So, how are we going to round things out this week?  By turning things around!  Yep, the tip is to use the shoot through umbrella as it’s own reflector!  Take a look at the results.  I took a picture of the world (okay, it was a globe in our spare bedroom) from the flash in two different setups:

While it’s always better to shoot with your flash off-camera, this is probably the best lesson in showing that just because your flash is off-camera doesn’t make it good light!  Yes, it’s better than on camera lighting, but look at that harsh specular highlight, and how…well, boring the photo on the left looks.  Then consider the photo on the right – the hottest part of the light is nowhere near as specular (bordering on not even becoming a specular highlight…), and the diffused, reflected light gives some nice character and a sense of depth lacking in the first.

Here’s the lighting setup for each shot:

So, as you can see (hopefully), this demonstrates that turning things around (not just your camera) can have a surprisingly good effect from time to time.  It really becomes subjective at this point, and some may prefer one style over another, but that’s part of what makes the craft so enticing – you are limited by nothing more than your vision!

Thanks for tuning in to this unique week-long series on off-camera lighting – I hope you enjoyed reading these tips as much as I enjoyed writing them!

On that note – I’d like to ask you for more ideas on some themes and topics in this vein.  This really seems to have resonated based on the traffic, email, and feedback I have gotten thus far, but I do want to keep content moving in directions you are interested in, so feel free to chime in the comments with ideas, thoughts, and feedback not only on existing content, but asl on ideas thoughts and feedback for new content down the road!

Have a great weekend (don’t forget, today is the last day to get your entries in for the November Flickr contest) and be sure to stop back next week for the year-end wrap up on a bunch of product reviews – and you know what that means!

Quite a bit already, and we’re almost done, so I’d like t round things out with a little bit of stabilizing.  You see, while light stands are great for moving your flash off-camera, they’re not the most stable things around.  Certainly not like a tripod for your camera!  Why is that?  The answer is in the physics – a light stand is typically a single pole that is extended into the air, whereas a tripod is three poles that converge at a point (your ball head or camera mount).  Whereas the former has each other to lean on and stabilize things, your light stand doesn’t have this benefit.  But, you can minimize the wiggle!  Here’s how…

Most light stands will have a three-legged base which collapses down to help with portability and to compact the size.  I’ve seen people take light stands out, and the first thing they extend all the way are those three legs.  Don’t!  When you take the three legs to their maximum height, yes, you are getting more height, but you are losing leverage and stability!  Don’t!  Instead, do this:

See how in the first example the legs are high, narrow and only have three points touching the floor – this invites a top-heavy rig, which is always more likely to topple over.  If you sacrifice those 3″ at the bottom, look what you can gain!  A wider stand base = more stability, a lower light stand = additional stability, and then the addition of the center point for even more stability!  The one on the left is how it’s supposed to be done.

For an added corollary, you can also bring sand or water bags to your shoot and fill them when you get there…then place the bags inside that little “pocket” that is formed for even more of a weighted base that will further reduce toppling risks!  (Consider it a Light Stand Tip 4A!)

Tomorrow we wrap up the week of lighting do’s and don’ts when using light stands and shoot-throughs!  I hope you’ve enjoyed these as much as I enjoyed writing them (it’s always fun to do a series like this, because it has a beginning, middle and end – which makes for nice writing projects!)

In yesterday’s post, I showed how light can spill over an improperly mounted umbrella. I got a few emails noting that light does seem to still spill over the top of even a properly mounted one.  While that’s right, there’s a couple things to keep in mind.  First off, the flash is mounted to a trigger, not to the light stand directly.  This does raise the flash a tad (about an inch), and while that may not sound like much, it can increase the spill.  Now there are some triggers that are extremely low profile or that can rotate to lower the height of the flash by angling it forward, but there are downsides here too.  If you think about the idea of moving the head of the flash closer to the umbrella, you are essentially decreasing the amount of fill that your shoot thru will get.  The light will be more concentrated, (a.k.a. hotter) the closer it gets to the umbrella.  Conversely, the further away from the umbrella, the more diffused it will be.  Take a look:

Now, again, the terms “wrong” and “right” are subjective, because you may want a hotter light from your shoot thru.  The only thing I would say to that though, is that if you want a hotter light – why use the umbrella in the first place?  A shoot thru is designed to reduce the “hot” factor of the light and make it more even and diffused.  You can best accomplish this by positioning the light as far back on the umbrella as possible.  How far?  I usually leave about a quarter of an inch to an inch just so I can grab the umbrella if needed from the back side.  You can position yours where ever you like – just remember the “hot factor”!

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for Part 3!  I bet this is one a lot of you will likely say “Now, that is cool!”  In the meantime, keep sharing your own ideas, tips and tricks for getting the most out of your lighting gear!

*****

P.S.  A couple admin notes – the monthly giveaway is almost done (with a 16×20″ print from the folks at ImageWizards at stake), so get your shots in on the Flickr thread before Friday!  Next week is review week on the blog too, with books, gadgets, lenses, even a camera, and of course, the annual Holiday Gift Guide!

After experimenting with my own sets of various wireless triggers, and the number of questions that have come out in this area, I’d like to set about de-mystifying the concept of wireless triggers.  In doing so, let’s separate for the moment the whole reason for removing flashes from your camera (better lighting, more control, etc.), and for introducing the wireless element (fewer cables to trip over, longer range, etc.)  Let’s instead start where most people like to start – talking about the gear!  There’s basically four competitors out there, and I’ll cover the nuts and bolts of each here:

PocketWizards

• Link: Pocket Wizards at B&H Photo
• Cost: $440.00 Set
• Pros:  They just work.  These are the ones professionals use, and they do so for a reason.  You can even use them to trigger your camera!  Another plus is a long range and pretty sturdy!  Lastly, readily available through multiple vendors so warranty/worry-free
• Cons:  Expensive and large.  At close to $450 for a pair (you have to have at least two), it’s nearly the cost of a flash!  When the accessories cost almost as much as the main gear you are trying to accessorize (the flash with a trigger), the cost is probably too high in my opinion.

