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Kerry – Aerial Perspective

Jason’s Similar Shot

Kerry’s Horse Shot

Jason’s Horse Shot

Kerry’s Dog Shot

Kerry’s Building Shot

Jason’s Building Shot

Kerry’s Bridge Support Shot

Jason’s Bridge Support Shot

Kerry’s Union Station

Jason’s Union Station

Kerry’s Night Shot

Jason’s Night Shot

So, what we were taking into consideration for how we defined image quality includes:

Color Range

Tonal Range

Sharpness

Clarity

It’s no big secret that I have had a DIY Legal kit out for a while and this kit has just that – a contract!  The photographer could have avoided a lot of headaches by using one of these.  Think about it – does $30 for a simple kit make sense to avoid a $300,000 lawsuit?  It does to me!  And the best part is that I’ve also done an update to address a great point that Gary Fong brings up about what constitutes an ”acceptable” photograph.  Short and simple enough of an explanation, but is it in your contract?  It’s in this one!  It’s a very small update, but does add the terms of an acceptable photograph.  If you already have the kit – it’s a simple set of text to add, and I include the full text in the YouTube video below, so make sure you check it out!

Are you protected?  Do you have an event contract?  If not, there’s no better time than the present to cover yourself and your assets!  Follow the link here to grab my own DIY Kit or find your own assembly of Legal forms on the interwebs to protect yourself and your assets – if you don’t no one else will!

• 1  SLR
• 5 lenses
• Hoodman Loupe
• Gorillapod
• Flash Card Case
• Headlamp
• Battery Caddy
• Leatherman

And there was room to spare.  I also really enjoyed the sound buffering panels to silence the ripping Velcro sound if desired.    There’s so much to appreciate here, it really needs more than I could say here in words.  So, with that in mind – let’s take a look at a new format I’ve put together for hardware reviews:  video footage!

The video may take a bit to load as I’ve covered this bag extensively, so it’s nearly 20 minutes long, but is only 115 MB in size.  Enjoy the vid, and if you have any questions about it, feel free to post questions, comments or other feedback here!  My only major nit is that the Retrospective 7 will not fit my laptop.  If it did that, I could easily see this replacing my laptop bag for short trips.  Since the pads are removable, I could easily make this a work bag too…and fit a P&S camera with my laptop, papers, and other info.  I realize though, that they were trying to make it as cross-compatible as possible, but I needed just two more inches to get my Macbook Pro in this bag!

Another small nit is that I am not sure how I would be able to hoo my tripod on to this bag for carrying purposes.  The new super light carbon fiber tripods are so light, I’d always rather take one with me than not, and in looking at the design, there’s really no way to strap that in.  I did kind of re-purpose the sound baffles for the Velcro to accommodate my Gorilla Pod, which I guess is fine in a pinch, but a tripod is something that we should never really go into the field without if we can help it anymore, and it’s too bad Think Tank didn’t give us a way to hook it on here.  (*Note*  There are loops on each end where a carribeaner might work, but this would be rather clunky – I’d rather see  some sort of tie-down on the underside.

Like I said in the video though – there’s more upsides than downsides, and I would definitely add this to my bevy of bags!  However, as always, I’ve promised not to keep the gear I review – so it will be offered up in the next giveaway!  When is that?  Watch the video!

Thanks again to the folks over at Think Tank Photo for this opportunity to get a first look and hands-on experience with the latest in their gear!  You can check out this bag, and any others from their line-up here.  In the interests of full disclosure, the links to Think Tank Photo here are included as affiliate links, and if you do end up making a purchase through them, the prices are the same, but a little bit comes back to me to help offset the cost of maintaining this blog, the podcast, and the contest series!  (Not to mention the video reviews I create here to share with you!).  So, again thanks to Think Tank, and thanks to all the readers who take the time to read the content here, watch the videos, and enjoy the various vendors products in support of the blog.  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Show Notes:

Our Five Favorite Updates to LR4 and Why…

Features Features to Hope For

Listener Q&A

Find Laura Shoe:

Thanks to Laura for taking the time out to sit down and talk with us on the show!  Especially exciting as we enter the last week of the March giveaway too, knowing what’s on deck!  Are your photos in yet?  More is coming up this week, so if you haven’t gotten your photos in yet, be sure to get in soon!

