Ron Goldman

Right now, the best I can offer is two from Catalina -- this is about as happy as I can get with the lens right now, so I'll see where I am after 4 weeks, shall I?

Biased

I have a confession to make, although it's likely to be unsurprising. I'm a Nikon gal, through and through.

Now mind you, I've nothing against Canon. I've more Canon friends than Nikon (sadly). Friends who want to get into dslrs are told by me to handle each line of cameras and decide which ones they like best.

For point & shoot, I prefer Canon myself so I'm obviously open to what works best -- for me.

But I admit one huge and horrible bias. I can never ever recommend any of the 'other' alternative lines of dslr cameras. Olympus, Sony, Minolta, etc. WHY choose an inferior line? One without as much support, as many choices, without relibility that they'll be around in 20 years (Sony? please).

And I can only look down on people who recommend these lines. ANYone who recommends a specific line over another gets disgraced in my eyes. I know it's a horrible bias combined with a quirky streak of fairness, but there it is.

very very very small easter eggs

Reading continues and so does shooting. I played with the macro set up the other day -- to dangerous results. I managed to cut, squish, and tear my left hand in the process. Ouch! However, the focusing rail is WONDERFUL and I cannot imagine quite how people do macro work without one, at least without compromising their set up. I need to practice more and more with still life inside so I can get faster with outdoor work. I am not *that* fond of insects to want to do them for macros, but if I get the right opportunity … I want to capture what I want to capture.

Otherwise, finished up this the other day which was really quick (since the forms themselves I scanned and mentally noted for future reference):



Interestingly, this now gives me 3-4 different types of model releases. I need to seek out those other legal books to see what they say, as the one 'legal' photography book I've read does NOT suggest nor require compensation. And Heller's books require it to make the contract valid. At least this one noted it only applies in certain states. Ugh! However, the more I read the more I realize I DON'T need model releases, at least not for the type of work I'm doing right now.



For now I'm slowing down on the reading although the above is my 'casual' reading. I don't even know if I'll take notes from this tome. It appears to be rather comprehensive, but most of it I'll know already, although some concepts might be the first time I read them in writing. I've some excellent wedding photography books, but I don't want to tackle those quite yet. As well, the Minimalist Lighting book should be (or so I hope) excellent reading and good knowledge to know. However, I'm wanting to get down into macro-land a bit more and see what sort of skills I can develop.

Not everything is worth it, but it's at least less than the cost of a class....

This was the last book I finished, and it ended up better than expected but still a bit .... eh. I'm past the basics.

Now I'm onto something a lot more complex but nearly MORE disappointing:



I'm certain that this is an excellent book. In fact, I know it is. However, it also decides that drowning you in 99% useless information is a good technique, with the tendency to repeat some of the important parts in case it (as very likely did) get lost. The last legal book I read covered all of this very concisely within a chapter and very few new ideas are presented here.

However, should you desire some need to fully understand this area (especially since 90% of it only applies to stock photographers), this is your book. Just don't expect the obvious: no firm opinions, no sample model releases, no guidelines on when to use and not use one.

Rather, the book seeks to educate you so YOU can make those decisions. Wise perhaps, but in the end a rather fruitless pursuit since the reader very likely did NOT pick up the book expecting this sort of educational tactic.

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okay, rant over.

Beyond this, I HAVE been looking into online courses for photography. More specific stuff (such as a lensbaby class) that I feel I CAN benefit from no matter what. These are surprisingly reasonably priced, although I could put the funds towards a second lensbaby (but why??) or a dozen new photography books (Oooo. but I think I've found all the 'good' ones so far).

So, things to think about. Classes don't 'start' until May 1st so I've some time. Spring time and a lensbaby could be a rather awesome experience :)

Someday there will be photos, promise!

Yesterday afternoon I attended a good Strobe Lighting 101 type of class through Pictureline (must remember to check out their new store too). It was exactly what I needed, from talking about the different types of lights, the different systems (pocket wizards, etc), diffusers, etc.

There's a lot that can be learned out there -- and of course every photographer is going to have their own lighting set up that is that much different. Photography with lights is as much as stylistic statement as 'regular' photography itself.

In this case, Christopher (the instructor) uses two lights and no more. From what I gather, three is usually the standard, but I'm still ... gathering.

I really light the light from shooting through an umbrella and while soft boxes are nice, the light seems so .... fake. You just don't GET natural light that is like that. Not often at least (haze day, light through curtains, etc maybe....).

Mostly, I love that I can absorb this information, engage in excellent discussions and walk away that much wiser and with MUCH to think about.

Do I own any lights? no. I've been advised to figure out WHAT you want then get them all at once. Logical and sensible.

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On the book front, I finished off the Best Business Practices book today -- finished the Close-Up photography book a few days ago. The Close-Up book has me artistically inspired again, which is just an awesome feeling. I also feel like I can pick it up and read a few pages to recapture that feeling whenever I need it. THAT has great value no matter the source. I try to not like the author because he's capitalized his books into online courses and other such, but the truth is that he is VERY damned good at what he does - which is teaching. I'm just more likely to pay for a professional redesign of my website before an online course when there's BOOKS on the same topic out there.