CyberSyncs

• Link: CyberSyncs from Paul C. Buff
• Cost $270 ($180 and $90 for a transmitter/receiver set)
• Pros:  Much more cost effective than the PocketWizards, and work with nearly the same durability, repeatability and range.  Not at the same level as PocketWizards, but for the price, this is one many enthusiasts look at seriously.
• Cons:  Not as reliable, durable and extensive a range.  Paul C. Buff is considered to be reliable and I’ve heard good things about them, but let’s face it – they’re no B&H.

Radio Poppers

• Link: Radio Popper Store
• Cost: $170
• Pros: Low cost of entry for the Jrx system, nice and compact system.
• Cons: Batteries are unique size so getting replacements can be more expensive in the long run.  I could not get multiple flashes to fire from on-camera with any measure of repeatability.  Documentation on their website not as clear I would have hoped.

Generic Triggers*

• Link: Varies
• Cost Varies – from $20 to $100
• Pros: Very low cost of entry, wide variety of vendors to choose from
• Cons: Reliability and warrantability can be sketchy depending on which vendor you go with.  No surprise, you get what you pay for.  My first generic set were from Gadget Infinity for $20 and could not get them to work right with any regularity.  My most recent set, (branded by a friend under the heading of *Blackbelt Light) costs $75, and are very reliable.  I got one trigger and three receivers for $75 and they have worked flawlessly.  Likely out of warranty after 90 days though under most normal circumstances, and again, no B&H, but having friends in high places helps!

*****

So, there’s the nuts and bolts from the various wireless triggers out there, from generic to professional grade ones.  It’s worth noting that that one player is notably absent, that being the Elinchrom Skyport.  The reason I left this out is because initially they were available from B&H, but are now distributed by Manfrotto, and while I have no bias for or against either company, when a product shifts distribution channels, that in and of itself raises a flag in my eyes.  Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, I’ve not been able to test or know anyone who has tested them that I could get to give me feedback in time for this writing!

Perhaps the best part of all of this is that now you get a chance to share your own thoughts, questions, and comments on wireless triggers?  Do you have any of the above sets?  What are your own experiences with these?  What about the Elinchrom’s?  Anyone out there use them and care to share thoughts or experiences?

It’s the latest from the Craft and Vision series, and after reading through this latest release, I was thoroughly impressed.  Andrew takes us way past the Rule of Thirds – so far that ROT is hardly in his rear view!  He addresses not necessarily new, but definitely innovative ways to think about composition including using aspect ratio and balance to make for better compositions.  Aptly titled, Beyond Thids, this is definitely one worth getting.  At the regular price of $5 in the C&V store, it’s a no-brainer, but at their discounted price, it’s a steal (yet again)!  So, stop over to their online bookstore today and get yourself a copy!  In fact, Andrew’s other eBooks in there “Andes: The Print and the Process”, and “The Evocative Image” are also figurative page turners! (I’d call them an Ipad flicker…since you can’t help but keep flicking your fingers to read “just one more page”.)

You can get the latest release at 20% off for a limited time only, using the promo code BT4 (or if you want to get 5 or more books, use BT20).  Just stop in at their website for quick browse, and you’ll see why David DuChemin and company are called Craft and Vision!

Bill M. Carroll

Congrats again to Bill – if you could drop me an email, I’ll coordinate to get your info over to the right folks at NAPP to process everything going forward! You are sure to enjoy countless resources, tips, tricks, tutorials, and other content NAPP provides to all its members!  Everyone, if you could take a moment out of your day to congratulate Bill for his awesome shot (and a great expression on the kid too!) that won the contest!

*****

Don’t forget, the October Contest is now also underway, so gear up those cameras to capture the idea of “stacks” somehow!  The winner this go around will become the proud owner of a Lensbaby Composer!

1.  New Software – It looks like we have a new player in the photo editing software community – Photo Director – now in Beta is offering a free download to all, and if you actively use, test, and give feedback, when the final release is published, you may be able to get this software for free.  An initial glance seems to be pretty interesting, so expect a full-scale review to be coming out here from the blogosphere pretty shortly.  (Expect mine in a few weeks…)

2.  Gear Reviews to Come – I’ve been a busy shooter lately, with a couple gear items that need to ahve reviews coming out so this will likely be a heavy gear review month here on the blog.  Check out the list of items forthcoming:

• Think Tank Shapeshifter
• Photo Mechanic from Camera Bits
• Sigma 85mm f1.4
• Speedlighter’s Handbook from Syl Arena
• Think Tank Streetwalker Pro
• Radio Popper Flash Triggers
• Camera Dojo Flash Triggers

3.  I also just wrapped up a podcast with none other than AJ Wood, my good friend from the NAPP community who I’ve known for nearly 3 years now and have yet to have on the show – apologies to him for the total mental blank on my part.

4.  A few photo shoots have been finished recently, and I’ve been so busy just not had a chance to go through post production on them, but here’s a hint of what’s to come on the blog (if I ever find the time to write about and produce all this content – seems the more we do, the less time we have, eh?)

5.  Okay, there really is no other news item, but I like things to come in 5′s (and tens), so just throwing this one out there to check out some of the recent work of some industry notables that I have in my own RSS feeds:

David DuChemin – For those of you who don’t know, he took a nasty fall a short time ago, and while he is down for the moment, he is definitely not out – the inspirational words and wisdom he has emanated from his fingertips have been a thorough source of enjoyment, so if you don’t read his blog, sign up now!