In other blog and podcast news, after the absence of a contest for February, we’re back and ready for photos in March.  Joe Farace, writer of a popular column in Shutterbug magazine, and fellow Coloradan gives away not one but two copies of his Studio Lighting Anywhere book.  Standard contest rules apply.  Here’s the particulars:

1. One photo per person
2. Must be work-safe/family-friendly
3. Posted to this Flickr thread
4. Largest side must be no more than 800px or less than 600px (this is only so that the winning image can be displayed well…)
5. Taken within the last 60 days (preferably during the contest window)
6. Images must be done by Saturday, March 31st.
7. Theme is  PEOPLE
8. And most importantly, have fun!

Click here or the contest link at the top of the page to submit your image today!  Good luck to all and thanks to Joe for sharing two of his books to the contest winners (yes, plural!)

]]> http://www.canonblogger.com/2012/03/03/learning-digital-photography-podcast-67-standing-out-in-a-crowd/feed/ 0 0:49:54 The latest episode of the Learning Digital Photography podcast is now ready for your listening enjoyment. The latest episode of the Learning Digital Photography podcast is now ready for your listening enjoyment. Announcements jason@canonblogger.com no no http://www.canonblogger.com/third-generation-cameras/ http://www.canonblogger.com/third-generation-cameras/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 07:30:51 +0000 Jason http://www.canonblogger.com/?p=7501

The latest and greatest from the podcast laboratory is a discussion with my good friend Kerry Garrison, and we tackle this hot topic of 3rd generation cameras.  Are these for real?  What is the deal?  What to look for,  pros and cons…and a teaser about the DIY Prequel!  All that bundled into a great episode of The Learning Digital Photography Podcast! (Episode #66).

For another bit of maintenance, I was reminded that the January contest ended and I never launched the February contest, so apologies to all who waited so patiently!  Bragging rights for January (and February I guess), go to:

Evelyn B

Evelyn gets to pick the theme for the March contest!  And it’s with great excitement that I share the news there will be two winners for the month of March!  My new friend Joe Farace (fellow photographer and Coloradan, as well as an esteemed journalist and long-time writer for Shutterbug magazine) has contributed not one but two copies of his book titled “Studio Lighting Anywhere”!  You can read reviews and catch a sneak peak of his book over on Amazon, or simply submit your photo to the March contest thread, which is open early!

So, get shooting, and look for the word from Evelyn (hopefully in this thread) on what our theme will be.  Standard contest rules apply!  The thread will go live hopefully by the end of the weekend (this also gives Evelyn some time to both brag about her win and think about the theme!)  Before we sign off for the weekend though, here’s the show notes for the 75 minute podcast with Kerry!

*****

3rd Generation Cameras

History:

1st Generation digital cameras – characterized by low MP counts,  “jaggies” and major deficiencies in tonal range

2nd Generation digital was/is today’s classification – basically the maturity of the DSLR

3rd generation – what we can expect in the future

Defining the Future

1.No more mirror – Good vs bad?

2.No more view finder – Real time versus almost real time

3.Sensor sizes – non-full frame, how important is it?

4.New lens sizes

5.Frame rates

Models on the market today

1.Nikon 1 Series

a.Cameras

i.J1 – $650

ii.V1 – $900

b.Lenses

i.10-30mm

ii.30-110mm – $250

iii.10mm f2.8 – $250

iv.10-100mm – $750

2.Sony NEX

a.16mm lens

b.18-55mm

c.Nikon adaptor

3.Leica M7, MP, M9 & M9P

a.http://en.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/lenses/

4. Samsung NX200 NX100, NX10

a.http://www.samsung.com/us/article/samsung-nx-series-a-new-camera-standard

5.Olympus – EP1

Where does that leave the consumer?