The Business book was excellent -- if I ever purge through books, that's one that I'll keep without a doubt. I'm staying on the business trend for now, as I don't want to fill my head with other photography inspiration quite yet. So it's the Guide to Building Your Photography Business. So far, looks like a quick read with huge margins and ugly photos. w.t.f. I'm sure I'll get something out of it, but it's cheaply printed and not a great first impression.

onward!

Learning, but not shooting.

Life's been busy since I last sat down to write about photography. I have, however, used some of that time for reading. I finished up the nature book and while there was an emphasis on stock photography, it still applied to all situations. It does make me curious about stock photography, but working part-time that is something I can in no way pursue. Nor do I want to. There does seem to be a degree of artistic 'blankness' that is needed for stock photos. It almost makes me sad. How odd.

Next was Peterson's newest book about Close-Up photography. EXCELLENT book and great reading. He's quite inspirational in his images and conversational in his writing style. I found myself itching to go study the rug with the camera, just because I COULD and see how close I could get. He does lovely things like recommend a close up filter and diffusers and reversing rings and it is VERY hard to not want those things. I was unsurprised to see two of the items sold out on Adorama's website. Coincidence? He's one of the bigger names in photography books along with Scott Kirby, so I suspect it's not just random chance.

Now I'm on to Best Business Practices for Photographers which is excellent reading if a bit frightful. It's definitely geared towards someone ahead of me -- someone who's been working professionally/as a business for a number of years and needs to refocus and refine their business model. However, it also includes some excellent information that is good to know NOW rather than later. Even some things such as the idea of selling off equipment BEFORE it dies and reaches the end of its lifespan and then using those funds towards the purchase of new stuff (monitor = 18 month limit, 12 months if on all the time). Things you don't really think about logically until you sit down and calculate out the costs and time. Useful.



This will be one book better used as a reference book as time passes. Sections on non-paying clients can help me avoid situations, but are still best pulled out when needed at a later date. I still have one more business book to go through, which I believe is more about building a business. I think I'll read through both before retooling my business plan (which seems to be a monthly occurrence).

"Scouting"

I've been diligent about making progress through my current nature photography reading, although I want to read the new macro book and post reviews on that asap. However, I'm about 1/2 way through the nature book and can probably finish it with a few more hours work. The biggest thing that slows me down is taking notes, but I've already found it is VERY useful to have those notes to refer back to as needed, even if I am filling up the entire journal with enough time here. Wow.

One of the main ideas that's coming into maturity is the idea of 'scouting' out locations. This isn't just work ahead of time or planning where to go. It's not just going to a place and deciding when to come back. It seems to be a combination of all of these, plus working on your visualization, knowledge of an area and a bunch of other things. It's often referred to - but rarely defined. Made for a good discussion topic in dgrin with some *excellent* suggestions.

For the less popular sites, try flickr searches. Where other photogs might not be willing to 'share' information, their photos will tell you much more. Dgrin appears to be rare in the willingness of folks to share details with each other and ideas on where to go shoot.

For the more popular areas -- google maps with photos on. They might not be the best photos in the world, but they WILL often show you places that the maps don't describe in full or the tour book skips over. They can also give you more visual references (for free!) for areas before you actually get there.

Otherwise, there are CDs out there for different areas -- the Photograph America series appears to be outdated but can still be useful. The NWP forums look like great resources for national park information though, as do some backpacking forums. There's a series just for California that I'm only wishing I could justify the purchase on. I'm better off directing my resources towards exploring Utah a bit more. Getting back to the Salt Flats should be first on my list, then exploring the marshes of Antelope Island. It'll be a while before the snow melts and I can get back up into the Alta Basin and hike a bit more in there. But even this includes mental ideas of what sort of photos I want to take, what areas I know exist and what times of day I want to get there to get the best photos. ALL of that is 'scouting', even if it doesn't feel like it.

So, the education continues.

Pausing to ... delete

How's that camera doing?

It's um … yeah. I think we all have 'pause' points in our development. Of course, vast and major sleep deprivation combined with a busy schedule has not produced the sort of scene where I feel like picking up a camera and tackling head on the never-ending challenge of rendering what I see into a digital image.

My brain is busy just trying to figure out WHERE to put things and organize enough so that the first floor of the house can be cleared out for the installers to put in the boxes of wood that now lay everywhere there was open space. It is a game of musical chairs minus several chairs and music that stops Friday morning. Suddenly, the idea of bookshelves on the stairs seems like a good idea. (bad idea, bad!) However, as the stairs are to be re-carpeted the following Friday, I don't get to live like this for long.

Purging.

It's good in life and it's good photographically as well. However, one of the HARDEST things to do, I have found, is click 'delete' on that photo I took that didn't turn out very well. I'll save them - badly exposed, shifting focus, not quite right - especially those last ones. Perhaps someday I'll be talented enough to make that image into what I want, right?

Fortunately hard drives are cheap, even if I haven't a decent backup scheme in place. Yet.

Whatever is going on, I know I can always feel better if I just tackle a box, a folder, a collect of files. Virtual or not, you just feel BETTER for clicking delete -- or hitting the bookshelf and bouncing it into the trash can.

Now, if only taking out the real trash was as easy as a right click. Heh.