Nicole Young – A popular visitor to the blog and podcast, I have it straight from the source that she has something very exciting coming out very soon – I can’t say what yet, but you might want to keep your eyes and ears on her blog for the announcement very soon (I suspect it will be tomorrow – Tuesday)…Congrats Nicole – I love what I’ve seen!

Larry Becker – Perhaps better known for his role with NAPP, this DIY site called “Cheap Shots” has very much come into its own, and his ideas for economical fixes to photographers woes on the cost of gear is quite innovative.  Add this to your RSS when you get a chance – some great stuff here!

1. Free Hoodman Loupe: Hey, I gotta promote my own giveaways first, right? But technically it is free. No fuss, no muss, no super difficult hoops to jump through, just throw your most qualified image in the Flickr thread for your chance to win this free cool photo accessory. Valued at $80 retail, it’s nothing to sneeze at. For those not interested in getting it for free though, it’s always available through your favorite online retailer (I like B&H).

2. Free OnOne Software downloads: Talk about cool, the folks over at OnOne software are offering up free backgrounds, plugins, and a lot more on their website. I read about this in a recent issue of RangeFinder magazine, and the link to the download page is right here. If memory serves, you do have to sign up for their mailing list, but getting news and info from these folks is always a good thing! (Full disclosure, I did a product review on their suite a while back, which you can read here.)

3. PhotographyBB Magazine: From the creative mind of Dave Seeram comes the PhotographyBB Magazine. Published monthly and now in its third year, the authors of this up and coming online resource are astoundingly talented both in their writing, and in their photography skills. Also of note are the talented designs and graphics of Mr. Seeram himself, who continues to amaze me at his designer eye. His skills and passion speak to the quality that goes into each and every issue. I should note that I am a contributing author to this magazine, but it is free, and there are other articles! The best part, there aren’t the obnoxious ads that you see in most magazines anymore (including the paid ones).

4. Mac Software: For the Mac-fans out there, and specifically those who use Garage Band, there’s always free loops available from a plethora of online outfits, hoping to get you to sign up for subscription services. Most have voice overs that render them pretty much useless, or don’t really “loop” that well. One notable exception though comes from the folks at LoopGalaxy.

5. Webinars: Lots of folks are entering the webinar arena. With broadband access even reaching to cellular phones these days, the demand for video is always increasing and where there is demand, supply is sure to follow. Here’s some of the more useful ones:

• KelbyTV: A whole host here, ranging from The Photoshop Guys, to The Grid, and NAPP Newsweek, these guys are the industry leaders for a reason!
• Nations Photo Lab: Okay, so it’s kind of a self-promotion deal, but every month, thanks to the support of Nations Photo Lab, myself and Kerry Garrison of Camera Dojo get together and talk shop on any one of a number of photography-related subjects. Follow us on our Facebook pages and Twitter as most announcements get channeled through there.
• OnOne Software: Yup, not only do they offer free software downloads, but they are in the webinar arena too. While I’ve not had a chance to check them out yet, friends who tune in regularly say the content is really good and worth the time spent!

So, there ya have it – five Friday freebies from the blog front. Got your own resources that you know of? Share the wealth with the world and sound off in the comments, or even share your thoughts on the ones mentioned above, as feedback is always a good thing! Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you here again next week.

1.  Turn and Burn:  So many photogs want to get facial expressions but in doing so, forget that most of the time we never see someone’s full face toward us.  It’s usually more of an angled shot, and that’s why it’s often recommended to turn your model to one side.  Some models will swear that one side is better than the other, but when it comes to photography, my thought is not so much shooting their best side, rather shooting an expressive side!

2.  Breathe! – That’s right, so often when a model poses, the natural inclination is to “hold that pose” which subconsciously puts them in a state where they hold their breath.  Help them remember by even telling them to do so.  “Turn here, great, now chin up, awesome, and just a little to the right, excellent!  perfect!  Hold that pose….!  Oh, and don’t forget to breathe!  Take a deep breath and now exhale…fill those lungs with air!”  Not only will it surprise the model, but you may get a more natural smile – and if you’re lucky, even a laugh!

3.  Encourage the lean! – When people start to get in posing mode, there is a tendency to lean forward.  Leaning into the front shoulder is common, as is leaning to accentuate cleavage for a woman.  If you think about it though, the forward lean does make everything look a little bigger!  That’s not always a desirable thing, so encourage your models to lean back just a tad.  Not too much as you don’t want them to fall over, but at least make sure their weight is shifted to the back leg.

The other thing to remember, (kind of sneak tip for you), is that modeling rules work for both men and women, so even though the ones here are all women, many of the same rules apply!  There ya have it – 3 tips to get you started with subject posing and portraiture!  Got your own tips?  Share ‘em in the comments!  Have a great weekend and happy shooting!

When it was done, the house sure did smell good from the caramelized sugar, bananas toasting, and who doesn’t like bread?  (I know, I know – lots of carbs aren’t good for you…)  But, every once in a while it’s fun to indulge.  As luck would have it, this particular loaf of bread had some nice colors and tones to it, so naturally, I started thinking about my other hobby – photography!

With bread there’s so much you can do from capturing details, to using a shallow depth of field, to creative lighting and shadows, everything becomes a cornucopia of possibilities.  Here’s a few of my selects from just ten minutes of prep, 60 minutes of cook, and ten minutes of shoot time!

Want a slice?  What tasks have you taken and turned them into photo opportunities?  The lesson learned here today (hopefully anyway) is to take something you have to do and make it something you want to do!  In this case, it was a win-win scenario for me, but what about you?  Sound off with your own fun-filled (or food-filling) photo projects!