*****

Phew, long post and tons of content today, but hopefully enough to get you through the weekend!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here on Monday!  Special thanks again to Kerry Garrison for taking the time out of his schedule to sit in on the podcast, and to Joe Farace for his contribution to the monthly contest series.  You can find out more about them on their website and social media presences:

Kerry Garrison, Twitter

Joe Farace, Twitter

Thanks to Joe for taking the time to talk too – here’s his info and the show notes:

And I thought I was a socialite online!  Joe really takes it to the next level!  And you can hear the passion and excitement in his voice too – he really just loves photography… and life!  It’s contagious too – I’ve got a few seeds ready to sow myself….(more on that later)!

Here’s the rest of the show notes:

• The ABC’s of posing
• Corrective posing
• Adorama learning center -  softboxes versus umbrellas
• Shoot the centerfold – seminars
• www.matthewstaver.com

Just a great chat overall, and the nuggets, tips, and insights you’ll pick up are invaluable.  The show should be in your iTunes feeds shortly (if not already), but if you’d like to give a listen inline, here’s the show:

That wasn’t really what I wanted though, so I decided to table the project as the holidays were rapidly approaching.  Then earlier tonight, while tucking away some Christmas presents in a place I know Tracy will never go, some video cables zip-tied neatly into a shoe tupperware fell out into my office.  I looked curiously at this one called the Diamond Multimedia VC500.

It had been purchased a while back to help convert some old VHS tapes to digital (circa 1998 and 1999), then put away indefinitely…until tonight.  I then went searching for the video cable to one of my EOS cameras…after all, I am a pack rat!  And sure enough, after ten minutes, found it and started kicking the tires.  With my rudimentary video editing skills, I was able to cobble this together:

This should work pretty much anywhere too…whether you are viewing on a computer, laptop, iPad, or phone…the vid has been made as cross-source supported as possible, so let me know if you can’t see it!  It’s, of course, a very cheesy first attempt, but suggests that there may be more of a library to come in explaining SLR settings to help demystify things!

Not much other news here – a few more projects in the final steps of review to put out this week, including the AluminArte from Image Wizards, another eBook, and a couple other nuggets as we inch closer to the holidays!  (Are you ready yet?)  Stay tuned, and if you have suggestions on how to clean up that video noise at the bottom of this test video, I am all ears!

Last but not least, the Holiday Giveaway Bonanza is getting pretty hefty, and ready for your entries – get a photo in for a chance to win an amazing package of prizes!  Submit your photo today!

First of all, let me say that it’s an honor to be a guest blogger for  Jason  – when he asked me to write a guest blog post, it was a no brainer – I’d do it! Then it sunk in that I’m going to be writing a post that actual people will be reading, as opposed to my usual audience – research scientists. I guess this means I better make it interesting. Well, here goes …

I’m not a professional photographer, far from that – I’m a professional student. To be more specific, I’m a PhD student/researcher studying Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida. In the most general sense, I focus on enhancing the performance of aerodynamic bodies (airplanes, cars, submarines) by modifying the way that the flow (air or water) moves around the specific body.

When I started conducting experiments five years ago, I knew that in order to efficiently control any flow, it was first in my best interest to understand the natural flow around the aerodynamic body of interest. This is when I decided that the lab needed a digital camera. After a couple of months of reading books and internet articles, I started getting the hang of what it took to digitally capture what my eyes were seeing.

Below are some images that I have taken since I started my journey into photography over the past three years. Some of them were taken for my own research, while others were taken to benefit the research of my colleagues.

This was one of my first successful images that I took with a dSLR. It’s a three second exposure capturing the phenomena of flow separation over an airfoil at a high angle of attack. Using a fog machine I was able to inject micron sized particles into the flow. Then, to illuminate the particles, I created a light sheet passing a laser beam through a spherical and then a cylindrical lens. To me, the beauty of this photo is that it captures a phenomenon we all experience daily – but never get to see.