Step two was to set up the lighting, the tripod, and the “wood art” in a scene where i could adjust the aperture and keep everything else constant.  With my own little studio set here in the house, that was accomplished easily enough.  I set the focal point on the nearest nail, and dialed in the exposure I wanted.  Then, I switched to manual focus so as to not bump or have the camera try to shift it for me and dialed through the various f-stops.

Step three – simple post production:  camera calibration, white balance, and lens correction.  I also applied a 75 value to the sharpening slider from the detail panel, but did so universally.  So, with everything but aperture constant, here’s the results:

So, at this point you should have enlarged the photos above, and scrolled through the entire gallery so you can see exactly what is sharp at f2.8 all the way through f16.  By the time you get to the end, so much has changed and often gradually, it’s hard to see the difference.  But if you look at the f2.8 and f16 shots side-by-side – they are worlds apart compositionally speaking.  Now I grant you, nails hammered into a 2×4 piece of lumber 2″ apart is not the most artistic piece ever shot, but it hopefully illustrates what can happen to a photo simply by changing the aperture and keeping everything else constant!

WHere do you think creatively adjusting your depth of field would work?  Try to think outside the box here too.  A few ideas for starters:

• A flower from close up…
• A portrait shot, with background blurred
• Macro photography – bugs and insects, computer chips and parts

There’s a whole world out there with plenty of opportunities to create gorgeous photos with only your creativity to limit you.  Where do you want to go today?

For the inquisitive, this was shot with off-camera flash, using Radiopoppers.  The EXIF data:

Since EXIF data doesn’t record flash settings, I want to say that this was at 1/4 power, bare bulb (no diffuser, umbrella, bounce or anything like that).  The hint of yellow reflection off the background of the stove is likely due to bounce off the yellow color of the teapot itself onto the black metal on the stove.  It was an unintentional but cool side effect, so I left it in!

As the old saying goes: “Keep on shooting!”

I know, you’re all really here to find out who the winners are, so without further ado – comment submissions #6 and #10 are the lucky folks:

Thanks to everyone for their participation…and to Chris and Joe, if you could send off a quick email to me, I’ll make sure the folks at Peachpit get in touch to arrange fulfillment for you.  Once again, I’d also like to thank Nicolesy and Jason Cate for their participation in the show as well as Peachpit for their generous contribution.  It was a lot of fun, and the comment contest also ratcheted things up a notch too, so hopefully we can make these more of a regular occurrence with the podcasts.  With that in mind, are there any other authors, photographers, or folks you’d like me to bring on a show,?  Now’s your chance to sound off and get the folks on that you really wanna hear from!  Sound off (you knew it was coming) in the comments!

Happy shooting (and Happy Valentines Day for the romantically inclined out there), and we’ll see you back again soon right here – same time, same station!

You see, not only is it trash night, but this also is going to be one of the coldest nights I can remember in Colorado – we are on pace to be at 17 below zero by morning!  Like I said – bone-chilling!  In our house, that translates to fires in the fireplace.  A bundle of wood costs around $3 and it heats the entire house to where we almost have to open windows.  So, we needed no encouragement to add the warmth of a fire last night.

Also, as an admitted “guy”, there is nothing more fun than poking and stirring a fire, whether it be in a fireplace or in a campsite.  So, my face was naturally glued to the fire for most of the evening.  Twist twist, poke poke.  Then a log here and there…and some old cardboard I tore up to throw out (remember, it was trash night).  The smell of the crackling wood and ash is still lingering in my mind too.  That, combined with a nice red vino made for probably one of the most relaxing evenings.

It was quite relaxing too…and even Tracy joined me for a few minutes of quiet time just gazing at the embers before finishing things up for the night (a.k.a. the trash).  The flames from the fire, still flickering inside my head, were doused by the chill of the air on stepping out to the garage.  The frost already on the door was right there, in my face, reminding me of how cold it actually was/is outside.  (Bone-chilling, in case you didn’t get that yet.)  And right then, it hit me – frozen snowflakes of ice on the window – with the light coming down behind it…just gorgeous!

When thinking about these two images, and how much I liked them, it dawned on me further that these are great examples of how juxtaposing themes can work really well together…and it all came from taking out the trash!  The point:  keep your eyes open, the next dose of inspiration can come from anywhere, even the most mundane task on the planet!  And wit an amazing contest going on now – this is as good a time as ever to keep your artistic eyes open!

The Live Learning Lab

Our schedule is the second Wednesday of every month so another will be forthcoming here in a few weeks for February.  We’ll be covering a lot more than Lightroom, including Photoshop, probably some photography composition techniques, and much much more.  We’re working on a guest host schedule too, so it’s worth checking out.  There’s no gimmicks, no fuss, no muss – just a way for the group to collectively give back to the entire community!  Each webinar is about an hour long (our first went about 15 minutes over), and they will all be accessible via instant archives immediately following the webinar too.  It’s great to view live because you can ask questions as you think of them, but if your schedule doesn’t permit, the archives will be available for your enjoyment too!

Setting Goals

While I answered yes to many of the questions, I did have to admit that I had not devoted as much time to the learning side of things.  After spending time on writing blog posts, taking pictures, going on shoots, recording podcasts, talking to vendors, and the whole schmear, I had only attended 1 workshop!  While the workshop was a phenomenal one (David Ziser’s Captured By The Light tour), it’s just one aspect of photography.

So,  2011 will hopefully be a year of learning.  I know it seems odd that the host of the Learning Digital Photography podcast and author of Canon Blogger is endeavoring to learn more, but that brings up a very good point that bears mentioning – we never stop learning! I had a colleague say something to me recently after we had several discussions about various aspects of the craft.  His words went something like “I could learn a lot from you about licensing and copyright.”  It reminded me that no matter who we are, or where we think we are in our craft, there is always going to be someone out there that knows more than us about something.  Whether it’s licensing, printing, composition, or any other topic – there is always more to learn.  And you can learn from anywhere!