A colleague of mine asked me if it was possible to take an image of the alignment of six laser beams intersecting at a single location in space. Once aligned, they moved the set-up into a wind tunnel and used it to measure the velocity behind an aircraft landing gear. To capture this image, I used a flashlight during a three second exposure to illuminate the laser sources while keeping the contrast between the lasers and the background.

Using a mixture of highly viscous motor oil and fluorescent dye, I highlighted some of the flow features around a submerged sphere. I captured images at 15 second intervals and created a time lapse movie of the event. This image alone shows some of the complications that arise when trying to control a three-dimensional flow. I hope to also use this flow visualization technique to understand flow around the tips of wings (where highly three dimensional effects are prominent) in an effort to make wing-tip designs more efficient.

Sometimes my colleagues ask me to take images that will be used in conference presentations. For these, I usually have a little more leeway and can clean the image up in post – something that I cannot do with any image that will be published in a journal paper. In a nutshell, their research objective is to create low cost micro sensors to measure shear stress, something that can’t be directly measured at the time. To show the size of the sensor, I decided to place one sensor next to the tip of a pencil and another one on top of a popular snack around the lab.

Using photography in the lab setting has allowed me to get comfortable with a camera. In the last few years my passion for photography has spread from a work-related necessity to a hobby I do in my spare time. Many thanks to Jason for letting me share with you a slightly different perspective on photography.

*****

Editor Note: 

One thing I always keep saying to myself is that Canon Blogger really needs more guest writers.  There are so many knowledgeable people out there that likely can run circles around me mentally, from whom I could learn a thing or two.  To that end, when I can learn, everyone can, so I am hopefully going to make this a more common practice.  To that end, if you are interested in writing any guest posts here on the blog, I am happy to entertain the idea, provided that you can:

If you can do that (or know someone who can – please feel free to contact me and we can get the ball rolling.  As for the guest post today, I’d like to thank Miguel for sharing his insights, experiences and photography here on the blog – I was riveted!  Please do stop by his own website for more of the same at:  www.miguelpalaviccini.com  He is now a good friend, having met originally through the Monthly Contest Series!  His was the winning image a few months back and in exchanging information, I learned that he was using photography and photographs during his studies!  Being a devotee of education, I was intrigued.  One thing led to another and here we are today, so please be sure you offer thanks to him both here and on his website!

Self-study may even get you to a point where you can cut through the water relatively easily, but imagine how much easier it would be if when you first started learning to swim, you had a coach.  Someone there to stand at the pool, shouting out encouragement and instructions:  “Reach out with your hands!  Kick your legs!  Good job!  Keep going!”

Coaching always makes learning anything easier, whether it’s swimming, science or photography!  One of the things I’ve noticed as progressing on my own learning curve is that much of what I gathered would have likely been learned moer quickly if someone had been there to say “Hey, the Rule of Thirds works nicely with landscapes…put the sun in one of those cross-sections!”  or other axioms common to learning the nuts and bolts.

This raised a question in my mind, and is actually one of the fundamental reasons why I started this blog – to share experiences as I learned them to help others hopefully reach those levels of understanding sooner.  When someone asked me once how long I had been mentoring other photographers is when it dawned on me that I actually had become something of what I had needed!  Talk about a sense of fulfillment!

These thoughts and experiences were recently shared with my good friend Kerry Garrison of Camera Dojo, and as we talked about the whole concept of mentoring, decided this would be a great podcast topic!  So, enjoy the latest episode of the LDP Podcast (#63):  Choosing a Mentor:

Show notes:  What to Look for in a Mentor

We go into all of this in much greater detail in the show, as to why each trait is important, and we even throw in a few bonus considerations for you too, so be sure to catch the show!  Thanks again to Kerry for participating – it was a great discussion and sure to be one that will draw a lot of attention!  Be sure to stop over to Kerry’s blog to find out the latest activities there too at Camera Dojo.

Food for thought:  As you listen to the show, consider the following talking points…have you ever had a mentor?  Been a mentor?  Wanted a mentor?  Had one that worked or did not?  Think about what did and didn’t work, and why.  What would you want to see in a potential mentor?  As is always the case, we share our own ideas, but would love to hear from others on what their own experiences are, so please let us know in the comments and/or via email, social media, etc.

Happy shooting!

*****

A couple short reminders for this week:

1.  We are in the last week of the Monthly Contest Series for September.  This month you can win a year of membership to NAPP (existing members can extend for an additional 12 months!)!  It’s free, just share your best image in the Flickr thread here.

2.  The Worldwide Photo Walk is coming up this weekend, so if you’ve not registered in your nearest city yet, be sure to check out where the closest place is.  It’s a lot of fun, and is totally free too, so get out and shoot with fellow photogs, socialize, and network!  Oh yeah, and a ton of books are being given away – something from the Kelby arsenal of education will go to one lucky photographer in each city!  (If you live in the Denver Colorado area, there’s still room in the Louisville walk too where you can walk around with yours truly!)

To that end, today’s podcast ventures a mere 10 miles away, where I caught up with fellow NAPP member, Michelle Hedstrom!  We actually met for a face to face and of course, the audio was recording…for podcast #62 – Grinding it Out!  We talked about everything from getting started in photography, to sports and concert photography, and what it takes to really succeed in this business.  In a nutshell – just grinding it out!  For all the details, check out the show!

Here’s some samples of her work she shared with me, and the show notes:

And, of course, her online footprint  - Ogre Photography, Examiner Articles, Twitter, Facebook

Thanks to Michelle for taking the time to sit down and talk with us at Canon Blogger.  We’ll see you back here again next time.  Until then, happy shooting!

After nearly 10 years with one hosting company, I’ve decided to up and move.  They just aren’t getting it done.  The blog was/is running slow, and the folks at my current provider are about to get kicked to the curb.  They didn’t seem that interested in helping me resolve performance issues – all they wanted was more money.  It’s never about satisfying the customer, it’s only about more money.  With that in mind, I’ve always been of the opinion that you reap what you sow.  Since they weren’t all that keen on keeping me, I’m moving this weekend.  On Monday, Canon Blogger will be better, stronger, and most importantly – FASTER!

So, say goodbye to Dreamhost, and say hello to Synthesis Hosting from CopyBlogger.  In the meantime, here’s a fun little video that I took on a recent canoe trip.  My seat on the canoe broke on me, and at the time I was sure surprised.  Afterward, the video of it was even more surprising.  Less than ten minutes to watch, but a fun diversion for the weekend.  Have fun, happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here on Monday!

For those of you who might not know who Dave is – he’s one of the original “Photoshop Guys”, and has been teaching Photoshop classes since version 2!  He is currently the Senior Developer, Education and Curriculum for NAPP, a Certified Photoshop Instructor through Cs4, and  Certified Technical Trainer.  With several books under his belt, and a 2009 inductee to the Photoshop Hall of Fame, he is certainly no stranger to the world of Photoshop!

Here’s the nuts and bolts of our discussion, but to get the full schmear, grab the podcast either from here or in iTunes!

Talking Points:  Shooting with Photoshop in Mind

• What’s the point of Photoshop:  Fixing photos or creating visions?
• Compositing Photos in Photoshop
• Story boarding, green screens, extracting – options galore
• How do you get there from here?
• Fine Art versus Business
• Learning Workshops versus Seminars
• Watching versus Doing
• HDR:  Art form or a Solution?
• Links
  • Dave Cross Workshops
  • Dave Cross Blog
  • Dave Cross on Twitter
  • Dave Cross on Facebook

It was so fun talking to Dave about such a wide variety of subjects and we really hit on quite a bit for only 40 minutes of talk time!  Do check out his web resources there as I think the smaller sized workshop setting he has set up in Tampa will become the trend-setter of things to come.