With that in mind, one of my priorities in 2011 is to attend more workshops and seminars  From my perspective, when you stop learning, you’ve stagnated, and creativity begins to subside.  What a great opportunity to move forward with in 2011!  And it all came from a little introspection, and looking at my goals for 2010..it gave me motivation, desire, and a resolution for 2011!

As always, let’s turn the question out for the reading/listening audience.  What were your goals for 2010?  Did you reach your goals?  Are you happy with what you’ve done? What about 2011?  Any photography goals for the year?  Share your thoughts, views, visions and dreams in the comments or via email.  Don’t forget to keep on shooting!  We’ll see you back here again tomorrow for more photography goodness!

Online resources like TinEye are becoming more common, and people often take extensive measures to protect their content, including watermarking both front and center, and placing a digital signature on the files that is not as easily stripped or removed (a popular method here is to use the services of Digimarc where the company will monitor usage for you).

The ultimate way that most photographers go though, is to utilize Flash as this really limits the accessibility of the image.  You can’t right-click and save, and it’s very hard to strip out without hosing things completely.  The biggest immediate downside is that Flash hasn’t historically worked well with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) so your site information will not be read by the various search engine crawlers like Google, Yahoo, and Bing!

The other downside to using Flash is that many of us fall victim to the impulse to incorporate music in our presentations.  However, when incorporating music, you must be careful to ensure that you are not infringing on someone else’s copyright.    I made the mistake of using a snippet of some music from a major label as an intro to the podcast a few times, thinking it was an innocent usage.  As it turns out, such usage is not innocent – it’s in violation of the owners’ copyright.  (This is why some podcasts are no longer available, or have been re-published with what is called “pod-safe” music. )

There is a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo out there about the usage of snippets or “sampling”, and getting into all the nitty -gritty would really close your eyes quickly!  If you want to learn more about the legalities, start here.  Suffice to say, my awareness of the technicalities come from personal experience, and for me, it has been a lesson learned in not only  how to protect my own work, but also about respecting the copyrights of other artists.

So, armed with this insight, when photographers come and ask about how to protect their images, and then share with me a Flash gallery with what is clearly copyright protected music, I always feel obliged to reply with a little note.  While I have made it a policy never to call anyone out publicly on this (that’s just not cool in my book), there’s a lot of copyright infringement going on out there by photographers! It’s usually the usage of music in Flash gallery presentations, and often is done innocently enough, but with not so innocent results that are possible.

You see, most artistic endeavors, whether photographic in nature or through other mediums like musical expression (or painting, pottery, writing, or pretty much any sort of creative expression), are all instantly protected by copyright on creation.  If the artist has registered their work with the Copyright Office (and most commercial artists have), they also have additional legal and fiscal remedies they can pursue against infringers for unauthorized usage.

The point here is that musical usage is just like image usage – it is a licensed activity.  So, unless you specifically are using music that is in the public domain (a.k.a. free for all to use -often called “pod-safe” music), it is more common to be restricted by licensing.  This is why the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) have endeavored to protect their clients licensing by preventing illegal usage of their music.

Also keep in mind that just because you own a single CD from an artist does not give you the right to re-publish that music.  You can listen to it, and you can even loan the CD to a friend.  But ripping a song off a CD and using it for a slideshow is not a great idea.  So, before you go and rip that CD from your favorite singer or band & convert to MP3 for inclusion in your Flash photo gallery – consider that you are using someone else’s content likely without their knowledge or consent.  This could spell trouble in a number of ways:

1.  Cease and Desist Notification

You may get one of those “Nasty Grams” saying you are using content illegally and must remove said content within 24 hours.

2.  DMCA Takedown Notification

Usually after 24 hours, they stop trying to contact you, and simply notify your Internet Service Provider.  At that point, your website will pretty much be shut down automatically as ISP’s do not want to be involved with the liability of a photographer who has used unauthorized music.  This is done by the infringed artist demonstrating to the ISP that one of their accounts is in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA for short), and are requesting that pursuant to the DMCA provisions, that the infringing site be “taken down”.  It’s often referred to as a DMCA take-down notice – and if your host ever sends you an email notice using these words, it’s not a good sign.  You likely won’t get sued, because the infringement has effectively stopped, but that is another option that infringed parties have available to them, so don’t be too sure.

3.  Legal Remedy

You could get sued!  One of the big reasons photographers (and all artists0 are encouraged to register their works with the Copyright Office, is that it affords much larger restitution from parties that deliberately use your work without permission.  Music is no different.  If the artist is someone big, like Madonna, Aerosmith, or Dave Matthews Band, their pockets are pretty deep and they have attornies who wont even flinch as they file lawsuits against people who use their work without permission.

4.  Fiscal Restitution

Now, not only is your site taken down, but you have a legal judgment against you, and you will not only have to pay for the illegal usage, but also all the injured parties court costs.  These lawyers aren’t cheap – usually charging hundreds of dollars per hour!

There are two terms that are bandied about when these discussions come up and it does require just a teensy bit of legal mumbo-jumbo, but rest assured- I want to keep the legal portion of this short and sweet and easy to understand, so bear with me for a short paragraph or two here.  The terms people quote when it comes to using music for slide shows or podcasts are Fair Use and “The Thirty Second Rule”.  Let’s take each separately:

Fair Use

People like to bandy this term about but before you do, keep in mind that the term of “fair use” is not a law – it is a doctrine that can be used and applied (or not) to define whether or not infringement exists.  There are no hard and fast rules here – it’s all subjective and is typically applied on a case-by-case basis, which means there are already legal proceedings at play.  Courts are now involved and looking at things like purpose and character, nature of the work, and much more.  To see a full discussion on the term “fair use” go to this page on Stanford’s website (yes, THAT Stanford!).

Thirty Second Rule

The “thirty second rule” is really more a claim of minimal usage.  (It’s called a “De Minimis Test”, where there is simply not enough of a recognizable portion of the protected work used to really be eligible for infringement.)  There are two court cases that both support and contradict the defense, specifically Sandoval v. New Line Cinema Corp and Ringgold v. Black Entertainment Television, Inc, respectively.  One case held that the usage was minimal and did not constitute infringement, while the second showed that the infringement (a poster shown in a movie for 27 seconds) was valid because it was recognizable, and even a casual observer would be able to “discern the  imagery and colorful style”.  Again, more details are available on the Stanford page here.

Clearly, both of these claims are really more urban myth than reality, and such reliance is not a good idea if your web presence, financial stability, and reputation are at stake.  Wouldn’t you agree?  Remember, just because someone plays a lawyer in a forum (or on a blog!   ) does not make them one in reality.  To that end, while I do have post graduate studies that focus specifically on legal issues, I am not a lawyer and do not pretend to be one.  But, I would say that my own understanding of legal issues is probably better than the average laymans!

Rather than hounding on the legal precedents though (many of your eyes have glassed over already, I can tell!   ), I’d suggest that we all use a pretty generic rule that seems to work no matter what the situation is.  For me it’s always been called The Golden Rule:

“Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You!”

Think about it – if you are trying to protect your own copyright, why would you then use the works of others in your own presentation without permission?  Isn’t that just asking for trouble?  It seems rather presumptious – almost like the person is saying “The law applies to others who try to take my work, but not to me taking others work…that’s ok.”

The only other argument I’ve heard from some about using copyright protected work is that they are so small, what are the odds of a content creator coming after them.  The answer is “quite good”.  Don’t you remember the news a few years back when the RIAA went after infringement big time, and one of the infringers was a 12-year old girl?  They dug in, stuck to their guns, and the parents were liable.  The point here is that it can happen and it does happen…all the time!

So,  the question that most people ask me after I tell them about all this is: “What options are available?”  Answer:   Plenty!

Alternatives

1.  Podsafe Music

I’ve already referenced the “podsafe” option now a few times, but have only pointed you to the Wikipedia article that discusses some of the legalities of it.  There are podsafe resources out there where you can get often either free music or very low cost musical scores to use in your shows.

Here’s a list of just a few resources that I have used in the past myself to find material that is appropriate for what I am doing:

• PodSafe Audio
• Royalty-Free Music
• Music Alley
• Magnatude

Keep in mind, some of these are completely free, and some you do have to pay for, but the pricing is very cost effective compared to licensing from major artists like the ones mentioned above.  For instance, Magnatude you can use even for as little as $15 (in the form of subscription membership).  Take each for a test drive until you find one that fits your presentation or podcast need accordingly!

2.  Record your own music

Another option would be to record your own music!  Many photographers I know are also musicians, and are perfectly capable of recording something cool and original, for their own show.  I also know folks who are friends with people who are musically inclined, and have collaborated on short works to use in things like slideshows and podcasts.  This route is actually super cool because often the artist will tailor the style of the music being recorded to the specific needs for the slideshow or presentation, making the entire body quite unique, original, and thus much more appealing to listening and viewing audiences.  It also can help both artists gain a little visibility!

3.  Use what you already have

Last, but not least, would be to use some of the snippets that come with certain platforms.  For instance, Garage Band on the Mac has sound bites that I have used in my podcast a lot!  Other programs out there like ProShow Gold, Camtasia, and even Adobe Soundbooth offer short snippets for sound bites, teasers, and jingles that you can blend and mix together to create something usable.  It may require a little more work here, but as the old saying goes – nothing good ever comes easy!

Getting down to it though, it’s ultimately a matter of respect for others work.  If you want to protect your images by using a slideshow in Flash or some other medium, make sure you respect musicians works just like you want your own work untainted.  Remember, copyright law is there to protect us – and others.  It’s not just for photographers! Musicians, painters, sculptors, writers and more all are protected by copyright, and we as a collective group of creatives need to work together, and not divisively.

If you’ve got your own resources, ideas, tips, or suggestions on how to produce music safely and legally for things like photo slideshows and podcasts, feel free to chime in to the comments and share resources with the community!  I love to hear from others and always enjoy learning about new content outlets all the time, so insert your own thoughts below!  With that in mind, keep on shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!

• Saturday Aug 28th – Denver, CO
• Workshop will be held at:
• Arvada Center for Arts & Humanities
• 6901 Wadsworth Blvd Arvada, CO 80003

*****

On the free front – the August contest is underway on Flickr and the prize this month is a 50 sheet pack of Polar Metallic Paper from the folks at Red River Paper.  You all likely know how much I love this paper and this company – here’s your chance to find out why with your own pack of paper to push out some super prints for clients, family, friends, or even your own walls!  Submit your own image to the Flickr thread (the theme is Metal).

*****

Last but not least, the eBook has been flying off the virtual shelf, and the response there has been overwhelming too.  Read the reviews, and get your own copy from the eBooks page here!  It’s still a super deal at only $4.99 for the digital download – it includes 49 Photo Tips, explained in detail and with accompanying images to demonstrate the effect when appropriate!  Add this one to your virtual library today!  (An iPad version is due out shortly – working on the ISBN now…)

*****

That’s it for Friday!  Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you here on Monday with the Super Exciting News that I can’t share yet!  Are you ready for some excitement though?  Stop back in to find out!