*****

As a final reminder for the podcast and website a couple things wrap up this week:  The month long Flickr contest series, so do get your photos in for a chance to win Photo Mechanic!  Also ending this weekend is the promotional deal on the Deeper Vision eBook from David DuChemin – 20% off through July 2nd w/ promo code DEEP4.  Have a happy 4th of July, and we’ll see you next month!

So, for the time being, enjoy an abridged post of the LDP Podcast #60 with Andie Smith

Have a great weekend! (Oh yeah, and don’t forget the Flickr Contest is still going on for that free copy of Photo Mechanic)

One final little trailer teaser here for ya, since I had my last two podcasts with my good friends Andie and AJ (they live like ten miles from each other), figured to give him some linkage too – his new podcast is live now in its second episode, so stop over to AJ Wood to check it out – fun, fast, and informative!

Here’s the show notes:

• The Business of Photography
• Rock Stars vs Working Pros
• The Importance of Networking
• Work Flow Options
  • Photoshop
  • Lightroom
  • Photo Director
  • Lightroom Versus Bridge
  • 100 Ways Lightroom Kicks Bridges A$$
  • www.ajwood.com
  • http://ajwood.com/twitter
  • http://ajwood.com/facebook
  • Photoshop User Magazine

Thanks to AJ for taking the time to come on the show, and thanks to everyone who continues to download and give feedback to the blog and podcast!

Posing Your Subect

• The S Curve
• Naked Shoulder
• Full Back
• Knee In/out
• Step Up
• Balance
• Pelvic Roll
• V’s in Composition and Framing

It’s a great and informative discussion, so be sure to catch it from either your iTunes Feed, or direct download here!  You can also visit Kerry at his various online outlets here:

• Camera Dojo
• Kerry Garrison Photography
• Kerry on Twitter
• Kerry on Facebook

For those of you that may not have heard of him, Kevin Mullins hails from across the pond to get together on a podcast and talk shop on photography. A well-established wedding photographer in the UK, Kevin is probably one of the most talented wedding photographers I know. He joins me in the latest episode of the Learning Digital Photography Podcast to talk about the documentary style of photography and the impact that has on how you both shoot and manage your business. You can download it from iTunes or directly from the website via the following links. Below the links are the show notes…enjoy!

• iTunes Download

Talking Points

• Approaching group shots versus cookie-cutter portrait poses
• Work flow of the wedding day – how things start, where to budget time, & how things end.
• Gear preferences
• Pre-planning the event in Documentary Photography
• Still and video convergence

Links Mentioned:

• Photo mechanics
• Kevin Mullins Photography
• Kevin on Twitter
• Kevin on Facebook

So, to better address the question I decided to bring in a pro who deals with this stuff all the time.  That’s right ladies and gentlemen, we have another podcast! This is episode #56 of the LDP show, and I shared about an hour or so with Kirsten Wright talking about social strategies and best approaches and practices.  It’s an entire industry, and there are some who claim to know and then those who really do know their stuff.  Kirsten comes with some impressive credentials and a fresh outlook/perspective that many of us need.  It’s a good kick in the…well, a good way to get motivated to get going in the right direction!

Make sure you check out her site over at Wright Creativity and make sure to add her on your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn feeds, and everything in between.  She’s got gems and nuggets of brilliance galore to share.  I’m booking her soon here to help me get things streamlined (in case you haven’t noticed, my schedule has not been as consistent lately as I’d like it to be – Kirsten is my kick in the #$%^!)

If you need some focus, direction, and a good reality check, Kirsten is the one to give t to you.  Get it for free here in the latest episode of Learning Digital Photography:  Is Blogging Dead? with our guest of the hour – Kirsten Wright!

Over the weekend I had the distinct pleasure of joining my colleague and good friend Kerry Garrison (who you probably know from Camera Dojo) out “in the wild” as we traveled to the Breezy Point Resort north of Brainerd MN (about three hours west and north if the twin cities) and spoke at their Northern Lights conference.  Through the coordination of our sponsor, Nations Photo Lab, and the conference hosts, MNNPA, we had a wonderful time.  Not only did the coordinators treat us like Rock Stars (we did give some autographs though), the attendees were quite engaging too.