Sunday Aug 1st – Anaheim, Ca [Completed]
Saturday Aug 28th – Denver, Co [Completed]

Seats are expected to go fast as this is a full day workshop aimed at getting you up to speed with Lightroom 3 whether you are new to the game, or ready to jump in for the first time!  With lots of content, including “bags-o-schwag”, door prizes, and resource DVD’s, the dirt cheap Early Bird Price of $79 for the first 15 to sign up, we’re sure to hit capacity quickly!  After that, the regular price of $99 per person kicks in.  Special thanks to our sponsors:  Adobe, Thinktank Photo, Nations Lab, and many more for their generous contributions to help get this off the ground.  We’ve also got lots of local vendors who will be showcasing some super cool products at super cool discounts, and we’ll have gift certificates to give away too!  So, come on out and check things out – it’s a steal at these prices!

Also, if you don’t live near any of the initial launch cities, make sure to submit a request for your own city (and get your friends to do the same!).  Fifteen requests for another city brings us to you!  There’s also an email subscription link on our launch page, (and here on the blog) so be sure to stop in and visit us at:

Lightroom Dudes

Photo News

1. 3rd Annual Worldwide Photo Walk has been announced by Scott Kelby, and details are here.
2. Lightroom 3 was announced last week Monday – and is available to purchase and download…you can also download a 30 day trial for free from Adobe here (or buy via the sponsored link in the sidebar!)
3. New Plugins available for LR – Pro Show Gold, a popular slideshow and movie creation software set.  Info here

Martin Bailey

1. Photography and Culture in Japan: Laws or hassles shooting in public?
2. Workshops and your development in photography

• Workshops
• Development/Inspiration

3. X-Rite Colorati
4. Martin on the web

Links: http://www.martinbaileyphotography.com/
Blog: http://blog.martinbaileyphotography.com/
Podcast: http://www.martinbaileyphotography.com/podcasts.php
Workshops: http://www.mbpworkshops.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MartinBailey
Folio: Martin Baily Photography

Q&A

• Professional Critique
• Cost of Printing
• Starting Camera Suggestions

Martin was also kind enough to share a sample selection of his portfolio with us here on the show.  These are the low res versions, to see things super nice, head on over to his folio link provided above.  In the meantime, enjoy the photos, the show, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow for the latest in photography reviews!

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Frequently Asked Questions

1.  I tried the tethered capture, but Lightroom does not appear to let me adjust shutter speed, aperture or ISO with my (fill in your camera body type).  Is this model not supported?

Answer:  The tethered capture is only intended as a capture function.  The display shows you the shutter, aperture and ISO, but you cannot make those adjustments on the computer – that must be done at camera.

2.  Will Lightroom 3 upgrade both my catalogs from LR2 and the beta?

Answer: My understanding is that Lightroom 3 will automatically upgrade your LR2 catalog for you.  Once that operation is done, you can then import the catalog from the beta edition to your new catalog in LR3 to bring everything in together.

3.  What if I don’t want Lightroom 3 to upgrade my catalog?  Can I stop it from doing that?

Yes, on first launch you will be prompted to either upgrade your LR2 catalog or to start a new one.

4.  Should I get Lightroom 3 or Cs5 – I can’t afford both.

Answer:  If you are just diving in now, I would recommend starting with Lightroom 3.  It has so many features and the strength and robustness of it really has diminished the need for round trips to Photoshop when you are talking about photography.  Of course if you have serious restoration work, clone work, or need to use features like layers, then Photoshop is a requirement, but I would classify people in this group as graphic artists, not photographers.  If you’re upgrading, both do not have to be done simultaneously.  Go with one (Lightroom) and the other a few months down the road (Cs5).  Or, use the sidebar here to get 30% off the combo pack!

5.  Will there be any contests here on your Flickr Monthly Giveaway Series so I can participate for a copy of Lightroom 3?

No comment!   In all seriousness, I’d love to, but cannot speak for Adobe – we’ll see what happens in the coming weeks.  Don’t be expecting it, but don’t write it off either!

Got any of your own questions about Lightroom 3 not covered above?  Feel free to sound off in the comments! Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Rather than diving into some lengthy narrative about what bokeh is, and how bokeh can really set things off nicely in an image, I figured it might be easier this time to just demonstrate with a few shots with what I would call…

Beautiful Bokeh

The background is simply the tree branches against the sky as the sun set to my left…it gave a nice touch (sunset colors always do, even if you can’t see them), so I decided to try a few other colors against the backdrop.  It’s pretty interesting to see how other colors fared with the background…check out the rest of these:

I don’t know why, but for some reason, this one is my favorite – simple, detailed, a little underexposed, but the underexposure brings out a tonality that is just really appealing to me.  And of course, I stayed at f2.8 to keep the bokeh the same!

The Orange Juice had a really cool and distinct look to it with the green backdrop and the brown ledge of our deck.  I also thought this one came out nicely.

The bottled water I liked, but am not crazy about the reflections you can see in the water itself.  I was thinking the bokeh from the background would be upside down in the water, but instead I caught some of the house behind me.  Thankfully, because the dof was so shallow, it’s blurred and not as distinct.  Still, something I’d change if I had it to do over again…

Just had to throw one in here of the dog – she is such a trooper!  Poor thing was bitten unexpectedly while on our evening walk last sunday and has been dealing with the abcess and after-effects for the last week now.  The anti-biotics are yummy because we give them to her with peanut butter, but for for the most part, you can tell she’s just not comfortable.  This shot kind of typified her emotions of the past week, and the bokeh in the background fit the theme, so, as I said, just had to keep this one in.

It’s fun testing new hardware because it always keep me active with my own gear (and I can draw comparisons that way), and I get to tweak my own style as well.  The Sigma 70mm Macro is definitely one I plan on keeping in my bag for a long time, because the bokeh and sharpness are among my favorites.

Which lens produces your favorite bokeh?  Is it a macro?  A zoom?  Something else?  What about your vendor preference?  I’ve heard different vendors shape the blades of their apertures differently and the resulting bokeh can be quite markedly different.  Share your own favorites and thoughts in the comments!  Have a great day and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!  Happy shooting…

P.S.  Oh yeah, also wanted to throw out a reminder about the May giveaway which is going on right now.  The theme is Wide and the prize this month is a copy of PTGui Pano Software – this is really incredible software at stitching multiple shots together to form panorama photos, both landscape and portrait style!  The Flickr thread is here.

P.P.S.  A reader also pointed out to me that I forgot to include a link to the latest podcast, which went live last week, so for those of you that wait for announcements here to download the podcast, #45 is up and ready for download at your convenience.  Enjoy!

Creative Suite 5 will launch on April 12th!

Since I just got wind of this late last night, I don’t have a lot of details on the products (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, etc.) but there are some sneak peek videos over on their launch site, and Adobe is encouraging folks to follow the hashtag #cs5 on Twitter.  Evangelists like Terry White, Julianne Kost, and many more will be talking about various aspects of the suite of products, highlighting some of the snazzier features and functions.  It looks pretty cool so far, and I think I am probably sold for a couple of reasons:

1. Indesign – As you know, I like to write, and I am putting more and more content out in PDF and eBook form.  The ability of InDesign to assist me in that regard to put together professional looking material and to help with layout is well worth it.
2. Photoshop – I am still on CS3, and I did not do the upgrade to CS4 knowing that I would probably upgrade every other iteration.  So, now is the time to upgrade.
3. Business Catalyst – I’d not heard of this, but the improved layout for the CB store sounds appealing by using this software interface rather than hacking through code all the time.  Will want to check this out!
4. Dreamweaver – An old school coder, I’ve always used text-based editors because I was a “purist” of sorts.  With the development of HTML5, the new features of CSS and XHTML, there’s a lot to get up to speed on, and when I want to just put something out to the web, Dreamweaver is becoming more and more of a consideration.

Here’s the launch page for all the detailed information on the new CS5 Suite:  Have you checked out some of the features of the CS5 suite yet?  What do you like?  Are you going to upgrade or take the plunge?  Sound off in the comments with your thoughts and feedback!

Last but not least – don’t forget that we are in the final week for the Cheetah Quickstand Giveaway – share your photos over on the Flickr Contest Thread!

This was actually where I first learned the value of checking your entire surroundings because sometimes the best shot may be behind you.  I turned around and caught this image:

Nice enough, but not really something I wanted to include in a portfolio of sorts to include in the now well-known PhotographyBB Magazine!  Then I noticed something…apparently I had tried multiple exposure settings while on a tripod…I was bracketing!  I had the same f-stop, same ISO, but the shutter speed was changing.  Back then I was shooting with my venerable XT (now sold), and the whole idea of bracketing and even HDR was just not even close to being on my radar.  Yet here I am now years later, trolling through archives with an opportunity to go back in time.

So, I pulled the 4 or 5 images together, cobbled them over to Photomatix and ran some tone mapping (didn’t even look at the settings, just was testing a whim to see if it would produce anything).  Well, let’s just say it was…interesting.  It clearly showed my sensor was absolutely filthy (sky splotches everywhere), and I clearly hadn’t learned the fine tuning of checking the edges or even cutting off important lines (like ship masts) from the composition.  Nevertheless, the result was…accidentally interesting.  I’ll leave it to you to judge:

40% Lightroom 2

40% Photoshop CS (no query here on version #)

10% Aperture

10% Elements or some other platform, including GIMP, Corel, and others…

If you think about it – the first software platform you learn for editing photos is usually the one where you really cut your teeth, grind your fingers to the bones, and once you know it, you just know it.  So, for a new software application to come out and challenge the fact that you have this established work flow, suggesting that there is a better way can often be both disheartening and somewhat defeating.  After all, some of us can even remember dodging and burning negatives in a dark room not too long ago.

It was quite an epiphany though to see people from such a wide variety of backgrounds – some younger than me (in their 20′s), many in my age range (30′s – 40′s), and others even senior to me (50′s and up) coming out to learn about this new-fangled technology of Lightroom 3.

What it brought to mind for me was a fundamental dichotomy in the way photography has transformed us.  We have learned so much and in such a little time frame, yet there are always barriers to learning more, not the least of which is our own prejudices.  We learn something, we know something inside and out, and then something new comes along that changes the paradigm.  It’s no wonder there is still so much confusion over what “the best” way to work through images is.

One the one hand, if you have a flow, and it works – why change something that does what you want it to do, and it’s something you not only know, but are reasonably good at?  Meanwhile, on the other – what if you are spending countless hours doing something much slower than you wish it could be and this new carrot is being dangled?  Do you stick to your guns or do you lay that gun down and find a new one that fires better?

It’s a struggle to be sure, and while sticking to your guns can be a good thing in the face of a changing technology, for those of us that stick too long, we can ultimately find ourselves actually staring down the barrel of a gun.  It’s all ammo in the armaments and the important lesson I learned is that while the principles may not change the tools to flex those principles are always changing.

So, the answer for me is to stick to my guns in principle, but be ready for a new rifle and prepare to adapt to meet the needs of that new tool, because odds are, the new one will ultimately do it better, faster, and cleaner than anything that came before it….eventually!

Sort of a philosophical musing for today, but nonetheless one I wanted to share, and hopefully get some feedback on.  Are you an early adopter?  Do you come out guns blazing with new technology whenever it becomes available, or do you stick with the rounds that you know how to fire until the proven replacement has been demonstrated and taught?  Sound off in the comments, and come on back tomorrow for yet another round!