The pre-conference sessions were set to start at 12, and our gig started at 5.  After a few of the logistical things were addressed that always come up with hosting conferences (they even had a live wedding going on one room next to us – what a great opportunity for a bride to get a wide range of photographers applying their trade), we got rolling.  A mere five minutes into our introduction, we paused to add even more tables and chairs to the room as more and more people started filing in.  For a regional conference to have a crowd this big during a pre-conference tech talk was quite surprising, but also very enjoyable.  So, what did we talk about?

The topic was none other than Lightroom 3!  We talked about how to navigate around, some of the benefits and tips and tricks of LR to soon realize that we are very fortunate to be in the position that we are.  It was humbling to realize that we really are on the cutting edge as so many people are using Lightroom 1, LR 2, or even earlier generations of Photoshop for their workflow.  Our discussion quickly was adapted to both demonstrate why and answer questions on what makes Lightroom 3 such a useful tool for both established and emerging photographers.

The questions raised were just wonderful ranging from very broad-ranging ones like “Why should wedding and portrait photographers care about upgrading their work flow?” to ones as detailed as “Can Lightroom manage PSD files?” and “How can I keyword photos during import?”  By the time our two hour segment was up we had barely covered the import process, a little bit on the adjustment brush, and the nuts and bolts of things like cropping, selective color, and black and white conversions.

Ours was the last segment for the day and we were then invited to the after party over in one of the adjoining houses.  Food snacks, drinks and such were all available and in abundance.  With the abundance of spirits, everyone was in great spirits themselves as we laughed and talked further with lots of people about photography stuff until the wee hours of the morning.  By 1am we were done though and needed to head back to our respective cities (myself to Denver and Kerry to Anaheim, CA).  So, during our road trip back to Minneapolis for the return flight, we decided to record this show for you.  Answers to all the questions above and more are here, as well as a few photo opp stops!  Thanks for taking the time to listen, hope you enjoy it and we’ll be back again soon with more photo goodness!

Catch up with Kerry:

• Blog
• Website
• Facebook
• Twitter

Follow me on:

• Facebook
• Twitter

Learn more about the Northern Lights Conference and MNPPA here:

• Northern Lights Photography Convention
• MNPPA

1.  Personal Work versus Client Work – What brings clients in is your own creative vision yet at the same time you also have to be able to recognize the client vision too…striking a balance there can be demanding and challenging.  There are several strategies to cope:

2.  Shooting versus Promotion/Marketing – We have to produce work to survive, but by the same token if we don’t tell others about the work we are producing, how can one even begin to survive without some measure of success.  Balancing the creative and business ends of photography is equally demanding and can take a pretty heavy toll if you’re not careful.  There are several approaches to take here as well:

3.  Capturing and creating photos and projects versus down time – With the internet, Twitter, Facebook cell phones, email, and everything assaulting us literally 24/7 – there has to be a way to balance personal time with work time.  In this case personal time means actually putting the camera down and spending time with family, friends, colleagues, and otherwise “unplugging” from the digital photography world.  Can we even afford to take these periods of downtime anymore?  Is it worth the risk of fading?  Things to consider when balancing personal and professional growth and development, and strategies to cope:

4.  Listener Q&A

1. What’s the best way to deal with noise in photos?  I’ve heard several options out there ranging from using plugins in Lightroom, to layer masks in photoshop, while others just avoid high ISO at all costs. – Karen in New York
2. Just getting started in photography and wondering if I can build a business in this market.  What are the pitfalls I should be wary of?  On that same note, would it be better to begin solo and keep things small to avoid getting in over my head or should I work with other photogs to defray costs while making larger projects available to the business? – Phil in Las Vegas
   • Fast Track Photographer by Dane Sanders
3. Everyone always talks a good game about lenses, but it’s tough to be taken seriously when people have better camera bodies than I do that have 1/10th the experience or knowledge. How do you deal with clients who have better gear than you? – Katherine in Milwaukee

Co-Hosts:

• Nicole Young,
  • Website
• Jason Cate,
  • Website

And, for those of you that listened, and are paying attention, you’ll know that Nicole has generously donated a copy of one of her latest books “Snapshots to Great Shots” for some lucky commenter.  So, leave your comments, thoughts, and/or feedback on the show here, and you’ll be automatically entered to win either her 60D or 7D book!  (We’ll know for sure which book it is hopefully later today – Monday)…

What is this a great day for?  You guessed it – a snowmobile ride!  Seriously, I went on just such an excursion the morning of the 1st!  I layered up in my best winter gear:

• Layer 1 – Thermals (long underwear)
• Layer 2 – Lounge pants
• Layer 3 – Blue Jeans
• Layer 4 – Snow suit

It worked quite well as I never really got all that cold!  I took off from the house in Keystone CO where we gathered for the holidays with family, and drove the 45 minutes from 9900 feet to the 11,000 foot mark.  Nearly two miles above sea level now where the air is downright thin!

Snow and Ice in the Air

It was a nice tour, led by the well-regarded folks of Summit Concierge and their services across the Colorado Rockies. The tour guides were friendly, we got some handling time in a track loop to familiarize ourselves with the equipment, then they split us into two groups of six for some pretty exciting scenic views.  One group was a family or two, then the other was mostly adults (myself included, although I felt like a kid – adrenaline surging as we whipped around at about 30-45mph on our Polaris snowmobiles!).

The Whole Gang!

As we crossed the mountains, with snow-covered pines, and gorgeous mountain-scapes.  Of course once we rode above the timber line, the scenery was just the white snow against the slightly paler misty sky.  It wasn’t snowing as at that temp, it’s just too cold.  Instead tiny bits of ice dusted the sky with hints of bluer skies behind the flakes of snow and ice.

At the summit!

I did imagine that we would get a bit cold in our extremities, as we whipped along.  After all, with a -20 gauge on the thermometer, 20mph winds and us tooling around with another 30mph of wind, it was likely very nearly around 50 below zero! But the handles of the Polaris were heated!  As you moved, the heat increased to snuff out the effects of the wind.  When we stopped I even took my gloves off to pull out the camera for some photography!  No gloves!  in 40 below temps!

Heated Handlebars Below...

The camera though, did not have the pleasure of heat, so it didn’t last too long, even inside my external snowsuit to shield it from the bitter cold.  I got perhaps 45 minutes of shoot time from the two batteries I packed.  The point and shoot fared better as it was inside my own snow jacket pocket, closer to the warmth of my own core heat. But it even capitulated to the cold after being taken out for a mere 20 minutes!  I found this out at one of the rally points…

Rally Point Break

Regardless, it was a great ride, with half pipes, remarkable scenery and even a stop for hot chocolate halfway through (the tour guide started the heaters as we began the trek)! For the adventurous – this is definitely one to consider when  you go to book your next adrenaline tour!  It was a great way to usher in the New Year!  How did you celebrate the start of 2011?  Share your thoughts, shots, and feedback in the comments below or via email.  Don’t forget to share socially too!

And finally, for those that read all the way through the journal article, here’s a short video I took from my Flip HD Video (Christmas Present):

Many notable photographers have spoken and alluded to this idea of shooting photography with passion.  The idea is to approach photography with your creative voice, and a vision of what it is you want to accomplish.  So, what do you do when the voice is silent, or the vision is blinded?  Re-igniting the passion for photography is something we all face, and while we can all agree that shooting with passion is always a good thing, the question really is how to achieve that intangible in your work.  Tune in to the latest podcast here with Andie Smith as we broach the subject head on.

We also tackle some really engaging listener questions, so be sure to listen in – yours may be answered!